http://www.badcopnews.com/2008/06/09/informant-who-accused-police-of-steroid-use-turns-up-dead-in-dallas-texas/
Informant Who Accused Police Of Steroid Use Turns Up Dead In Dallas
Texas
<http://www.badcopnews.com/2008/06/09/informant-who-accused-police-of-steroid-use-turns-up-dead-in-dallas-texas/>
Posted by Admin <http://www.badcopnews.com/author/admin/> Published in
TEXAS <http://www.badcopnews.com/category/texas/>
*DALLAS, TEXAS - *Amanda Jo Earhart-Savell stuck with convicted steroids
trafficker David Jacobs when no one else would. It may have gotten her
killed.
Police found the bodies of Ms. Earhart-Savell, 30, a professional
fitness competitor, and Mr. Jacobs, 35, a former amateur bodybuilder,
shot to death inside his home on Honey Creek Lane in Plano on Thursday
morning.
Police received a missing-person call shortly after midnight Wednesday
from Ms. Earhart-Savell's family, said Plano police spokesman Rick
McDonald. The family said that they had not heard from her and that she
might be at Mr. Jacobs' house.
Autopsies by the Dallas County medical examiner's office are pending.
Investigators would not say if it was a murder-suicide, but people who
knew the pair say Mr. Jacobs was jealous and possessive of Ms.
Earhart-Savell, a fitness magazine cover girl described by friends as
bubbly, attractive and outgoing. Mr. Jacobs had previously told The
Dallas Morning News that their almost yearlong relationship was marked
by at least two breakups and reconciliations, centered on allegations of
cheating on both sides.
"He was by all accounts a controlling person," said John Romano, senior
editor for Muscular Development magazine who knew Mr. Jacobs. "Close
friends told her to stay away from him."
When Mr. Jacobs' role as ringleader of one of the largest steroids
networks in the U.S. made headlines in November, she publicly stood by
him. And paid a price, both said in blog entries.
In February, she was not invited to the Arnold Classic, one of the
world's most prestigious events of its kind. Bodybuilding enthusiasts
decried the move online, saying it was because of her connection to Mr.
Jacobs.
"She took second in the Arnold Classic last year and wasn't invited back
this year. That's an incredible hypocrisy," said Mr. Romano, who
believes steroids use is rampant in the bodybuilding community. "The guy
who does the steroids can compete, but the person who dates the steroids
dealer can't."
Mr. Jacobs drew criticism among online bloggers for recently sitting
down with NFL investigators and giving them names of players to whom he
said he sold performance-enhancing drugs, including ex-Cowboys lineman
Matt Lehr. Mr. Jacobs also supplied the league with canceled checks,
e-mails, text messages and other evidence, saying he wanted to "clean
up" the sport.
Mr. Lehr's attorney has called Mr. Jacobs' information unreliable and
said his client would not be indicted. Federal investigators will only
say that their investigation continues.
Mr. Jacobs also said he sold steroids and growth hormone to other NFL
players, but never named them publicly.
On the Web site for his now-defunct nutrition store in Plano, Mr. Jacobs
described himself as a trainer who "offers guidance to many top athletes
across the United States," including "Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons
football players."
After his arrest, Mr. Jacobs freely told investigators about his Chinese
connections for raw steroid powder, which he imported and used to cook
steroids. One of his top middlemen sold about $30,000 a month of the drugs.
NFL investigation
Mr. Jacobs maintained until his death that federal authorities already
had names of middlemen and NFL players as a result of their two-year
investigation into his network. He said he confirmed names, but he did
not willingly give up any names.
One of the areas of interest to the NFL was Mr. Jacobs' allegation that
players use a hair-loss-prevention drug that can also act as a masking
agent for steroid use.
He said that in 2006, Mr. Lehr used such a medication, and Mr. Jacobs
said federal investigators confiscated a bottle of that medicine given
to Mr. Jacobs by Mr. Lehr.
The label bore an NFL team logo, along with Mr. Lehr's name, Mr. Jacobs
said.
The use of finasteride, sold under the trade names Propecia and Proscar,
has been reviewed by the National Football League, but has not been
banned. It is prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which oversees
international competition such as the Olympics.
It's unclear what the league will do with Mr. Jacobs' revelations.
"We are reviewing the information to determine if there is documented
evidence establishing any violations of our program and will follow up
on any other information that is provided," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello
said Thursday. "It is premature to comment on any specific player at
this time."
He said anyone found to have violated league policies would be
disciplined. He also said Mr. Jacobs was never paid for his assistance.
Looking forward
The Dallas Morning News spoke to Mr. Jacobs frequently and exchanged
e-mails with him as recently as last weekend. He was interested in
getting on with his life after accepting a plea deal for three years of
probation on charges related to his steroids trafficking.
Mr. Jacobs said he wanted to rebuild his nutritional supplement
business, but was having trouble getting his old client base to work
with him. He also was having financial problems, but the former Marine
seemed to be in good spirits.
On May 21, he said he was moving forward with plans to speak to school
students about the risks of steroids use. "They are being scheduled now,
everyone is really supportive!" he wrote in an e-mail.
A few weeks ago, attempting to turn things around after his legal
troubles ended, Mr. Jacobs was thrilled at the positive response to an
online audio interview he gave. "God I really do need to write a book ..."
Reached at his home near Atlanta, Mr. Jacobs' father, David Arthur
Jacobs, said he feared something bad would happen to his son in the wake
of his steroids case.
"I've been waiting on this call," he said. "Any time you are involved
with what he was involved in, there's a fear factor that someone will be
so upset that they will do bodily harm."
He added that police did not tell him what they think happened.
Mr. Jacobs' father said he didn't talk to his son about his
relationships, but in text messages he traded with him this week, he
said nothing sounded amiss.
"He didn't sound suicidal," his father said. "He's a good kid, a smart
kid, but he made some bad choices."
Art Atwood, a nationally noted bodybuilder and former close friend of
Mr. Jacobs, is himself awaiting sentencing on charges related to
steroids trafficking. He said Thursday that such stresses and pressures
are "a recipe for disaster."
He described Mr. Jacobs as a passionate man. "Whatever he did it was 100
percent. Full blaze on."
He said that after he and Mr. Jacobs were busted for making and selling
steroids a year ago, he avoided Mr. Jacobs, as did most people in the
close-knit bodybuilding community. He said he regrets that.
"I forgave him," Mr. Atwood said. "I didn't think anything bad about
David. But everyone just kind of disowned him. The first thing you think
is what you could have done to prevent this. If I was a better person, I
would have answered his phone calls."
Mr. Atwood said he believes that Mr. Jacobs' being publicly branded a
criminal, losing his supplement business, having all his money go toward
legal bills and his rocky relationship with Ms. Earhart-Savell was just
too much pressure.
"If it is a murder-suicide, there was a whole bunch of things going on:
anger, jealousy. It's a cocktail, an intensity, an obsession. It's a
whole bunch of emotions packed into one act. If you put all the wrong
emotions together, that's how something like this happens."
He said the couple met shortly after Mr. Jacobs was arrested in spring
2007. Mr. Atwood ran across Mr. Jacobs at a bodybuilding show and saw
his former friend and business partner beaming about his nascent
relationship.
"They had only been going out four weeks, and he had her name tattooed
on his left wrist," Mr. Atwood said. "It's in Chinese. He said that 'if
we ever break up, I'll just say it means honor, respect,' something like
that. When I saw that, I thought, 'Whoa, she's in for a ride.'
"He was talking about having children with her. I didn't think Amanda
would give up her career to date him and start a family, just like that.
It didn't seem to add up right."
Mr. Jacobs and Ms. Earhart-Savell frequently blogged on bodybuilding
sites and peppered their MySpace pages with notes and quotes. His
MySpace profile features some lyrics from rapper 50 Cent's "Many Men
(Wish Death)":
"Sunny days wouldn't be special, if it wasn't for rain. Joy wouldn't
feel good if it wasn't for pain. Death has to be easy 'cause life is
hard. It will leave you physically mentally and emotionally scarred."
Appeared Here
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