Man pleads innocent to killing pregnant girlfriend, dumping her body in Columbia River
Richard Jacobson pleaded innocent Friday to killing his pregnant girlfriend and hiding her body in the Columbia River.
A group of Brandy Ebanez’s friends and family sat in the benches behind him wearing shirts that said “Ohana Forever” with a picture of Ebanez.
Jacobson sat quietly in the courtroom and looked either at Judge Diana Ruff or down at the table as he appeared in Benton County Superior Court for the first time in six months. His trial is set for May 22.
Jacobson was brought back to Benton County from Multnomah County, Oregon on Thursday and booked into the jail. He had been fighting against being returned to Washington since his September arrest.
While court records list his name as Jacobsen, his attorney at the hearing Eric Scott said his name is spelled Jacobson.
He is facing charges stemming from three cases, two tied to Ebanez’s death — one for second-degree murder and the other for violating a protection order. The third case was for violating a protection order before she went missing.
Prosecutors added a series of aggravating factors to the murder including that Ebanez was pregnant, that he showed a lack of remorse and for committing domestic violence in front of a child.
An off-duty Kennewick police officer found Ebanez’s body while fishing just east of the cable bridge on Sept. 27. She was naked, wrapped in black plastic sheeting and weighed down by landscaping rocks.
The 34-year-old mother of two also was 16 to 20 weeks pregnant at the time she died.
Deputy Prosecutor Joshua Lilly asked for a total of $2.2 million in bail — $1 million for each of the newer cases and $250,000 for the case that he had been released on about two weeks before Ebanez disappeared.
“While out of custody ... he committed the crimes that you just arraigned him for, which are very serious offenses,” Lilly said as he asked for the bail to be increased in the older case. “He fled to the state of Oregon and he went through the entire extradition process including procuring a governor’s warrant.”
He also had an outstanding warrant from Oregon, Lilly said. He said that the community would not be safe if Jacobson was released.
Ruff also approved protection orders that will keep Jacobson away from his two children with Ebanez. They are currently in the care of Ebanez’s mother.
Scott didn’t argue for a lower bail at the hearing.
Previous assault reports
Friends have said Ebanez was in an abusive relationship with Jacobson, and that he cut her off from contacting friends.
Court documents show that apartment complex neighbors reported hearing the couple arguing frequently.
Earlier in April, Ebanez called police after he grabbed her by the hair, pulled her off the bed and strangled her until she passed out, according to court documents.
A month later, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a month in jail, which he had already served, and to undergo mental health treatment.
The judge ordered him to stay 500 feet away from the apartment he shared with Ebanez and their girls, who were 12 and 9 at the time.
But on Sept. 5, police found him at the apartment after allegedly attacking a neighbor. He was charged with assault and violating a protection order.
He was eventually allowed to be released on Sept. 9.
Court documents don’t detail when Jacobson returned to the apartment or what day he is suspected of killing her.
Ebanez’s disappearance
Their daughters told police they came home from school to hear their parents arguing loudly in the bedroom. The date of the incident is unclear.
Jacobson was seen on a security camera at Home Depot on Sept. 21 buying trash bags, duct tape and planter wall bricks. The bricks reportedly matched the ones tied to Ebanez’s body.
A trace of his daughter’s cellphone showed it at Columbia Park between 4:50 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Sept. 22.
The next morning, he packed up the girls and they drove to Oregon to stay with a relative.
He was arrested while driving her green Honda Civic in Portland two days after her body was discovered.
Inside they found a glove that tested positive for blood, as well as small pieces of brick in the trunk, said court documents.
