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

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2469268,zion-girls-killings-dna-puzzle-070610.article

July 7, 2010

By DAN ROZEK Staff Reporter / [e-mail]

DNA found on one of two young Zion girls murdered in 2005 has been linked to a man jailed outside of Illinois — not to the father charged in Lake County with fatally stabbing his daughter and her friend.

The new DNA match disclosed Tuesday by Lake County prosecutors is prompting a complete review of the murder charges pending against Jerry Hobbs III for the Mother’s Day stabbings of his 8-year-old daughter, Laura, and her friend, 9-year-old Krystal Tobias. snip

Jerry Hobbs — who had been released from a Texas prison less than a month earlier after serving time for threatening neighbors with a chain saw — discovered their bodies a day later in nearby Beulah Park.

Hobbs was charged with the killings following a 20-hour police interrogation in which he gave written and videotaped statements admitting he fatally stabbed the youngsters, authorities said.

No DNA evidence connecting him to the killings was found.

[Chulanowa]

1. In other words, he was coerced into a guilty plea

Thanks to the fact that while you have the right to legal representation, you often have no ability to exercise that right.

[trotsky]

2. Texas, huh?

Chief Wiggum: "Yeah, right. No jury in the world would convict a baby. Hmm....maybe Texas."

[NNN0LHI]

3. Chicago suburb is where this happened

[karynnj]

6. No, Zion is an Illinois town on Lake Michigan, northwest of Chicago

There's a nice little nature perserve and beach there.

[xchrom]

4. So then exactly what happened in the interrogation

Process?

Will there be an investigation of that?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. It is news in the DC-area newspapers too.

Arlington rape suspect's DNA linked to slayings of 2 Illinois girls in 2005

By Tom Jackman and Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, July 9, 2010

An ex-Marine from Illinois who is charged in Arlington County in a kidnapping and rape in February is now the chief suspect in the 2005 slayings of two young girls from his home town, sources familiar with the investigation said Thursday.

The father of one of the girls has been in jail for five years awaiting trial in both killings. Prosecutors in Lake County, Ill., are seeking the death penalty for Jerry B. Hobbs, 39, in the case, even though his DNA does not match semen found at the crime scene.

Arlington assault suspect linked to Illinois murders

By: Emily Babay
Examiner Staff Writer
July 9, 2010

An ex-Marine accused of rape in Arlington has been linked through his DNA to the murder of two Chicago-area girls, a crime for which one of the girls' father has spent the past five years in jail.

Jorge "George" Torrez's DNA reportedly matched evidence found on the body of 8-year-old Laura Hobbs, who, with 9-year-old playmate Krystal Tobias, was found beaten and stabbed to death in a Zion, Ill., park in May 2005.

Denman Rucker, Torrez's attorney, told The Washington Examiner that Arlington prosecutors notified him about the DNA link. Rucker said he couldn't confirm the DNA match because he hadn't seen the tests.
....

Jerry Hobbs, Laura's father, was charged with murder shortly after the slayings, based on a confession he later said was coerced. He has been in custody awaiting trial for the past five years, even though semen found on Laura didn't match his DNA.

The father has been in jail awaiting trial for five years? What about the Sixth Amendment?

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.