Jennifer Faith trial: Case explored as Texas woman sentenced to life in prison for planning husband’s death

In a new federal charge announced on Monday, an Oak Cliff woman Jennifer Faith, who persuaded her boyfriend to kill her husband, confessed to orchestrating the murder.

Reports suggest that Jennifer Faith's "depraved and calculated" scheme forced her alleged boyfriend to murder her husband by deceiving him through fictitious emails claiming that she was being abused and required protection.

Jennifer entered a plea of guilty to the allegation of murder-for-hire. She was charged with tampering with justice and using interstate commerce to commit murder-for-hire. Prosecutors agreed to remove the obstruction count and propose a life sentence in exchange for her plea.

---

Jennifer Faith was in a ‘full blown emotional affair’ with the alleged shooter

Jennifer Lynne Faith (49) was out walking their dog with her husband, American Airlines CEO James Faith, in October 2020, when someone opened fire in the Dallas neighborhood.

Shortly after, James was shot numerous times by an anonymous man. Jennifer told local sources that she was astounded by what happened in a flash of a second and said:

“Oh my god! If you know what happened, I need that for closure. I need to make some sense out of this.”

Two months later, she also pleaded in a TV interview with those who might have some knowledge about the incident. She said:

"My hope is that someday perhaps the person will realize the guilty of what they have done and what they have taken from myself and my daughter. He was just the backbone of our company. It was just devastating."

During the investigation, Dallas police went through defendant Jennifer Faith's mobile phone and learned she was in a romantic relationship with the alleged shooter. He was identified as Darrin Robin Lupez, 49. Officials said in a statement:

"Jennifer Faith and Darrin Lupez had been carrying on a full blown emotional affair and even bandied about a 'five year plan' for how they would end up together."

According to plea papers, Jennifer Faith admitted that her boyfriend Darris allegedly gunned down her husband in front of his home in Oak Cliff.

Jennifer Faith acknowledged that she was aware that Lopez had been crippled by a traumatic brain injury while serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq. She used to send him funds and presents both before and after the murder, and even gave him two credit cards.

Determined by the alleged affair of Faith and Lupez, US Attorney Chad Meacham described:

"Jennifer Faith's cold-blooded plot to murder her husband was made all the more heinous by the way she behaved after his death. Even as she wept for her late husband, Ms. Faith was corresponding with his murderer, plotting about how to cover up their crime."

---

Jennifer Faith sent misleading emails as a bogus proof of physical abuse

The U.S. Attorney's Office claims that Jennifer opened a Gmail account in her husband's name in April 2020 and used it to taunt Lopez "multiple times throughout the spring and summer of 2020, detailing extreme physical and s*xual abuse that had never actually occurred" and attaching "fake photos of injuries as bogus proof of the abuse."

The following month, she allegedly opened a second fictitious Gmail account in a friend's name. The email was sent in May 2020 and said:

"Jamie slapped Jen...then he sent the pic of him choking her. I am asking if you are willing to get involved and help Jen get out this situation."

Lopez reply to that account on May 20 read:

"I know I won't feel better about her situation until she is out of the house away from him or she lets me put a bullet in a Jamie's head."

Later, a friend of Jennifer's set up a GoFundMe account to support the family, but according to the investigators, Jennifer withdrew $58,000 to pay for transactions made on two credit cards she handed Mr. Lopez.

Investigators felt they were able to piece together the murder's circumstances quickly enough and eventually coaxed a confession of guilt.

Jennifer Faith will be sentenced on May 26, 2022. Both the state and the federal government have accused Lopez of murder and a related gun crime. She's entered a not guilty plea to both allegations.