Wellington school braces for grief over slain twins

Friends said Jacobson, once a successful mortgage broker from New Jersey, had become increasingly despondent after failed business dealings and his father's 2007 death.

His wife, Franki Jacobson, 53, was once equally successful, recalled Rena Lefkowitz, her high school classmate in New York City's Queens borough. The two ran track together and then headed for college in the city. Franki studied finance and went on to become a successful broker, Lefkowitz said.

Franki Jacobson

Then Franki got married, and the couple spent a long time trying to conceive, she said.

Franki had taken on a new challenge recently: writing. In November, she published a children's book co-authored with one of her sisters.

"This was something she enjoyed," Lefkowitz said. "She was doing something she could do at home. She wanted it to expand to a series."

If the couple were in financial straits, Lefkowitz is certain Franki would have helped to pull them through.

"She wasn't one to marry a guy for money. She did well on her own," she said. As for Neal Jacobson, "I didn't know him that well. I liked him. He was sweet. Ambitious. Driven."

Jacobson remained in Delray Medical Center on Sunday night, receiving treatment for injuries from the wreck, Palm Beach County sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera said. He told a nurse that he had swallowed 10 Xanax anti-anxiety tablets in hopes of killing himself, according to the arrest affidavit.

(Edit:Ruby)