Oxygen's Snapped: Who is Jacqueline Ray and what did she do?

Snapped on Oxygen will follow the story of Jacqueline Ray, a desperate and helpless mother who hired a hitman in July 2012 to assassinate her abusive son-in-law Leon Baucham. The episode, titled Jackie Ray, airs on Monday, December 26, 2022, at 6 pm ET.

The synopsis states:

"In Gig Harbor, Wash., a homicide investigation reveals the dark lengths to which one woman will go for her family's safety."

Baucham, 33, was found with a gunshot wound in the upper back part of his body in Gig Harbor, Washington, on July 12. An investigation into the homicide revealed that he was married to a woman named Umeko Roberts at the time and was a father of two. Umeko told authorities about her physically abusive and violent marriage, claiming that the victim was overprotective and jealous.

Umeko's concerned mother, Jacqueline Ray, was eventually arrested and charged with murder after incriminating evidence connected her to the killing. Ray eventually confessed and took a plea deal to direct authorities to the hired hitman, Luis Barker, in exchange for a lighter sentence.

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Jacqueline Ray took care of her daughter, Umeko, and grandson until Leon Baucham came into Umeko's life in 2001

In 2001, Leon Baucham began dating Umeko Roberts and began caring for the young mother and her son as a father figure, something Umeko's mother, Jacqueline Ray, had previously done. The couple married in 2008 and had two children of their own thereafter.

Authorities learned about Baucham's controlling, abusive, and jealous behavior towards Umeko, especially after she started going out and working by herself. They also learned that he placed a tracking device on his wife's phone to monitor her whereabouts. Umeko claimed that she once fractured an eye socket during an argument that turned physical, and that Ray called the authorities on Baucham.

Authorities discovered after further inquiry that Baucham once lost his temper after suspecting that Umeko was having an affair. They speculated that she may have had a reason to kill her husband. However, a further finding caught their attention: Baucham's body was discovered within a mile of Jacqueline Ray's house.

When questioned, Ray told authorities about her aggressive son-in-law's actions and claimed to have advised Umeko to leave him. She said that the day before he was found dead, her daughter told her about another fight. The concerned mother claimed that she booked a hotel room for her daughter and grandchildren and left town to go camping with friends afterwards.

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Jacqueline Ray's phone records were used to find connections between her and the killing of her son-in-law

But authorities learned from one of Baucham's friends that on the night of the murder, he was headed to his mother-in-law's house, thinking that Umeko was there, when in reality, she was at the hotel. The murder-for-hire case was meticulously unraveled using Ray's phone records. Authorities discovered texts between her and Luis Barker, after which she confessed to having hired him to carry out the murder for $10,000.

Ray claimed that after she first met Umeko at the hotel, she stole the latter's phone and brought it back to her house, expecting Baucham to track it there. She then lured him to her house, where Barker shot him, duct taped his body with the help of an accomplice, and dumped it. She then helped authorities catch Barker in the act after taking a plea deal and admitting to second-degree murder.

Jacqueline Ray was eventually sentenced to 18 years in prison.

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Learn more about the case on Oxygen's Snapped this Monday.