A Montgomery County mother and her boyfriend conspired to beat, rape, poison and ultimately strangled the woman's 14-year-old daughter in what authorities described as a "rape-murder" fantasy.

Sara Packer, left, and Jacob Patrick Sullivan, right. (Courtesy photos)

Charged are Sara Packer, 41, of the 400 block of Tennis Avenue in Abington Township, and Jacob Patrick Sullivan, 44, of Summit Avenue in Horsham.

Each is facing at least 17 charges, including criminal homicide, rape, kidnapping, abuse of a corpse, child endangerment, tampering with evidence and several related conspiracy counts.

Sullivan was arrested Saturday after allegedly telling several workers at Abington Hospital-Jefferson Health he was responsible for killing Grace and that Sara Packer was an accomplice. He later revealed in detail to Bucks County detectives how Grace was assaulted and killed over the course of 18 hours, according to a police affidavit.

Sullivan was arraigned at 12:30 a.m. Sunday before District Judge Michael W. Petrucci, who ordered he be held without bail at the Bucks County jail.

"I'm sorry for what I did," a handcuffed Sullivan told reporters early Sunday as he was led by law enforcement into district court in Newton Borough. "It was wrong."

Packer last month was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and obstruction of justice in relation to her daughter's disappearance. She was held at Montgomery County prison in lieu of $200,000 bail.

Three hours after Sullivan arrest, Packer was charged Sunday in the homicide and arraigned at noon Sunday before Petrucci on all the charges. Petrucci then ordered Packer be held at Montgomery County prison without bail.

"We believe Sara Packer was complicit in her daughter's murder," said Bucks County District's Attorney Matthew D. Weintraub after the arraignment.

Misleading statements



The pair preserved 14-year-old Grace Packer's corpse for weeks in cat litter at an apartment in Richland Township, outside Quakertown, before dismembering the body and dumping it into a remote area in north-central Pennsylvania, Weintraub said.

"Unfortunately, Grace Packer was a disposable child to these people," Weintraub said of the girl who was taken in as a foster child at age 3 -- and later adopted -- by the woman now charged with killing her.

"Who will now speak for Grace Packer? We will," Weintraub said, casting the alleged crimes as a potential death penalty case.

Bucks County detectives said at 6:45 p.m. July 11 Sara Packer walked into the Abington Township Police Department and filed a missing persons report for Grace.

The mother told authorities her daughter was last seen at home around 9:30 p.m. July 8 when they had an argument over the girl going to a friend's home and she was sent to her room. But, Sara Packer couldn't provide a name or address of the friend, authorities said.

As the case evolved, Sara Packer continued to make misleading statements and withheld information from detectives, authorities said.

Packer allegedly claimed the girl took $300 in cash from the home and told police Grace in the past left for "days at a time." The mother also told investigators Grace had "behavioral issues" and didn't act well when she didn't get her way.

Packer told police she would drop off photos of Grace and never did, according to the affidavit of probable cause. Detectives questioned how Packer was an avid user of social media and never mentioned her daughter's disappearance, but would post about having a "migraine headache."

When investigators followed up between Aug. 8 to Sept. 7, they couldn't get in touch with Sara Packer despite numerous attempts. On Sept. 7, a detective responded to the home and found it vacant, court records said.

Grace and her 12-year-old adopted brother, listed by the initials JP in court records, on Aug. 2 were withdrawn from the Abington School District with no forwarding address. A detective on Aug. 24 found JP enrolled in the Quakertown School District but not Grace.

Detectives began interviewing family members of Sara Packer, who were unaware of the girl missing despite Sara Packer telling police that relatives were aware.

Hunters on Oct. 31 eventually found Grace's dismembered remains in a wooded area near a reservoir in Bear Creek, Luzerne County.

Grace Packer (Courtesy photo)

Alleged 'rape-murder fantasy'

Weintraub attributed the motive in the case to a "rape-murder fantasy."

Grace suffered terribly before dying, according to the DA.

The couple initially plotted to kill the teen in the fall of 2015 when she arrived home from staying with a relative in North Carolina. They later carried out the act July 8 in a home on East Cherry Road in Richland Township, Bucks County.

The couple drove the sleepy child in pajamas from her Abington home to a new home in Richland. Upon entering the house, Sullivan struck Grace several times, splitting her lip. The couple then took Grace to the floor, where Packer watched as Sullivan raped the child, according to the affidavit.

Sara Packer then left to buy Tylenol PM and other drugs to sedate Grace, authorities said. They allegedly told the child the drugs "would help minimize pain" from the assaults.

The pair gave Grace an overdose of pills, then bound and gagged her before leaving her to die in a hot attic, authorities said.

Packer and Sullivan then left the house the rest of the day before returning at 3 a.m. July 9 and finding Grace still alive. Sullivan then strangled and suffocated the child until she died, authorities said.

The pair then allegedly packed the body in cat litter to mask the odor and left it in the attic for three months. The body later was dismembered in a bathroom tub at the Richland home and dumped into the wooded area, authorities said.

Authorities said Sara Packer was found on video surveillance footage buying a bow saw and two extra blades at a tractor supply store in Richland Township. A forensic anthropologist examined Grace's body and determined scarring and tool marks on her bones were made by an alternating tooth saw blade similar to a bow saw.

The couple later each tried to take their own lives in a "self-described suicide pact," authorities said.

Sullivan was hospitalized on Dec. 30 when he was found unresponsive from a prescription drug overdose at his Horsham home. Sara Packer was found unresponsive the same day -- also from a drug overdose.

Sullivan allegedly left a suicide note behind to "Babies" and from "Daddy."

"People want to judge and lie and break me down. They have," the note allegedly stated. "They don't care how many lives or laws they break. I know you will always know that we had nothing to to with this no matter what lies they tell."

Both Packer and Sullivan are tentatively scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing Jan. 20 before District Judge Robert C. Roth in Quakertown.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.