Federal court documents unsealed this month in Texarkana and El Dorado, Ark., and a civil lawsuit pending in Ouachita County, Ark., shed light on a case involving the survivor of an oil rig explosion and an allegedly fraudulent will.
Matthew Seth Jacobs was injured during the explosion of a Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, according to court documents used to create the following account. In April 2012, Jacobs received a multi-million dollar settlement related to injuries he suffered in the disaster.
In May 2012, Jacobs used a Century 21 real estate agency in Camden, Ark., to help him purchase a home and several investment properties. It was through the real estate agency that Jacobs became acquainted with Donna Peterson Herring, a real estate agent who assisted in Jacobs' purchase of a home just a few blocks from her own.
Herring allegedly became more involved in Jacobs' life by bringing him into her husband's pest control business, having her then-teenage daughter work at his home as a housekeeper and also having Jacobs' former fiance take photos of the daughter for a 2013 local beauty pageant.
After Jacobs' engagement ended in 2013, Herring allegedly encouraged a romantic relationship between her daughter, Alex Peterson, and Jacobs-despite her daughter being a minor and 16 years younger than Jacobs. Peterson and Jacobs allegedly became engaged sometime in 2014 but never married. According to the civil suit, Jacobs was dating someone else when he died in a car accident Jan. 19, 2015, at age 34. At the time, Peterson was allegedly living in rental property that Jacobs owned in Arkadelphia, Ark., while she attended Henderson University and still had access to Jacobs' home in Camden.
"On the night of the fatal auto wreck, the police report indicated that Matthew was driving on a 'dry,' 'clear,' and 'straight,' road that was only a few minutes from his home," states the complaint in the civil suit filed in Ouachita County by Little Rock lawyer Bruce Tidwell on behalf of the estate.
The police report indicates that Jacobs veered to the left and crossed oncoming traffic before crashing into a tree.
"The police report also indicated that Matthew's vehicle, 'showed no signs of braking prior to impact,'" the civil complaint states.
Following his death, Matthew Jacobs' then 17-year-old son, Jordan Jacobs, and Matthew Jacobs' brother, Lance Reed, allegedly searched his home and gun safe for a last will and testament, but were unable to find one. Matthew Jacobs' estate was allegedly worth nearly $2 million at the time of his death and his son would have been the sole heir had he died without a will.
Donna Herring allegedly claimed to know of a sealed envelope bearing the initials MJ that her husband, Doug Herring, and neighbor, Dennis Davis, reportedly discovered in Matthew Jacobs' gun safe at his Camden home days after it had been searched by Matthew Jacobs' son and brother. Herring met with Matthew Jacobs' brother at her office Jan. 25, 2015, six days after the fatal crash, and told him about the sealed envelope. Herring convinced Reed that the envelope had to be opened in a lawyer's presence.
During the meeting, "Donna Herring offered to involve Reed in a scheme to forge a life insurance policy in the name of the decedent, to which Reed declined," a search warrant affidavit filed in the Texarkana Division of the Western District of Arkansas states.
The envelope contained a last will and testament that gave the bulk of the estate to Peterson and $50,000 to Matthew Jacobs' son. The allegedly fraudulent will, which bore the signatures of Donna Herring's sister, Diane Kinley, and brother-in-law, John Wayne Kinley, as witnesses, named Peterson as executor of the estate even though she was a minor and legally ineligible to serve in such a capacity at the time it was purportedly created. The Kinleys' signatures and Matthew Jacobs' allegedly forged signature were all dated May 13, 2014.
The allegedly phony will identified Peterson as "fiance" and directed that Matthew Jacobs be cremated and the ashes given to Peterson. But Matthew Jacobs had already been buried when the allegedly fake will surfaced.
Because Peterson was ineligible to serve as executor, Matthew Jacobs' brother served as executor of the large estate. In November 2015, Peterson was awarded nearly $1 million in funds as well as real estate and other property, such as boats and ATVs, while Matthew Jacobs' son received $50,000 for his education and a $250,000 disbursement from a life insurance policy.
"On or about March 7, 2016, (Donna) Herring used funds fraudulently derived from the estate to purchase a 2012 Lexus RX350 for her own personal use," according to a criminal indictment charging Herring with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering unsealed Dec. 1 in the El Dorado Division of the Western District of Arkansas.
In April 2016, a lawyer representing Jordan Jacobs contacted the FBI. The lawyer told investigators that the will had actually been created Jan. 24, 2015, five days after Matthew Jacobs' death, by Donna Herring using forms purchased with the Kinley's bank account on FormSwift.com, according to the Texarkana search warrant for Matthew Jacobs' iCloud account. Herring allegedly created the will on a computer at her Century 21 office.
A copy of the fake will faxed Jan. 27, 2015, from Peterson's lawyer's office to Jordan Jacobs allegedly differs from the copy eventually filed with the court in Ouachita County in the following ways: The faxed copy had handwritten page numbers while the court copy had none; the witness signatures were changed to include dates; and, "the signature of the decedent was not the same," according to the search warrant.
Donna Herring, Alex Peterson, Doug Herring, Diane Kinley, John Kinley, Davis and Donna Herring's lawyer were interviewed July 13 by the FBI. During her interview, Donna Herring allegedly admitted to creating the faxed copy and the court copy of the phony will and placing it in the gun safe.
"Furthermore, while the truthfulness of Donna Herring's statements to law enforcement remain in question, Donna Herring claimed to have found and subsequently destroyed descendant's actual last will and testament after his death," the search warrant states.
John Kinley allegedly admitted during his interview that Donna Herring brought the fake will to him and his wife to sign after Matthew Jacobs died.
"Diane Kinley was interviewed by law enforcement and provided statements that are not believed to be truthful," the search warrant states.
Peterson allegedly admitted that she knew her mother had created the phony will and placed it in the gun safe. Peterson was also asked about Matthew Jacobs' iPhone, which went missing after his death.
"Peterson stated that she 'wiped' the SIM card of decedent's iPhone after his death and no longer had the phone," the search warrant states.
Investigators were still searching for a copy of Matthew Jacobs' actual will when they acquired the search warrant for his iCloud account in September. The search warrant notes that Jacobs' life insurance policy indicated that the proceeds of any claim should go to his estate and referenced an actual will.
The civil suit names Donna Herring, Peterson, Doug Herring, John Kinley, Diane Kinley and Davis as defendants. The complaint seeks to freeze the estate assets in Peterson's and other's possession or any funds or property purchased with funds from the estate. The complaint also seeks an award of attorney fees, court costs and punitive damages meant to punish the defendants for allegedly conspiring to fraudulently deprive Matthew Jacobs' rightful heirs of his estate.
All the defendants have filed answers to the civil complaint denying wrongdoing. While most of the defendants used lawyers, Davis answered on his own behalf. Davis claims Donna Herring called him and asked him to come to Matthew Jacobs' house to be an "outside" witness to the safe's opening and to take photos of the safe closed and opened. Davis claims Donna Herring told him her lawyer advised her to have a disinterested party present. Davis' response states that Peterson and Donna Herring were at the house when he arrived and that Doug Herring arrived a short time later.
Davis said he did as he was asked because Donna Herring is a lifelong family friend who has done many favors for him and his wife. Davis said he took the sealed envelope to his car and delivered it to Donna Herring's lawyer without any knowledge of what was inside and without any compensation of any kind from anyone for his actions. Davis is asking to be dropped from the suit.
As of Dec. 23, Donna Herring is the only defendant named in the civil suit to appear in court on criminal charges. She appeared for arraignment Dec. 1 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Bryant in El Dorado and entered not guilty pleas to all charges. Bryant released Donna Herring on a $5,000 unsecured bond. Her case is set for trial in February.
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