Father Admits to Killings, Authorities Say

Jerry Branton Hobbs III, accused of killing his 8-year-old daughter and her second-grade classmate as they played in a park over the weekend, said he punched and stabbed the girls a total of 31 times because his daughter refused to come home with him, prosecutors said Wednesday.

During a hearing at the Lake County Courthouse, prosecutors said the 34-year-old man had admitted in videotaped and oral statements to the killings of Laura Hobbs and her best friend, 9-year-old Krystal Tobias.

Hobbs said he sought the girls out in a wooded area of Beulah Park in Zion, Ill., on Mother’s Day when Laura was late returning home, prosecutors said.

When she refused to leave, he reportedly told investigators, he punched her at least twice in the face. Hobbs said he punched Krystal when she came to her friend’s aid, prosecutors added, and he claimed that he took a small knife away from her.

Then, Hobbs said, he stabbed and killed the girls, prosecutors said.

“Laura had 20 stab wounds. Nine were in the neck,” said Jeffrey J. Pavletic, chief deputy for the Lake County state’s attorney. “She was stabbed once in each eye.”

He said one thrust to the child’s neck was so forceful that the knife went into her spine.

Pavletic said Hobbs stabbed Krystal 11 times. The wounds were mostly around her neck and upper body.

Prosecutors said they did not know whether the children were conscious when they were killed.

Investigators were still searching for the weapon Wednesday. Michael J. Waller, Lake County state’s attorney, said he did not think Krystal was carrying a weapon -- described by Hobbs as a “potato knife” with a 4- to 6-inch blade.

“This guy’s 6-foot-1 and these are 8- and 9-year-old girls,” Waller said at a news conference after the hearing. “This man has a terrible problem controlling himself. This is about rage.”

Hobbs, who has a lengthy criminal record, was released from a Texas prison last month after serving two years for domestic assault. The officer who responded to the 2001 incident said he saw Hobbs chase several people with a chain saw.

Wearing a blue jailhouse jumpsuit and restrained by ankle and wrist shackles, Hobbs clenched his hands together and stared at the ground while prosecutors outlined their case Wednesday. His eyes grew teary as guards helped him shuffle in and out of the courtroom.

“My heart goes out to the family, friends and loved ones of these two little girls,” said Lake County Public Defender David Brodsky, whose office was assigned the case.

Judge Victoria L. Martin denied Hobbs bail.

Prosecutors said they had not decided whether to seek the death penalty. Hobbs’ next court date is June 9.

Hobbs came to Zion, a community of 23,000 people about an hour north of Chicago, in an effort to reconcile with his daughter and her mother, Sheila Hollabaugh. Neighbors said they often heard fighting coming from the home.

“Laura’s family didn’t like him being around,” said Maggie Grobelch, 61, a friend of the Hobbs and Tobias families. “Laura’s older sister told me yesterday that he whapped on her mom a couple of times.”

Laura and Krystal disappeared Sunday evening. Hobbs joined family members throughout the night, combing the park and neighborhood.

Before dawn Monday, he was walking along a bike path that cut through Beulah Park. He dashed into the underbrush and came out crying. He shouted that he had found the bodies, authorities said.

The girls, their faces battered and covered in blood, were lying side by side. They were clothed, except for their feet; their shoes had been placed next to each body. They did not appear to have been sexually assaulted, authorities said.

When investigators interviewed Hobbs on Monday, he told them he could not bear to get closer than 20 feet to the bodies.

But police grew suspicious when Hobbs “described the wounds in detail, details he couldn’t have known unless he’d been much closer,” Waller said.

Prosecutors said Hobbs told them that he was upset with Hollabaugh for being too lenient with their daughter after she took $40 from her purse.

Hollabaugh reportedly had grounded Laura. But on Mother’s Day, she let Laura invite Krystal over to play.

The two girls, who lived about a block apart, shared a bicycle to ride around the neighborhood. One would pedal while the other perched on the handlebars or stood on the foot pegs. About 3 p.m., the two headed toward the park.

Some time between 4:30 and 7 p.m., Hobbs followed them, authorities said.

For several days, the community has grieved with the girls’ families, who declined to comment Wednesday.

Neighbors who had gathered for candlelight vigils at both homes Tuesday night were shocked by Hobbs’ reported confession.

“Why did [Hollabaugh] let him back into the house? Why didn’t the police know that someone with such a vicious history was in our town?” asked neighbor Mamie McNutt, 47. “If he’d never come, those two little girls would be alive today.”