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Prosecutors: Father stabbed girls 30 times
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-12 08:58 The man accused of stabbing to death his
8-year-old daughter and her best friend hunted his child down in a park in a fit
of rage because she was supposed to be grounded for stealing money, US
prosecutors said Wednesday.
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Jerry Hobbs
[Reuters]
| A judge denied bail for 34-year-old ex-convict Jerry Hobbs after prosecutors
said he admitted in videotaped and written statements to beating and stabbing
his daughter Laura Hobbs and 9-year-old Krystal Tobias on Mother's Day.
He claimed the older girl pulled a knife on him, but prosecutors said they
doubt that.
The girls were found dead Monday in a park in Zion, the day after they never
came back from a bike ride. They had more than 30 stab wounds between them, and
Laura was stabbed in each eye, prosecutors said.
"You can see through the injuries to these two individuals the rage that was
exhibited. This was a slaughter of two little girls," prosecutor Jeff Pavletic
said.
Hobbs, who had been released from a Texas prison last month, said he thought
Laura had stolen money from her mother, prosecutors said. She was supposed to be
grounded on Mother's Day, but her mother let her go out and play, so Hobbs went
out to find her and bring her home, Pavletic said.
"Mr. Hobbs believed that her mother was too lax in her supervision of Laura,"
the prosecutor said.
But when Hobbs found the girls, Laura refused to go home, and he beat and
stabbed the girls with a small kitchen knife, prosecutors said. Hobbs then
allegedly dragged them into the woods and left them side-by-side.
Hobbs told investigators that Krystal pulled the knife to defend her friend,
and he wrested it away. But prosecutors said they doubt the little girl was
carrying a blade.
"It was a brutal beating, repeated punching of the two little girls and then
repeated stabs. It's pretty horrible," State's Attorney Michael Waller said.
Hobbs stared at the courtroom floor as Pavletic described the case against
him. Public Defender David Brodsky said he had not seen details of the case and
could not comment yet, but he said he would assign two capital defenders to
represent Hobbs.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 9, but Brodsky said he expects
Hobbs will be indicted by a grand jury before then. He also said his office
would investigate whether Hobbs' statements should be admissible in court.
Hobbs has a long criminal history dating to 1990 in Texas, including arrests
for assault and resisting arrest.
Just last month, he was released from a Texas prison after serving time for
an assault in 2001. He had argued with Laura's mother, Sheila Hollabaugh, then
grabbed a chain saw and chased neighbors until someone hit him in the back with
a shovel, according to prosecutor Rick Mahler in Texas. No one was injured.
Hobbs was sentenced to 10 years' probation but failed to appear for required
meetings and was thrown in prison in 2003.
He and Hollabaugh, who never married, had three children together. They were
reunited after his release and were living with Hollabaugh's parents in Zion, a
town of about 22,000 along Lake Michigan north of Chicago.
Outside the home where Jerry Hobbs and Sheila Hollabaugh had lived with their
children, a man who identified himself as a family spokesman Wednesday read a
brief statement and said they would have no other comment.
"The entire family wants to express their deepest sympathy for the Tobias
family," Jeremy Harter said. "They wanted to thank the Zion community for all
their support throughout this trying time."
Down the street, outside Krystal Tobias' home, there was makeshift memorials
of flowers and teddy bears on a path leading up to house.
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