Father arrested in Death of 2nd Graders.

May 10th, 2005, 07:10 PM

A man was arrested on murder charges Tuesday in the Mother's Day stabbings of his 8-year-old daughter and the little girl's best friend, who were killed after they went biking in a park.
Jerry Hobbs, who was recently released from prison, had led police to the bodies just off a wooded bike path early Monday, claiming he spotted them while searching for his daughter, the girl's grandfather, Arthur Hollabaugh, told The Associated Press.
Hobbs, 34, was questioned through the day about the deaths of Laura Hobbs, 8, and Krystal Tobias, 9.
Both girls had been beaten and stabbed repeatedly in the woods and left to die, Lake County Coroner Richard Keller said. He said the girls were found side-by-side and did not appear to have been sexually assaulted.
Lake County State's Attorney Michael Waller said in announcing the charges Tuesday that he could not discuss possible motives for the killings, but prosecutors said more details would come out when Hobbs appears in bond court Wednesday morning.
Authorities said Tuesday that additional charges could be filed, but they did not specify what they might be.
"This horrific crime has terrorized and traumatized the Zion community and I think it's safe to say people of good will everywhere," Waller said.
Hobbs has an extensive criminal history dating back to 1990 in Texas, including prior arrests for assault and resisting arrest, according to state Department of Public Safety records.
Before being released April 12, he had served two years in a Texas prison for chasing neighbors with a chain saw during an argument with Laura's mother, Sheila Hollabaugh, according to Wichita County, Texas, Assistant District Attorney Rick Mahler.
No one was hurt in the 2001 incident, and someone subdued Hobbs by hitting him in the back with a shovel, Mahler said. Hobbs was sentenced to 10 years of probation but failed to appear for required meetings, so his probation was revoked in 2003 and he was imprisoned.
Hobbs had been living with the Hollabaughs after his release, Arthur Hollabaugh said. He said he worried authorities might be trying to railroad Hobbs in their search for the girls' killer.
"Jerry just got out of prison for aggravated assault, and I think they're holding that against him," Hollabaugh said. "I don't think he did it."
Hollabaugh said authorities confiscated clothes and a computer from the house.
He described the search for his missing granddaughter and said the two men were in the woods shortly before dawn Monday when they spotted Laura's bike part way down a ravine in the brush.
Minutes later, he said, Hobbs was screaming that he had found the bodies.
"I went and I seen them from a distance," Hollabaugh said. "It was clear they were laying there."

**imported_elp6n** · May 11th, 2005, 04:32 PM

WAUKEGAN, Illinois (CNN) -- An ex-convict accused of killing his daughter and one of her playmates has admitted to stabbing the girls to death in the suburban Illinois community of Zion, authorities said Wednesday.

Jerry Hobbs, 34, was charged Wednesday with two counts of first-degree murder and denied bond, Lake County State's Attorney Michael Waller said.

Hobbs' 8-year-old daughter, Laura, and her 9-year-old classmate, Krystal Tobias, were found dead Monday, a day after disappearing while riding their bikes in a park in the town about 40 miles north of Chicago.

According to Assistant Lake County State's Attorney Jeffrey Pavletic, Hobbs told investigators that he went to the park to bring his daughter home.

In his statement, Hobbs said that after an argument ensued, he punched his daughter and her friend, then stabbed them, Pavletic said.

Laura was stabbed 20 times, including once in each eye, and Krystal was stabbed 11 times, he said.

Pavletic said Hobbs told investigators that Krystal tried to defend his daughter with a 4- to 6-inch knife and that he took it away from her during the fight and stabbed them.

Waller said he will make a decision on whether to seek the death penalty within the next 60 days.

Hobbs' next scheduled appearance in court is June 9 for a preliminary hearing.

On Wednesday morning, Waller told CNN the killings were among the worst he has ever seen.

"I think what you had is a person who is unlike the rest of us, and he can't control his rage and something set him off, and it was resulting in one of the most brutal, vicious attacks on two little girls that I've ever seen," he said.

"It's so horrendous and fortunately so outside the realm of normal human activity." Suspect had criminal record

Zion, population 23,000, had three reported homicides in 2002 and none in 2003, the last year for which police issued an annual report.

Hobbs was released from prison in Texas in April after serving nearly two years for violating probation for an assault charge he had pleaded guilty to in 2002, said Rick Mahler, an assistant district attorney in Wichita Falls, Texas.

The assault charge stemmed from a 2001 altercation with Laura's mother, Sheila Hollabaugh, Mahler said.

"He started chasing people around with a chainsaw that was running," he said. "Somebody hit him with a shovel, knocked him down. Those people held him until the police arrived."

Hobbs was arrested in 2003 after failing to show up for visits with his probation officer and skipping anger management classes. He was sentenced to two years in prison on the probation violation.

He also had served time in county jails on a variety of misdemeanor charges, ranging from assault to possession of marijuana and resisting arrest, Mahler said.

CNN's Jonathan Freed, Chris Lawrence and Keith Oppenheim contributed to this report.

May 11th, 2005, 07:50 PM

i heard he stabbed one of them in the eyes!!!!!!JEEBUS

**imported_juggernaut28** · May 11th, 2005, 08:33 PM

This man(father) has no heart or love for even his own child. I don't care what kind of a life we go through growing up, how can someone hurt,kill their own child? This is something I'll never understand. This cold blooded murderer is yet to face his own pain and suffering and I wouldn't want to be in his shoes.