Hobbs arrested for stalking, soliciting homicide, held on $5 million bail
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POLSON — Dennis Jay Hobbs, 56 of Polson, was arrested May 19 for allegedly stalking a woman and attempting to hire someone to kill her. He was also charged with distributing an interview recorded between the victim and the defense attorney.
Bail was set for $5 million.
In district court on May 21, Hobbs pleaded not guilty to three felony counts: solicitation, deliberate homicide; stalking; and tampering with witnesses and informants. An omnibus hearing is set for June 18 and a jury trial is set to begin August 18.
According to court documents, Hobbs was previously arrested in August 2013 and charged with two counts of sexual intercourse without consent and one count of assault with a weapon. He was ordered to have no contact with the victim.
The victim received an order of protection prohibiting Hobbs from harassing, annoying, disturbing the peace of, telephoning, emailing, contacting or otherwise communicating directly with the victim.
After Hobb’s father posted $100,000 bail, the victim reported that Hobbs was driving by her residence, sending her flowers, making hang-up phone calls, and communicating with her and her daughter through Facebook. The victim told authorities that she was having nightmares where Hobbs kills her, which was making her afraid to testify at the upcoming trial, first set for January then rescheduled for June 6.
According to court documents, a man reported that his sister had been with Hobbs when Hobbs attempted contact with the victim through Facebook, drove by the victim’s house, and when he bought her flowers. Hobbs approached the sister’s son in the fall of 2013, hoping the son could find someone who would kill the victim, but the son refused to find someone for Hobbs. Payment would be a detailed map to an isolated residence filled with guns, coins and other expensive items that the killer could help himself to.
Court documents say Hobbs pestered the son through the winter and into spring. Hobbs was emphatic about not going back to prison, and said he would get a gun and do the job himself if he had to, according to court documents. Hobbs also thought to just have the victim kidnapped and taken somewhere isolated so he could make her suffer.
After his arrest, in court documents Hobbs admitted in an interview that he had sent out the recording, that he had sent the victim a card on two occasions, and flowers. Hobbs also stated he knew he had to stay “1,500 miles” away from the victim, although the order of protection states 1,500 feet.
According to court documents, Hobbs was also on parole out of Idaho for 2nd degree kidnapping and aggravated battery, both felonies, involving a previous domestic partner. Additionally, Hobbs had been cited and convicted of domestic violence and assault in Ohio in July of 2000.
Between July 1977 and July 2005, Hobbs had also been convicted of a total of 22 felony and misdemeanor offenses in Idaho including burglary, assault, trespassing, grand theft, aggravated assault, battery and two felony kidnapping charges .
