Viable suspect: Terry Hobbs #1

[Lethalmatthew]

Forgive me if I missed this somewhere, but were they boys' clothes found near their bodies? This has been something I have wondered about, as it may help determine if they were killed nearby or moved.

Most of the clothes were found near the bodies, stuck down in the mud underwater with a stick. From the top of my head, the only clothes that were missing were two underpants and five socks. Some people say that these were kept as 'trophies', which could point to a serial killer, others say that that the perp lost them in the hurry of moving the bodies and others say that two of the boys didn't wear underpants and socks to begin with. IIRC, SB was the only victim of whom an underpants and a sock was found.

 

[Cher Lockhomes]

Good that the clothes have been brought back into the discussion. One thing that is still not clear in my mind, on the image at the bottom of this page:

http://www.jivepuppi.com/evidence_the_clothes.html

a pair of pants and I think it was SB's underpants, are hanging over the branch of a tree. I still can't confirm if the clothes were found this way, or if the wmpd had removed them from the ditch before this image was made. Can anyone help ?

 

[Cher Lockhomes]

I definitely believe that an "authority figure" such as a parent could control the boys without force! Like I think I've posted before, someone from the area told me that generally speaking pools weren't opened up until Memorial Day (end of May) and specifically that the Hobbs' pool had not been opened for the year on the day of the murders. At that time, it was covered in scum and needed cleaning. However, the boys could have been swimming in another pool.

As far as I'm concerned CR, only the Hobbs pool is of interest, at least supposing that TH was the perp. I don't believe TH would have done this anywhere else but at 1601 S McCauley. I still think it's possible that the pool was the center of the crime. The boys might have "dared" each other to go in because "there's snakes in there". My second thought would be the bathroom.

BTW, you mentioned the possibility of the "Green Beans" being algae, this took me back to the "Green Cloth" in MM's hand, algae wouldn't be too far fetched for that I think.

 

[Cappuccino]

Good that the clothes have been brought back into the discussion. One thing that is still not clear in my mind, on the image at the bottom of this page:

http://www.jivepuppi.com/evidence_the_clothes.html

a pair of pants and I think it was SB's underpants, are hanging over the branch of a tree. I still can't confirm if the clothes were found this way, or if the wmpd had removed them from the ditch before this image was made. Can anyone help ?

They weren't found that way. All of the clothes which were recovered were wrapped around a stick which had been pushed down into the mud in the ditch next to Michael. Bryn Ridge testified that he had taken them out and put them straight into paper bags to be taken to the lab for testing, but as the pictures you've seen show, Ridge wasn't entirely truthful in his testimony.

 

[Userid]

Yup: clothes were not found that way. Bryn Ridge most likely hung them on the branch as he encountered them. His method, once MM was found, was to start at the very north end of the culvert, with his hands touching the bottom, and drag them along to find anything. Obviously, he would have encountered the clothes first, before the other 2 victims, who were farther south.

Lethalmatthew, what makes you say that the sock belonged to SB? That's interesting -- I've never heard that before. If I remember right, it was found in MM's (black, lace missing) shoe.

 

[Lethalmatthew]

Lethalmatthew, what makes you say that the sock belonged to SB? That's interesting -- I've never heard that before. If I remember right, it was found in MM's (black, lace missing) shoe.

I wasn't sure, so I looked it up just now on jivepuppi. You're right, the sock was found in a right black tennis shoe of which the lace was missing. However, the shoe has never been positively linked to a specific victim. The CUGA shoes (black tennis shoes with purple interior) seem to belong to CB, but even that is (according to jivepuppi) not 100% solid. According to Otto B, SB wore white tennis shoes. So if you believe that the CUGA shoes belonged to CB and the white tennis shoes to SB, then yes, the sock was found in one of MM's shoes.

 

[Cappuccino]

I wasn't sure, so I looked it up just now on jivepuppi. You're right, the sock was found in a right black tennis shoe of which the lace was missing. However, the shoe has never been positively linked to a specific victim. The CUGA shoes (black tennis shoes with purple interior) seem to belong to CB, but even that is (according to jivepuppi) not 100% solid. According to Otto B, SB wore white tennis shoes. So if you believe that the CUGA shoes belonged to CB and the white tennis shoes to SB, then yes, the sock was found in one of MM's shoes.

No that's wrong. The white tennis shoes were worn by Michael Moore, (according to his mother), the high topped sneakers by Stevie Branch, (according to his mother),and the other sneakers by Chris Byers, (and according to Chris's mother they were only bought two days before the murder).

It was Christopher Byers' sneakers that had a shoelace still in one of them, and Michael Moore's shoes that were white.

 

[Lethalmatthew]

No that's wrong. The white tennis shoes were worn by Michael Moore, (according to his mother), the high topped sneakers by Stevie Branch, (according to his mother),and the other sneakers by Chris Byers, (and according to Chris's mother they were only bought two days before the murder).

Can you give a link to your source?

 

[jamiemary]

I think Terry Hobbs has motive because after watching Lost Paradise part 3 something really stuck out and I am not sure if anyone has said this yet because there are alot of pages to read so I apologize. Terry Hobbs caught Pam kissing another guy and Pam admitted to it. I think this happened a week before the boys were murdered. Could it be that he was very angry and took something away they he knew would hurt her meaning Stevie. Also in the movie when Pam was being interviewed she admitted that her and Terry were having problems, but she did not elaborate on what the problems were.

 

[Userid]

No that's wrong. The white tennis shoes were worn by Michael Moore, (according to his mother), the high topped sneakers by Stevie Branch, (according to his mother),and the other sneakers by Chris Byers, (and according to Chris's mother they were only bought two days before the murder).

It was Christopher Byers' sneakers that had a shoelace still in one of them, and Michael Moore's shoes that were white.

I've heard this, but to my knowledge, it has never been confirmed. The only thing that seems certain is that the black shoes with the purple interior were CB's, which also contained black laces (as evidenced by the one left in the shoe).

Where it's iffy is the white shoes. I've heard they belong to SB, and that they actually had black laces; and the source of the white laces were the other black high-tops.

 

[Cher Lockhomes]

They weren't found that way. All of the clothes which were recovered were wrapped around a stick which had been pushed down into the mud in the ditch next to Michael. Bryn Ridge testified that he had taken them out and put them straight into paper bags to be taken to the lab for testing, but as the pictures you've seen show, Ridge wasn't entirely truthful in his testimony.

Thanks for the confirmation, I think a lot of people take this picture for what it is. This would have meant that the clothes hanging in the branches could have been thrown in from the top of the ditch (West), but if they were all poked down, then that rules it out.

To add even more confusion to the shoes, the people who carry the responsibility for lives, did some good work here too.

Here evidence lists and lab reports.

Ridges Lab List
http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/lablist.html

E-4 ONE WHITE TENNIS SHOE
E-6 ONE BLACK TENNIS SHOE/ PURPLE INTERIOR
E-8 ONE BLACK TENNIS SHOE WITH PURPLE INTERIOR
E-11 ONE WHITE TENNIS SHOE
E-12 ONE BLACK TENNIS SHOE AND ONE SOCK
E-14 ONE BLACK TENNIS SHOE

Here the shoes are not even listed as left and right. What happened to the lace left in Cb’s shoe ? I can’t find the lace anywhere. Was it ever removed from the shoe and compared with the foreign lace ? The sock left in the shoe did not receive an evidence number. Was the sock ever removed from the shoe ? What a shambles, and it’s not the end.

Here we have Four Right shoes, and Two Left:

Kermit Channell June 1 Report
http://callahan.8k.com/images/ascl/ASCL_Trace_0601_01.JPG
http://callahan.8k.com/images/ascl/ASCL_Trace_0601_02.JPG

E-4 ONE WHITE TENNIS SHOE Q11 Right
E-6 ONE BLACK TENNIS SHOE/ PURPLE INTERIOR Q13 Left
E-8 ONE BLACK TENNIS SHOE WITH PURPLE INTERIOR Q7 Right
E-11 ONE WHITE TENNIS SHOE Q31 Right
E-12 ONE BLACK TENNIS SHOE AND ONE SOCK Q28 Right
E-14 ONE BLACK TENNIS SHOE Q33 Left


Here the sock suddenly becomes size 3, and one of the shoes as well:

Lisa Sakevicius June 29 Report
http://callahan.8k.com/images/ascl/ASCL_Trace_0629_01.JPG

E-4 ONE WHITE TENNIS SHOE RIGHT
E-6 ONE BLACK TENNIS SHOE LEFT WITH PURPLE INTERIOR
E-8 ONE BLACK TENNIS SHOE RIGHT WITH PURPLE INTERIOR
E-11 ONE WHITE TENNIS SHOE LEFT
E-12 ONE BLACK TENNIS SHOE RIGHT AND ONE SOCK SIZE 3
E-14 ONE BLACK SHOE LEFT SIZE 3



Mr. Jivepuppi has Five Right shoes, and one left. Bless his soul, he’s done so much good work.

http://www.jivepuppi.com/evidence_lists.html

Q7 [e] Tennis shoe, right (E-8) [t] E-8
Q11 [e] Tennis shoe, right (E-4) [t] E-4
Q13 [e] Tennis shoe, left (E-6) [t] E-6
Q28 [e] Tennis shoe, right (E12) [t] E-12
Q31 [e] Tennis shoe, right (E11) [t] E-11
Q33 [e] Tennis shoe, right (E11) [t] E-14

 

[Cher Lockhomes]

I think Terry Hobbs has motive because after watching Lost Paradise part 3 something really stuck out and I am not sure if anyone has said this yet because there are alot of pages to read so I apologize. Terry Hobbs caught Pam kissing another guy and Pam admitted to it. I think this happened a week before the boys were murdered. Could it be that he was very angry and took something away they he knew would hurt her meaning Stevie. Also in the movie when Pam was being interviewed she admitted that her and Terry were having problems, but she did not elaborate on what the problems were.

A warm welcome jamiemary. I think you have the right intuition. Yes there is an awful lot to read on this case. I would suggest you watch the other Paradise lost docs, part 1 and 2 are on YouTube I think. The film West of Memphis also has a lot of background information.
As far as reading goes, it all depends on how deep you want to get into this case. One very good site is Jivepuppi.com, here you can quickly gather a lot of good knowledge about this case.

 

[Compassionate Reader]

To whomever questioned the JCB sighting,

She may have seen the boys running toward TH, but she left immediately for church. Possibly, SB was going to ask to stay out longer. If TH denied his request and the boys then ran from him, it might represent the genesis of his anger. JMO

 

[thared33]

Does anyone know if TH is Christian? There are quite a few deathbed confessions of Christians that want to repent. I wonder if we'll ever get that out of TH.

 

[Graznik]

Does anyone know if TH is Christian? There are quite a few deathbed confessions of Christians that want to repent. I wonder if we'll ever get that out of TH.

Yes, he is. Or he was at least raised in a very strict christian family, IIRC.

 

[Compassionate Reader]

TH was raised in a fundamentalist Christian family. IIRC, his father was a minister of the denomination - maybe of the lay variety, I'm not sure of that. I am sure that they were strict fundamentalists. I've often thought that TH might confess on his deathbed, but, since I believe he is a sociopath, I don't know if he will confess, even then.

 

[Graznik]

Yeah, I've heard the same thing CR. And I agree, if he is the perp (and I think he probably is) there will be no death bed confession.

 

[Compassionate Reader]

Of course, the first step is to get the State of Arkansas to reopen the case and conduct a competent investigation. If that happens, then maybe they could offer TH an Alford plea!:laughing:

Seriously, maybe if they offered him a plea deal that took the DP off the table, he would confess.

 

[Graznik]

In the best of worlds, yes. I just doubt that he'll ever confess to anything unless he is actually full on busted.

 

[Cher Lockhomes]

CR LOL :happydance:Yeah, you could offer him a Christmas present and a get out of jail free card, the word confession is not in his vocabulary. It might remain "the Hobbs family secret" forever. Beyond reasonable doubt I say!