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Man Admits To Killing Girlfriend’s Adopted Daughter In Rape Fantasy, Then Storing Her Dismembered Body In Cat Litter
Grace Parker's adoptive mother, Sara Packer, allegedly watched her boyfriend Jacob Sullivan beat and rape her before they left her to die in the attic. When she was found still alive the next day, Sullivan strangled her.
A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty on Tuesday in the rape, murder and dismemberment of a 14-year-old girl whom he killed during a rape fantasy he shared with the girl's adoptive mother.
Jacob Sullivan, 46, pleaded guilty to all charges in the 2016 death of Grace Packer. A jury outside Philadelphia will decide on a sentence of either life in prison or death.
Grace’s adoptive mother, Sara Packer, 44, is expected to testify against Sullivan during the penalty phase of his trial. Packer has agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence, according to her attorney, Keith Williams.
Sullivan was Sara’s boyfriend.
Prosecutors have said that Sara Packer, a former foster parent and county adoptions supervisor, watched Sullivan act out a rape-murder fantasy they both shared.
Sara Packer and Sullivan “conspired to beat, rape, poison and ultimately strangle the teen,” the Bucks County District Attorney stated in a press release from 2017.
After Sullivan raped Grace, Sara Packer gave her drugs to minimize her pain before leaving her bound and gagged and dying alone in an attic. Returning the next day and finding Grace was still alive, Sullivan strangled her, court documents said. The couple stored her body in cat litter for months, then hacked it up and dumped it in a remote area where hunters found it in October 2016, police have said.
Meanwhile, just days after the murder, Sara Packer claimed that her daughter must have run away.
Sullivan’s plea hearing was interrupted Tuesday afternoon after he fell ill and was taken to a hospital. The hearing is scheduled to resume Wednesday.
Grace’s death raised questions about whether child welfare agencies could have done more to protect her. Packer and her husband at the time, David Packer, cared for dozens of foster children before David was arrested in 2010 and sent to prison for sexually assaulting Grace and a 15-year-old foster daughter at their home in Allentown, about an hour north of Philadelphia. She lost her job as a Northampton County adoptions supervisor in 2010 and was barred from taking in any more foster children.
The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services launched an investigation after Grace Packer’s murder but its findings have not been made public.
The victim lived with Sara since she was 3.
Sullivan, whose attorney had said Sara Packer masterminded the killing, entered his plea as jury selection was about to get underway. Packer’s trial was expected to begin next month.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
