Parole denied for man convicted of 1979 murder in Mill Creek Park
Parole for a man convicted of killing a 20-year-old woman in Mill Creek Park in 1979 has been denied during an Ohio Parole Board hearing Wednesday.
According to a press release from the Mahoning County Prosecutor's Office, David Jacobs is serving a 15-year to life sentence for the aggravated murder, rape, kidnapping, and aggravated robbery of 20-year-old Helene Elaine Poullas in June of 1979.
An autopsy conducted in 1979 revealed the cause of death to be two gunshot wounds. One to the head, and another to the right thigh.
Police investigation revealed that Poullas went to a local bar on June 2 of 1979 and began to feel ill, so she decided to rest in her car. About a half hour later, her friends found both her and the car to be missing.
Police say both Jacobs and his friend, Charles Teague, who was also recently denied parole were in the neighborhood to steal a car. They got into Poullas's car, pulled a gun on her, and drove to Mill Creek Park where they both sexually assaulted and killed her.
Both Jacobs and Teague say they recall Poullas begging the two of them not to kill her.
Jacobs was 17 years old at the time of the murder, meaning current Ohio law requires the Parole Board to convene a hearing.
At the hearing, the board voted 7-1 in favor of denying Jacobs parole citing the "aggravating facts and circumstances that surrounded Ms. Poullas's rape and murder, as well as the community support that was outlined by her family members that spoke on her behalf."