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Tulsa Jury Convicts Joshua Anderson of Murdering Rose Mary Hobbs and Her Son, Then Burning Their Home

Anderson, 21, received life without parole for one killing and life for the other. He still faced charges in two more Tulsa murders.

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Illustration of an empty defense table with a legal pad, pens and a glass of water in a sunlit courtroom. Not an actual scene from the case.

In February 2007, Rose Mary Hobbs, 69, and her son Herbert Hobbs, 51, were shot at his home on North Quaker Avenue in Tulsa, and the house was set on fire. On October 23, 2008, a Tulsa County jury convicted Joshua Julius Anderson, 21, of both murders and of first-degree arson.

The jury gave Anderson life without parole for Rose Mary Hobbs's murder, life for Herbert Hobbs's murder and 25 years for the arson. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty, citing evidence that he was intellectually disabled. Detective Vic Regalado testified that Anderson denied any involvement until he was shown a video of his brother blaming him, and then admitted the killings. The defense argued that no fingerprints, DNA, murder weapon or other physical evidence linked him to the crime. "I ain't never going to see daylight again," Anderson said in a recorded phone call from jail.

At the time of the verdict, Anderson also faced murder charges in the deaths of Christopher Moderow, who was found shot in a Tulsa street in January 2007, and Evaristo Tovias Jr., who was found shot in November 2006. On December 8, 2008, he pleaded guilty to both of those murders and received further life terms.

The Associated Press reported that Anderson said on a recorded confession that he set the house on fire, while the Tulsa World reported that he told police his brother poured the gas.

Sources