By Myra Thrift
Waycross Journal-Herald
Staff Writer
WAYCROSS — Testifying to lavish spending, family discord and vicious threats on the part of their mother, Betty Jacobs, who eventually killed their father, Dr. Davis Jacobs, with a bullet to the chest, two of the couple’s sons, Davis Jacobs Jr. and Scott Jacobs, said that the fatal shooting should have come as a surprise to no one.
Both men testified Tuesday about their parents’ battles — instigated by their mother — as they were growing up and after they reached adulthood.
Betty Jacobs is on trial for the Aug. 23, 2007 shooting death of her former husband, Dr. Davis Jacobs, at his Lister Street eye clinic office.
She is charged with malice murder, felony murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
The trial entered its third day this morning.
Both of the sons testified Tuesday about a childhood visit to the Jacobs farm in Brantley County where their father was staying. They said their mother put them in the car, a gray Mercury Cougar, and drove out Central Avenue to the farm where they found a steel gate that was locked.
Both said she backed up, got a running start and slammed through the gate, then rammed the car into the mobile home.
“She stepped out of the car with a gun,” said Davis Jacobs Jr. “Dad went back inside and slammed the door. Mama laughed, thought it funny that she scared him and made him run.”
The sons also testified that their mother constantly accused their father of dalliances with “other women” and that he admitted to having one affair.
“She accused him of nurses at the hospital, of people at stores, but he would deny it. If someone smiled at him, she accused him,” Jacobs Jr. said.
“Was that the dominant theme of the arguments?” District Attorney Rick Currie asked.
“Ninety-five percent women,” Jacobs Jr. answered.
“Was she demanding?” Currie asked.
“Not with most things. She watched after us,” said Jacobs Jr. “She taught us to stand up for ourselves. I remember coming home crying because a little girl kept stealing my toys. She told me ‘don't let a girl steal your toys. You gotta be strong. Be strong like my family, not weak like your father's family.’ She called Daddy's family cowards, weak.”
He also testified she intimidated the women who worked in Dr. Jacobs' office and caused a constant turnover among the staff.
He said his mother had him arrested once because she thought he threatened to kill her.
During his testimony, at that point, Jacobs Jr. looked squarely at his mother and asked, “As many times as you have threatened to kill him, how could you say that about me?”
Turning to Currie he said, “She said she was going to kill him, then take his guts and put them on his parents’ doorsteps while they were still alive.”
Scott Jacobs later testified to that threat and, adding that she once threatened to kill their father and “... put his guts on his parents' graves.”
The weekend prior to the fatal shooting, Jacobs Jr. said his parents visited him and his family in Atlanta and stayed in a motel together.
“They sat side-by-side and shared a bowl of clam chowder, spent the weekend at the motel, they were fine,” he said. “After they ate, she asked him to take her to the motel and then he came back and watched a Braves game with me.”
During cross examination, defense attorney John Thigpen asked why his father remarried her after their first divorce, which was in 1977.
“I asked him that he said he didn't know, he couldn't understand,” Jacobs Jr. said.
Thigpen asked if he knew of his father ever hitting his mother and he answered he had not.
Jacobs Jr., however, caused his mother’s shoulder to be injured severely enough to require surgery seven years ago, ensuing testimony bore out.
Thigpen asked Jacobs Jr. about the incident in February 2002 in Brantley County and he admitted that he was arrested for disorderly conduct and family violence for fighting with his mother. He acknowledged that he posted $272 to get out of jail. He said he didn't speak to his mother for a year after that.
“Didn't she have to have surgery on her shoulder for that injury?” Thigpen asked.
“Yes,” Jacobs Jr. said.
“After your father died, didn't you go to his house and get his guns? Why?” Thigpen asked.
“He had been killed by a gun,” Jacobs Jr. said.
Thigpen brought up a woman, specifying her by name, and asked the eldest Jacobs Jr. how long his father's affair with her lasted.
“How many years?” Thigpen asked.
“Years,” Jacobs Jr. said.
“Quite a few years,” Thigpen said.
Thigpen then pointed out that Jacobs Jr. and his brother, Scott Jacobs, had filed a lawsuit against their mother in November 2007, several weeks after the shooting, asking for $5 million for the life of their father, $1 million for pain and suffering, $5 million for punitive damages, any funds embezzled by their mother, her house in Woodstock (which she bought after their second divorce), attorney fees and insurance.
“You want $11 million from your mother?” Thigpen asked.
“I want everything she's got,” Jacobs Jr. said.
“Did you take her jewelry from her house?” Thigpen asked.
“Yes,” Jacobs Jr. said. “You got it back.”
“After we filed a lawsuit against you,” Thigpen said.
On the condition that Betty Jacobs is convicted, the boys will receive another half million dollars, Thigpen said.
“If this jury finds your mother guilty, you get more money, right?” Thigpen asked.
“Yes,” Jacobs Jr. said.
“Your brother Jeff took her Corvette and we made him bring it back, didn't he?” Thigpen asked.
“Yes,” Jacobs Jr. said.
“And we made you bring the jewelry back?” Thigpen asked.
“Yes,” Jacobs Jr. said. “We had legal advice to file the suit. This killer's defenders are getting paid by money he made.”
