×

DA: Remains found in storage unit those of Lyco woman killed in 2003

WILLIAMSPORT — Human remains found in a Philadelphia storage facility a year ago have been confirmed through DNA testing to be those of a woman killed in 2003 in Montoursville.

It had been presumed they were those of Brenda Lee Jacobs because of her accused killer’s confession, Lycoming County First Assistant District Attorney Martin Wade said Wednesday.

Jade G. Babcock, 50, had told investigators he killed Jacobs on Dec. 26, 2003, in Montoursville and took the remains with him when he moved to Philadelphia in April 2019.

A fingernail taken from the remains matched DNA profiles taken from Jacobs’ sister and father, Wade said. There is only one dead person with that relationship, he said.

The conclusion reached by the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification was the remains are 540,000 times or more likely to be those of Jacobs, he said.

Chief Public Defender Nicole J. Spring, who is defending Babcock, amended her omnibus pretrial motion to reflect the identification of the remains.

The Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death was a homicide caused by homicidal violence including blunt impact injury of head, Wade said.

The autopsy findings included dismembered lower extremities and incisions in extremities consistent with attempted dismemberment, he said.

There has yet to be confirmation of a pair of mummified legs found 75 yards apart at the edge of the Susquehanna River at Williamsport on May 11, 2019, are those of Jacobs, Wade said.

The legs, which were cleanly cut near the knee joints, and the upper remains are in the custody of Dennis Dirkmaat, a forensic anthropologist at Mercyhurst University.

“It seems pretty clear they are her [Jacobs] legs,” said Dirkmaat, who determined soon after they were found they belonged to an adult female.

A comparison of the leg and upper body bone cuts can be made quickly but he said his team will produce an anthropological report on the entire remains.

“We have not collected samples from the legs that are suitable for a DNA comparison,” Wade said. “Depending on the results of Dirkmaat’s examination, DNA testing of the legs could possibly be pursued in the future.”

Trooper Joel Follmer at last October’s preliminary hearing when Babcock was held for court on homicide and other charges gave this summary of his confession:

Jacobs and he were drinking heavily around the holidays in 2003, they argued over losing their jobs and being unable to buy gifts for children.

He hit her several times, she fell to the floor and did not get up. He never called 911. When the body got cold he wrapped it in a comforter and placed it in a living room closet.

A few months later when it got warmer he moved the body to a coal bin in a barn at the rear of the property where it remained until the house was sold on Nov. 18, 2018.

He tried to fit the remains in a wooden box his father used when ice fishing but it did not fit so he cut off the legs with a bow saw.

He moved the legless remains to a storage unit in Williamsport where they stayed until April 2019 when he and his then-girlfriend moved to Philadelphia using a rental truck.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $3.69/week.

Subscribe Today