The death of convicted steroids dealer David Jacobs was ruled a suicide today, according to a preliminary report from the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office.
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Story: Steroids dealer David Jacobs' girlfriend's fate tragically sealed
Mr. Jacobs, 35, and his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Amanda Earhart-Savell, 30, a professional fitness competitor, were found shot dead Thursday morning at his Plano home.
The Medical Examiner's initial report shows he died of two self-inflicted gunshot wounds to his stomach and head. The office has not yet determined Ms. Earhart-Savell's cause of death. Their investigation continues.
Plano police also said today they see no conflict of interest in investigating the death of Mr. Jacobs, who publicly accused an officer of stealing from him.
Mr. Jacobs never followed through by filing a formal complaint.
“The Plano Police Department will handle this investigation as we do with all of the others,” Officer Andrae Smith, a Plano police spokesman, said Friday. “The bottom line is there’s no reason to conclude that we shouldn’t investigative this.”
Mr. Jacobs never filed an internal affairs complaint with the department after he claimed an officer swiped $4,500 in cash from his house during an April 2007 raid. Several police agencies, including Plano police and federal agents, were present when the search warrant was executed.
Mr. Jacobs had also said he believed that federal authorities were investigating. But neither federal nor local police agencies have said they are looking into the allegation.
Mr. Jacobs has also said his network had sold steroids to officers in Garland, Richardson, Dallas, Arlington, and Plano, but he had not publicly named names.
Plano police say their investigation into the shootings continues. The department, known for a strict by-the-book approach that minimizes slip-ups in major investigations, has not released many details about the shootings.
“Until the medical examiner makes a ruling on the cause of death, the only thing we’re speaking of is that there were in fact gunshot wounds sustained by both parties,” said Officer Smith. “But we’re not discussing any of the details.”
Several area TV stations have reported that Ms. Earhart-Savell suffered a single gunshot wound, and Mr. Jacobs had two wounds. Police have not confirmed this.
Autopsy results have not yet been released, and police said they could not say whether this was a double murder or a murder-suicide until the medical examiner has ruled.
“Was it a murder-suicide or a homicide? … We don’t want to speculate right now,” said Officer Smith.
An official at the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s office said results of the autopsies may be in by this afternoon, but will be forwarded to the Plano police. The office does not typically publicly comment on cases that are not Dallas County cases.
Police responded to the home after receiving a missing-person call around midnight Wednesday from Ms. Earhart-Savell’s family. The family told police that they had not heard from her and thought that she might be at Mr. Jacobs’ house.
After the bodies were found, Plano police officers wearing masks over their faces were seen entering the house and taking evidence away, some in boxes. Police say they were undercover officers who need to protect their identities because of other work.
People who know the couple say that Mr. Jacobs was jealous and possessive of Ms. Earhart-Savell. Mr. Jacobs had previously told The Dallas Morning News that their nearly yearlong relationship had been marred by allegations of cheating by both of them.
Officer Smith said that the investigation is ongoing, and there are bits and pieces of the case that investigators haven’t shared yet with public information officers. But he added that, to his knowledge, the couple had not threatened each other with harm.
“I don’t have information that leads me to believe that that was a part of this scenario,” said Officer Smith.
In early May, a federal judge sentenced Mr. Jacobs, the one-time ringleader of one of the largest steroids networks in the U.S., to three years of probation for running his international steroids network.
Mr. Jacobs also had recently sat down with NFL investigators and provided 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.
Staff Writer Jason Trahan contributed to this report
