Bio 

Rickey Nolen McGinn was born on March 11, 1957, in Texas. Before the murder that sent him to death row, prosecutors introduced testimony about earlier attacks. In April 1985, he assaulted a female college student after she refused sex. On August 1, 1986, he threatened Pamela Adams with a knife and forced sexual acts. His biological daughter later testified that he sexually abused her when she was a small child in 1987 and threatened to kill family members if she told anyone.

By the early 1990s, McGinn was living in Brownwood, Texas, with his wife and stepdaughter, Stephanie Flanary. After his arrest in 1993, investigators linked him through DNA evidence to the 1992 rape-murder of Christi Jo Eggers and considered him a suspect in the death of Sherri Newman.

Murder Story

On May 22, 1993, McGinn was alone in Brownwood, Texas, with his 12-year-old stepdaughter, Stephanie Rae Flanary, while her mother traveled to Arlington. During that day, he sexually assaulted Stephanie and then struck her several times in the head with the blunt side of an axe. She died from multiple head injuries and a fractured skull. That night, McGinn claimed she had gone for a walk and never returned. He delayed reporting her missing.

On May 25, 1993, Stephanie’s body was discovered in a culvert near Brownwood. She had been raped and beaten to death. On May 26, 1993, McGinn was arrested. Investigators later found a bloody axe hidden in one of his vehicles.In 1995, a Texas jury convicted him of capital murder and sentenced him to death.

On June 1, 2000, he received a last-minute 30-day reprieve so new DNA testing could be conducted.On August 15, 2000, the DNA tests confirmed that semen and hair recovered from the victim matched McGinn.On September 27, 2000, he was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit.