April 13--A 27-year-old former University of Chicago student who used a butcher knife to stab his sleeping roommate last month also bit off the roommate's ear, police and prosecutors said Sunday.
Ross Jacobs, of the 5400 block of South Hyde Park Boulevard, who officials say has bipolar disorder, was charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery and was wanted on a warrant, according to police.
Jacobs, who prosecutors said is a former graduate student at the Hyde Park school, was ordered held without bail in bond court Sunday afternoon.
Jacobs was armed with a butcher knife when he repeatedly stabbed his roommate during an unprovoked attack as the roommate slept in his bedroom, police said.
Before slicing the victim's hands, torso, face and neck, Jacobs also bit off a portion of the victim's right ear, Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Sarah Karr said in court.
The victim, a 27-year-old visiting scholar at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, has been released from Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was treated after the 3 a.m. March 13 attack, police and prosecutors said.
After the attack, the victim fled to the hallway and pounded on doors, screaming for help, as Jacobs ran from the scene, Karr said.
A neighbor called 911, and responding officers found the victim bleeding profusely, with one ear entirely severed and large cuts all over his body, Karr said.
Doctors were able to reattach the ear after two surgeries, but the victim suffered tendon damage to his fingers that will potentially result in a complete loss of sensation. He also needed 25 staples to close one of the wounds on his neck, Karr said.
Neighbors notified Jacobs' father, who shares a bank account with his son, of the incident, and authorities found that after the attack, Jacobs had used his ATM card on the Far South Side of Chicago, in Memphis, Tenn., and in Dallas, prosecutors said.
Jacobs was extradited from Dallas after authorities found him there March 15 and was hospitalized. An arrest warrant was issued, and Jacobs was placed in Chicago police custody on April 11, according to Karr.
According to Jacobs' defense attorney Ronald Menaker, Jacobs is a 2006 graduate of New Trier High School. He is originally from Wilmette, officials said.
Since high school, Jacobs has been treated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and in the fall of 2010, he was "provisionally diagnosed with bipolar disorder,'' after experiencing a psychotic episode, according to a court filing by Menaker asking for "reasonable bail."
After graduating with high honors in 2010 with a bachelor of arts degree in government and legal studies from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, he enrolled in the University of Chicago's master of arts program, according to Menaker.
While pursuing studies, Jacobs authored "numerous papers and public essays'' and lectured on subjects related to political philosophy, according to the filing.
The filing says Jacobs was also the recipient of a scholarship from the Phillips Foundation, a charity committed to affecting lasting change on a global level. In 2012, Jacobs co-founded the Chicago Institute for Western Civilization to encourage teaching of Western traditions and promote politics of co-existence, the filing read.
