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Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty In Grace Packer Murder Trial

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Bucks County prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against the man and woman accused of murdering a 14-year-old adopted child, dismembering her body, and dumping it in Luzerne county.

Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub says prosecutors have filed paperwork stating they will seek the death penalty against both Jacob Sullivan and Sara Packer, the duo accused of killing adopted child, 14-year-old Grace Packer.

"Quite simply, this is a first degree intentional killing and the aggravators make it all the more heinous, so it will be up to a judge or a jury if they should live or if they should die," said Weintraub.

He says prosecutors will push to have Packer and Sullivan tried together.

Bucks County judge Diane Gibbons set what she refered to as a FIRM trial date of March 26th, 2018.

Grace Packer's remains were found in the woods in Luzerne county in October. Her adoptive mother Sara Packer and Jacob Sullivan are charged with her murder, Sullivan is also charged with her rape.
According to investigators, the pair hid her body in an attic in Quakertown, disposing of it when police started asking questions.

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