New Orleans Police Department, Louisiana
End of Watch: Monday, September 6, 1948
Age: 35
Tour of Duty: 3 years
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: September 6, 1948
Weapon Used: Handgun; .45 caliber
Suspect Info: Executed in 1951
Detective Nicholas Jacob was shot and killed as he and his partner transported a prisoner back to New Orleans from Gulfport, Mississippi.
The suspect had been arrested in Gulfport for another crime. An accomplice in Louisiana filed a false report which would require the New Orleans police to extradite the suspect back to Louisiana. The accomplice went with the officers to pick up the suspect. When the suspect was released from Gulfport custody, an empty .45 caliber handgun was returned to him by the Gulfport police.
The suspect and the accomplice rode in the back seat of the police car, and during the ride, the suspect handed the gun to the accomplice, who loaded it and then shot Detective Jacob in the back of the head as they reached the outskirts of New Orleans on Highway 90. When they dumped his body on a side road, the other detective made an escape as the suspects shot at him.
Both suspects were captured the next day in Galvez, Louisiana. The suspect who killed Detective Jacob was convicted of first-degree murder and executed in the electric chair on January 26, 1951.
Detective Jacobs had served with the New Orleans Police Department for at least three years. He was survived by his wife.