Stuti Gokhale
The episodes of CBS’ ’48 Hours: The Plot to Kill Jamie Faith,’ NBC’s ‘Dateline: Losing Faith,’ and ABC’s ’20/20: Happy Never After’ document the shocking 2020 murder of the American Airlines executive outside his Dallas home. As the investigation into Jamie Faith’s demise commenced, the events that led to his death and the identities of the ones responsible for it became clearer, leaving everyone baffled — intrigued to know more about this harrowing case?
How Did Jamie Faith Die?
At the time of the incident, James “Jamie” Faith was a technology director at American Airlines. The 49-year-old lived in Oak Cliff, Dallas, with his wife Jennifer and their dog Maggie. They’d met in 2005 on a blind date in Phoenix and tied the knot in 2012 in Las Vegas. The couple thus celebrated the 15th anniversary of their first date on October 8, 2020. Jennifer, a speech pathologist, has a daughter, Amber, from her previous union, whom Jamie legally adopted and was deeply attached to.
Jamie was a Wisconsin native who previously worked as a web engineer, after which he was appointed senior manager at US Airways in Tucson. In 2017, following his promotion, the family relocated from Arizona to Dallas, Texas. On the morning of October 9, 2020, Jamie and Jennifer left the house with Maggie around 7:30 am for their usual morning walk. But alas, just as they had crossed the adjacent unoccupied house, an unidentified masked assailant wearing baggy jeans, a blue mask, and a hoodie came up behind them.
This unknown man shot Jamie seven times — thrice in the head, thrice in the chest, and once in the groin — before proceeding to duct-tape Jennifer’s hands and attempt to take some of her jewelry. After struggling a bit, he jumped into a black Nissan Titan pickup truck parked nearby and fled. While Jennifer suffered minor injuries, Jamie died on the spot due to the wounds caused by a .45 caliber handgun.
Jamie Faith’s Murder: Wife Jennifer’s Sinister Role
After Jamie’s death, the locals in Oak Cliff rushed to a distraught Jennifer’s aid and tried supporting her in all possible ways. Moreover, she appeared on local news and requested her fellow residents to come forward with any leads they might have regarding her husband’s murderer. Their neighbor Jennifer Svelan also organized a GoFundMe page for Jennifer and Amber, which ultimately raised over $60,000.
Luckily, a neighbor had managed to click a picture of the assailant’s truck, and the sound of the entire scuffle was captured on another neighbor’s security camera. The truck had a distinctive “T” decal on the back window of the driver’s side, which proved to be crucial evidence for the police. Yet, to everyone’s surprise, an examination of Jennifer’s phone revealed that she had been having an emotional affair with a man named Darrin Lopez, who lived in Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee.
Darrin is an army veteran who previously dated Jennifer in high school and college. He is a person with a disability resulting from a traumatic brain injury while serving in Iraq. Jennifer and Darrin seemingly reconnected in March 2020, which was followed by numerous lengthy phone calls between them. Using this information, the police began going through his financial records, and aerial surveillance of his Tennessee property also revealed a truck that matched the description of the murderer’s from surveillance footage. Therefore, on January 11, 2021, Darrin was arrested for murder from his home.
Upon further investigations of his house and vehicles, the alleged murder weapon, the mask matching Jennifer’s description of the assailant, and two credit cards in her name were retrieved. Suspecting her involvement in Jamie’s murder, the police also began monitoring Jennifer’s interactions closely. This revealed that she had made two fake email accounts in the names of Jamie and a former colleague, just to send emails to Darri feigning abuse. Under these fake profiles, she alleged Jamie was physically and sexually abusing her, using fake stock images and old photos from a car accident to substantiate her allegations.As per officials, Darrin allegedly drove from Tennessee to Dallas to murder Jamie and “protect” Jennifer. Numerous texts and calls were exchanged between them, especially in the 12 days following the brutal shooting, which divulged that she’d clearly asked Darrin to remove the “T” decal sticker from his truck after the police identified the vehicle in the surveillance. Later, they also coordinated their alibis to give during questioning. In addition, we should mention Jennifer initiated a claim with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to seek roughly $629,000 in death benefits from Jamie’s employer, a month after his death.
As if all this wasn’t enough, Texts between Jennifer and Darrin indicated they planned to use this money to buy her a property in Tennessee. Furthermore, she took around $58,000 from the GoFundMe donations over 2 months, which she used to send lavish gifts like a new television and airline tickets to Darrin. As per the CBS show, Jennifer also gave him access to two credit cards in her name. After Darrin’s arrest, Jennifer continued correspondence with him through a third party, who was there in the same prison.
Using all of this evidence, Jennifer was arrested on February 24, 2021, and charged with obstruction to justice. Darrin claimed during a subsequent interrogation that she’d asked him to kill Jamie. Therefore, in September, an additional charge of usage of interstate commerce in the commission of murder-for-hire was included in Jennifer’s indictment. In the end, she pleaded guilty to the latter count on February 7, 2022, to avoid the death penalty and sentenced to life in prison. On the other hand, Darrin was charged with Jamie’s murder as well as a gun crime, for which he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to 62 years in July 2023.
Read More: Where is Jennifer Faith Now?
