Justice runs afoul for Dad

As of today, a DNA sample taken from the remains of the little girl killed along with a friend in a grizzly double-murder has essentially cleared the man accused of the crime; her father.

DNA doesn't match dad in 2 Zion girls' 2005 killings

A DNA sample found on one of two young Zion girls murdered in 2005 has been linked to someone other than the man charged with the killings, Lake County prosecutors said today.

The DNA match comes a few months before 39-year-old Jerry Hobbs III is scheduled to stand trial for the May 8, 2005, stabbing deaths of his daughter, Laura, 8, and her 9-year-old friend, Krystal Tobias.

Two girls were found badly beaten and bludgeoned to death at a park in the town of Zion, IL. The father, John Hobbs, discovered the bodies and led police to the remains of the girls. The authorities found it odd that the father knew where the girls were. In light of that, he was immediately arrested and interrogated for almost a complete day.

After a long and what must have been a grueling interrogation, the father confessed to the murders. Hobbs already had other convictions and had done time in a Texas Prison.

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

www.amw.com...

The murders took place in 2005 and Hobbs was released from prison two years earlier. It seems rather likely, police would use his prior criminal history against him. In other words, the man was no saint and had a violent disposition. Then they must of had a lot of pressure to get anyone behind bars as soon as possible considering the brutality of the murders and their young ages. Zion is a small town and murders of the kind exhibited in 2005 never happen. Needless to say, something like that most assuredly took the town's people by storm.

In the case of this DNA discovery clearing Hobb's name, it once again reflects poorly on law enforcement. Throughout the investigation there has been no physical evidence linking the accused to the crime. Therefore, it seems more than likely, a confession was coerced by the authorities? Hobbs remains in custody at this point, but this revelation is damning for the prosecution. Crime is out of control around the country and law enforcement seems to be out of control in dealing with it. This is not an isolated instance in Illinois, and most likely the country. Around this time another Illinois father was cleared of killing his daughter by DNA evidence as well. However that is not the whole story. Severe lapses of judgment and misconduct took place by law enforcement during the investigation.

In June of 2004, the body of 3-year-old Riley Fox was pulled from a creek near her home in Will County. As police attempted to build a case against Riley's father, evidence that could have helped them find the real killer was right under their noses.

Scott Eby, a jailed sex offender who allegedly confessed to Riley's murder last month, left a pair of mud-covered shoes at Forked Creek, where he allegedly raped and killed Fox, NBC Chicago reports.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

These type of the crimes tear at the soul, and are the most gruesome of all. Innocence is destroyed, and the defenseless exploited. However, law enforcement has got to cover all bases in any investigation as well as attorneys in the prosecution. A conviction for the sake of a conviction is meaningless when an innocent person is doing the time for another. It also gives the person of true guilt time to stage a getaway or the opportunity to partake in more chaos, bedlam, and murder. What happened to the simple premise of innocent until proven guilty? Perhaps, the crucial element of American law has received word reversal?

That is some messed up stuff. I saw a special once a family that had a young daughter murdered and the young brother wrongfully confessed. The special really shows with footage from the case how the cops can just completely break you down to a point where you will say anything. It took a long time and a lot of talking but they eventually got the kid to believe he did it. He even says on some of the tapes "I dont remember doing I guess I must have." and "I don't remember doing it but if you say I did then I guess I did."

People usually jump all over the 'well why confess if you are innocent.' I wish I knew the name of it, they show it on courtTV or MSNBC once in a while.

It definitely breaks your heart to think that people can be so broken down as to admit to killing a loved one even when they did not do it because they have been pushed so far off the mental table.

Of course, I am sure if I were one of the cops, looking at his past and all I probably would have thought it was him as well. I just like to think I would not be capable of being the type of person to push someone to wrongfully confess to something so horrible.

reply to post by evil incarnate


I watched a similar show on Discovery, I think the name was Science of Interrogation although I'm not sure. It had 3-4 cases it went over, all were guilty of their crimes and it showed the various methods police use to get information from a suspect.

The last case however centered on young guy being questioned for the murder of a 15 year old girl. He after hours of interrogation finally admitted to killing the girl.

There was only one problem, he was in Brazil at the time. He only confessed because he was so mentally broken down by the interrogation, he just wanted it to end.

Here's a link to that case....

Suspect Confesses To Murder He Didn't Commit

[edit on 7/6/2010 by ThaLoccster]

The part where the dad confessed after a 20-HOUR POLICE INTERROGATION is what gets me. Twenty hours? Seriously, what is wrong with people? I'm not saying that all law enforcement fit this sick profile, but my faith in police has seriously declined, there have been WAY too many cases where the confessions are literally put into the accused's mouth by the cops to fit their own agendas. It's disgusting.

Just one more reason I don't trust law enforcement.

Ive viewed cops as murder-harborers* because of things like this. For some reason, they jsut wanna mke thier quota, make some headline news perhaps, incarcerate an innocent person, while the murderer is sitting at home smilling at all this. makes ne wonder if the cops are in on it too*

Yet another fine example of where public outcry and/or need to convict "someone" ultimately results in either false prosecution or wrongful imprisonment of an otherwise innocent individual.

Not an every day occurrence, mind you, but even 1 is too many, in my opinion.

ANY rush to "justice" would seem more a failed effort by the "system" tasked with such, as well as a rather disingenuous bastardization of "innocent until Proven guilty"

A mere day, months or years behind bars, for a crime they didn't actually commit .... would seem more cruel and unusual punishment than even the death penalty.

Why do innocent people confess?

Much the same as how many a thread here on the boards gain multiple-page status prior to being Fact Checked, by a given member or set thereof.

The facts Ma'am ... just the facts

Originally posted by ThaLoccster
reply to post by evil incarnate

 

I watched a similar show on Discovery, I think the name was Science of Interrogation although I'm not sure. It had 3-4 cases it went over, all were guilty of their crimes and it showed the various methods police use to get information from a suspect.

The last case however centered on young guy being questioned for the murder of a 15 year old girl. He after hours of interrogation finally admitted to killing the girl.

There was only one problem, he was in Brazil at the time. He only confessed because he was so mentally broken down by the interrogation, he just wanted it to end.

Here's a link to that case....

Suspect Confesses To Murder He Didn't Commit

[edit on 7/6/2010 by ThaLoccster]

That sounds pretty interesting. I am going to have to look for it but if you can remember the exact name, shoot me a message. The one I saw, it gets repeated often, was just about this one family. Perhaps they used that in the one you saw, I would imagine it is a popular example in an unpopular topic. It just struck me because it was such a young kid they made confess but this really intrigues me. I am not sure I would have any less sympathy for an adult who just suffered such a loss. To boot, this dad made the grizzly discover. I am sure that messed with his head. Murder scenes are hard to handle when you do not love or know the person involved for most of us.

I agree with the people that say this must be about being quick or meeting a quota and the fact that it does allow a real killer to continue on for the sake of brevity or public image is pretty scary.

Found it, you got the title exact. Thanks, I am going to download it now.

[edit on 7/7/10 by evil incarnate]

My brother is a lawyer..very successful i may add. His advice to me when being questioned by police is to just say no. No matter if you are being questioned as a witness or a suspect...you personally wouldn't know the difference.

They want a blood test for a dui. Say no. They want to field test you ..say no.

Wait for your attorney!

You may be the next one selected for a crime solved...Just say no.

My advice is to keep your selected attorney's card in your wallet.
Pay the general retainer of 100.00 this equates to an insurance card. A lot of the BS that cops try and spew is stopped short once they are given your attorney's business card.

btw my brother defends cops in administrative and criminal hearings.

Stories like this are why I don't support the death penalty. You just never know.

reply to post by evil incarnate


It is shocking and it seems to happen a lot. Still, these police officers have certain rules and parameters to follow when gathering information from a witness or suspect. No matter how heinous or vile a crime may be an individual is entitled to their rights. To bad this father and the other in the Riley Fox case had to spend time behind bars.

It is odd for people to confess and cooperate when they are entitled to “Miranda Rights.” As soon as they slap the cuffs on someone, they have to give that person a notice of their rights. However, in an informal interview setting police can do what ever they wish. Changing tempo of the interview, long and drawn out breaks between questioning, making the interview last forever causing frustration and fatigue in the person being question, exploiting the seriousness of the crime while preying on emotions, and other devious techniques to arouse suspicions in someone’s innocence.

In the case of Hobbs, he was a convicted felon and spent time behind bars in Texas. I am certain police used that component of his past to their advantage to obtain his confession. Threatening him with the death penalty and a lifetime behind bars. To them, Hobbs was a perfect suspect in bringing the case to closure and putting the townspeople at ease. However, as it was said, no physical evidence tying him to the crime was ever found. That alone is a red flag. They did not follow-up or corroborate on his confession. He was certainly coerced in giving that confession, and the law enforcement officers who conducted it ought to be reprimanded as well as the prosecutor. Now through the act of cutting corners and turning a innocent man’s life upside down it is going to cost taxpayers millions in a lawsuit. Even more grim, the man truly responsible was allowed to run free unopposed by police. The DNA match is to a person in custody in Virginia on unrelated crimes.

June 25, the DNA from the crime scene found a match in the national DNA data bank, Lake County prosecutors said this week. The match is to a DNA sample taken from Jorge "George" Torrez, a 21-year-old ex-Marine who was stationed at Fort Myer until his arrest in Arlington in February, law enforcement sources said.

www.washingtonpost.com...

reply to post by Replikant


Twenty-hours is a heck of a long time to question someone. Incidents like this one only makes the police look bad and feeds resentment among the people. At the very least, what happened to corroborating someone’s statement to definitively prove or disprove the truth or falsehood of a suspect or witness statement? Perhaps the police had outside pressures on them to solve this crime as quickly as possible? Still, that is no excuse and they have rules they must abide by. The father seems to have been railroaded from the start of all this? He ought to sue for as much as he can get. No physical evidence and they charge someone with a double-murder? Talk about cutting corners and forgetting to dot the I’s and crossing the T’s. Just another travesty of justice.

reply to post by 12m8keall2c


Very good points,12m8keall2c! This is a fine example as to why the mob should never be allowed to determine a person’s innocence or guilt. It boils down to the police doing the right thing and having a little integrity for their jobs. Who cares what the townspeople are saying, what is in the press, and about the subtle threats by their supervisors and the prosecutors office.

I would rather be fired, but at least have my self respect. These police put an innocent man behind bars and may have very well received the death penalty for this crime. How can they look at themselves in the mirror everyday after putting an innocent man away? That is something I having a difficult time grasping. Thank goodness they got this one right, and the true suspect was found before this father was put away for life or given the death penalty. In agreement with you,
and as you say:

The facts Ma'am ... just the facts

reply to post by awakentired


Your brother is correct and people should demand their “Miranda Rights.” Then at the very least tell the police point blank, “Am I under arrest, if not; I have nothing more to say.” With that they may arrest a person on suspicion. If so, that when one should ask to see an attorney immediately. The police probably used Hobb’s criminal past against him. That is what it sounds like to me. Still, he is innocent until proven guilty. If the police had followed that simple precept they could have avoided this insult on the public’s trust for law enforcement. Your brother is correct, and as far as Mr. Hobb’s and Riley Fox’s father’s predicament; it is definitely sound legal advice!

reply to post by Skid Mark


Yes, this why the death penalty ought to be used as sparingly as possible. Who knows how many have went to their deaths in the penal system for improper police procedures? The numbers are probably staggering?