Prosecutors will seek death penalty against Wellington father accused of shooting wife, twin sons
Prosecutors said today they'll seek the death penalty against Neal M. Jacobson, the failed mortgage broker who confessed to shooting his wife and 7-year-old twin sons to death last month at their Wellington home.
A grand jury today formally indicted Jacobson, 49, on three counts of first degree murder with a firearm in the Jan. 24 deaths of wife Franki and sons Eric and Joshua, the Palm Beach County State Attorney said today.
Arraignment is set for 8:30 a.m. Feb. 22.
Authorities have said that, after killing his family — on a day the boys were to celebrate their birthdays — Jacobson crashed his GMC sport utility vehicle at U.S. 441 and West Atlantic Avenue west of Delray Beach.
According to an affidavit, Jacobson confessed to paramedics at the scene, telling them, "I went off the deep end."
He also told a nurse he had swallowed 10 Xanax anti-anxiety tablets in hopes of killing himself.
Jacobson was bloody and was carrying a .38 caliber revolver and extra ammunition, the affidavit said.
Authorities found the three lifeless bodies in their expansive one-story home in the gated Isles neighborhood.
Friends said later Jacobson had left New Jersey and moved to Florida to care for his ailing father, who died in 2007, and had grown increasingly despondent when businesses ventures failed.
At Jacobson's initial appearance on Jan. 26, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Krista Marx ruled he earned too much and should get a private attorney.
But on Feb. 2, Circuit Judge Stephen Rapp ruled Jacobson did qualify for a public defender.
Jacobson listed less than $900,000 in assets and some $2.3 million in liabilities and debts.
He initially had said he had $600,000 that he could liquidate within hours.
But Public Defender Carey Haughwout wrote that any of Jacobson's possible assets are marital assets which belong to the estate of his wife.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime/prosecutors-will-seek-death-penalty-against-wellington-father-229430.html?cxtype=ynews_rss
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