Texas Rangers: Man sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1988 cold case murder

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — A conviction is now secured after the 1988 murder of Patricia Ann Howell Jacobs in Jefferson County.

It comes more than 30 years after Jacobs’ body was found in the Neches River in Port Arthur. Investigators say she had last been seen at a nightclub in Silsbee. A few weeks later, police say her driver’s license and other personal items were found under a bridge near Kountze.

Daniel Andrew MacGinnis became a suspect in the murder case, but there was not enough evidence for charges.

Fast forward to 2018: Jacobs’ family reached out to the Texas Rangers Unsolved Crimes Investigation Program (UCIP), and it was decided the case would be re-opened. This time, more advanced technology analyzed clothing and other items that were sent to the Houston DPS Crime Lab for retesting. New DNA evidence entered into the Combined DNA Indexing System (CODIS) turned up a “hit” on MacGinnis.

Detectives interviewed MacGinnis and then arrested him after the DNA evidence was confirmed.

After being charged with Jacobs’ murder, MacGinnis pleaded guilty in court and he will now spend 20 years in prison.

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