SUSPECT: Steven Hobbs

[fran]

This guy has been known on the streets as terrorizing women for a very long time. The problem is, they were women of alternate life-styles and were hesitant to report the abuse to LE. I can hardly believe some of the comments people make in the news articles I've read.

Anyway, arrested for rape and then linked to one murder in 2010, now they've linked him to one way back in '02. The question now is:

How MANY are there?

JMHO
fran


Ex-security guard charged in second murder, called serial killer

A suspect already charged with the murder of one prostitute and the kidnapping and sexual assault of others is now charged in the murder of another woman who died in 2002, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday.

Steven Alexander Hobbs, 40, was originally arrested by Pasadena police on Oct. 6 after a rape victim identified him in a photo lineup. He’s now facing charges of capital murder, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated assault and kidnapping in alleged attacks of at least six women during the last nine years, the sheriff’s office said.

Thursday’s murder charge is related to the death of Patricia Pyatt, who went missing from Crosby in 2002 and was later found dead under a bridge.

The sheriff's office is now looking into "dozens" of other cold cases that involved killed prostitutes in Harris County and neighboring jurisdictions in the last 15 years, public affairs director Alan Bernstein said.

<<<<<<<<<<<< full article at link >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/bay_...cle_d603c64c-283a-5f53-8914-ea6d0e614e96.html

 

[fran]

A highly educated serial killer. Are they SURE all his victims are protitutes? It seems he may have spent quite a bit of time around college campuses....they believe he's been preying on unsuspecting women for QUITE some tiime.

hmmmmm,
fran


http://www.chron.com/news/houston-t...erges-of-man-police-call-predator-2231855.php

Picture emerges of killings suspect called a 'predator'

Hobbs may be connected to the slayings of prostitutes

A bookish history major who attended two Texas universities. A longtime Houston-area resident who graduated from high school in Liberty County. A husband, a father with two sons, a security guard with an imposing 6-foot-3-inch, 350-pound frame who aspired to be a police officer.

This is the nondescript biography of one Steven Alexander Hobbs, a 40-year-old Crosby man whose arrest has raised the specter that a serial killer may have been terrorizing women in Harris County for years.

<<<<<<<<<<<<< more at link >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[mysteriew]

This dude has a degree in history and he ends up working in construction and security? While I can understand working construction maybe, scale wages are pretty good. But security? Not a high paying job. About the best thing it has going for it is the hours are sometimes odd which could free him up for other things.

 

[OneLostGrl]

I'm glad these women and their families will now have a chance to get the justice they deserve. Very proud of the women who are still alive who chose to tell the truth!

 

[OneLostGrl]

This dude has a degree in history and he ends up working in construction and security? While I can understand working construction maybe, scale wages are pretty good. But security? Not a high paying job. About the best thing it has going for it is the hours are sometimes odd which could free him up for other things.

The article above said he'd wanted to be a cop.. security can often be the next best thing for those who just aren't cop material. They get a badge, a uniform, "authority".. some even get weapons. Not to mention, dude looks a tad strung out so I'm doubting he'd have been able to work in his chosen profession.

 

[fran]

It'll be interesting what they uncover about this guy. We may not hear much more, until they're ready to file additional charges against him. It could take a few months. The below article was from the very beginning of this investigation, before they'd connected him to any murders.

He has been preying innocent victims for years. Because of his history, my bet is, not all of his victims are necessarily prostitutes. The Grim Sleeper in L.A., who'd been preying on victims for decades, sometimes picked up young girls as they were walking alone at night. Some were not lady's of the night, just a teenager and one who was on her way to a friends. One managed to get free, which gave them a description, but they still didn't catch him until his dna showed up.

Many of these guys must have very low self-esteem. Like this guy, well educated and wanted to be LE. But he most likely didn't fit the proper psych profile. But according to this article, he used his uniform as part of his prop. The fact that he pulled a gun on one mentioned here, shows not all his victims were necessarily killed by strangulation. When the MO of death appears to vary, it can throw LE off, thinking it's not related to another murder with a different form of death.

I'm willing to bet, his wife and sons are horrified by this revelation, that he's been out murdering women. His family must be devastated. The fact that he's linked to the two homicides thus far, through dna, leaves no doubt he was involved in at least those two cases.

I'll never understand how these guys can live a seemingly normal family life, and prowl the streets at night for victims to fill their sick desires. Horrifying.

JMHO
fran

PS...They're going to have to go back at least 20 years to make sure they find ALL of his possible victims. I've seen several cases in recent years, that opened big cans of worms when the perp is arrested for one case. When the perp is in his 40's, he's possibly got victims as far back as just over 20 years. Some of these guys have their first victim at the time they're like 18 yo, and I've even seen as young as 15.



http://westoaksnews.blogspot.com/2011/10/rent-cop-steven-hobbs-arrested-for-rape.html

But before they got there, the victim said the suspect pulled out a gun and told her to undress or he would shoot her.
The victim said he drove her to a remote area in the 10600 block of Wallisville in Houston, where he sexually assaulted her.
She said he handcuffed her hands to her feet and beat her with what she thought was a mop handle.
At some point during the assault, the victim said the suspect put on a uniform and appeared to check in with a dispatcher or employer on his phone.
She described the man as very tall, with reddish-blond hair and thick eyeglasses.
Police investigating an unrelated homicide came across Hobbs as a person of interest.

<<<<<<<<<<<< more at link >>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[fran]

An older article, but interesting. From October 22nd. The video said they're looking at him for at LEAST 10 years back and even up to 15 years and up to 20 murders and disappearances.

MO, strangulation and gun, victims bound, one with handcuffs. Location, many in east Harris County.

JMHO
fran


http://abcnews.go.com/US/serial-killer-texas-steven-hobbs-charged-murders-rapes/story?id=14786634

Serial Killer in Texas? Steven Hobbs Charged With Murders, Rapes

Steven Hobbs, a married Texas father of two charged with killing and assaulting prostitutes for the past decade, may be linked to several other unsolved murders in the area, investigators say.

"We're now going back to 15 years from today to check cold cases," Harris County sheriff's spokesman Alan Bernstein told ABCNews.com. "We're even talking to neighboring counties, which are much more rural, about their cases."

Hobbs, a 40-year-old, 6-foot-4 former security guard,
................................................................................
................................................................................

Hobbs is, so far, only a person of interest in Trombley's death -- the murder that launched this entire investigation. Now, detectives say circumstantial evidence suggests he may have been involved in that and other cases.

"There's a lot of speculation," said Bernstein. "For instance, there was a woman found dead in same area as Patricia Pyatt in far northeast Harris County, but there's no evidence right now connecting a suspect to her."

Tracking down all of the alleged victims, however, will be tricky.

"There's no way to put a count on the number of unsolved murders of women who may have been involved in drugs or prostitution, or both," said Bernstein.

<<<<<<<<<<< full article and video at link >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[fran]

Again an older article, but when you read various news outlets, you take away a bit of info that you may have missed.

fran


http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/new...ecurity-guard-looking-more-like-serial-killer



Investigators: Security Guard Looking More Like Serial Killer

Updated: Friday, 21 Oct 2011, 12:17 AM CDT
Published : Thursday, 20 Oct 2011, 12:56 PM CDT

The body count so far: two women have been murdered and four sexually assaulted -- all allegedly at the hands of private security officer Steven Hobbs.

Investigators believe the suspect is responsible for the 2002 murder of Patrician Ann Pyatt.

He was also charged with aggravated sexual assault in a separate case from that same year involving another female. This is in addition to the 2010 murder of Sara Annette Sanford and three more aggravated sexual assaults where Hobbs is charged out of Pasadena.

Investigators say all of the victims were prostitutes.

Hobbs was connected to the two most recent cases through DNA evidence.

In Crosby, Hobbs' extended family was stunned by the allegations.

Now, investigators still haven't charged Hobbs with the 2011 murder of Wanda Trombley. She was last seen with a man who fits his description.

By the way, the 2002 murder and sexual assault victims all knew each other.

<<<<<<<<<< full article at link >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[Ausgirl]

Prostitutes go to college, too. :|

But however 'alternate' the victim's lifestyles were, my guess is he chose sex workers as his victims not only because they're vulnerable targets for violence, but because he felt 'superior' to them. Like the uniform probably gave him an additional sense of power over others. I have a strong feeling there's some kind of warped morality judgment involved here in the vein of: "they're scum, they deserve to die".

Hobbs is married, with kids. I'm curious as to how he treated them - was his wife under pressure to be his 'perfect princess' and the kids to live up to his expectations? Was he cruel and brutal to them? Or did he offer no clue at all as to the killer side of his nature? I'd be very surprised if it was the third option, though it's happened - Rader, for example.

Killers like this interest me a lot - because they're relative rarities and do, for however long, manage to hide their double lives in plain sight.

 

[bessie]

Possible Serial Killer Changing the Way Detectives Investigate Cold Cases
October 21, 2011

Former security guard Steve Hobbs has been linked to two murders and multiple sexual assaults dating back to 2002.

Homicide investigators are now reviewing at least 20 unsolved murder cases from the past 15 years. The 2002 murder of Aritha Boyce could fit the mold. She was found strangled in the San Jacinto River near Highway 90.

Four months later investigators recovered Patricia Pyatt's body along the banks of that same river. The mother of five had also been strangled. Authorities say DNA connected Hobbs to Pyatt's murder.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8401239
Hobbs is also a suspect in the murder of Wanda Trombley

 

[bessie]

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Investigators say DNA linked Steven Hobbs to the cold case murder of Sarah Sanford, who was found handcuffed and shot to death in October 2010. They say that's his MO. He uses handcuffs and guns

Wanda Trombley had been missing since the Fourth of July. The cause of her death is unknown, but for her 18-year-old daughter, it was brutal no matter what.

"I don't like to talk about it," Mariah Trombley said.


But at the same time she is hopeful. The investigation into her mother's death led Pasadena police to Hobbs, a security guard. Last week, he was charged with raping a prostitute. On Monday, he was charged with capital murder in the disappearance and death of Sara Sanford.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8395148

 

[bessie]

Monday, October 10, 2011

A security guard is accused of raping a prostitute at gunpoint after offering her a ride.

Steven Alexander Hobbs, 40, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of an adult. According to court documents, a woman who admittedly works as a prostitute told the Pasadena police that on June 17 she was walking on the road when a man offered her a ride. Once in the vehicle, they agreed to go to a motel for sex.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8385672

The victim alleges that he drove to a remote location where he bound her hands and feet with handcuffs, and beat her with a "mop handle", and forcibly raped her.

 

[bessie]

Last year on October 5, 2010, the nude body of 48 year-old Sarah Sandford was found in a field near Crosby, TX. Her hands and legs were tied, and she had been shot in the head.

Story at the link:
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7707989

 

[bessie]

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Sara Sanford and Patricia Pyatt were murdered eight years apart but today, officials offered a startling new revelation that ties these brutal crimes together. Sheriff's homicide investigators say DNA from security guard Steven Hobbs, who is already behind bars, matches evidence recovered from both murder scenes.
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8399012


In another article from October 22, 2011

On Sept. 22 the officer pulled over into a brushy area off Red Bluff Road to clock the speed of passing motorists. That's where he discovered what Bernstein described as "the key to everything" -- the badly decomposed body of Wanda Trombley, 57, who had been missing since July...

Hobbs is, so far, only a person of interest in Trombley's death -- the murder that launched this entire investigation. Now, detectives say circumstantial evidence suggests he may have been involved in that and other cases...

"There's a lot of speculation," said Bernstein. "For instance, there was a woman found dead in same area as Patricia Pyatt in far northeast Harris County, but there's no evidence right now connecting a suspect to her."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/serial-kil...-murders-rapes/story?id=14786634#.TsotZfLNmDQ

The article also describes Hobbs as a married father of two with no criminal record except for one traffic violation that landed him in jail for few hours back in 2000.

After a rash of assaults on prostitutes who described their attacker as a security guard, swabs were taken from employees at a security guard company near the site where Trombley's body was found. His DNA linked him to the strangulation death of Patricia Pyatt, 38, in 2002; and the shooting death of Sarah Sanford, 48, in 2010.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

22 or 32.
I am sure we/I have come across his work while searching uid.
1-191 of the Doe missing indexes has around 100 missing women in Texas.
And 192-till the end, looks like it will have 100 more!

At least they got one off the street.

This situation in Texas is almost just unbelievable.

If those two women had broken ribs.
I would check for any DNA matches with any of the others found with broken ribs.

And the gun he used. 22 or 32 definitely compare ballistics to find a possible match.

 

[JeannieC]

22 or 32.
I am sure we/I have come across his work while searching uid.
1-191 of the Doe missing indexes has around 100 missing women in Texas.
And 192-till the end, looks like it will have 100 more!

At least they got one off the street.

This situation in Texas is almost just unbelievable.

If those two women had broken ribs.
I would check for any DNA matches with any of the others found with broken ribs.

And the gun he used. 22 or 32 definitely compare ballistics to find a possible match.

If I were to guess I would say nearly 1/2 of the UID had broken ribs or healed ribs. I believe most of these women were beaten severly before death.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

If I were to guess I would say nearly 1/2 of the UID had broken ribs or healed ribs. I believe most of these women were beaten severly before death.

I agree.
Ill wait on the weapon choice.

 

[JackAMW]

If I were to guess I would say nearly 1/2 of the UID had broken ribs or healed ribs. I believe most of these women were beaten severly before death.

I have read a little on this case which seems to be more than one killer, perhaps four or five serial killers along 45. Three are in jail or dead but there are still a couple out there. Houston is a dropoff point for ex-cons with no where to go. They are given one way bus tickets to Houston and turned out on the streets. This provides a very open invitation for such crimes

But many times the crimes are committed by those that seem normal not the Henry Lucas kind however with the sheer number of missing and dead involved, there would have to be more then one killer or just one would killing all the time with no time to work, have a life or whatever, so the numbers would indicate more than one
Does this mean an organized cult or conspiracy involved? Only if the dumping grounds were all in the same area as is the case in part of the women

 

[claudicici]

I really,really wished the media in Houston (I live here) would be more adament about reporting these cases.There is such a false sense of security.If I was not a member here most of the cases are not even reported or mentioned.No wonder killers feel very comfortable around here dumping bodies.
I also wished LE would alert the public about these cases.So many woman and teenage girls just dissapear and noone even knows.

 

[JeannieC]

I have read a little on this case which seems to be more than one killer, perhaps four or five serial killers along 45. Three are in jail or dead but there are still a couple out there. Houston is a dropoff point for ex-cons with no where to go. They are given one way bus tickets to Houston and turned out on the streets. This provides a very open invitation for such crimes

But many times the crimes are committed by those that seem normal not the Henry Lucas kind however with the sheer number of missing and dead involved, there would have to be more then one killer or just one would killing all the time with no time to work, have a life or whatever, so the numbers would indicate more than one
Does this mean an organized cult or conspiracy involved? Only if the dumping grounds were all in the same area as is the case in part of the women

BBM

You're absolutely right. It is more than one or two and some so called confessions were bogus. Just attention getters.

What we have is out of control as far as the number of victims. Sometimes it was a single killing and sometimes 2 or 3 killings by the same person.

Look at the methods - MO, the location of the abduction, the age of the victims, the physical characteristics, their race (but not in all cases), whether they were sexually assaulted, and there are many killers. Some killings could be husband or boyfriend, even famiy related. There are not just a few killers involved and they are not all serial killers.

Some can even be out of state killings and dumped in Tx. Others can be killers traveling around and other victims in many locations. Some ex-cons could kill in the area and leave the state. In that case, other victims would show up in other states. That would account for the UID's not being identified in Tx.



jmo