IL - Krystal Tobias, 9, & Laura Hobbs, 8, found dead in Zion park, 8 May 2005 - #1

[IdahoMom]

Pavletic said Hobbs told investigators he believed Laura had stolen money from her mother. She had been grounded, but her mother let her go out and play on Sunday, Mother's Day.

Hobbs told investigators he was angry that girl had gone out and went out looking for her, authorities said. He told Laura to go home but she refused, so he punched her for disobeying, Pavletic said. Krystal then pulled out a potato knife to try to defend her friend, and he attacked her as well, getting the knife away and stabbing both girls, according to the interviews.

I'm sorry, but I just DO NOT see a little girl Krystal's age pulling a knife on an enraged grown man!!!! NO way!!!

 

[PolkSaladAnnie]

Well, it's about 2:00 am where I am. Thanks, all: I've thoroughly enjoyed the interaction; golfmom, again ... thank you (and also RaF) for the links, live-feedback, views and reminders of who said what, when and where. This has been a great thread to participate in. Almost don't want to go to bed.

Oh, and JoA ... thanks for the Mary-Jane info. Think I'll stick to Bloody-Mary instead, lol :crazy:

I'll be up early to catch up on any further reports or 'Heads-Ups'. Crumbs, I hope this case doesn't go into hiding as was speculated earlier! Nite.

eta: IdahoMom, didn't see your post. Agree completely: no WAY do I see little Kristal even thinking about drawing a knife ~ but I agree with golfmom that she'd have pulled, pushed and tried to stop him to help her playmate... 'nite ...

 

[joanofarc]

Night...PSA...LOL...

I am just getting ready to get off work and you are going to bed....weird, hey??

 

[Cypros]

I had a stepfathter who would steal money from us and do other horrible things and then would imply that someone else did it. I remember accusing my neighbor of stealing my piggy bank which had $52.26 in it (yes, I had just counted all the money and tucked it away safely) because my stepfather SAID it was probably John next door. I hated another neighbor boy for years when our cat turned up dead with a bullet through its head because my stepfather SAID that he say the boy with his beebee gun that day. My stepfather had been out practice shooting that day too but for some reason it just didn't sem possible that he would kill our pet and just leave it there to be found by us kids. He stole money from my little brother and set it up so that people thought I did it. He stole $1000 my mother had hidden away and set it up to look like I did it. I was 15 years old then and reality set in. I had been his favorite and couldn't believe he betrayed me. What a jerk. He never killed anybody (as far as I know) but was a pathological liar, theif, embezzler and, worst of all, a child molestor.

I have no problem believing that Hobbs stole the money and blamed Laura for it. It is even possible that he set her up by giving her some money to spend o that she would look guilty.

 

[kahskye]

He stabbed Laura in the eyes because he was most upset with her. Krystal was a witness. I think the stabbing of someone in the eyes perhaps signifies them seeing something they shouldn't have. Perhaps he struck Laura first and knocked her out while he struck and stabbed Krystal. Maybe Laura came to when he was stabbing Krystal and she saw him?

Another possibility why he stabbed her in the eyes, she may have died w/ her eyes open. I'm sure the force he probably hit her w/ would have knocked her out cold. As he kept stabbing her, having her eyes open might have been too much for him so in his crazy state, he stabbed both of them because he felt she was looking at him.

I too agree about $40 being too much for Laura to have taken. I have a 9 yr old and she is thrilled to get $5.00 and we're doing well financially. When my dd gets money from her grandma (usually $20), she runs and puts it in her bank. I definitely think more about this money will come out.

 

[joanofarc]

The thing is Jerry had only been home for a few weeks...no job...pressures to get one were probably mounting at home AND to top it all off he had to play "nice guy" around his family and in-laws.....somehow I don't believe a guy with his track record would suddenly be "reformed" and is now a model citizen...(if he wanted to be that he would have went to "anger management" and kept up his parole visits to avoid jail time)...

I can totally see him resenting his woman...it was a quiet simmer just waiting to become a raging BOIL....WOMEN HAVE TO WAKE UP HERE....it is easy to receive "love notes" from jail but when the reality of the situation hits you between the eyes...it is time to RUN!!! You can't tell me there weren't signs of his "simmer" that was really beginning to "perk"....IMO

 

[indicajane]

If the amount of money was forty dollars, that is the exact amount of enough drugs of various types for an entire day. 40 dollars is about a gram of meth or more, or a quarter ounce of pot, or a gram of cocaine. It is a fairly common of money used in drug transactions.
I have a ten year old daughter, and while she would never take money from my purse (knock on wood) if she did, I can't imagine what she would find to spend that much money on! Evan a new cd is like 14 dollars! I agree. I believe he took the money, he wasn't working and didnt have his own cash flow, he wanted to get high. The wife wanted him to get a job. He took it and blamed the child.

 

[Whimsigal]

Another possiblity why he stabbed her in the eyes, she may have died w/ her eyes open. I'm sure the force he probably hit her w/ would have knocked her out cold. As he kept stabbing her, having her eyes open might have been too much for him so in his crazy state, he stabbed both of them because he felt she was looking at him.

I too agree about $40 being too much for Laura to have taken. I have a 9 yr old and she is thrilled to get $5.00 and we're doing well financially. When my dd gets money from her grandma (usually $20), she runs and puts it in her bank. I definitely think more about this money will come out.

I was thinking the same thing. What a sicko.

 

[SauerKraut]

If the amount of money was forty dollars, that is the exact amount of enough drugs of various types for an entire day. 40 dollars is about a gram of meth or more, or a quarter ounce of pot, or a gram of cocaine. It is a fairly common of money used in drug transactions.
I have a ten year old daughter, and while she would never take money from my purse (knock on wood) if she did, I can't imagine what she would find to spend that much money on! Evan a new cd is like 14 dollars! I agree. I believe he took the money, he wasn't working and didnt have his own cash flow, he wanted to get high. The wife wanted him to get a job. He took it and blamed the child.

I agree that an 8 year old kid wouldn't take that kind of money, I think they would be too afraid to get caught.

I stand by my opinion that this guy should not have been let out without some kind of re-integration into society. The people in charge of his sentencing and release could clearly see he had issues, and should have probably not been given probation to begin with, before he went to jail. Wasn't this not his first time with an assault charge? I mean, how many chances do you give someone? If the state "can't afford" to house these criminals, or put them into furlow programs, then maybe they need to rethink their income tax law there.

I also still think this guy was mistreating her at home. I think he felt he couldn't control her and he wanted to punish her for something. What is is, we may never know the truth.

And I doubt seriously that the knife was Krystal's. This seems too much. And even so, he is self-defending himself against a 9 year old girl? Give us all a break. Boy is he an idiot. He really thinks he's outsmarting everyone. Give him the chair, lethal injection is too tame for him.

And please get those kids out of that home with that "mother."

 

[CaliMom]

This is a long thread and if this has been mentioned, forgive me. But I read a while back that the first time these two mother's had met was at the memorial. People, you need to know your children's friends families. Krystal's family should have been aware that this "Father" was a convicted criminal with a violent past.

I can't say that would have prevented this from happening, but if it were my child, the only way she would have been allowed to play with Laura outside of school would have been at my house or under my supervision. He may have gotten Laura, but Krystal could still be alive if her parents had taken some precautions.....IMO.

 

[SauerKraut]

"We have handled him many times," said Wichita Falls, Texas, Police Sgt. Cindy Walker. "A lot of them were domestic violence, several were assaults and several were aggravated assaults."

This quote is from the NBC Chicago affiliate station.....

So, and I can't remember who had responded to my posts so forgive me.....this indicates that a repeated slap on the wrist is all he deserves??? He "served his time?" Sorry, I strongly disagree that this guy should have been out. This could have been prevented if he had been given the proper punishment the FIRST time. Then he might not have been given "probation" for chasing people with a chainsaw! Good God, am I missing something here??????? Domestic violence???? Sorry, but the Mom is partly responsible for this. I might get a lot of flack for saying this, but this is just absurd.
:truce:

 

[KatherineQ]

I can see an 8 year old stealing 40 bucks.

By all accounts, CPS had been called innumerable times on this family, while they lived with that other man because the kids were on the roof of the house, running around unkempt and unsupervised, etc.

I can see a kid in a family like that nabbing 40 bucks without batting an eye.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

The thing is Jerry had only been home for a few weeks...no job...pressures to get one were probably mounting at home AND to top it all off he had to play "nice guy" around his family and in-laws...

This is what I think too, joanofarc. The mother had been raising the kids without him for a couple of years. Living with her parents, there was an additional set of adults raising the kids. I think that Jerry probably came back, expecting to be the dad, (whatever that might mean to him). It typically takes children longer than a few weeks to be able to adjust to the new roles in the house.

I'm sure that there was anger, resentment, jealousy, etc., causing power struggles to surface. I think that the little girl probably had some anger at her dad, (and justifiably so). She wasn't old enough to know why her daddy had left her. She probably just knew that he was there, and then he wasn't, and then he was again. He probably came back with the full expectation that he was going to be "the man of the house", and his daughter wasn't able to adjust quickly enough for him. I can hear him telling her to do something and her shouting, "I don't have to listen to you" or "I hate you", and storming to her room. I think that most of us have done this at a certain point in our lives - the difference being that our parents didn't take it personally. Reintegrating him into the family was probably terribly stressful for that little girl. They probably could have all used some help getting the family back together successfully; it's not the easiest thing to do especially considering the circumstances that broke them up in the first place.

I think that the location of the stab wounds was simple hatred for this girl. I think that he hated his daughter for a number of things. It's horribly tragic. The saddest part is that I don't think that things would have been different a month from now or six months from now. As long as he was in the house and there was no counseling, I think that this was going to come to a head sooner or later.

This is easily one of the most horrible crimes of which I have ever heard.

 

[KatherineQ]

SauerKraut - I completely agree with you, that domestic violence cases warrant more than a slap on the wrist.

But HOW FRUSTRATING for law enforcement, when she keeps welcoming him back after they've tried to step in. GRRR this case is sad.

 

[SandyBee]

And I doubt seriously that the knife was Krystal's. This seems too much. And even so, he is self-defending himself against a 9 year old girl? Give us all a break. Boy is he an idiot. He really thinks he's outsmarting everyone. Give him the chair, lethal injection is too tame for him.

Even if the knife was hers, she had the guts to help her friend. Kudos to her! I'm just sorry it ended so God forsakenly tragic.

This story is so horrible and took place about 40 min. from here. I've got a friend that lives in Zion and she said the community (which is rather small) is completely shocked.

I'm afraid IL death penalty sucks and even if the Dad does get the death penalty, it won't be happening anytime soon. To be honest, I hope the inmates take care of him, would save us tax money, and not let him off so easy.

 

[SauerKraut]

Even if the knife was hers, she had the guts to help her friend. Kudos to her! I'm just sorry it ended so God forsakenly tragic.

This story is so horrible and took place about 40 min. from here. I've got a friend that lives in Zion and she said the community (which is rather small) is completely shocked.

I'm afraid IL death penalty sucks and even if the Dad does get the death penalty, it won't be happening anytime soon. To be honest, I hope the inmates take care of him, would save us tax money, and not let him off so easy.

Am I missing something that with Texas and Florida, they have the worst record for child molesting, abductions, child murderers etc. and neither one has state income taxes? Please, someone explain how this all works.

 

[kahskye]

I can see an 8 year old stealing 40 bucks.

By all accounts, CPS had been called innumerable times on this family, while they lived with that other man because the kids were on the roof of the house, running around unkempt and unsupervised, etc.

I can see a kid in a family like that nabbing 40 bucks without batting an eye.

One possibility of why she might take that large amount of money would be for survival. Here mom was making it on her own (w/ the help of her parents) for 2 yrs, and then this low life shows back up in her life. She might have seen him slip some money before knowing the family might be going w/o and knowing he'd become a violent person when drunk or stoned and get violent towards her. This other man her mom lived w/ might also have misused money and she learned from him that in order to survive, she needed money even if it meant stealing it. I think the only one that probably knows if and why she took any money was murdered right along side of her.

 

[kahskye]

I think that the location of the stab wounds was simple hatred for this girl. I think that he hated his daughter for a number of things.

I think he hated her because everytime he looked at her, he saw himself and he obviously hates himself.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

I think he hated her because everytime he looked at her, he saw himself and he obviously hates himself.

If everything that we've been hearing is true then I think that he hates everyone and everything. I don't think that he is capable of love. I don't know what created him but it is certainly true that this is yet another case of an offender that should have been given the maximum sentences each and every time. And then on Nancy Grace, we hear that he was written up on four separate occassions while serving his time? :doh:

 

[golfmom]

I seriously believe that he stabbed her eyes not because of what SHE saw, but what HE saw reflected in her eyes.