Southern Fried Lies: A detailed case overview
Southern Fried Lies is Oxygen's true-crime special, which is set to release on April 27, 2025, at 6 pm EST. The story primarily revolves around the life of Matt Jacobs, a local hero in the city of Camden, Arkansas.
Matt won a big settlement after surviving the Deepwater Oil Rig explosion. This made him one of the wealthiest personalities in the town. Donna Herring, working as the unofficial mayor of the town, forged Matt's will after his death. As reported by Oxygen, this left the majority of his estate to Donna's daughter Alex, and very little to Matt's son Jordan.
The complete investigation behind finding the true reason behind the death and the forgery is documented in Southern Fried Lies. The true crime special is directed by Richel Reid. Southern Fried Lies is produced under the banner of Scout Productions and Cypress Trail Films. After its release, the Oxygen two-hour special will be available for streaming on Peacock.
What is the true story of Southern Fried Lies?
As reported by Arkansas Business, Donna Herring was a real estate agent from Camden, Arkansas. She worked as the unofficial mayor, who had connections to Matthew Seth Jacobs, one of the wealthiest in the town.
Matthew Jacobs received a substantial sum of wealth after surviving the Deepwater Horizon Disaster, which happened back in 2010. His fiancée was Donna's pageant daughter, Alex. However, as per Arkansas Business, it was in January 2015 when Matthew Jacobs died in a car accident.
As reported by Arkansas Business, after Matthew's death, in his last will, a major portion of his estate was written in the name of his fiancée. While only a small proportion was left to his only son, Jordan Jacobs.
This raised substantial questions and suspicion among the community. As reported by Law Professor Blogs Network, $2 million worth of estate was left to Alex Peterson, while only an asset worth $ 50,000 was left to Jordan. However, right after the assets were distributed, investigators discovered evidence that revealed that the will had been forged.
Reportedly, the government seized assets that Alex received from the will. This included a sum of $720,000 of cash, a car, and four house properties. Upon interrogation, Alex confessed that her mother Donna Herring was responsible for forging Matthew Jacobs' will.
As reported by Arkansas Business, it was in 2018 when Donna Herring pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in connection with the scheme to create a forged will of Matthew Jacobs.
Southern Fried Lies subject Donna Herring declares bankruptcy
As per Arkansas Business, it was in March 2019 when Donna Herring filed for a Chapter 13 reorganization. This listed that she had $101,000 in debts and $110,000 in assets.
Her 6.3-acre residence in Camden had a loan balance of $102,000, owned by Generations Bank of Rogers. In the bankruptcy filing, Southern Fried Lies subject Donna Herring reported that she is currently unemployed, and receives $1300 per month as Social Security. As reported by Arkansas Business, Donna Herring also filed to sell her Rolex watch.
As reported by Oxygen, Herring will personally provide her version of the entire story in Southern Fried Lies. Herring says,
“They just tried to put this whole spin on it that we had done something sinister.”
Additionally, the lead FBI agent behind the investigation, the town coroner, Matthew Jacobs' son Jordan, and others are set to share their side of the story in Southern Fried Lies.
Check out our other articles to learn more details about Southern Fried Lies.
