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Authorities: Illinois Father Admits Killings (for breaking curfew)
Associated Press ^ | May 11, 2005 | Nicole Ziegler Dizon

Posted on 05/11/2005 10:21:39 AM PDT by AntiGuv

WAUKEGAN, Ill. - 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, authorities 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.

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.

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Hobbs was sentenced to 10 years probation but failed to appear for required meetings, so his probation was revoked in 2003.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

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.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: girls; psycho; zion
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To: reagan_fanatic

What? You mean that he is not already dead yet.


81 posted on 05/11/2005 1:48:18 PM PDT by chiefqc
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To: The_Victor

his defense might include being stoked on crystal meth. That passes for a defense these days....poor doper didn't know what he was doing, please give him a break. Barf!


82 posted on 05/11/2005 2:27:45 PM PDT by Veto! (Opinions Freely Dispensed as Advice)
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To: AntiGuv
...he was angry at the girl for breaking curfew

what a pile that is... he was probably molesting them, they ran and he stabbed them so they wouldn't tell. He must fry.

83 posted on 05/11/2005 4:47:11 PM PDT by BigFinn
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To: Pessimist

What you said. Now we're supposed to feel sorry for her. I can't.


84 posted on 05/11/2005 8:52:31 PM PDT by SoVaDPJ
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To: WENDON
Friggin' mother of the year candidate.

Some poor little kids don't have any chance in this world.

85 posted on 05/11/2005 9:12:30 PM PDT by beaversmom
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To: beaversmom
The town of Zion was looking for the boogeyman, some monster.
Well, the children were fed to this monster by the mother.
The killer has the ultimate responsibility for his actions, but the mother should be held somewhat accountable.
It's true, some children don't have a chance in the world. The people who should have protected them FAILED them.
One bullet. Back of the head.
Cheap solution.
86 posted on 05/12/2005 6:06:22 AM PDT by WENDON
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To: ArmyTeach
"You would not want to find yourself face to face with him on a dark night."

With all due respect ArmyTeach, I highly doubt that. This is the type of guy who shrinks at the thought of having to confront those who aren't physically weak. He is a coward unless facing a child or a very weak woman.

87 posted on 05/12/2005 6:22:17 AM PDT by subterfuge (*Wherever a baby needs killin', we'll be there----the ACLU*)
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To: ambrose

Try making sense.


88 posted on 05/12/2005 6:26:17 AM PDT by Zechariah11
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To: spectre
Jerry Hobbs said that Krystal pulled out a knife (4 to 6 inches long) in self defnse after he pummeled his own daughter to the ground.

I thought I heard a snippet of this info on the tube. My goodness... the sick maniac is claiming self-defense?!

89 posted on 05/12/2005 6:30:03 AM PDT by Types_with_Fist (I'm on FReep so often that when I read an article at another site I scroll down for the comments.)
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To: Obadiah

I agree, supernatural help was needed, it's beyond even our fallen nature.


90 posted on 05/12/2005 7:10:45 AM PDT by freedomson (Tagline comment removed by moderator)
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To: All

>>Prosecutors are calling the killings "a slaughter." Laura Hobbs was stabbed 20 times and Krystal Tobias was stabbed 11 times, they said.(CNN.COM)<<

Self defense? I hear that second graders can be pretty vicious.


91 posted on 05/12/2005 7:24:48 AM PDT by WENDON
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