Woman Convinced Boyfriend to Kill Husband by Faking Emails to Make Him Think She Was Being Abused: 'Pure Evil'

Jennifer Faith was sentenced to life in prison for orchestrating her husband's 2020 murder, using $58,000 from a GoFundMe to pay off her boyfriend's credit cards and buy him a large-screen TV

Jennifer and James Faith. Photo: Gofundme

The Texas woman who admitted to convicing her boyfriend to kill her husband in 2020 was sentenced to life in federal prison for orchestrating the murder, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas announced Tuesday.

Before sentencing Jennifer Faith to life in prison, United States District Judge Jane J. Boyle called her "pure evil," U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham said in a statement.

Jennifer, 49, admitted in her guilty plea that she arranged to have her husband Jamie Faith, a well-liked American Airlines technology director, shot and killed while walking the couple's dog on Oct. 9, 2020, outside of their home in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas. Authorities say she manipulated her boyfriend, Darrin Lopez, her former high school sweetheart, into killing him.

Lopez, who is charged with murder, has pleaded not guilty.

Darrin Lopez. Dickson County Jail

Immediately after the shooting, Jennifer went on TV begging the public for information about her husband's killer.

"It's been horrible," Faith told Fox 4 News in October 2020. "Devastating. I teeter between completely heartbroken and completely devastated every day."

In an emotional interview, she told the outlet she needed to find her husband's killer "for closure. I need to make some sense out of this."

In the days after the slaying, Jennifer "put on quite a performance in the wake of her husband's murder," Meacham said in the statement. "She poured out her sob story to reporters and law enforcement, then headed home to orchestrate her coverup.

"But crocodile tears didn't stop the feds," he said. "We were committed to getting justice for Jamie, and with the Judge's imposition of a life sentence this afternoon, we're one step closer."

Laying the Groundwork for Murder

In March 2020, Jennifer and Lopez, 49, reconnected on social media and rekindled their relationship.

Jennifer admitted that she used two phony email accounts to correspond with Lopez, assuming the identities of her own husband and one of her friends to falsely convince Lopez that her husband was physically and sexually abusing her, the U.S. Attorney said in the statement.

In plea papers, she maintained that no such abuse ever occurred.

She also admitted that she "downloaded stock images depicting injuries from the internet and attached them to some of the emails to convince Lopez" that the abuse was actually taking place, the U.S. Attorney said.

On Oct. 9, 2020, Lopez drove 650 miles to the Faiths' home in Dallas, arriving at about 2:19 a.m., parking his truck in the backyard of a vacant home next to the Faith's house, authorities said.

At 7:33 a.m., Jamie and Jennifer walked out of their home to take their dog, Maggie, for a walk.

A minute later, a masked armed gunman quickly approached the couple, shooting Jamie seven times — three times in the head, three times in the torso, and one time in the groin — with a .45 caliber handgun before fleeing the scene in his black Nissan Titan pickup truck with a distinctive "T" decal on the back window, authorities said.

In February 2021, after a four-month investigation, prosecutors charged Jennifer with obstruction of justice. In September 2021, they charged her with use of interstate commerce in the commission of murder-for-hire, an offense that carries a potential death sentence.

In return for her plea, prosecutors agreed to drop the obstruction charge and to recommend a sentence of life imprisonment, the statement says.

Jennifer pleaded guilty in February to avoid the death penalty.

In addition to being sentenced to prison, Jennifer was ordered her to pay $6,500 in restitution to her late husband's family to cover funeral expenses and to pay a $250,000 fine.

According to plea papers, Jennifer admitted that Lopez fatally shot her husband, the U.S. attorney said in the statement.

ATF agents arrested Lopez on a murder charge in Cumberland Furnace on Jan. 11, 2021.

The firearm used to kill Mr. Faith was recovered inside his home. Lopez was also charged with a federal gun crime. He has pleaded guilty to the gun charge as well as the murder charge.

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Master Manipulator

Jennifer admitted that she knew Lopez had suffered a traumatic brain injury while serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq, leaving him disabled, and she used that to her advantage, the U.S. Attorney said in the statement.

Before and after the murder, she sent Lopez money and gifts, and paid off two credit cards she gave him with the proceeds of a "Support Jennifer Faith" GoFundMe she started after her husband's death.

About a month after her husband's death, Jennifer admitted that she initiated a claim with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company seeking approximately $629,000 in death benefits Jamie had through his employer.

"She periodically updated Mr. Lopez on the status of the claim," the U.S. Attorney said in the statement.

The two texted each other about using the money to apply for a residence in her name in Tennessee, the U.S. Attorney said.

"No amount of time in federal prison will ever be able to bring Mr. Faith back, however this sentencing shows the gravity of Ms. Faith's criminal acts. Her spineless attempt to sway law enforcement and public opinion will forever be etched into the hearts of those affected by her monstrous crime," said ATF Dallas Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey C. Boshek II in the statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.