[female narrator] in the suburbs of dallas,
A husband and wife become victims of an ambush.
She hears gunshots.
[gunshots]
They shot her husband three times in the head,
Three times in the chest area, and one time in the groin.
Detectives felt like that might be
Somebody trying to send a message.
[narrator] the suspects include a company
Full of disgruntled employees.
It was during the pandemic
And a lot of people had to be laid off.
I would hope that nobody would have taken that personal.
[narrator] but after a murder for hire plot comes to light,
Investigators uncover a chilling story of lies,
Manipulation, and greed.
[andrew] she was giving him money.
She was allowing him to use her credit cards.
He was more susceptible to be duped.
He truly believed that she was a victim of this abuse.
We were able to retrieve the cellphone.
And what it reveals are tens of thousands of text messages
And emails.
It began to paint a picture of truly an evil person.
[theme music]
[narrator] the oak cliff area of dallas, texas
Is a close-knit community with a burgeoning arts scene.
[christina] it's a very old part of dallas.
There's a lot of old historical homes
Built in the late 1800s.
In the mornings in oak cliff, you'll see big families
Walking to school together and kids on their bikes.
[narrator] but on the morning of October 9th, 2020,
The neighborhood bears witness to a shocking act of violence.
Around 7:30 a.M., 911 calls started coming in
To the dallas police department regarding shooting.
They heard several gunshots and a woman screaming
At the top of her lungs.
[sirens wailing]
When the first patrol officer arrived,
He saw a hysterical, crying woman,
A body laying in the street covered in blood.
[christopher] the female victim's a few feet
From the male victim with duct tape around her hands.
[narrator] first responders try to administer aid,
But the man's wounds are too severe.
He's pronounced dead at the scene.
[music]
They begin asking questions. They learn that the, uh,
Female victim, her name was jennifer faith.
She identified the victim as her husband, james faith.
[brandi] jennifer faith tells the officers that
She had gone on a walk with her husband, with the dog.
They go a few steps. And then she hears gunshots.
[gunshots]
She turns around. And she sees the assailant.
She let go of the dog. The dog ran down the street.
She said it looked like he was going to shoot her,
But maybe the gun jammed.
[christina] he pushed her to the ground,
Attempted to duct tape her arms together.
He reached over and took a ring off james' finger.
You got neighbors coming out, dogs are barking.
There's all this chaos going on.
[music]
[caitlin] jennifer faith's neighborhood, they were all
In a panic, and terrified, because it seemed like this,
You know, masked gunman had come and commit this random murder
In their neighborhood.
[christopher] when I first arrived,
I observed mr. Faith.
He was lying in the street. Paramedics had covered him up
To protect the scene from public view.
He had multiple gunshot wounds to his body.
[christina] they started collecting evidence
And they found eight shells
From a .45-caliber weapon.
[narrator] unfortunately, jennifer cannot provide
A detailed description.
[brandi] jennifer faith does tell the detective
That the suspect who approached them
Had on a blue mask, average height,
But nothing particularly identifiable.
[narrator] unable to learn more about the attacker
From jennifer, detectives turn to nearby neighbors.
[brandi] the neighbors were also on edge.
So they wanted to have a police presence
In and around that neighborhood.
[christina] they didn't know what was happening.
Everyone was very confused, very scared,
Very concerned for the woman who had just been through this
Horribly traumatic event.
[narrator] james faith, jr. Was born in madison, wisconsin
In 1971.
If I had to describe jamie to somebody,
I would say he's a genuinely nice and caring individual.
He's got a-a-a witty
And kind of a dry sense of humor.
Very intelligent.
[music]
[christina] in 1995, he graduated from
The university of wisconsin in whitewater
With a bachelor's in computer science.
[narrator] after college, jamie landed a job as
A web engineer for an import and export firm
In phoenix, arizona.
A few years later, he accepted a job with
Us airways as a senior manager.
[jason] jamie was really good at what he did.
That's a huge reason why he was promoted and moved up
Within the organization.
[christina] he was pretty much a bachelor who was
Committed to his career.
[jason] jamie's always been the person that said,
"I'm never gonna get married." he just--he didn't wanna have
The responsibility of-of-of being married or having a kid.
[music]
[narrator] but in 2005, jamie's friends set him up
With a young woman named jennifer.
Jennifer and jamie met on a blind date.
They were introduced to each other
Through mutual friends.
They were both very intelligent people.
I think that they had a lot in common there.
[christina] in 1997, jennifer was married.
She was going to school. She received her master's
In speech pathology in 1997. And that same year,
She gave birth to her daughter, amber.
Jennifer moved in 1998 to tucson, arizona,
Where she and her first husband part ways.
Amber's biological father wanted to be involved.
And I've seen him give effort to see amber.
[narrator] jennifer remarried in 1999,
But when that relationship also ended in divorce,
She decided to focus on her career
And raising her two-year-old daughter.
She spent the years between
2012 and 2018
Working as a director of rehabilitation services
At a inpatient hospital.
During that time, james met jennifer.
[music]
[narrator] the couple quickly moved in together.
And jamie embraced his new role as a father to amber.
Jamie was really, really good as a stepfather.
He treated amber as if she were his own.
He did everything for her.
[christina] he gave her emotional,
Financial, physical support.
They were a very tight-knit, close family.
[music]
[narrator] after seven years together, a trip to las vegas
Brought on a moment of romantic spontaneity.
[jason] I remember somebody telling them,
"hey, we're in vegas, you guys should get married."
They kinda just looked at each other.
And then jamie says, "okay, yeah, like, let's do it."
They got married that night.
[narrator] there were a few more changes in store as well.
When jennifer's daughter turned 18,
She asked jamie to legally adopt her.
The following year, in 2017,
He was offered a promotion with the airline.
[jason] his new job, obviously, gave him more responsibilities,
More employees that he had to manage,
And most of them were in dallas.
He was spending five days a week there
And two days a week here when he was living in phoenix.
So I think he was kinda getting tired of traveling
As much.
It just made sense for him to make that move.
[narrator] for the faiths, adjustment to life in dallas
Seemed effortless.
[christina] they moved into a very cute home.
Everyone that had been in that household said that it was
Just a house that was warm and inviting.
And people could feel the love.
[jason] it was a safe household.
All the things that a lot of parents do for their kids,
He has done for amber.
Jennifer and jamie, they both seemed,
You know, happy, excited.
[music]
[narrator] after three years in their new home,
The neighborhood is in shock after a gunman killed jamie
In broad daylight.
[caitlin] it may have been a robbery gone wrong.
He took jamie faith's wedding ring.
[brandi] it was 7:30 in the morning.
They were in t-shirts and shorts and walking their dog.
And to do it in such a vicious manner,
None of that added up to just a robbery.
[narrator] some of the neighbors caught a glimpse of the shooter.
One even managed to record him fleeing the scene
In a pickup truck.
[eric] there was no license plate
That we could view.
And the one thing that stood out about this vehicle
Was that it had the white decal on the rear windshield.
[christopher] it had a t emblem on the back window.
We believed it to be a texas rangers sticker,
Being from texas.
Detectives were on the lookout for a black nissan titan.
They did have people driving around and looking.
Oak cliff is right next to a major freeway, I-30.
That was gonna be difficult.
[music]
[narrator] coming up...
Home security cameras provide a disturbing glimpse
Of the murder.
[man] hey!
[gunshots] [woman screaming]
[narrator] and a lie unveils a possible suspect.
He does come across a text describing an emotional affair.
[christopher] I was shocked.
Now I've learned that you've lied to me.
[music]
[narrator] dallas police are investigating the death
Of 49-year-old jamie faith, who was gunned down
By an unknown assailant outside his home.
[christopher] we were able to recover
Eight .45-caliber casings.
We had no information on the license plate of the truck.
At the time, we were still trying to figure out
Who would do such a thing, to, uh, go to shoot the victim
Seven times right in front of his wife.
[narrator] as detectives process the crime scene,
They make a new discovery.
[christina] the faiths had a ring camera on their door.
The camera saw them leaving the home,
But then they're quickly off camera.
[narrator] although the shooting wasn't caught on tape,
A neighbor's camera partially captured
The terrifying moment.
[eric] we reviewed the video.
It actually captured the audio of the shooting.
[man] hey!
[gunshots] [woman screaming]
[music]
[narrator] with little to go on,
Investigators turn back to jennifer,
Hoping she can provide more details.
I wanted to interview mrs. Faith at dallas police headquarters,
Where I could have a one-on-one encounter with her.
We were both wearing masks because it was covid.
But she was, uh, crying, very emotional.
I continued to ask her what happened.
[christopher] I asked her,
Who could have done something like this?
If he had any kind of incidents with anyone in-in-in the past.
[music]
[narrator] but jennifer says jamie might have had enemies
Among his former employees.
[christina] she brought up the fact
That he was a supervisor at his job at american airlines,
And it was during the pandemic.
And a lot of people had to be laid off at that time.
He did say that he had to make some tough decisions at work.
Um, he had to let some people go.
I would hope that nobody would have taken that personal.
But given the time that we were living in,
Right during covid, almost anything was possible
As far as people's mental health.
[music]
She was able to give me consent to do a full extraction
On her cellphone. She was very cooperative.
[narrator] while they wait on the data,
Investigators begin looking into the possibility
Of a disgruntled employee.
[christopher] I went up to his job,
The american airlines corporation.
They told me that jamie had laid off approximately
18 to 20 individuals,
So I did a subpoena for employee records.
[narrator] as they sort through the potential suspects,
The autopsy report comes in
And reveals a possible reason why jamie was shot.
[christopher] he was shot three times in the head,
Three times in the chest area and, also,
One time in the groin.
So a total of seven shots that he sustained.
[christina] detectives felt like that might be
Somebody trying to send a message.
The number of shots,
And especially that shot to the groin,
Indicated something more personal.
[music]
[narrator] through the media,
Jennifer makes an impassioned plea to the public for help.
[narrator] investigators receive an analysis of jennifer's phone,
Revealing her marriage to jamie
Wasn't as perfect as she claimed.
[brandi] one of the other detectives
Was methodically going through the phone.
And he does come across a text between jennifer faith
And a friend of hers named tina spring,
Where jennifer faith, around April of 2020,
Is describing an emotional affair.
The texts go back and forth between she and tina.
And she describes him as a, a guy she knew back
In high school that reconnected with her.
Is retired from the military. Now lives in tennessee.
And the first name is darrin.
[narrator] in her texts, jennifer confessed
She'd started talking to darrin in March of 2020.
And they continued speaking for months.
Although they'd never met in person,
She said that their relationship had become romantic.
But the online affair was short lived.
[christopher] she informed tina that she was going to have to
Cut ties with darrin because of jamie.
I believe jamie had found out
And it was one of those situations
Where he was uncomfortable or sad about the situation.
[narrator] jennifer deleted
The messages with darrin from her phone,
But detectives know that doesn't necessarily mean
He went away.
[christopher] I was shocked.
Jennifer had already explained to me
That their relationship was good.
That there was no one else.
And nowhere did she ever mention darrin's name.
Now, I've learned that you've lied to me.
My head, at this time now, I wanted to continue to read
Through those threads to find out everything
That I could about darrin.
We were able to, uh, check different databases,
Where we were able to find out who darrin was.
And I learned a lot about him.
I learned about his relationship.
I learned about his home.
Through one of our database checks,
We learned he did have a black nissan titan truck.
[music]
[narrator] after learning about jennifer faith's affair,
Investigators use her phone contacts
To find the man in question.
He turns out to be 48-year-old darrin rubin lopez.
[music]
Darrin lopez was jennifer's high school boyfriend.
There's pictures of them being at prom together.
They were very serious about each other.
They thought they were gonna marry each other.
[music]
[narrator] after graduating in 1990,
Jennifer and darrin went their separate ways.
Jennifer attended college,
While darrin joined the u.S. Army,
Going on to serve in the special forces.
Darrin lopez was a, uh, decorated u.S. Army soldier.
Darrin had six combat deployments
To iraq and afghanistan.
He was a purple heart recipient.
He was also a bronze star recipient.
[music]
[narrator] while serving in iraq in 2005,
Darrin was caught in a roadside bombing.
Nineteen members of his unit were killed,
But darrin survived with a traumatic brain injury.
He was diagnosed with ptsd.
He was discharged with a 100% medical disability.
[andrew] we knew that darrin was divorced,
That his ex-wife lived out of state,
But that darrin had two teenage daughters
That resided with him.
So when darrin comes back, he's depressed,
Disabled, hopeless, helpless somewhat.
One day he got the energy and the urge to reach out
To find jennifer
And see what she was doing in life.
Darrin lopez locates jennifer faith online
Via linkedin.
And they very quickly then exchange email addresses
And start communicating via email.
[music]
[narrator] investigators find darrin's current address
In cumberland furnace, tennessee,
650 miles away from jennifer and jamie's home.
[music]
[christopher] we then contacted one of the local agencies,
Who did a drive-by of his residence.
[narrator] detectives need to know
If darrin's truck has the same t decal as
The vehicle witnessed at the crime scene.
The property was about 20 to 30 acres.
And it was so far away from the roadway
That you really couldn't get a view of around the house.
So at that point, I reached out to the atf.
And they were able to get aerial surveillance
Of darrin lopez's property.
[andrew] in the aerial surveillance,
We found a black nissan titan pickup truck,
And we could see the t sticker on the back rear glass.
[music]
Initially, because the crime occurred in dallas, texas,
We believed that that might have been a sticker
Depicting the texas rangers baseball team.
It turns out that, in fact,
It was a tennessee volunteers sticker.
So we now know that that, in fact,
Is darrin lopez's vehicle.
And that is the same vehicle that is depicted
Leaving the scene of the homicide here in dallas.
[music]
[narrator] it's enough for dallas police
To obtain a warrant for darrin's phone records.
That kind of information doesn't give the actual content
Of their messages,
But it does show the number of messages
That they were sending back and forth.
It was an overwhelming amount of communication
Between the two of them.
They were going back and forth, I think on average,
500 times a day.
What was obtained from darrin lopez's phone
Did not exist on jennifer faith's phone.
So it clearly suggested that she had deleted certain things.
[music]
[narrator] it's confirmation of a relationship,
But not proof of murder.
So now the biggest thing is to place him in dallas.
[eric] we began writing search warrants with google,
Trying to find his geolocation of his cell phone.
Once we were able to get the information back,
We were able to plot and put on a map.
[brandi] on October 8th, he does leave
Cumberland furnace, tennessee and drives straight through,
Except for gas station stops, to dallas, texas,
Which puts him in dallas, texas about 2:30 in the morning.
He's back in cumberland furnace, tennessee
Late in the day on October 9th.
[music]
[narrator] the timeline gives darrin plenty of opportunity
To shoot jamie that morning and return home.
Investigators immediately place darrin under surveillance.
[andrew] we were able to covertly place cameras
In and around darrin's residence.
On one particular day, that camera did depict
Darrin leaving his property.
[narrator] detectives realize darrin has removed
The tennessee volunteers decal from his pickup truck.
We were a little concerned that darrin might be tipped off.
And so at that point in time,
We knew that we need to get mr. Lopez in custody
As quickly as possible.
[music]
[narrator] on January 11th, 2021,
They make their move.
[eric] there was a high risk for a violent encounter.
You know, he was very familiar with weapons
Based on his military career.
And so the last thing we wanted to do
Was to go onto his property.
[andrew] the special response team
Had observed a vehicle leave darrin lopez's property
Occupied by two individuals.
Mr. Lopez was the passenger in a silver sedan
That was being driven by his daughter.
[eric] they actually engaged his vehicle, weapons drawn.
And they gave very clear verbal orders.
You know, step away from the vehicle with your hands up.
And he complied with everything.
[music]
We conducted a search of the silver sedan.
And we located a backpack.
There was two credit cards found in the backpack
In jennifer faith's name.
Further search of the backpack, we found a blue mask,
Which matched the shooter at our crime scene.
[narrator] investigators find even more incriminating evidence
In darrin's home.
One of the agents that was searching
An upstairs room in darrin's house
Located a tan rucksack.
Inside that rucksack,
She located a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol,
Which was the same caliber of weapon
That was used to murder mr. Faith.
On the upper slide, we noticed a very small smear
Of what appeared to be blood. So this was a crucial find.
At that point in time, the primary objective is
To get that firearm to the dna lab
So that we can conduct forensic testing.
[music]
[narrator] coming up...
Darrin denies everything.
[narrator] but recovered messages from his phone
Reveal a potential motive.
They established that she was buying gifts for him.
[music]
[narrator] three months after the murder of jamie faith,
Investigators have a suspect in custody...
Former green beret darrin lopez.
[music]
He spent a lot of time talking to me about jennifer
And how important she was to him.
Darrin believed very strongly that jennifer was his soulmate.
[narrator] although darrin is an open book
About his love for jennifer, he denies any involvement
In her husband's death.
He gave me an alibi that he was out hunting with
Some of his military buddies. So I began pressing him
And calling him out on
Some inconsistencies in his story.
He asked for an attorney.
[music]
[narrator] hoping to determine whether darrin was acting alone,
Dallas police conduct another interview
With jennifer the same day.
She asked for an attorney.
And, uh, that interview was terminated.
[music]
[narrator] since there's insufficient evidence
To prove jennifer was involved, they're forced to let her go.
The case against darrin, however,
Continues to grow stronger.
We conducted a test comparing the ballistics
From this firearm to evidence found at the scene.
And it matched.
We also took swabs of the blood that were found on the weapon.
Those swabs were sent to our forensic lab
And compared to blood samples from jamie,
And it also was a match.
It became very clear that this was,
In fact, the murder weapon.
[music]
[narrator] the question is whether darrin acted alone
Or if he was manipulated by jennifer.
[andrew] during our evidence collection,
We were able to retrieve darrin lopez's cellphone.
What it reveals are
Tens of thousands of text messages and emails
Between darrin lopez and jennifer faith.
[music]
[narrator] the recovered messages reveal
A much closer relationship than the one jennifer described.
[dr. Fabian] they started talking and texting incessantly.
But importantly, first day,
He was saying "I love you."
She responded, wanting to rekindle a relationship.
His world had been special ops, green berets.
Now it was jennifer.
Within a few days, they're talking about
A five-year plan to be together.
[narrator] there's no record of the two discussing a plan
To murder jamie, but there are several texts
Indicating jennifer helped cover it up.
[eric] she said she had a very bad feeling,
So she asked him to take the bumper sticker off.
And she pressed him very hard to get him to take it off.
[music]
We knew that the decal was removed,
But now it's significant because it wasn't darrin
That took it off,
It was jennifer that urged him to.
Jennifer was giving direction and darrin was following orders.
Just like he did in the military.
And jennifer was the one taking charge,
Taking control of the situation.
[music]
[narrator] another incriminating exchange took place
Just before darrin's arrest.
She instructs him that if he's ever questioned by police
To advise them that he's going through a divorce.
He is in financial straits.
And that they are just old friends from high school,
And that she's helping him out.
It was clear that jennifer faith wanted to make sure
That they had the same story.
[narrator] detectives believe it's also likely
Jennifer's texts about the breakup
Were merely a smokescreen.
Jennifer faith started laying the foundation,
Um, to cover for darrin when she texts tina.
You know, that she had ended the emotional affair
With darrin lopez, which we know isn't true.
In February of 2021, we were able to charge jennifer
With obstruction and tampering with evidence.
[music]
[narrator] investigators execute a search warrant
For jennifer's computer and financial information.
They find a life insurance policy for jamie
In the amount of $600,000.
[brandi] she's trying to collect financially
From the death of jamie faith.
She has found out from the life insurance agency
That they were not at this point
Going to release the money to her
Because there was
A criminal investigation going on,
And she had not been completely ruled out
As a suspect.
[music]
[narrator] even though she couldn't collect,
Bank records show jennifer was spending
An alarming amount of money.
[christina] they had found two credit cards with
Jennifer faith's name on them,
And she had given those cards to darrin.
They also established that
She was buying gifts for darrin.
She sent him a television.
She was sending money
And looking into her bank account.
Detectives were able to start determining
Where this money was coming from.
[eric] shortly after jamie was murdered,
Neighbors on his street raised about $60,000 in funds
In a gofundme account for jennifer and her family.
Jennifer used the gofundme money
To pay off any balances that she had
On the two credit cards that she sent to darrin lopez.
[music]
[narrator] based on this evidence,
The charges against jennifer are increased.
[christina] she was already arrested for obstruction,
So they upped the charge to, uh,
Murder for hire.
[andrew] the fact that she was giving darren money,
The fact that she was allowing darren
To use her credit cards,
That there was obviously a element of remuneration here
In what we believe was her attempts to convince him
To kill her husband.
[music]
[narrator] after a three-month investigation,
Jennifer faith and darrin lopez
Have both been charged with the murder of jamie faith.
It appears jennifer's motive was money,
But darrin's went much deeper.
[andrew] during the forensic examination,
We really began to see her attempt to manipulate
Darrin lopez.
[music]
Jennifer had created false email accounts,
Um, one being in the name of james faith.
[andrew] the forensic examiners could tell us
And show us exactly when and where
Those fictitious email accounts were created by jennifer
On her computer.
They were able to determine that they had been created
At her ip address.
Jennifer used those email accounts
To communicate with darrin, purporting to be jamie faith.
It is generally jamie faith saying to leave his wife alone,
To stay out of their relationship.
And then it turns to become
That he is abusing jennifer faith.
Then it turns to that he is sexually abusing her.
Then it turns to he is gang raping her.
And it gets more and more violent
As these emails go through.
[eric] there were photos of injuries
That jennifer had shared with darrin.
There were burns to her arm. There were cuts on her neck.
And we found out those photos were from a car accident earlier
About eight years prior to her sending those emails.
[music]
[dr. Fabian] darrin, due to his psychological problems
And his ptsd, was more susceptible
Than the average person to be duped
And to believe these fabricated stories of abuse.
So it began to paint a picture of truly an evil person
Who was playing on mr. Lopez's heartstrings.
[music]
[narrator] when investigators share the truth of
Jennifer's manipulation with darrin,
He confesses of his own volition.
[music]
[andrew] I think it's fair to say that he was shocked.
He truly believed that she was a victim
Of this physical and of this sexual abuse.
He came to the realization that he killed an innocent man.
[music]
He described the crime, you know, very matter of factly,
Much as if he were describing a military mission.
Given his background, that's not unusual.
[christina] so darrin spends the night in that backyard,
Just waiting.
The same thing that he learned to do
When he was in combat.
[music]
At 7:30 a.M., when jennifer and james and their dog
Exited their home, he came out from the yard,
Ran up to jennifer and james, and he shot james in the head,
The torso, chest, and in the groin.
[music]
Darrin admitted that he had shot jamie faith in the groin,
Sort of as retaliation, if you will,
For the alleged sexual abuse.
[christina] then he pushed jennifer to the ground.
He had the duct tape that he sort of halfheartedly
Tried to tie her up with.
[eric] he said that after he shot him,
He took jamie's wedding band to make it look like it was
A robbery that went wrong.
He jumped into his black car and fled the way that
He had planned in advance.
And somewhere in the middle of arkansas,
He took that ring and tossed it into the river.
Remarkably, they had not been
Physically in each other's presence
This whole period of time,
Not until the moment of the murder.
[music]
[andrew] she had to have known
That should she have gone to trial,
Most assuredly, mr. Lopez would have been
Called as a witness to refute any testimony
That she would have been given.
[christina] jennifer faith was facing the death penalty.
And so the defense was presented with the option
Of a plea, where she would confess
In exchange for a lighter sentence.
[music]
[narrator] jennifer accepts the state's plea deal.
And on June 21st, 2022,
She is sentenced to life imprisonment.
The following year, darrin is found guilty of murder
And receives a 62-year sentence.
But for investigators, some mysteries still linger.
[christopher] why did jennifer snap?
That question will always remain with me
Until jennifer tells why she snapped.
[music]
How does somebody wake up in the morning
Knowing that that's the morning that you have decided
That somebody that you are supposed to have loved,
For their life to end?
I want him to be depicted as the person that he was
And not...
Not the narrative that jennifer tried to create.
But she'll have plenty of time to think about
How she could've handled things differently.
She's gonna have plenty of time to reflect.
[music]