Feds: Texas woman orchestrated 'depraved' murder-for-hire plot in killing of husband, gave GoFundMe blood money to secret lover

A murder-for-hire plot that sounds like it is straight from a fictional crime drama was exposed this week. A Texas woman orchestrated an elaborate and "depraved" scheme to murder her husband by manipulating her secret lover, federal prosecutors say.

Jennifer Lynne Faith, 49, was walking her dog with her husband near their Oak Cliff home last October. Suddenly, a man appeared out of nowhere and fatally shot 49-year-old Jamie Faith seven times – three times in the head, three times in the torso, and one time in the groin. The shooter fled the crime scene in his black Nissan Titan pickup, which had a distinctive Texas Rangers "T" logo sticker on the back of it, WFAA reported. The deadly shooting in the Dallas neighborhood occurred one day after the couple's 15th wedding anniversary.

In December 2020, Jennifer told KXAS-TV, "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. He was just the backbone of our family. It was just devastating."

Jennifer also did an interview with WFAA to plead with the public to help find her husband's killer. During the interview, she mentioned that someone must know a truck with the baseball team's logo on the back.

Federal prosecutors believe the alleged gunman is Darrin Ruben Lopez – Jennifer's boyfriend.

According to court documents, Faith texted Lopez to remove the "T" sticker from his truck after she "woke up in a little bit of a panic."

Faith reportedly texted Lopez: "something is eating away at me telling me you need to take the sticker out of the back window of the truck. It might just be me over thinking or something, but I'll fee[l] a ton better if you take it off and clean the window really well."

One day after her interview, Faith texted Lopez, "Ok. Sorry. I know you're going to think I am crazy, but it's REALLY nagging at me. I have a bad feeling and I really think you need to get that sticker off ASAP….like today."

On Dec. 6, he texted her that he removed the sticker, to which she replied, "Oh YAY!!! Thank you!! I feel SOOO much better."

On Jan. 11, Lopez was arrested in Tennessee. Law enforcement found a .45 caliber gun that was allegedly used to kill Jamie Faith, and the firearm still had the murdered husband's blood on it, according to People.

Authorities say that days after his arrest, Faith relayed a message to Lopez through a friend, "I've just needed to be cautious because every communication is being monitored. Please tell him ASAP that I will always be his."

While in custody, Lopez allegedly answered back through the same individual, "Please stay strong for US. Your knight always."

"The following week, Ms. Faith allegedly transferred a total of $118,000 from her checking account into an account belonging to a third party," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas.

Someone close to Jennifer launched a GoFundMe account two days after the shooting to help the family deal with Jamie Faith's untimely and tragic death. Authorities claim that Jennifer used the blood money to give to her husband's killer.

"Ms. Faith allegedly withdrew approximately $58,000 from the fund, which she used to pay for purchases made on two credit cards she gave to Mr. Lopez," feds say. "She also used the credit cards to pay for expenses for Mr. Lopez and his family, purchase airline tickets for Mr. Lopez and his daughters, and pay FedEx to ship Mr. Lopez a large screen television."

On Nov. 11, Faith started a life insurance claim for her husband – seeking about $629,000 in death benefits.

"Ok, so life insurance. They aren't processing the claim yet because when they spoke to Det Walton in November, he told them I couldn't be ruled out as a suspect," she allegedly texted Lopez on Dec. 29.

Court documents revealed this week claim that Faith manipulated Lopez – a high school sweetheart – by allegedly sending fake emails as she posed as her husband and one of her friends to convince him to kill Jamie Faith. She even convinced Lopez that her husband was physically and sexually abusing her, which was reportedly fabricated. She repeatedly sent Lopez fake photos of injuries she said were caused by her husband, court documents say.

"Ms. Faith's alleged murder-for-hire scheme was depraved and calculated. She preyed on her boyfriend's protective instinct and his pocketbook in order to convince him to execute her husband," said Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah. "Jamie Faith's brutal murder was a tragedy. His death has been a double blow to his family and friends, who had just begun to absorb the news of his murder when they were confronted with evidence of his wife's alleged involvement. We are committed to getting justice for Jamie – and to holding both Ms. Faith and Mr. Lopez accountable for their alleged crimes."

"Although the indictment of Ms. Faith is a win for law enforcement, I can't help but think of the pain associated with so many others in this investigation. ATF is grateful to the Dallas Police Department for their dogged efforts in bringing this case to justice. ATF will not waver in its fight against violent crime in North Texas and beyond," stated ATF Dallas Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey C. Boshek II.

On Tuesday, Faith was charged with the use of interstate commerce in the commission of murder-for-hire, a charge that carries a potential death penalty. She was previously charged with obstruction of justice, to which she entered a plea of not guilty.

Lopez was previously charged by the state with murder, and by the feds with transporting a firearm in interstate commerce with the intent to commit a felony offense, to which he entered a plea of not guilty.

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