Dad blames murderous rage on broken curfew

Woodmonkey · 05-11-2005, 15:04

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Dad blames murderous rage on broken curfew

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Prosecutors: Suspect snapped after finding daughter, friend in park

• Double-murder charges
May 11: The father of one of the two slain girls in Illinois has been charged with their murders. NBC's Mark Potter reports.

The father of an 8-year-old girl who was slain along with her best friend admitted to authorities that he was the killer, saying he was angry at the girl for breaking curfew, prosecutors said Wednesday.

A judge denied bond Wednesday for Jerry Hobbs after prosecutors described a videotaped interview in court in which he allegedly told investigators he stabbed the girls to death.

Hobbs’ 8-year-old daughter, Laura Hobbs, and her friend Krystal Tobias, 9, were found dead Monday in a park in Zion, the day after they vanished.

Released from prison a month ago
The father, who had been released from a Texas prison last month, told investigators he was angry at Laura when he tracked her and Krystal in the wooded park, punched her and then killed both girls, prosecutors said.

Hobbs, shackled and in a dark blue jail uniform, stared at the floor as Assistant Lake County State’s Attorney Jeff Pavletic described the case against him.

Hobbs led police to their bodies Monday morning, claiming then that he found them while searching for his missing daughter. In videotaped interviews, however, prosecutors say Hobbs told them he killed the girls, stabbing his daughter repeatedly in the neck and eyes, after Laura refused to leave the park when he ordered her to go home.

State’s attorney Michael Waller told NBC’s “Today” earlier Wednesday that the father had showed a lack of emotion and that “things didn’t add up” in his interviews with police.

The prosecutor said Hobbs went looking for his daughter and that Krystal “just happened to be there,” before the father killed both girls.

Extensive criminal history
Hobbs has an extensive criminal history dating to 1990 in Texas, including arrests for assault and resisting arrest, according to Texas Department of Public Safety records.

Just last month, he was released from a Texas prison after serving time for an assault in 2001. He had argued with Laura’s mother, Sheila Hollabaugh, then grabbed a chain saw and chased neighbors until someone hit him in the back with a shovel, according to Rick Mahler, assistant district attorney for Wichita County, Texas. No one was injured.

Hobbs was sentenced to 10 years probation but failed to appear for required meetings, so his probation was revoked in 2003.

Arthur Hollabaugh said Hobbs had been living with the Hollabaughs after his release.

“Jerry just got out of prison for aggravated assault, and I think they’re holding that against him,” Hollabaugh said before police announced the charges. “I don’t think he did it.”

Zion, along Lake Michigan, was founded in 1901 by a religious faith healer. It has about 22,000 residents but retains a quiet — at times, rural — feel despite being on the edge of both the Chicago and Milwaukee metropolitan areas.

Memorial in park
At the entrance to Beulah Park, where the bodies were found, more than a dozen children stood quietly around a growing memorial of flowers, balloons and stuffed animals.

One sign read: “May your angels rest peacefully in heaven.”

At a prayer vigil later Tuesday evening, Krystal’s family and about 200 community members gathered outside her home and somberly walked the block and a half to Laura’s house. The slain girls’ families hugged each other and began crying.

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11th/ACR Scout · 05-11-2005, 16:20

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Originally Posted by Woodmonkey

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I live about 1 mile from Beulah Park, and have been on that bike trail through Zion many times... I ask myself why I haven't seen the mother???

KBay84 · 05-11-2005, 16:56

Can you say "death penalty"?!! This is one piece of human refuse that the law abiding populace doesn't need to support with a life in prison term.

KBay84 · 05-11-2005, 16:59

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Originally Posted by 11th/ACR Scout

I ask myself why I haven't seen the mother???

Do you remember when you were young, well, speaking for myself anyways, I'd tell my mom that I was going out for a bike ride, and be gone all day. Or play down the block or at the park, a shame that kids have to have their parents with them every minute because of these sociopathic freaks.

conlor · 05-11-2005, 20:56

The story I read said he was angry because he thought Laura had taken money from her mother. And that he stabbed her in both eyes.

With his temper, I can understand why she refused to go with him. The sick SOB needs to experience 'and eye for an eye'.

kepiblanc · 05-11-2005, 21:16

THE FACE SAYS MUCH ABOUT THE SOUL...

odannyboy · 05-11-2005, 21:41

What a horrible story, this man is a butcher and the lowest form of human being on this earth, he should receive a penalty as gruesome and violent as his crime.