Jamie Faith murder: Unraveling the plot
On Oct. 9, 2020, Jamie Faith, an American Airlines manager, was gunned down outside of his Dallas, Texas, home as he and his wife, Jennifer, set out on a morning walk with their dog, Maggie.
Tragic morning
The Faith's front door security camera captured this photo just moments before the masked individual shot Jamie (pictured in foreground) seven times – three times in the head, three times to the chest and one shot to the groin. Jennifer Faith said she was attacked, and duct taped. Jamie was pronounced dead at the scene.
Suspect's vehicle
A neighbor, along with surveillance cameras, captured the shooter's vehicle. It was a black Nissan truck with a distinctive "T" decal on the back window of the driver's side.
Request for help
A distraught Jennifer Faith begged for the killer to come forward in a local TV interview. "I just hope that at some point, maybe, this person can recognize the gravity of what they've done and feel some sort of guilt enough to come forward," Jennifer said.
The blind date
Fifteen years before that tragic day, Jennifer and Jamie met on a blind date. Shortly after that, according to Jamie's friends Theresa and Ross Jensen, the two were inseparable. "They got along great…they seemed to have had a lot of common interest," the Jensens told "48 Hours."
Married couple
The couple tied the knot in Las Vegas in 2012. Jamie also welcomed, embraced, and legally adopted Jennifer's daughter from her first marriage. In 2017, the Faith family relocated from Arizona to the Dallas neighborhood where Jamie was murdered.
Community support
Immediately after Jamie Faith's death, a GoFundMe page was set up to provide Jennifer Faith and her daughter with financial support. Neighbor Jennifer Svelan organized a GoFundMe account and was able to raise over $60,000. "It was shocking to see how much people were contributing and donated," Jennifer Svelan told "48 Hours."
Discovery of texts
But authorities weren't far off from the killer's trail. After reviewing Jennifer's phone, they discovered she had been having an emotional affair with Army veteran Darrin Lopez, her high school sweetheart. Cell phone records show that they had been in contact with one another thousands of times since reconnecting in March 2020.
Tracking the suspect
Authorities tracked Lopez's financial records and conducted aerial surveillance of his home. They discovered a black Nissan truck with a "T" decal parked on his Tennessee property.
Darrin Lopez arrested
On Jan. 11, 2021, Lopez was arrested in Tennessee. Law enforcement conducted searches in one of his vehicles and his home and discovered the alleged murder weapon, credit cards in Jennifer Faith's name, and a mask matching the description of the face mask that Jennifer recalled seeing on the shooter.
Message to Darrin Lopez
Despite Lopez being charged with Jamie Faith's murder, Jennifer Faith remained in contact with him. She even reached out to him via a third party to say, "Please tell him ASAP I will always be his."
Fake emails
During the investigation, authorities uncovered an elaborate plot – emails from Jennifer Faith to Darrin Lopez posing as her husband and also as a former co-worker, claiming that she was being physically abused by Jamie Faith.
Jennifer's fake emails seemed designed to provoke Lopez to kill Jamie in order to protect her.
The authorities also learned that Lopez and Jennifer were working together to cover up the murder. They even discovered a text message from Jennifer to Lopez saying, "I think you need to get that sticker off ASAP ... like today."
Darrin Lopez's truth
Darrin Lopez told authorities that Jennifer Faith asked him to help her kill her husband. He said he drove from Tennessee to Texas to shoot Jamie Faith. He also told authorities shooting Jamie in the groin was in response to Jennifer's abuse allegations against Jamie.
Not guilty plea
Despite cooperating with authorities, Darrin Lopez pleaded not guilty to murdering Jamie Faith. His attorney has publicly said that Jennifer took advantage of Lopez who suffered a traumatic brain injury in the Army.
Jennifer Faith's arrest
On Feb. 24, 2021, Jennifer faith was arrested for obstruction of justice. Seven months later, she was charged with murder for hire. "That's the right charge. That's what I was waiting for," Jamie's friend Ross Jensen told "48 Hours."
Feelings of betrayal
The Faith's former neighbors, Melisa Gonzales, left, and Shamona Jackson, said they felt fooled by Jennifer Faith. "You don't wanna let yourself believe that someone you care about could do something like that. So, for me, yeah, it took a while to get to the point of believing," Gonzales told "48 Hours."
Misuse of funds
The investigation also revealed that Jennifer Faith had used the GoFundMe proceeds to shower Darrin Lopez with gifts. She purchased him a large screen television and paid for his airline tickets to travel to a different state.
"I am thankful that GoFundMe has a policy of not allowing fraud," Jennifer Svelan told "48 Hours." "And when they become aware of situations like this, as they did in this case, they offered full refunds to anyone who had donated to this particular GoFundMe account."
A guilty plea
On Feb. 7, 2022, Jennifer Faith pleaded guilty for her role in her husband's murder. In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors asked for a life sentence instead of the death penalty.