A Pennsylvania judge wore disdain on the sleeve of her robe this week when she sentenced an adoptive mother to life behind bars in connection with the rape and murder of 14-year-old Grace Packer.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Bucks County Judge Diane E. Gibbons declared the “use of the word ‘mother'” out of Sara Packer’s mouth “is a profanity.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, the same judge took a similarly harsh tone earlier in the week when sentencing Packer’s boyfriend to death for his role in the gruesome crime.
“You have no soul,” she said from the bench. “I have never said that to another human being in my life, and I hope to not say it again, so I expect to say something similar to Sara Packer.”
During their trial, prosecutors argued that the couple kidnapped Grace Parker in July 2016 before sexually assaulting her and leaving her in an attic to die. Upon finding her still alive, Sullivan choked her to death and they kept her body for a period of time immersed in cat litter before chopping up her remains and dumping them in a wooded area.
Court records indicate the death penalty was not on the table for Sara Packer, who was not an direct participant in the murder and reportedly came to an agreement with prosecutors in 2017. Nevertheless, Gibbons dismissed the defense claim that Sullivan was controlling and took the lead in the brutal attack.
“Evil attracts evil, and in Jacob Sullivan you found one of your own,” she said. “This is what happens when two evil people with the same evil intentions get together.”
The judge went on to assert that Parker treated her adopted daughter as a “source of income” through monthly government checks.
She said there is “no cure” for Packer’s evil, telling the court that this case and its young victim will stay with her for the rest of her life.
