Attorney: DNA match should mean release of double-murder suspect

High-profile attorney Kathleen Zellner is now working from the sidelines on the case of a Zion man who's been held in the Lake County jail since 2005 on charges he killed his daughter and another girl.

Zellner, who helped free Kevin Fox after he spent eight months in jail on charges he killed his daughter in Wilmington, sat in a Lake County circuit court gallery Wednesday to observe a hearing for Jerry Hobbs III. She recently was hired to represent Hobbs' family.

Lake County prosecutors say the DNA profile of another man in custody outside of Illinois has been matched to semen found on the body and clothing of Laura Hobbs, 8. Zellner contends that's enough to warrant Jerry Hobbs' immediate release from jail.

At the brief hearing Wednesday before Lake County Circuit Judge Fred Foreman, Assistant Public Defender Keith Grant filed a motion to release Hobbs from the jail on a recognizance bond, citing the DNA pointing to the other man.

However, Foreman granted Lake County Deputy State's Attorney Jeff Pavletic's request to continue the bond hearing to Aug. 4. Without elaborating, Pavletic said "new evidence" is being tested in a crime laboratory and investigators are working the case.

"We're actively following up every conceivable lead based on this information," he said.

Pavletic and Assistant State's Attorney Michael Mermel, who are prosecuting Hobbs, were unavailable for comment after their court appearance. Grant declined to discuss the case outside of court.

Zellner said she's representing Hobbs' mother, JoAnn Hobbs, and his stepfather, Patrick Smith, of Wichita Falls, Texas. Zellner said she's reviewing the Hobbs case on the possibility a lawsuit will be pursued.

"He's remaining incarcerated, even though DNA clears him and it implicates someone else," Zellner said. "So, it's a highly unusual situation. And it's highly unusual for someone to be locked up for five years without a trial. So that's what we're investigating."

Authorities should free Hobbs now and then look for the girls' real killer based on the DNA evidence linked to the other man, Zellner said. She said that's what was done for Fox in Will County.

"This is better DNA in this case than there was in Fox," she said after court Wednesday.

Fox was charged after confessing to killing his 3-year-old daughter, Riley, in Wilmington in June 2004. He was released from jail eight months later after DNA evidence excluded him as a suspect in the crime.

Scott Wayne Eby was linked through DNA to Riley's killing and charged with five counts of first-degree murder and predatory criminal sexual assault in May.

Lake County authorities said Laura Hobbs and Krystal Tobias, 9, were stabbed to death May 8, 2005, in a Zion park and Jerry Hobbs found the bodies the next day. Prosecutors said he confessed to the killings and was charged with murdering the girls.

Although Zellner is working for Hobbs' family, the public attorneys are still representing him in the criminal proceedings.

Zellner said there are many similarities between the Hobbs and Fox cases. She said JoAnn Hobbs was expected to visit her son in the Lake County jail Wednesday.

In December 2007, Fox and his wife, Melissa, were awarded $8 million by a federal jury in their lawsuit against the Will County detectives who arrested him in the death penalty case.