Katie Baunach’s family discusses death penalty for accused ex-husband: ‘He’s gonna pay’

The man accused of murdering his ex-wife just days after Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida could face the death penalty.

Investigators said they found Katie’s charred remains when they got to Ian Baunach’s house.

Prosecutors believe Ian lured Katie, his ex-wife and mother of his two children, to his home a few days after the storm to murder her.

WINK News spoke with Carolyn McKinney, Katie’s mom, about the possibility of Baunach getting the death penalty.

“I want him to know that he’s gonna pay for what he did to my child. I want him to know it. Understand it,” McKinney said.

Deputies found Baunach on Sep. 30, trying to clean up the crime scene and get rid of Katie’s remains. That day they arrested him for federal firearm and drug-related charges.

“He’s a bully. He was mean to people he thought he could overpower Katie was small. And he thought he had her under his thumb. And he was mean to those kids,” Katie’s cousin, Annie Moore, said.

“He tried to separate Katie from all her friends and family. And he would email and text pretended to be Katie saying awful things to try to drive a wedge,” McKinney said.

Katie had a history of domestic battery charges filed against Ian. In Nov. 2021, Ian allegedly tried strangling Katie. In March 2022, Ian allegedly kicked her in the back and threatened to kill her. Then six weeks before her death, a Lee County Judge denied Katie’s request for a restraining order, citing concern for the couple’s children.

When WINK News asked Katie’s family about Ian possibly getting the death penalty, they responded earnestly.

“Won’t bring my daughter back? That will keep him from hurting anybody else. That’s all he will ever do is hurt people,” McKinney said.

“We’ll be able to see his face when he’s told that he’s going to have the death penalty,” Katie’s aunt said.

To which Moore added, “Yeah, I might frame it.”

“She has such an army of people supporting her still in those kids, and he doesn’t, and I… that’s what I hope he knows today. I hope he feels alone,” Moore said.

The couple’s two young children are suffering and grief-stricken, and they constantly cry and beg for their mother.