Jennifer Faith: Woman who cried on TV for info on spouse's killer charged with murder
DALLAS, TEXAS: A woman who went on TV and pleaded for information about her husband’s killer has been charged with murder-for-hire in his death. As per reports, her "depraved and calculated" scheme compelled her boyfriend to kill her husband by convincing him through misleading emails that she was being abused and needed protection.
Jennifer Lynne Faith, 49, has been accused of orchestrating the murder of her husband, Jamie Faith, who was gunned down in front of their Oak Cliff home on October 9, 2020, reportedly one day after the couple's 15th wedding anniversary. According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, Jennifer used two phony email accounts to correspond with her boyfriend, Darrin Ruben Lopez, where she allegedly posed as her husband and her friend to falsely portray sexual and physical abuse committed by him.
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As per reports, Jennifer was out with her husband, an American Airlines executive, walking their dog when he was shot. Two months later, Jennifer pleaded in a TV interview for anyone with information to come forward. "My hope is that someday perhaps the person will realize the gravity of what they've done and what they have taken from myself and my daughter," she told NBC DFW. "He was just the backbone of our family. It was just devastating."
“I just hope that, at some point, maybe this person can recognize the gravity of what they’ve done,” she said in another interview with ABC affiliate WFAA. “And feel some sort of guilt enough to come forward [because] this is — I’m not supposed to be a widow at 48, you know?”
On Tuesday, September 28, Jennifer was charged with allegedly using interstate commerce to commit murder-for-hire, a charge that carries a potential death penalty. “Ms Faith’s alleged murder-for-hire scheme was depraved and calculated. She preyed on her boyfriend’s protective instinct and his pocketbook in order to convince him to execute her husband,” said acting US Attorney Prerak Shah.
Shah added, “Jamie Faith's brutal murder was a tragedy. His death has been a double blow to his family and friends, who had just begun to absorb the news of his murder when they were confronted with evidence of his wife's alleged involvement. We are committed to getting justice for Jamie — and to holding both Ms Faith and Mr. Lopez accountable for their alleged crimes."
According to the US Attorney's Office, in April 2020 Jennifer allegedly created a Gmail account in her husband's name from which she emailed Lopez "multiple times during the spring and summer of 2020, taunting Lopez with details of extreme physical and sexual abuse that had never actually occurred," and attaching "fake photos of injuries as bogus proof of the abuse."
In May 2020, she allegedly created a second fake Gmail account in the name of a friend and, posing as that friend, also claimed to Lopez that James was "physically and sexually abusing" Jennifer. "Jamie slapped Jen… then he sent the pic of him choking her," Jennifer, posing as the friend, allegedly wrote in an email to Lopez on May 13, 2020. "I am asking if you are willing to get involved and help Jen get out of this situation."
On May 20, 2020, Lopez wrote back to that account: "I know I won't feel better about her situation until she is out of the house away from him or she lets me put a bullet in Jamie's head." On October 8, 2020, Lopez allegedly drove from his home in Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee, and waited outside of the Faiths' home until early the next morning when the couple stepped out for their walk. He then allegedly shot James seven times. Three times in the head, three times in the torso, and one time in the groin. Following that, he reportedly fled in his black Nissan Titan pickup.
Jennifer's boyfriend Lopez, also 49, was earlier arrested in January and charged by the state with murder and by federal authorities with transporting a firearm in interstate commerce with the intent to commit a felony. Authorities found a .45 caliber handgun at his home, which was allegedly used to kill Jamie. Reportedly, it still had Jamie's blood on it. Lopez pleaded not guilty to both charges. Jennifer earlier was charged with obstruction of justice and has pleaded not guilty to that charge, as per reports.