A Texas woman who begged on TV for help to find her dead husband's killer was sentenced to life in federal prison on Tuesday over her admitted role in orchestrating his murder.
Jennifer Lynne Faith, 49, was arrested in February 2021. A few months prior, 49-year-old American Airlines executive James Faith was shot and killed outside the couple's home in Dallas.
Two months after her husband's death, 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 a local news outlet at the time. "He was just the backbone of our family. It was just devastating." Watch the interview below:
Jennifer Faked Abuse to Get Ex-Boyfriend to Kill James
After searching through the defendant's cellular phone, police determined she and the alleged shooter, Darrin Ruben Lopez, 49, had been carrying on a "full blown emotional affair" and even bandied about a "five year plan" for how they would both end up together.
Lopez, was Jennifer's ex-boyfriend from high school and college. A Tennessee resident, police pinned him as the man who gunned down James Faith based on a tell-tale bumper sticker on the back of his pickup truck. That auspicious "T" sticker is alleged to line up with descriptions of the vehicle that sped away after a blue-masked man left his victim dying on the ground.
Jennifer further admitted she deceived Lopez into thinking that her husband was abusive – by using two email accounts assuming the deceased man's identity and the identity of one of her friends. With those false personas, she convinced her "one and only love" that James Faith was a sexual and physical abuser. In her plea, she made clear that nothing like that ever happened.
Also at the center of the admitted plot was her husband's $629,000 life insurance policy. She kept Lopez up to date on how her claim was progressing. The duo mused about getting her a house in the Volunteer State with the funds.
"Ms. Faith put on quite a performance in the wake of her husband's murder," U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham said in a press release. "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. 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."
During the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle described the defendant as "pure evil" before her life sentence was imposed.
