Straw, Bloody Tissue Lead to Burglary Conviction

A North St. Paul woman must repay more than $18,000 in restitution to the victims of a November 2010 burglary and car theft in Oakdale. 

Jacqueline Ann Horwath, 24, served 259 days in jail and was sentenced to seven years of probation following the burglary conviction.

According to the criminal complaint:

Oakdale police on Nov. 19, 2010, were dispatched to a home on Hadley Avenue on a report of a burglary.

A house-sitter reported that she returned home and found a garage service door damaged, the house had been rummaged through and a laptop was stolen.

Officers were able to lift fingerprints from the scene, along with a tissue with dried blood on it.

The next day, police were called to the same home on a report that a Mercedes and Chrysler Seabring had been stolen from the home.

On Nov. 22, North St. Paul officers found the Seabring at an apartment complex at the 2000 block of Ninth Avenue. Inside the car, police found a plastic straw and cigarette butts.

The tissue, straw and cigarette butts were sent to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for analysis, though no match was found.

Oakdale police later got a tip from the DEA that Horwath had been involved in the burglaries; she was in custody at the Ramsey County Jail.

Police obtained a search warrant for her DNA, which matched the items found at the crime scenes.

In total, the victims reported $30,000 in stolen items.