IL - Krystal Tobias, 9, & Laura Hobbs, 8, found dead in Zion park, 8 May 2005 - #2

[Jeana (DP)]

I still cannot come to grips on why she would ever consider letting him anywhere near her family after knowing what he was capable of. Come on, the excuse that she had no idea he would hurt any of the children just doesn't cut it when you have a man who chase people around with a running chain saw.

They don't want to be alone;
they think he deserves a second chance;
they think the kids should "know" the daddies;
they need financial assistance;
they LOOOOVEEEEE him.

How many excuses have we heard before? All of 'em. I just hate that it keeps happening.

 

[golfmom]

http://www.nbc5.com/news/4533037/detail.html

.......
"There was only an hour and a half in which he could have done this, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. -- when I was sleeping," Hollabaugh said. "He was laying down watching TV when I went to sleep."

Hollabaugh said while she said she feels her boyfriend is capable of murder; she does not want him to get the death penalty because she doesn't believe in it. Hollabaugh said Hobbs has a hot temper, especially when he drinks. Hollabaugh said Hobbs was not drinking on the day of the murder.

"All the problems me and Jerry had were because of his drinking," Hollabaugh said. "Anybody that knew Jerry knew that when he wasn't drinking, he was a whole different person. I left him because of the drinking."

Hobbs has a history of violence, but when he was released from prison in April, Hollabaugh invited him to live in Zion.

"These abused women go back to the abuser because they are afraid to be alone," Hollabaugh said. "That is not the case here, it was not the case. I gave him a second chance so we could be a family. His kids needed him.

"I blame myself. I think that maybe if I hadn't brought him up here, none of this would be happening. There is a possibility that my daughter could still be here."
.........
The day of Hobbs' and Tobias' murder, Hollabaugh said the family went to Lake Michigan to fly a kite, and she said Jerry Hobbs was in a good mood. Laura Hobbs had given her mother a vase for mother's day, as well as a coupon to clean the house.

"Out of all my kids, she was the most lovable one," Hollabaugh said.

When Laura Hobbs didn't come home on time, police said Jerry Hobbs became enraged, found the girls in the woods and killed them.

"I'm angry at myself, because I didn't see this coming, you know?" Hollabaugh said. "I should have seen something."

Hollabaugh said she lives with the pain of knowing that she gave her boyfriend a second chance -- inviting him to Zion and changing a town forever.

"I do feel responsible," Hollabaugh said through tears. "I feel more responsible than anybody, than anybody will ever know. And it's really hard."

 

[indicajane]

a possibilty?

 

[mysteriew]

Grand jury indicts Hobbs in stabbings of daughter, friend

http://www.kristv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3419634

 

[Sheromom]

http://www.nbc5.com/news/4533037/detail.html


"Out of all my kids, she was the most lovable one," Hollabaugh said.

What an upbuilding thing for the rest of the children to hear. This woman is very lucky she doesn't live near me!

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

What an upbuilding thing for the rest of the children to hear. This woman is very lucky she doesn't live near me!

It sounds to me like she has been doing some really hard soul-searching. I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt - maybe she means that Laura was the most loving; the most cuddly or affectionate - something along those lines.

 

[golfmom]

Jerry Hobbs is innocent! He says now that he didn't do it and has plead NOT GUILTY.
:furious: :furious: :furious: :furious:

 

[golfmom]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...380908.story?coll=chi-newslocalssouthwest-hed

Published June 10, 2005


A Zion man charged with slaying of his 8-year-old daughter and her friend last month pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges Thursday in Lake County Circuit Court.

Jerry Hobbs III, held without bail in the County Jail since his May 10 arrest, appeared before Circuit Judge Fred Foreman, shackled and staring at the floor as Public Defender David Brodsky entered the plea.

Hobbs confessed to killing Laura Hobbs and Krystal Tobias, 9, who were beaten and stabbed May 8 in Beulah Park in Zion, authorities said. He became enraged when his daughter refused to go home with him, police said.
.........
Hobbs' next court date is Aug. 11.
..........
Assistant State's Atty. Jeffrey Pavletic said a decision on whether to seek the death penalty probably would be made within 90 days.

Pavletic said it wouldn't surprise him if Hobbs and his attorneys invoked an insanity defense.

 

[golfmom]

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/top/w15hobbs.htm

WAUKEGAN — Testimony was limited Thursday at an inquest into the death of an 8-year-old Zion girl because of the pending court case against her father who is charged with her murder.

A Lake County coroner's jury took less than five minutes to rule the death of Laura Hobbs in early May was a homicide.

Charged with her death is Jerry Hobbs who faces two first-degree murder charges as a suspect in the stabbing deaths of his daughter and her friend Krystal Tobias, 9, in Zion's Beulah Park Nature Area on Mother's Day.

They both died of multiple stab wounds, two coroner's juries have now ruled.
.........

 

[golfmom]

http://www.dailyherald.com/story.asp?id=114005

Lake County prosecutors said Wednesday they want Jerry Branton Hobbs III to pay the ultimate price if convicted of the murders of his daughter and another Zion girl.

Hobbs, 34, showed no reaction as Deputy State’s Attorney Jeff Pavletic told Circuit Judge Fred Foreman the death penalty would be sought for the slayings of Laura Hobbs, 8, and Krystal Tobias, 9.

“As in all such cases, we reviewed the facts and allowed the defense to present whatever mitigating evidence they had,” Pavletic said after the court hearing. “After consulting with his staff and defense attorneys, State’s Attorney (Michael) Waller determined that this was the appropriate penalty.”

Public Defender David Brodsky said prosecutors have the wrong guy.

“It was the wrong decision,” Brodsky said. “Now that we have had the opportunity to review the evidence in this case, it is clear that Jerry Hobbs is unquestionably innocent of the murders of Laura Hobbs and Krystal Tobias.”

........

 

[golfmom]

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/13065879.htm

...........
Though prosecutors said Hobbs confessed, his lawyer issued a statement asserting Hobbs' innocence after a hearing at the Waukegan, Ill., courthouse.

"Now that we have had the opportunity to review the evidence in this case, it is clear that Jerry Hobbs is unquestionably innocent of the murders," Public Defender David Brodsky said.

The death-penalty announcement offered little consolation to Marina Christina Tobias. Her daughter, Krystal, and Laura Hobbs were last seen riding double on Laura's bike through their Zion, Ill., neighborhood before their bodies were found in Beulah Park.

...........

Prosecutors reviewed Hobbs' background and met with the victims' families before arriving at a decision, officials said.

Hobbs, who was released from a Texas prison three weeks before the slayings, confessed to beating and stabbing the girls in a fit of rage, according to a statement videotaped by police, State's Attorney Michael Waller said.

"That is part of our evidence," Waller said.

He said his office last sought the death penalty in 1996.

After the hearing Brodsky said in a statement: "It was the wrong decision. Mr. Hobbs has always maintained his innocence."

He declined to discuss the evidence. Hobbs is due back in court Dec. 2.

 

[golfmom]

I can't believe this case has dragged out for so long . . .

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/785220,5_1_WA09_HOBBS_S1.article

Prosecutors in the murder case against Jerry B. Hobbs III have requested additional time to review evidence from the Lake County Major Crime Task Force and forensic experts.

Hobbs is accused in the stabbing death of his 8-year-old daughter, Laura, and her 9-year-old friend, Krystal Tobias, on Mother's Day 2005.

....... more at link ..........

A hearing is scheduled in March.

 

[golfmom]

THREE YEARS LATER . . . and NOTHING has happened. :behindbar

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=159352&src=3

He becomes the third man in Lake County awaiting trial in a death penalty case.

Jerry Hobbs III, 37, is accused of murdering his daughter Laura, 8, and her friend Krystal Tobias, 9, in a Zion park on May 8, 2005.

James Ealy, 43, is charged with killing Mary Hutchison, 45, during the Nov. 27, 2006, robbery of the fast food restaurant in Lindenhurst where she worked.

Hobbs is scheduled to appear in court April 14; Ealy is due in court April 7.

All three men are held without bond.

 

[golfmom]

I am so disappointed, I can't believe that we're closing in on THREE years, this mothers day, and he still hasn't been brought to trial.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=172842&src=3

A Lake County judge said Monday the trial of a Zion man accused of murdering his daughter and another girl in 2005 will not start April 21 as scheduled. Jerry Hobbs III faces the death penalty if convicted of killing his daughter Laura, 8, and her friend Krystal Tobias, 9, in a Zion Park. Defense attorneys told Circuit Judge Fred Foreman that evidence they sent to a California lab for testing had not yet been returned to them, and they were unable to give the evidence to prosecutors seeking to do their own tests. Foreman took the case off his trial calendar and told the parties to return to court April 30 so another trial date could be set.

 

[SewingDeb]

I wonder what the evidence is that they are waiting to return from testing.

 

[golfmom]

Just thinking of Krystal and Laura along with their mother's today.

 

[Taximom]

I ran across this thread while searching for something else. You mean this guy hasn't been convicted yet?! This is ridiculous!!!

 

[Cubby]

This case has recently made news again in the Chicago area. Krystal and Laura were best friends who went missing in May of 2005. Their bodies were found a few days later. Jerry Hobbs has been in jail awaiting trial since shortly after these two young children were found. 5 years and the trial hasn't even started yet! It is scheduled to start in the fall.

Going by memory, but IIRC Jerry Hobbs had recently been let out of prison shortly before these two girls were murdered. I could be wrong, but that is what comes to memory.

I will be adding some news links as I find them. But new DNA has been found which points to another murderer, other than Jerry Hobbs. We've seen this sooo often in IL, wrongful conviction, it is worth reviewing this case so I am starting the thread for discussion as both older threads have long since been closed.

Here is the link to the original missing thread for Krystal and Laura:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23141&highlight=Laura+Hobbs

Here is the link for the old thread here in the crimes in the news section, also closed.

http://websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23140&pp=25&page=21

If I find anymore older threads I will add them to this post.

 

[Cubby]

bump

---------------

 

[Cubby]

Found an open thread. I will ask the mods for this forum to merge the two and update the thread title.

Here is the open thread for this topic.

Laura and Krystal - Thread No. 2 Continue Here - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community