Amanda Jo Savell and David Jacobs found dead in Plano home

Both Mr. Jacobs and Ms. Savell had suffered nasty recriminations at the hands of the bodybuilding and fitness communities in recent months, as many former friends turned their backs on them both.  As one of the top stars in the IFBB figure world, Amanda was most noticeably denied an invitation to the 2008 Ms. Figure International at the Arnold Classic, the second most important show after the Olympia, after finishing as runner-up in 2007.

In an ironic twist, the story of their deaths was broken this morning within the bodybuilding community by one of the news sites (and its proprietor) that had most visibly distanced itself from Amanda, a former friend. 

Art Atwood, a nationally noted bodybuilder and former close friend of Mr. Jacobs, is himself awaiting sentencing on charges related to steroids trafficking. He said Thursday such stresses and pressures are “a recipe for disaster.”

He described Mr. Jacobs as a passionate man. “Whatever he did it was 100 percent. Full blaze on.”

His attorney, Hank Hockeimer, said early Thursday he had not yet been briefed on the situation at the home.

On May 21, Mr. Jacobs met with NFL security officials to share information about steroids use and their football players.

Mr. Jacobs has publicly accused ex-Dallas Cowboys lineman Matt Lehr of buying large quantities of banned substances, but has never for the record named other football players who received the steroids he manufactured.

Mr. Hockeimer said this of the meeting at the time:

“The general topic was his knowledge of steroid and human growth hormone use by current and former players. They were thorough in their questioning. David provided them with documents corroborating what he was telling them.”

Mr. Hockeimer would not say which players were discussed. But he said Mr. Jacobs provided documentary evidence of claims he was making.

At the time of Mr. Jacobs’ alleged transactions with Mr. Lehr, the football player was playing for the Atlanta Falcons. He is now signed with the New Orleans Saints.

Mr. Lehr’s attorney, Paul Coggins, has said prosecutors have informed him that Mr. Lehr will not be indicted in the Jacobs case.

Federal agents had been investigating Mr. Lehr for alleged distribution to other players, but have not commented on his status, other than to say the case is ongoing.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello at the time declined to comment on the meeting between Mr. Jacobs and league officials. He did say that the league was not paying Mr. Jacobs for his information.

Outside the Sherman federal courthouse, having just been sentenced on May 1, Mr. Jacobs said that he wanted to share his knowledge of testing loopholes and the prevalence of performance enhancing-drug use with the NFL to “clean up” the game.

Mr. Jacobs imported raw powder from China and made steroids, which he sold through a network that investigators believe could be one of the largest in the United States.  His six co-defendants were either personal trainers or amateur bodybuilders.

Sources:  Dallas Morning News, Plano Star Courier, Associated Press