The last man in a trio of people accused in the July murder of 42-year-old Dana Patterson Mackay appeared in court Tuesday in a hearing that revealed little new information on the case.
Nace Eugene Houchin, a 33-year-old U.S. Army staff sergeant, will join his wife, 35-year-old Nicole Michelle Houchin and Dana Mackay’s husband, 42-year-old John Wayne Mackay, in Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court to be tried on one count of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. The charges were certified to Circuit Court on Tuesday by substitute judge Robert Pustilnik.
During Tuesday’s hearing, James City County Police Department Investigator Jason Shadrix testified about his investigation into Nace Houchin, offering up many of the same details he did during last week’s preliminary hearing for Nicole Houchin. The three are accused of participating in a murder-for-hire scheme.
Dana Mackay was found dead July 27 in her Seasons Trace home by a neighbor. Police did not find any evidence of forced entry into the house, though they did find someone had kicked in the bedroom door where she was found. She was found naked with multiple stab wounds to her face, and one of her fingers cut off. An autopsy determined she died of blunt-force trauma to the head.
Tuesday’s hearing dealt primarily with two search warrants executed on Nace Houchin’s truck. The first warrant was executed July 31. Nace Houchin had not yet become a suspect in the slaying. The truck was held by the James City County Police Department until Aug. 7.
Police obtained a second warrant to again search the vehicle Sept. 17. Shadrix said investigators had received information a letter confessing to the murder was in the truck.
Houchin’s attorney, Leeann Barnes, objected to the inclusion in Tuesday’s hearing of testimony pertaining to the second search. She said the search was not reasonable and asked for Shadrix and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Joshua DeFord to share more information on how Houchin was identified as a suspect.
DeFord said he wanted to avoid a “discovery hearing.” Pustilnik allowed Barnes to ask some questions, getting Shadrix to admit a person told them the letter was located in the truck.
Barnes also questioned Shadrix about the second search of the truck. She said the truck had been heavily modified since the first search, including the changing of its license plates. Shadrix said he was able to identify the vehicle based off the Vehicle Identification Number on the front of the truck’s dashboard.
He said he found the letter confessing to the murder and Nace Houchin’s U.S. Army ID, passport, driver’s license and dog tags. According to a criminal complaint filed in Williamsburg-James City County District Court, Houchin wrote in the note he murdered Dana Mackay and aided in the murder for $20,000 promised to him by John Mackay. An analysis from the Virginia Department of Forensic Science determined the fingerprints on the note belonged to Houchin and that a handwriting analysis found him “more than likely” to have written it.
Houchin was arrested Sept. 19 for other offenses. According to a separate criminal complaint, he allegedly stole a gray Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck belonging to a Gloucester County man. Houchin’s truck was found in Gloucester County, where it was searched and the note was found.
A James City County Police officer on patrol on Pocahontas Trail saw the truck pulling out of the Grove 7-Eleven at 7667 Pocahontas Trail. He ran the plates through his computer system, which said the plates were reported stolen out of Newport News.
The officer then initiated a traffic stop. He wrote in the criminal complaint that he asked the driver for identification, but the man said he did not have any. According to the officer, Houchin told him the truck belonged to a friend. He then said he would not tell the officer anything.
The officer arrested Houchin, placing him in the backseat of his patrol car. While back there, Houchin allegedly moved his handcuffs to the front of his body and scratched the rear right window of the car and then grabbed a small electronic wire connected to an identified piece of equipment and pulled it apart. That caused less than $1,000 in damage, according to the complaint.
He was charged with grand larceny, destruction of property and petit larceny for the alleged theft of the truck and license plates, but those charges were dropped Tuesday.
John Mackay and Nicole Houchin have both admitted to police they were having an affair. They were arrested July 29 after investigators pored over thousands of digital communications between the two in which they fantasized about Dana Mackay’s death so they could be together. They met while working at an AutoZone on Merrimac Trail. During both Nicole Houchin’s and John Mackay’s preliminary hearings, Shadrix said police identified a fourth man who may have been involved in the scheme, but he has not been arrested.
Related Coverage:
- Judge Certifies Charges Against Alleged Seasons Trace Killer to Circuit Court
- Criminal Complaint: Nace Houchin Confesses to Seasons Trace Homicide in Note
- Third Person Charged in Seasons Trace Homicide
- Police: Seasons Trace Murder Suspects May Have Had Help
- Court Documents: Online Chats Reveal Plot by Husband, His Girlfriend to Kill JCC Woman
- Duo Accused in Seasons Trace Killing Receive Court-Appointed Lawyers
- Police: Victim’s Husband, His Girlfriend Charged in Seasons Trace Homicide
- JCC Police Investigating Seasons Trace Homicide
