[Banfield:] We brought you the story the other day an unbelievable development we`ve got in a brutal rape and killing and dismemberment of a 14-year-old girl named Grace Packer. Jacob Sullivan, the boyfriend of Grace`s adoptive mom, Sara Packer, admitted to the authorities what their roles were in that brutal homicide. And it includes binding and gagging Grace in a hot attic of their Quakertown home and then Sullivan allegedly raped Grace in front of his mom, willingly, by the way, before suffocating that girl.
[Matthew Weintraub, District Atrorney, Bucks County, Pa:] She was punched and then she was tied up, hog tied and sexually molested. She was raped. The defendant also prior to this committed an involuntary deviant sexual intercourse on her.
[Banfield:] Did I mention that that rape was performed in the presence of her mother and that her mother watched? The mother, Sara Packer. That same mother who reported her little girl Grace missing a few days after all of this carnage, after she was last seen at a family picnic. While police were closing in, those two, Sullivan and Packer, stored this little girl`s body in cat litter because that apparently hides the smell. And they did so allegedly for months. They eventually dismembered her allegedly and buried her in the woods. But then hunters found Grace`s pieces on Halloween. And buckle up, now comes word that Sullivan and Packer, brave as they are, really decided they`d like the easy way out after Grace`s death. A suicide pact, but it didn`t work. Solomon Jones is the morning show host on WURD radio in Philadelphia. Where are they now, those two?
[Solomon Jones, Wurd Radio Host:] So they are in custody in connection with this brutal crime. Really a crime they had planned for a year before they even embarked on this scheme. Just a horrible, horrible thing. The whole Philadelphia area really in shock over this.
[Banfield:] And all of it apparently just fessed up to by Jacob on his sick bed in hospital once the suicide failed?
[Jones:] Yes, absolutely. So, apparently during the overnight hours in Abington Hospital, which is right outside Philadelphia, he confessed to hospital workers and hospital workers believe he also confessed to family members. They saw them in an emotional scene together during the night. And then the next day he also confessed to police, just giving them hard details on how this whole thing came about. As you alluded to, the mother watched and apparently was in on it, was aroused by it. It`s sickening to really think about, but then after that, he comes back. They both come back, 3:00 in the morning, expecting her to be dead and he chokes the life out of her in a very physical, very time consuming painstaking assault that took longer, he told the police, than he thought it would.
[Banfield:] Oh, dear God. Chief deputy Jennifer Schorn is with the Bucks County District Attorney`s office as she joins me live from Doylestown, Pennsylvania. I can only assume Ms Schorn that you have probably not seen a whole lot of cases this foul, grizzly, unbelievable. You can add in other descriptor that you want there. Is this a death penalty case?
[Jeenifer Schorn, Chief Deputy, Bucks Countt, Pa:] Yes, you`re actually right Ashleigh. This case is unimaginable. I mean, the physical beating that Grace endured and then the sexual attack, the bondage, poisoning for hours and then ultimately was asphyxiated, and we know at least it lasted for approximately 15 hours so, on its face, yes. The fact that this was a premeditated murder and the fact leading up -
[Banfield:] How do you know that?
[Schorn:] We know that the evidence that we will present in court will clearly show that this was premeditated. And ultimately we certify a case in this jurisdiction by formal arraignment as a capital case if it`s appropriate. And I can assure you this case is appropriate.
[Banfield:] I know you can`t yes, I know you can`t tip your hand up, but I was so curious when I saw that the planning had been upwards of a year for the rape and murder of this woman`s own daughter at the hands of her boyfriend. That`s very specific thing to say, a planning for a year. What evidence shows that?
[Schorn:] I can`t speak to the specific evidence at this juncture. It will be evident in court, however. Grace was unwanted, I mean that`s a simple fact. And then there was clearly sexual deviance that was at play here, but it was clear she was unwanted.
[Banfield:] So, there was something that was wanted Ms Schorn and that was her government assistance, and as I understand the allegations continue that this couple continued to pull her government assistance while her corpse was rotting. Will they be charged with that as well?
[Schorn:] Yes, in fact they will. We know that Grace and her biological younger brother were the beneficiaries of social security income and obviously Sara Packer was she was the recipient of those funds and that those funds were to be spent for the children`s well-being. And so yes, obviously, they will be charged with that aspect as well of the case in the very near future.
[Banfield:] Jennifer Schorn, I wish you all the best in 2017 specifically as you mount the case against these two, Sara Packer and Jacob Sullivan, and thank you for your time tonight. I hope we can meet under different circumstances ma`am.
[Schorn:] Thank you Ashleigh. I greatly appreciate it. You take care.
[Banfield:] You too. The super max unit of a Chicago area jail turns into the scene of a melee. It is not a place you would want to be. Even the worst of the worst who end up in there don`t want to be there now.