Widow spends GoFundMe donations from husband’s death on gifts for lover accused of killing him
‘It was shocking to see how much people were contributing and donated’
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A woma who admitted planning her husband’s murder spent thousands of dollars raised from a GoFundme on the man accused of carrying out the killing.
Jennifer Faith, 49, pleaded guilty in February to a plotting the “cold-blooded murder” of her husband Jamie, who was shot seven times by a masked man while the couple were walking their dog in in Dallas in October 2020.
Police have charged Faith’s “boyfriend” Darrin Lopez with murder, and he is awaiting trial after pleading not guilty.
In the days after Mr Faith’s murder, a GoFundme fundraising account set up to provide financial support to the Faith family by neighbour Jennifer Svelan raised more than $60,000.
“It was shocking to see how much people were contributing and donated,” Ms Svelan said.
Jennifer Faith also went on television in the days after the murder to plead for the gunman to come forward.
Court documents show Jennifer Faith lavished gifts on Mr Lopez including a Samsung QLED large screen television and plane tickets, and gave him access to her credit cards, according to a new 48 Hours CBS documentary.
She wrote in an email to Mr Lopez: “Here's both of my major CC's. AMEX has no limit and I think the Visa has like $35,000 ... PLEASE don't hesitate to use them for whatever you need, especially when it's stuff for the girls.”
Jennifer Faith withdrew $58,000 from the GoFundme over two months, while leaving a bill of $6,500 for her husband’s funeral unpaid, according to authorities.
Faith and Mr Lopez exchanged more than 14,000 calls and texts during the month of the murder.
Former friends and neighbours who contributed to the GoFundme say they feel betrayed.
Ms Svelan told 48 Hours: “I look at it more as not stealing from GoFundMe but stealing from her family, her friends, her community … people who loved Jamie. That’s who she was stealing from.”
She said GoFundme had reimbursed the people who had donated to the family after learning of Faith’s deceit.
Federal prosecutors initially charged Faith with obstruction of justice in February 2021, before adding a charge of interstate commerce in the commission of murder-for-hire in October, which carries a potential death sentence.
Faith pleaded guilty to the murder-for-hire charge in February 2021, and prosecutors have recommended a sentence of life imprisonment.
“Even as she wept for her late husband on TV, Ms. Faith was corresponding with his murderer, plotting about how to cover up their crime,” US Attorney Chad Meacham said at the time of her guilty plea.
Jennifer Faith also tried to claim a $629,000 life insurance policy a month after her the murder of her husband, an American Airlines technology director.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey C. Boshek II said Faith had not only been responsible for the murder of her husband, she had manipulated “family, friends and caring citizens”.