A
Houston man who used his job as an armed security guard to hunt women in remote
east Harris County – including shackling and hog-tying at least one – has
pleaded guilty to two murders, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg
announced Monday.
On
the eve of trial, Steven Hobbs, 51, pleaded to the reduced charge of murder
from capital murder in the death of Sara Sanford and to murder in the death of
Patricia Pyatt.
The
agreement ensures that Hobbs is not only convicted, but locked away for what
will likely be the remainder of his life.
“This
defendant terrified and brutalized the women he attacked, but now families will
be spared enduring a trial and he will be locked away until he is nearly 100
years old,” Ogg said. “He avoided being sent from county jail to state
prison as long as he could, but with this sentence justice has been served and
Steven Hobbs will never again set foot in Harris County.”
In
2002, Hobbs beat and strangled Pyatt before dumping her body in the San Jacinto
River; in the same area in 2010, he handcuffed Sanford’s arms and legs, then
joined them together with another set of cuffs before shooting her in the head.
He
has been jailed since his arrest in 2011, making him the longest-serving inmate
of the Harris County Jail. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Hobbs gets
credit for the 10 years he has already been jailed. He will serve 20 years more
for the first murder, then 30 for the second, making him eligible for parole at
101 years old.
During
an earlier hearing, prosecutors Sara Seely and Jennifer Meriwether said Hobbs
had applied for a job with a small local police department before his arrest
and that several women who were attacked but survived were on their list of
witnesses to be called to testify during the trial.
“This
is finally closure for all the families and the victims,” Meriwether said. “I
think that’s important so that we can move our resources on to other cases and
keep working to remove the case backlog. But most of all, this is for the
victims.”
The
case was investigated by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and Pasadena Police
Department, with assistance from the Secret Service.
Suzanne Garofalo
Communications Division, Harris County District Attorney’s
Office
500 Jefferson St., Suite 600
Houston, TX 77002
