Latest / Wicked and Grim: A True Crime Podcast / Murder In Broad Daylight - Jamie Faith - Part 1

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Murder In Broad Daylight - Jamie Faith - Part 1 · Wicked and Grim: A True Crime Podcast

0:07
Speaker 1: On the morning of October 9th in 2020, a 49-year-old
0:11
Speaker 1: man was walking his dog with his wife through their
0:13
Speaker 1: quiet Dallas neighborhood when a masked gunman approached in the
0:18
Speaker 1: quiet streets and shot him, leaving him dead. He was
0:23
Speaker 1: a well-liked husband, father, and successful professional with no known enemies,
0:29
Speaker 1: leaving investigators struggling to understand why someone would target him
0:34
Speaker 1: in such a brutal and deliberate attack. Then, as detectives
0:38
Speaker 1: began piecing together the events surrounding his murder, an increasingly
0:42
Speaker 1: disturbing trail of evidence would reveal that the circumstances behind
0:47
Speaker 1: his death were far more complicated than anyone had initially imagined.
0:54
Speaker 1: This is the story of the murder of Jamie Faith.
1:01
Speaker 1: My name is Ben.
1:02
Speaker 2: I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked and Grim, a.
1:05
Speaker 1: True crime podcast.
1:22
Speaker 3: I'm curious how different we may sound this morning.
1:40
Speaker 1: I think we probably sound... Quite different. That's my guess.
1:43
Speaker 2: We're on a little holiday or wrapping up a holiday,
1:46
Speaker 2: I suppose. Yeah.
1:47
Speaker 1: We took a little weekend getaway for Canadian Thanksgiving and
1:51
Speaker 1: Nicole's birthday. Yeah.
1:53
Speaker 2: We rented a little cabin at a ranch and it's
1:55
Speaker 2: been lovely.
1:57
Speaker 1: It has been lovely. You know, there's a little hot
1:59
Speaker 1: tub here. There's goats and horses and it's pretty cool.
2:03
Speaker 1: We stargazed in the hot tub and have been chilling.
2:06
Speaker 1: It's been good.
2:07
Speaker 2: The goat actually made a noise while you were doing
2:10
Speaker 2: the intro.
2:10
Speaker 4: Yeah.
2:11
Speaker 1: It did. I think I was louder than it and
2:15
Speaker 1: talked over it.
2:15
Speaker 2: Yeah. But I'm wondering if it might be able to
2:18
Speaker 2: be heard. Yeah. Which would be funny.
2:20
Speaker 1: It would be.
2:21
Speaker 3: Yeah.
2:22
Speaker 1: But anyways, whether you hear a goat or you hear echoing,
2:26
Speaker 1: just know, yeah, we're just on a mini vacation, but
2:30
Speaker 1: we're still putting out the podcast for you guys because
2:34
Speaker 1: you're amazing. And in fact, we got to thank some
2:36
Speaker 1: amazing people who signed up over on Patreon this week.
2:38
Speaker 1: So shout out to Amber Bernard. Sabrina Abbott and Aurora Faye.
2:43
Speaker 1: They all signed up. They get that good extra behind
2:45
Speaker 1: the scenes content. And especially being the fact that it
2:48
Speaker 1: is October, we got some cool stuff coming up alongside
2:51
Speaker 1: Halloween week, which is not that far away anymore.
2:55
Speaker 2: It really is approaching quick. Yeah.
2:58
Speaker 1: So it's going to be the sixth annual Halloween week.
3:00
Speaker 1: So I'm pretty pumped.
3:01
Speaker 4: Wow.
3:02
Speaker 2: That's wild.
3:03
Speaker 1: Yeah. They've already actually been enjoying a good Halloween list
3:06
Speaker 1: of movies that we've been putting out on Patreon every day.
3:09
Speaker 1: So there's some good stuff. If you're like, hey, I
3:12
Speaker 1: don't know what to watch for movies and you're thinking
3:14
Speaker 1: about signing up for Patreon, now's a good time because
3:17
Speaker 1: we're dropping them every single day until Halloween.
3:20
Speaker 2: And then you also dropped the list from previous years too, right?
3:24
Speaker 1: I did. So I gave the list from 2024 and
3:28
Speaker 1: 2025 being 2024, the first year we did it. So
3:32
Speaker 1: both those lists are up on there in entirety. And then, yeah,
3:36
Speaker 1: this year's is coming out one day at a time.
3:38
Speaker 1: That's awesome.
3:39
Speaker 3: Yeah.
3:40
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, I'm not like a scary movie kind
3:43
Speaker 2: of gal, but I've watched a couple of them. They're
3:45
Speaker 2: not bad.
3:46
Speaker 1: There's some good ones. I've watched every single one of them.
3:48
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm not saying I've watched every single one
3:50
Speaker 1: every single day throughout October, but I have seen every
3:53
Speaker 1: single one of these movies. They're all amazing. And I'm
3:56
Speaker 1: watching a bunch of them. Hopefully I can watch all
3:59
Speaker 1: of them this month. That is my goal though.
4:01
Speaker 2: There you go.
4:02
Speaker 3: Yeah.
4:02
Speaker 2: That sounds cozy and nice. It's a good fall activity.
4:06
Speaker 1: Fall activity. It's a spooky activity. There's a lot of
4:09
Speaker 1: horror movies in there. There are a lot of creepy
4:10
Speaker 1: and spooky ones, so it's pretty good for the season.
4:13
Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't know. It's just the visual of it,
4:15
Speaker 2: I guess. I could easily listen to true crime all
4:18
Speaker 2: day and not be near as freaked out as watching
4:21
Speaker 2: one of those movies, which is bizarre. I'm aware.
4:24
Speaker 1: See, for me, I really like horror movies because I
4:27
Speaker 1: have a director, producer, filmmaker kind of mindset.
4:31
Speaker 2: Yeah.
4:32
Speaker 1: So I look at the scene and I'm like, I
4:33
Speaker 1: wonder how they made this. Oh, you can see how
4:35
Speaker 1: this effect was done or like this camera angle or
4:38
Speaker 1: this lighting. And I really like breaking that sort of
4:40
Speaker 1: stuff down in my mind. So when it's like, oh no,
4:43
Speaker 1: this scary ghost face pop out at you. A, I
4:46
Speaker 1: probably already figured out the timing and knew it was coming.
4:49
Speaker 1: And B, I'm like, oh, that's just a person with
4:51
Speaker 1: this makeup and like the scary undertone with the music
4:54
Speaker 1: or it's CGI. And I'm like thinking about it. So
4:56
Speaker 1: you guys might see a scary ghost and I just
4:59
Speaker 1: see it. person in dollar store makeup kind of thing,
5:01
Speaker 1: you know?
5:01
Speaker 2: Oh man. I mean, that's probably helpful.
5:04
Speaker 1: It does help.
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Speaker 2: Honestly.
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
5:06
Speaker 1: Yeah. But I ranted long enough. I think I should
5:08
Speaker 1: get into this story. Yeah.
5:10
Speaker 2: Sorry. It's like a gooder.
5:11
Speaker 1: I'm rambling apparently, but the story I do have to
5:15
Speaker 1: preface with one thing. This is a part one. Oh, okay.
5:19
Speaker 2: For some reason I was just like, oh man, is
5:21
Speaker 2: there animal cruelty in there? That's where I thought you
5:23
Speaker 2: were going and I'm like, I'm out, I'm out. But no,
5:25
Speaker 2: it's a part one.
5:26
Speaker 1: It's a part one. There's no animal cruelty.
5:28
Speaker 2: Okay.
5:28
Speaker 1: There is a dog.
5:30
Speaker 2: Okay.
5:30
Speaker 1: But there's no animal cruelty.
5:31
Speaker 3: Okay.
5:32
Speaker 2: So you ready? I'm ready.
5:34
Speaker 1: Okay. Jamie or James William Faith Jr., just better known
5:39
Speaker 1: as Jamie, was born on May 11th, 1971 in Madsen, Wisconsin, USA,
5:44
Speaker 1: and grew up in the small community of Mukwanago, People
5:49
Speaker 1: described him as intelligent, easygoing, and someone who could just
5:53
Speaker 1: basically make about anyone feel really good about themselves. He
5:57
Speaker 1: was that kind of person. He had a natural talent
5:59
Speaker 1: for computers, which was an interest that eventually led him
6:02
Speaker 1: to study computer science at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where
6:06
Speaker 1: he graduated in 1994. From there, Jamie built a successful
6:10
Speaker 1: career in technology and software engineering, eventually working his way
6:14
Speaker 1: into a senior position with American Airlines. By 2020, he
6:19
Speaker 1: was a director responsible for technology associated with the airline's shopping, booking,
6:25
Speaker 1: and reservation systems. His colleagues respected his technical knowledge, but
6:30
Speaker 1: he was also equally appreciated for how he treated people
6:33
Speaker 1: working alongside him. He even enjoyed helping others, even if
6:37
Speaker 1: it meant solving a complicated problem at work or fixing
6:40
Speaker 1: someone's computer in his spare time. Now, outside of work,
6:45
Speaker 1: Jamie had plenty of interests. He was a devoted Green
6:49
Speaker 1: Bay Packers fan who enjoyed bowling, billiards, video games, good food,
6:54
Speaker 1: and traveling. He was also particularly passionate about wine and
6:58
Speaker 1: even had developed his own software to help him organize
7:01
Speaker 1: and manage his personal wine collection. He also volunteered his
7:05
Speaker 1: time mentoring students at Southern Methodist University as well. To
7:11
Speaker 1: say the least, he was a well-lived man. But that's
7:14
Speaker 1: not all. because his friendships were equally important to him too.
7:19
Speaker 1: Teresa Jensen had known Jamie since high school, and he
7:22
Speaker 1: was responsible for introducing her to the man who would
7:25
Speaker 1: become her husband, Ross Jensen. The couple remained close to
7:29
Speaker 1: Jamie throughout the years, even as work and family commitments
7:33
Speaker 1: took them all in different places.
7:35
Speaker 2: Okay, honestly, he sounds like a guy I want to
7:37
Speaker 2: be friends with.
7:38
Speaker 1: He's a gem of a human being, yes.
7:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, he sounds amazing, actually.
7:42
Speaker 1: He really honestly is. As far as my research took me,
7:45
Speaker 1: He was just a kind soul all around.
7:48
Speaker 2: Yeah. Like just sit there, drink some wine with him,
7:50
Speaker 2: you know? Oh, I'm in.
7:53
Speaker 1: You're in. The wine had.
7:54
Speaker 2: You, hey? It really did. Actually, the fact that he
7:56
Speaker 2: has it that organized, like that intrigues me.
7:59
Speaker 3: Yeah.
7:59
Speaker 1: Not only does he like wine, he seems to have
8:02
Speaker 1: like OCD about its organization and developed his own software
8:06
Speaker 1: to organize it. That's an organized man.
8:09
Speaker 3: Oh, yeah.
8:09
Speaker 2: Like I'm there for that. Yeah.
8:11
Speaker 1: Well, for a long time, Jamie insisted that for himself,
8:14
Speaker 1: marriage and children weren't part of his plans. And his
8:18
Speaker 1: friends remembered him as, you know, being a confirmed bachelor
8:21
Speaker 1: who was perfectly content with the life that he had built. However,
8:26
Speaker 1: that changed on October.
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Speaker 3: 8th, 2005.
8:29
Speaker 1: Say Jamie was living in Arizona when mutual friends arranged
8:34
Speaker 1: a blind date between him and Jennifer Lynn Faith. Jennifer
8:39
Speaker 1: had previously been married twice, and was raising her eight-year-old daughter, Amber.
8:43
Speaker 1: Now on their date, the two connected almost immediately. Friends
8:47
Speaker 1: who knew them during those early years described them as
8:50
Speaker 1: extremely compatible, sharing a similar sense of humor, enjoying many
8:54
Speaker 1: of the same activities. Jennifer was outgoing and social, while
8:57
Speaker 1: Jamie had a playful personality that complimented hers. One of
9:02
Speaker 1: Jamie's friends, Jason Snyder, first met the couple in 2006,
9:08
Speaker 1: when they brought Amber to college. the dance studio that
9:10
Speaker 1: he owned. Jamie would often stay and talk with Jason
9:14
Speaker 1: while Amber attended her lessons, and the two men developed
9:17
Speaker 1: a friendship. Now as Jamie's relationship with Jennifer grew, so
9:21
Speaker 1: did his relationship with her daughter, Amber. Although he wasn't
9:24
Speaker 1: her biological father, he became actively involved in raising her,
9:29
Speaker 1: attending her dance recitals, and supporting her throughout her childhood.
9:34
Speaker 1: Then on a vacation in Las Vegas in 2012, after
9:37
Speaker 1: approximately seven years together, Jamie and Jennifer got married. And
9:44
Speaker 1: when Amber turned 18 in 2015, their family became even
9:48
Speaker 1: closer because Jamie legally adopted her, making their relationship that
9:54
Speaker 1: they had developed over the previous decade into an official one.
9:58
Speaker 1: He was the man who helped raise her. and Amber
10:01
Speaker 1: was very much so his daughter. Now, during that time,
10:06
Speaker 1: Jennifer had also established a career in healthcare. Trained in
10:10
Speaker 1: speech-language pathology, she worked in therapy sessions and services and
10:14
Speaker 1: healthcare administrations, including positions involved in management of therapy programs.
10:20
Speaker 1: In 2017, Jamie received a promotion with American Airlines that
10:26
Speaker 1: required him to relocate to Dallas, Texas. Jennifer and Amber
10:30
Speaker 1: moved with him, and the family settled into a spacious
10:33
Speaker 1: home on South Waverly Drive in North Oak Cliff, an
10:37
Speaker 1: established neighborhood southwest of downtown Dallas. But by 2020, however,
10:44
Speaker 1: Jennifer had stepped away from working while dealing with reported
10:47
Speaker 1: health concerns, leaving Jamie to be the household's primary financial provider.
10:53
Speaker 1: Their property in Dallas was well-suited to entertaining, with a
10:56
Speaker 1: backyard swimming pool, hot tub, and outdoor space for gatherings.
11:00
Speaker 1: Jamie and Jennifer enjoyed hosting friends, cooking together, and organizing
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Speaker 1: social events. Now, they also quickly became involved in their
11:09
Speaker 1: neighborhood as well. Their home was particularly popular with a
11:12
Speaker 1: bunch of the local kids as the faiths allowed neighbors
11:15
Speaker 1: to bring their families over for a swim, sometimes even
11:18
Speaker 1: sharing the access code to their gate so people could
11:20
Speaker 1: just use the pool even when they weren't home. Emery
11:24
Speaker 1: Wilson was a bank examiner who moved onto South Waverly
11:27
Speaker 1: Drive in late 2019. She remembered Jamie and Jennifer coming
11:32
Speaker 1: to welcome them to the neighborhood with a gift. They
11:35
Speaker 1: lived approximately five houses away, and their friendliness made an
11:39
Speaker 1: immediate impression on her. Other neighbors of theirs had similar
11:42
Speaker 1: experiences too, Melissa Gonzalez, for example, remember Jamie as someone
11:48
Speaker 1: who genuinely cared about people, regardless of their background. He
11:52
Speaker 1: was approachable, thoughtful, and especially good with the neighborhood children.
11:57
Speaker 1: The family also had a large Bernese mountain dog that
12:00
Speaker 1: they named Maggie. Maggie became a familiar sight around South
12:05
Speaker 1: Waverly Drive, too. Then, when COVID-19 hit, the pandemic, it
12:11
Speaker 1: disrupted everyday life in March of 2020. The neighborhood grew quiet.
12:17
Speaker 1: More residents began working from home. Social gatherings became much
12:21
Speaker 1: less frequent, and people settled into different routines. Jamie continued
12:25
Speaker 1: working for American Airlines, although the airline industry faced tremendous
12:29
Speaker 1: uncertainty at the time with restricted travel. Ultimately, the pandemic
12:34
Speaker 1: forced significant layoffs, including approximately 20 positions affecting people under
12:40
Speaker 1: Jamie's direct supervision. And the responsibility Jamie carried weighed heavily
12:46
Speaker 1: on him. He cared about these employees, these people, and
12:50
Speaker 1: he struggled with having to let them go. But it
12:53
Speaker 1: wasn't his call, but it ultimately was his responsibility to
12:57
Speaker 1: execute it. Now at home, Jamie and Jennifer continued finding
13:01
Speaker 1: ways to spend time together. They enjoyed traveling and had
13:05
Speaker 1: already made plans for the future vacations, including a cruise
13:08
Speaker 1: that was booked for 2022 with close friends. One of
13:12
Speaker 1: their most consistent routines, though, involved their dog Maggie. Every morning,
13:17
Speaker 1: usually sometime between 7.30 and 8.30 a.m., the couple took
13:21
Speaker 1: Maggie for a walk around the neighborhood. And Thursday, October 8, 2020,
13:27
Speaker 1: marked 15 years since Jamie and Jennifer had their first date.
13:32
Speaker 1: It was an anniversary they remembered and celebrated, reflecting the
13:35
Speaker 1: importance they placed on their day of their first relationship
13:38
Speaker 1: date and how it all began. But then on the
13:41
Speaker 1: following day, Friday, October 9, 2020, Shortly before 7.30 a.m.,
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Speaker 1: Jamie and Jennifer were getting ready to take Maggie for
13:49
Speaker 1: her routine morning walk.
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Speaker 2: Okay, this story, just like so far, other than the COVID-19,
13:56
Speaker 2: sounds so freaking perfect that I'm like, what the hell
14:00
Speaker 2: could be going wrong? What could go wrong here?
14:02
Speaker 1: It's a picture-perfect story. It's something almost like right out
14:05
Speaker 1: of a storybook at first. You're right, though. The COVID-19 definitely...
14:10
Speaker 1: Definitely hits a little bit different. It kind of brings
14:12
Speaker 1: it down. But they were living a genuinely great life.
14:16
Speaker 1: They had a great relationship. Things were going their way.
14:19
Speaker 1: But trust me when I say something definitely goes wrong.
14:24
Speaker 2: Okay.
14:26
Speaker 1: Well, this day on Friday, October 9th, before they even
14:28
Speaker 1: went out for their walk, began by them joking around
14:31
Speaker 1: in the bathroom. Jamie was brushing his teeth and Jennifer
14:35
Speaker 1: remembered playfully smacking Jamie's butt, prompting him to respond, quote, Oh,
14:39
Speaker 1: so that's how it's going to be today, end quote.
14:43
Speaker 1: Jennifer remembered laughing and continuing to tease him before they
14:46
Speaker 1: finished getting ready to leave. At approximately 7.33 a.m., Jennifer
14:51
Speaker 1: stepped outside their home on South Waverly Drive with Maggie
14:55
Speaker 1: on her leash, followed shortly afterwards by Jamie. The couple's
14:59
Speaker 1: doorbell camera recorded them leaving the property, and they had
15:03
Speaker 1: barely made it past their house when Jennifer heard footsteps
15:06
Speaker 1: approaching from behind. When she turned around, she saw a
15:10
Speaker 1: man wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and a bright blue
15:14
Speaker 1: surgical mask approaching Jamie with a gun. Without any apparent
15:19
Speaker 1: warning or argument even, the stranger simply took aim and
15:24
Speaker 1: open fired, repeatedly shooting Jamie at close range as he
15:28
Speaker 1: collapsed onto the roadway near the neighboring property. The gunman
15:32
Speaker 1: fired nine shots altogether. Seven of them struck Jamie. Three
15:37
Speaker 1: bullets entered his chest, another three struck him in the head,
15:41
Speaker 1: and another one struck him in his groin. The shooting
15:44
Speaker 1: happened within seconds, leaving Jamie with catastrophic injuries. Jennifer later
15:50
Speaker 1: struggled to describe exactly what she had witnessed, remembering the
15:53
Speaker 1: sound of the repeated gunfire and the sight of her
15:56
Speaker 1: husband falling onto the street. She initially estimated hearing five
16:00
Speaker 1: or six shots and said that there could have been more,
16:03
Speaker 1: but she couldn't accurately count. She recalled watching Jamie in
16:07
Speaker 1: shock as the gunman continued firing and was unable to
16:11
Speaker 1: understand why someone would attack him like this. Then after
16:15
Speaker 1: shooting Jamie, the masked man turned his attention towards Jennifer.
16:21
Speaker 1: She was still holding Maggie's leash when she attempted to
16:23
Speaker 1: run back towards the house, hoping to reach the gate
16:26
Speaker 1: leading into their backyard for some semblance of safety. But
16:30
Speaker 1: the attacker caught her before she could escape. tackling her
16:34
Speaker 1: to the ground and repeatedly striking and punching her. According
16:37
Speaker 1: to Jennifer, he punched and slapped her face and side,
16:40
Speaker 1: all while grabbing at her arms and attempting to turn
16:43
Speaker 1: her over. She said that he also pulled at her fingers,
16:46
Speaker 1: apparently trying to remove her wedding rings. At one point
16:50
Speaker 1: during the struggle, Jennifer also caught a glimpse of his
16:53
Speaker 1: handgun and noticed that it was silver. The attacker then
16:57
Speaker 1: produced a roll of duct tape and wrapped short lengths
17:00
Speaker 1: around her wrists, binding her hands together. Jennifer continued to
17:05
Speaker 1: scream for help throughout this entire assault, which ended with
17:09
Speaker 1: the gunman abruptly releasing her and fleeing towards a waiting vehicle.
17:15
Speaker 1: Now the gunfire had already attracted considerable attention from the
17:18
Speaker 1: surrounding houses, which may have been why the gunman fled
17:21
Speaker 1: so quickly. Approximately five doors away, bank examiner Emery Wilson
17:26
Speaker 1: was inside his home when he heard the several rapid gunshots,
17:30
Speaker 1: followed almost immediately by a woman screaming, Recognizing the sound
17:35
Speaker 1: of gunfire, Emery initially dropped to the floor and moved
17:38
Speaker 1: away from the windows. Then as the screams continued outside,
17:42
Speaker 1: he realized someone needed help, so he hurried toward his
17:45
Speaker 1: front door. When he stepped outside, he noticed Maggie running
17:48
Speaker 1: loose in the roadway, her leash trailing behind her. Recognizing
17:53
Speaker 1: the face of the dog, he immediately began looking towards
17:56
Speaker 1: their property, where he could hear Jennifer screaming and calling
17:59
Speaker 1: for help. Now, as Emery moved along the sidewalk, he
18:03
Speaker 1: noticed a person lying motionless in the street and his
18:06
Speaker 1: stomach dropped. With the sound of the gunshots, he knew
18:09
Speaker 1: what had likely happened. So he called out for a
18:12
Speaker 1: neighbor to call 911 and the police. Then he began
18:15
Speaker 1: approaching the body. But before he could reach it, a
18:19
Speaker 1: man stepped onto the sidewalk ahead of him. The stranger
18:23
Speaker 1: was wearing a dark hooded jacket with a hood pulled
18:25
Speaker 1: over his head and a blue face mask covering the
18:27
Speaker 1: lower half of his face. Emery briefly made eye contact
18:31
Speaker 1: with him and noticed the silver handgun hanging at his side.
18:36
Speaker 1: Realizing he had just encountered the armed man, Emery turned
18:41
Speaker 1: and ran back to his house where he retrieved and
18:43
Speaker 1: loaded a pistol of his own.
18:45
Speaker 2: Okay, this is some bizarre shit that's happening here.
18:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, why do you say that?
18:53
Speaker 2: Okay, well, first of all, I feel like the attack
18:56
Speaker 2: in just like a neighborhood like this... I just don't
18:59
Speaker 2: comprehend how this person thinks that they're going to just
19:02
Speaker 2: get away with this, I suppose. And clearly at first
19:06
Speaker 2: I was thinking he was just after Jamie. But then,
19:10
Speaker 2: I don't know, something just doesn't seem right here. Because
19:13
Speaker 2: then he did go after Jennifer as well. But like
19:16
Speaker 2: neighbors were hearing that and came out to help and stuff,
19:19
Speaker 2: which is amazing. I don't know. I just find this
19:22
Speaker 2: very bizarre. Like something doesn't seem quite right here. Because
19:26
Speaker 2: I guess... I'm having trouble comprehending why someone thinks they
19:30
Speaker 2: could get away with that when everyone's home and around
19:34
Speaker 2: and stuff.
19:35
Speaker 1: You know? So their motive is really throwing you off here?
19:37
Speaker 2: Well, and also Jamie just seems like such a saint.
19:40
Speaker 2: So who the hell would have an issue with him?
19:43
Speaker 2: So I don't know. Yeah, I'm having trouble figuring this
19:46
Speaker 2: one out.
19:47
Speaker 1: Well, you're a couple steps ahead already. Police are going
19:49
Speaker 1: to be asking those pretty much exact same questions here
19:51
Speaker 1: but uh let's build up to that point first okay
19:55
Speaker 1: so by the time emory returned outside with a gun
19:58
Speaker 1: of his own in his hand the stranger had already
20:00
Speaker 1: disappeared now several neighbors had seen an older black nissan
20:05
Speaker 1: titan pickup truck leave the area and witnesses described the
20:08
Speaker 1: vehicle driving away and leaving without any obvious signs of urgency,
20:12
Speaker 1: but one resident managed to take a photo of it,
20:15
Speaker 1: although the image ultimately didn't provide a readable license plate.
20:19
Speaker 1: It did, however, show a distinctive white letter T that
20:23
Speaker 1: was visible in the lower portion of the truck's rear window. Now,
20:27
Speaker 1: other residents were already contacting emergency services as the truck
20:30
Speaker 1: was driving off, with multiple 911 calls reporting gunfire and
20:34
Speaker 1: a seriously injured man on South Waverly Drive. Emery, meanwhile,
20:39
Speaker 1: also returned to the scene with his own gun still
20:41
Speaker 1: in his hand for defense and recognized the person laying
20:44
Speaker 1: in the road as Jamie Faith, who was unresponsive and
20:48
Speaker 1: surrounded by blood. Jennifer, meanwhile, had taken shelter behind a
20:53
Speaker 1: fence in the neighbor's driveway. She was visibly distressed and
20:56
Speaker 1: repeatedly cried and screamed out that nobody came to help them.
21:01
Speaker 1: Emery attempted to reassure her that police were now on
21:04
Speaker 1: their way while other residents gathered nearby. And he was right,
21:08
Speaker 1: because Dallas police began receiving calls at approximately 7.35 a.m.,
21:12
Speaker 1: and officers and medical personnel arrived on the scene within minutes.
21:17
Speaker 1: They found Jamie lying in blood on the roadway near
21:20
Speaker 1: the neighboring house, with multiple gunshot wounds and spent cartridges
21:24
Speaker 1: scattered around the scene. Now, despite the rapid emergency response,
21:30
Speaker 1: Jamie couldn't be saved. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
21:34
Speaker 1: who was 49 years old.
21:36
Speaker 2: Damn. I mean, I kind of expected that, but I
21:39
Speaker 2: was hoping maybe there was something they could do.
21:42
Speaker 1: Unfortunately not. Just, I mean, he was shot too many times,
21:46
Speaker 1: too many mortal injuries.
21:48
Speaker 2: Yeah.
21:49
Speaker 1: Now, Jennifer, on the other hand, had suffered comparatively minor
21:52
Speaker 1: physical injuries, including bruising and abrasions from the assault that
21:55
Speaker 1: she endured. The duct tape around her wrists had been
21:58
Speaker 1: applied quickly and loosely enough that she was actually even
22:01
Speaker 1: able to free herself and was mostly only shaken up
22:04
Speaker 1: from the incident. Now investigators soon began examining the immediate
22:09
Speaker 1: area for evidence, recovering multiple spent. 45 caliber cartridges from
22:14
Speaker 1: the roadway and pieces of duct tape near the Faith's residence.
22:18
Speaker 1: A roll of duct tape was also reportedly discovered on
22:20
Speaker 1: the roof of a neighboring property as well. Jennifer underwent
22:24
Speaker 1: medical evaluation and provided investigators with a description of the
22:28
Speaker 1: masked gunman, including his dark eyes, clothing, blue surgical mask,
22:33
Speaker 1: and silver handgun, but unfortunately she couldn't identify him. Now
22:39
Speaker 1: the number of bullet wounds and the location of them
22:42
Speaker 1: immediately raised questions about the nature of the attack that
22:44
Speaker 1: had occurred. But with no identified suspect, detectives began canvassing
22:49
Speaker 1: the neighborhood, interviewing witnesses, and collecting surveillance recordings from nearby
22:53
Speaker 1: homes and businesses alike. The black Nissan Titan and its
22:58
Speaker 1: distinctive white T-deckle offered a starting point. But the identity
23:03
Speaker 1: of the man who had driven away from South Waverly
23:06
Speaker 1: Drive remained unknown. Now, I do want to say one
23:10
Speaker 1: thing before I move on. We've gotten flack for saying
23:13
Speaker 1: the word decal before. It's decal. We've been told many times.
23:18
Speaker 1: In Canada, we pronounce it decal. In the States, it's decal.
23:23
Speaker 1: We totally get it. But my intuition tells me it's decal.
23:27
Speaker 1: So I'm just going to keep reading it as decal
23:29
Speaker 1: from here on as the podcast goes. I'm sorry, it's
23:32
Speaker 1: the Canadian in us.
23:33
Speaker 2: I think that's fair. That's fair.
23:36
Speaker 1: Now, Detective Chris Walton and Detective Eric Barnes were among
23:39
Speaker 1: those involved in the investigation, which presented several unusual circumstances
23:44
Speaker 1: from the very beginning. They noted that Jamie had been
23:47
Speaker 1: attacked in broad daylight, just steps from his home, with
23:51
Speaker 1: no apparent confrontation taking place beforehand. His wife, Jennifer, had
23:56
Speaker 1: also been assaulted, but the differences between their injuries were
23:59
Speaker 1: difficult to ignore initially. since Jamie had sustained seven gunshot
24:02
Speaker 1: wounds and Jennifer had escaped with relatively minor bruising and abrasions.
24:07
Speaker 1: Investigators soon examined the physical evidence collected from the roadway,
24:11
Speaker 1: including those. 45 caliber spent cartridge casings. They then found
24:15
Speaker 1: microscopic markings on them that were produced by the firearm
24:18
Speaker 1: that could potentially help identify the weapon if it was recovered.
24:22
Speaker 1: Detectives also examined the pieces of duct tape recovered near
24:25
Speaker 1: the Faith residence and the roll reportedly found on the
24:28
Speaker 1: neighboring roof. These items offered possible opportunities to recover fingerprints
24:33
Speaker 1: or biological material, but the available evidence didn't immediately identify
24:38
Speaker 1: the attacker. Now, the gunshot wounds themselves were important when
24:41
Speaker 1: it came to considering the motive of the attacker. Investigators
24:45
Speaker 1: needed to determine whether the shooting had been an unusually
24:48
Speaker 1: violent robbery, since the man seemed to try and take
24:50
Speaker 1: Jennifer's jewelry, or whether Jamie had been deliberately targeted as
24:55
Speaker 1: the person that they were after in this violent attack.
24:58
Speaker 1: Jamie had been struck three times in the chest, three
25:02
Speaker 1: times in the head, and once in the groin. The
25:05
Speaker 1: concentration of the wounds to his head and upper body
25:07
Speaker 1: suggested the attacker had been determined to kill him, while
25:10
Speaker 1: the wound to his groin was especially unusual and seemingly
25:15
Speaker 1: very personal. Detectives considered whether it indicated some personal hostility
25:20
Speaker 1: towards Jamie, although the injury alone couldn't establish a motive.
25:26
Speaker 1: At the time, investigators had no evidence of a dispute,
25:29
Speaker 1: or threat that would explain such a violent attack against
25:32
Speaker 1: a man whose friends, colleagues, and neighbors consistently described him
25:36
Speaker 1: as kind and well-liked. One of the strongest leads was
25:41
Speaker 1: the witness to the black Nissan Titan pickup truck that
25:44
Speaker 1: was believed to be a 2004 model with an extended
25:47
Speaker 1: cab and a white letter T displayed in the rear window. Initially,
25:51
Speaker 1: investigators and witnesses believed it might represent the Texas Ranger
25:55
Speaker 1: baseball team And if that interpretation was correct, the driver
25:59
Speaker 1: could be local, although there was no way to establish
26:02
Speaker 1: that from just a sticker. So detectives began collecting recordings
26:06
Speaker 1: from the security cameras nearby, which helped them follow the
26:09
Speaker 1: truck's movements through the surrounding streets and towards Interstate 35.
26:15
Speaker 1: And once the vehicle reached the roadway, well, the trail
26:19
Speaker 1: was hard to follow. It disappeared off in the highway.
26:23
Speaker 1: Investigators also examined footage from the Faith residence itself. The
26:26
Speaker 1: doorbell camera had recorded Jamie and Jennifer leaving with Maggie
26:30
Speaker 1: shortly before the shooting, but another camera positioned towards the
26:33
Speaker 1: street hadn't been functioning properly, and consequently, the actual murder
26:38
Speaker 1: was not captured clearly on video. However, a separate camera
26:42
Speaker 1: overlooking part of the neighboring property had recorded something potentially significant.
26:48
Speaker 1: You see, at approximately 2.30 a.m., roughly five hours before
26:52
Speaker 1: Jamie was killed, a man appeared on the recordings, moving
26:56
Speaker 1: around the backyard of the vacant house next door. He
27:00
Speaker 1: was dressed in dark clothing and appeared to be wearing
27:03
Speaker 1: a face covering. Now, the property was unoccupied, and detectives
27:09
Speaker 1: needed to determine whether he had any connection to the
27:11
Speaker 1: shooting that occurred several hours afterwards. And when investigators questioned
27:16
Speaker 1: Jennifer about the nighttime footage, well, she didn't know who
27:19
Speaker 1: he was. She did offer a possible explanation, though. She
27:24
Speaker 1: mentioned that she heard about a man who had sometimes
27:26
Speaker 1: wandered through the area after arguments at home, and offered
27:30
Speaker 1: another account referring to a former occupant who occasionally returned
27:34
Speaker 1: to the vacant property. Now, neither explanation established the stranger's identity,
27:39
Speaker 1: so detectives continued examining the footage and comparing his clothing
27:43
Speaker 1: and general appearance with the descriptions of the gunman. If
27:46
Speaker 1: the two figures were in fact the same person, it
27:50
Speaker 1: suggested that the attacker, likely arrived hours before Jamie's routine
27:56
Speaker 1: morning walk and was waiting for him. Now, detectives also
28:01
Speaker 1: began examining Jamie's personal and professional life for anyone who
28:04
Speaker 1: might have wanted to kill or hurt him, and his
28:08
Speaker 1: position with American Airlines offered a very real possible avenue
28:13
Speaker 1: of investigation. The COVID-19 pandemic had severely affected the airline industry,
28:20
Speaker 1: and Jamie was had recently been directly involved in laying
28:24
Speaker 1: off approximately 20 employees from their positions. The process had
28:29
Speaker 1: reportedly been extremely difficult for him, particularly because he cared
28:33
Speaker 1: about the people working for him or under his supervision.
28:36
Speaker 1: So investigators considered whether someone who had lost their job
28:41
Speaker 1: might be blaming Jamie for it all and wanted to
28:43
Speaker 1: seek out revenge. Investigators soon spoke with people connected to
28:49
Speaker 1: his workplace. and examined the circumstances surrounding the layoffs, but
28:53
Speaker 1: the inquiries didn't uncover any evidence linking a disgruntled employee
28:57
Speaker 1: to his murder. Meanwhile, Jennifer continued doing anything that she
29:01
Speaker 1: could do to cooperate with investigators, and describing the attack
29:04
Speaker 1: as an incomprehensible act of violence. She had even consented
29:09
Speaker 1: to police examining her cell phone, allowing detectives to review
29:12
Speaker 1: her contacts and communications for possible threats or other leads
29:16
Speaker 1: of who could have been responsible. Now in the neighborhood,
29:20
Speaker 1: The murder had created considerable anxiety. Residents who had previously
29:25
Speaker 1: felt comfortable walking their dogs and allowing their kids to
29:28
Speaker 1: go play outside were now confronting the possibility that an
29:31
Speaker 1: armed killer remained at large. And Jamie's friends and neighbors
29:35
Speaker 1: struggled to understand why anyone would have targeted him, particularly when...
29:40
Speaker 1: nothing about his everyday life appeared to suggest that he
29:42
Speaker 1: was in danger. Yet still, Jamie was dead, and the
29:47
Speaker 1: man responsible remained unidentified. Jennifer, who had witnessed the shooting
29:52
Speaker 1: and survived an assault herself, soon became the focus of
29:56
Speaker 1: considerable sympathy. Friends and neighbors checked on her regularly, concerned
30:01
Speaker 1: about how she and her daughter were doing and how
30:03
Speaker 1: they would manage without Jamie, who had been the family's
30:06
Speaker 1: primary financial provider. In fact, the community responded almost immediately.
30:12
Speaker 1: On October 10, 2020, the day after Jamie's murder, a
30:16
Speaker 1: GoFundMe fundraiser was established to help Jennifer and Amber with
30:20
Speaker 1: funeral expenses and their financial needs. Jennifer Svelin. a member
30:26
Speaker 1: of the Oak Cliff Ladies Club, helped organize the event,
30:30
Speaker 1: which soon received an overwhelming response from residents and people
30:34
Speaker 1: who knew the Faith family. Donations quickly accumulated and eventually
30:39
Speaker 1: it exceeded $ 60, 000. Neighbors also organized a meal train as well,
30:45
Speaker 1: with more than 50 families contributing meals to Jennifer and
30:48
Speaker 1: Amber to help take stress off their shoulders in such
30:50
Speaker 1: a hard time. Some residents delivered food twice a day
30:54
Speaker 1: while others offered companionship, or assistance with everyday responsibilities. Jamie's friend,
31:00
Speaker 1: Jason Snyder, even contributed a personal check for $ 5, 000, recognizing
31:06
Speaker 1: that Jennifer had lost the person who supported the household financially. Now,
31:11
Speaker 1: Jennifer had also had the difficult responsibility of arranging memorial
31:16
Speaker 1: services for her late husband, Jamie. Two gatherings were organized
31:20
Speaker 1: in total, one in Dallas for the friends and neighbors
31:23
Speaker 1: of the family that had come to know him since
31:26
Speaker 1: moving to Texas, and another in Arizona, where Jamie and
31:29
Speaker 1: Jennifer had spent much of their relationship. Jamie's parents and
31:34
Speaker 1: longtime friends were among those mourning his death, and arrangements
31:38
Speaker 1: were made for people who could not attend to participate remotely.
31:43
Speaker 1: The services provided an opportunity for those who knew Jamie
31:46
Speaker 1: throughout different periods of his life to remember his generosity,
31:49
Speaker 1: his humor, and devotion to his family. His death had
31:54
Speaker 1: also deeply affected colleagues and students he had mentored, many
31:58
Speaker 1: of whom struggled to understand why someone would have wanted
32:00
Speaker 1: him killed. And as the investigation continued, Jennifer began speaking
32:05
Speaker 1: publicly about Jamie's murder too. During interviews with Dallas-area television stations,
32:11
Speaker 1: she described her husband as her best friend and the
32:14
Speaker 1: backbone of her family. She explained that they had been
32:17
Speaker 1: together for 15 years and had made plans for their future,
32:21
Speaker 1: including even traveling with friends. In one interview, she even
32:25
Speaker 1: said a very heartbreaking sentence, quote, I'm not supposed to
32:29
Speaker 1: be widowed at 48, end quote. She also appealed directly
32:34
Speaker 1: to anyone who might recognize the gunman's pickup truck or
32:37
Speaker 1: have any sort of information about the shooting. Jennifer repeatedly
32:41
Speaker 1: expressed her needs for answers, telling reporters that she hoped
32:44
Speaker 1: the person responsible would recognize the gravity of what they did,
32:48
Speaker 1: maybe even come forward on their own, you know, a
32:50
Speaker 1: clear hope that guilt would overwhelm them. The publicity surrounding
32:55
Speaker 1: the case also brought renewed attention to the white T-deckle
32:59
Speaker 1: on the truck's rear window. In one televised appeal, Jennifer
33:04
Speaker 1: described the vehicle as a black Nissan Titan extended cab
33:08
Speaker 1: with what she believed was a Texas Rangers sticker. Investigators
33:12
Speaker 1: were still pursuing leads involving the vehicle, and Jennifer encouraged
33:15
Speaker 1: the public to report anything that might locate it. Her
33:19
Speaker 1: interviews also revealed growing frustrations with the pace of the
33:22
Speaker 1: investigation as well. She acknowledged that the Dallas police were
33:26
Speaker 1: likely overwhelmed with other cases too, but explained that the
33:28
Speaker 1: lack of answers made it that much more difficult for
33:32
Speaker 1: her and her daughter to find any sense of closure.
33:35
Speaker 1: She maintained contact with a group of approximately 15 friends
33:39
Speaker 1: and relatives as well through a private text message conversation,
33:43
Speaker 1: where she provided updates about the investigation and discussed possible
33:46
Speaker 1: explanations for Jamie's death. Some participants in that chat questioned
33:51
Speaker 1: whether detectives were actually making sufficient progress. while they also
33:54
Speaker 1: discussed the facts and things that had additional leads that
33:57
Speaker 1: might deserve more attention. It was a mixing pot of theories, frustration,
34:03
Speaker 1: and even hope. Jennifer even theorized the possibility that Jamie's
34:07
Speaker 1: murder could be connected to other shootings occurring in Dallas,
34:11
Speaker 1: including attacks involving a dark-colored vehicle. Now, none of these
34:15
Speaker 1: suggestions established a connection to Jamie's case, though, but the
34:19
Speaker 1: conversations reflected how desperately the people close to the family
34:23
Speaker 1: wanted an explanation.
34:24
Speaker 3: Okay.
34:25
Speaker 2: Well, I'm just thinking too, this could be absolutely terrifying
34:28
Speaker 2: for her in the sense of, is she worried that
34:32
Speaker 2: this person may come back, you know, for her and
34:34
Speaker 2: her kid?
34:35
Speaker 1: Oh, that's a very real possibility. Because like here, my
34:38
Speaker 1: next sentence is, at the same time, friends continued encouraging
34:41
Speaker 1: Jennifer to have someone stay at the house because the
34:44
Speaker 1: killer hadn't been caught. And who knows if he could
34:47
Speaker 1: come back?
34:47
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, because she was attacked too, right?
34:51
Speaker 1: She was.
34:52
Speaker 2: And it almost seemed- Like this person meant to do more,
34:55
Speaker 2: but got scared or like, I don't know if he
34:57
Speaker 2: meant to like, or if he was going to take
34:59
Speaker 2: her or what, but.
35:00
Speaker 1: To me, it seems like the, I mean, I know
35:03
Speaker 1: what happens, but I'm going to say what the situation
35:06
Speaker 1: reads to me off the cuff. It's, it looks like
35:10
Speaker 1: someone's targeting Jamie and then quickly trying to get a
35:14
Speaker 1: robbery done in the process as fast as possible, but
35:18
Speaker 1: we're unable to do so and had to flee.
35:20
Speaker 2: For the ring.
35:21
Speaker 1: The rings. Yeah. Whatever, whatever jewelry she had.
35:24
Speaker 2: Yeah.
35:24
Speaker 1: That's what it seems like to me. If I were
35:26
Speaker 1: to just, I mean, not know what happens, but just
35:29
Speaker 1: read that situation. When I first started, you know, reading
35:32
Speaker 1: and that's when I came across in the research, that's
35:34
Speaker 1: my initial thought was okay. Targeted and then robbery.
35:40
Speaker 2: See, and I'm going to be a terrible person for
35:43
Speaker 2: saying this, but the true crime person in me too is,
35:46
Speaker 2: is like, well, has she also been looked at? Like,
35:48
Speaker 2: cause you know, this post lots of times, has a
35:54
Speaker 2: reason or a thought or whatever to do this to
35:56
Speaker 2: their spouse.
35:57
Speaker 1: The spouse is usually like, well, it's usually one of
36:00
Speaker 1: the closest people that is responsible. Spouse, significant other, someone
36:04
Speaker 1: like that, someone in the house, that's typically one of
36:07
Speaker 1: the people that are responsible.
36:09
Speaker 2: So I really hope in this situation, that's not the case,
36:11
Speaker 2: but it's like, so it's either just potentially random, I guess,
36:15
Speaker 2: a serial killer type thing, or I don't know, but
36:18
Speaker 2: it doesn't really seem like a serial type killer thing.
36:21
Speaker 2: Or maybe someone hired someone to do this.
36:26
Speaker 1: Oh, you think so?
36:27
Speaker 2: I don't know.
36:28
Speaker 1: Okay.
36:29
Speaker 2: That's just my true crime brain being like, you know.
36:31
Speaker 1: So you're thinking that maybe Jennifer hired someone is what
36:33
Speaker 1: you're saying without saying it.
36:35
Speaker 2: I really hope not.
36:37
Speaker 1: Really hope.
36:37
Speaker 2: Fair enough. I really hope not.
36:38
Speaker 1: But I mean, she was, she's very much so helping
36:41
Speaker 1: police as much as she can. She even gave over
36:43
Speaker 1: her phone. She's doing public appeals. She's talking about details.
36:47
Speaker 1: She's not shying away from being vocal in this story
36:50
Speaker 1: at all.
36:51
Speaker 3: Yeah.
36:52
Speaker 1: Or helping when she can.
36:53
Speaker 2: Yeah. But I mean, so I just hope it's not,
36:57
Speaker 2: but I'm just throwing it out there.
36:58
Speaker 1: Okay.
36:59
Speaker 2: I might be disliked, but you never know.
37:01
Speaker 1: You might be disliked. I don't think you're disliked. I
37:04
Speaker 1: think it's fine to throw out opinions and thoughts. That's
37:07
Speaker 1: what we do here.
37:08
Speaker 2: Well, because who the hell else could it be? Right?
37:11
Speaker 2: It just makes no sense.
37:12
Speaker 1: Maybe it's a person I haven't introduced in the story yet.
37:15
Speaker 2: I guess. Or maybe freaking Jamie was into some shady
37:18
Speaker 2: shit that we just didn't know about.
37:20
Speaker 1: Well, let's keep going because maybe I got some information
37:23
Speaker 1: that you might want to know about.
37:24
Speaker 2: Okay.
37:26
Speaker 1: Well, meanwhile, behind the public appeals and community support, investigators
37:30
Speaker 1: continued examining the material collected during the initial investigation. On
37:35
Speaker 1: October 9th, Jennifer had agreed to allow detectives access to
37:39
Speaker 1: her cell phone. And Detective Eric Barnes and Detective Chris
37:42
Speaker 1: Walton were particularly interested in establishing whether anyone connected to
37:47
Speaker 1: the family had a reason to target Jamie. which is
37:50
Speaker 1: exactly what you're going on about, like someone close to
37:52
Speaker 1: the family, right? Significant others and such. Now, much of
37:55
Speaker 1: the material they found initially appeared very ordinary, including conversations
37:59
Speaker 1: with friends and acquaintances. However, while reviewing older messages, investigators
38:04
Speaker 1: encountered a conversation Jennifer had exchanged with a friend whose
38:08
Speaker 1: contact was recorded under the name Tina Spring. Now, the
38:14
Speaker 1: messages were dated April 20th, 2020, almost six months before
38:18
Speaker 1: Jamie was killed. In that conversation, Jennifer described a significant
38:23
Speaker 1: problem in her marriage. You see, she told Tina that
38:26
Speaker 1: she was having a, quote, full-blown emotional affair, end quote,
38:33
Speaker 1: and acknowledged that Jamie knew about the relationship too. Now,
38:37
Speaker 1: Jennifer explained that she and Jamie had not been sexually
38:40
Speaker 1: intimate for approximately four years, despite her efforts to initiate affection.
38:46
Speaker 1: She described their marriage as a strong friendship and parenting partnership,
38:51
Speaker 1: but she said she no longer felt desired romantically. And
38:54
Speaker 1: according to her messages, the situation had become complicated when
38:58
Speaker 1: someone from her past unexpectedly reappeared in her life. Now,
39:05
Speaker 1: she admitted in those messages about feeling torn between her
39:09
Speaker 1: longstanding marriage and the emotions she was experiencing with this
39:12
Speaker 1: other man, while also recognizing that Jamie had been hurt
39:16
Speaker 1: by what was happening too. The man was someone Jennifer
39:20
Speaker 1: identified as Darren Rubin Lopez, a former boyfriend who she
39:25
Speaker 1: had dated during high school and college. She explained, that
39:30
Speaker 1: they reconnected earlier in 2020 and developed strong feelings for
39:34
Speaker 1: one another, despite living in different states. Another message, dated
39:39
Speaker 1: August 6th, suggested that Jennifer had attempted to distance herself
39:43
Speaker 1: from the relationship because Jamie was struggling with the situation. Nevertheless,
39:49
Speaker 1: The April conversation raised some serious questions and circumstances about
39:53
Speaker 1: this because Jennifer hadn't disclosed this during her interviews with
39:57
Speaker 1: the police. Investigators began examining this Darren's background, where he lived,
40:04
Speaker 1: and whether he had any connection to Dallas. But what
40:07
Speaker 1: initially stood out about Darren was the fact that he
40:09
Speaker 1: lived hundreds of miles away in the rural community of
40:13
Speaker 1: Cumberland Furnace in Tennessee. approximately 650 miles away from the
40:19
Speaker 1: Faith residence exactly, where Jamie was shot and killed. Now,
40:24
Speaker 1: Darren and Jennifer had met as teenagers in Arizona during
40:27
Speaker 1: the 1980s. They attended high school together, developed a romantic relationship,
40:31
Speaker 1: continued dating into their college years, but their relationship ended
40:35
Speaker 1: around 1993, when Darren's military career took him overseas and
40:39
Speaker 1: Jennifer remained in Arizona to pursue her education. They subsequently
40:44
Speaker 1: married other people, and spent more than two decades living
40:48
Speaker 1: separate lives. Darren went on to serve in the United
40:52
Speaker 1: States Army, eventually becoming a medic with the Special Forces,
40:56
Speaker 1: and his military career lasted approximately 26 years and included
41:00
Speaker 1: deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he was responsible for
41:04
Speaker 1: treating wounded soldiers under dangerous combat conditions. Now, during a
41:09
Speaker 1: deployment in Iraq in 2005, Darren was injured. when an
41:13
Speaker 1: improvised explosive device struck a military vehicle, which he was
41:18
Speaker 1: traveling in. He ultimately survived the explosion, but suffered injuries
41:22
Speaker 1: that included a traumatic brain injury. He was subsequently diagnosed
41:27
Speaker 1: with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and continued experiencing difficulties
41:32
Speaker 1: associated with his military service. His decorations include a Purple
41:37
Speaker 1: Heart and Bronze Star medals. By 2020, he had retired
41:42
Speaker 1: from the military service and was receiving disability benefits. He
41:46
Speaker 1: had also separated from his wife of approximately 23 years
41:50
Speaker 1: and was in the middle of going through a divorce.
41:53
Speaker 1: Between his biological children and stepchildren, Darren had five daughters,
41:58
Speaker 1: and some of the younger girls continued spending time with
42:00
Speaker 1: him at his Tennessee property. Now, Darren's home sat on
42:05
Speaker 1: approximately 20 acres of land in an isolated area surrounded
42:09
Speaker 1: by trees and farmland. The property included several outbuildings, and
42:14
Speaker 1: the residence was difficult to see from the public road.
42:17
Speaker 1: Investigators learned that he had no significant criminal history that
42:20
Speaker 1: would immediately connect him to a violent offense. However, a
42:24
Speaker 1: search of vehicle registration records revealed something very interesting. You see,
42:31
Speaker 1: registered to Darren was a black 2004 Nissan Titan pickup truck,
42:37
Speaker 1: matching the make, model, Color and approximate age of the
42:42
Speaker 1: vehicle witnessed, leaving the scene on South Waverly Drive. On
42:46
Speaker 1: the very morning, Jamie was murdered.
42:51
Speaker 2: Holy flying shit, here we go.
42:54
Speaker 1: Here we go? What do you mean?
42:55
Speaker 4: Yeah.
42:56
Speaker 2: Well, this is kind of interesting to me because I
42:58
Speaker 2: was feeling terrible for having bad thoughts and then almost
43:02
Speaker 2: like didn't even bring them up. And right after that,
43:05
Speaker 2: this story comes out. So I don't know.
43:07
Speaker 1: Well, hold on. Having bad thoughts on what?
43:10
Speaker 2: Jennifer.
43:10
Speaker 1: On Jennifer. Okay. I see. And as soon as you
43:12
Speaker 1: bring up the thought that you're suspicious of her, then.
43:15
Speaker 2: Then some shit's going down.
43:17
Speaker 1: Well, is anything going down yet?
43:19
Speaker 3: No.
43:20
Speaker 1: She's having an emotional affair.
43:21
Speaker 2: Which isn't good.
43:22
Speaker 1: With a dude who owns a Nissan Titan. To be fair,
43:27
Speaker 1: Nissan Titans, they're not exactly uncommon.
43:30
Speaker 2: No.
43:31
Speaker 1: But it is a connection enough that is worth investigating.
43:35
Speaker 1: You know what I mean?
43:35
Speaker 2: Oh, God, yeah. It's worth investigating. It's a bit sketch,
43:38
Speaker 2: but we don't know anything yet. Yeah.
43:41
Speaker 1: Well, by early November of 2020, Dallas investigators were coordinating
43:45
Speaker 1: with federal agents in Tennessee to examine Darren's property and
43:49
Speaker 1: without alerting him. His military background and familiarity with firearms
43:54
Speaker 1: made them consider additional planning with the surveillance as well.
43:57
Speaker 1: You never know what could happen, right? Then on November 6th,
44:02
Speaker 1: agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
44:06
Speaker 1: began arranging assistance with locating his vehicle. Ordinary roadside observations
44:12
Speaker 1: were extremely difficult because of the property's layout, so investigators
44:16
Speaker 1: turned to aerial surveillance. Now, on November 24th, an aircraft
44:22
Speaker 1: passed over the property and captured images of a black
44:25
Speaker 1: Nissan Titan parked near Darren's residence. I'm not sure if
44:29
Speaker 1: it was a helicopter, airplane, or a drone that they used.
44:34
Speaker 1: I'm going to say a drone, though, likely. So, I'm
44:37
Speaker 1: not certain, but that's my best guess. Now, when they
44:40
Speaker 1: saw this vehicle and captured the images, the vehicle even
44:44
Speaker 1: had a large white T-deckle in the rear window, matching
44:49
Speaker 1: the distinctive feature recorded on the truck scene leaving Jamie's
44:54
Speaker 1: murder scene.
44:55
Speaker 2: Okay, that is really not good.
44:57
Speaker 1: Now, this discovery also opened up the eyes of investigators
45:02
Speaker 1: a little bit to a possible mistake, one that they
45:05
Speaker 1: were working with since October. Because the white T on
45:08
Speaker 1: this vehicle was not associated with the Texas Rangers baseball team,
45:12
Speaker 1: as Jennifer and others were believing. It was instead the
45:15
Speaker 1: emblem of the University of Tennessee, making considerable more sense
45:20
Speaker 1: on a vehicle registered to someone living in a different state.
45:24
Speaker 1: Detectives now had a connection between Jennifer's former boyfriend and
45:28
Speaker 1: a pickup truck that closely matched the one photographed following
45:32
Speaker 1: the shooting. Nevertheless, they still needed evidence, placing Darren in
45:37
Speaker 1: Dallas on October 9th. A matching truck and a romantic
45:41
Speaker 1: relationship with the victim's wife, they're suspicious... but neither independently
45:46
Speaker 1: prove that he had traveled to Texas or participated in
45:50
Speaker 1: a murder. Investigators therefore began examining the communication records associated
45:56
Speaker 1: with Jennifer and Darren's phones, and the records revealed a
45:59
Speaker 1: relationship involving an extraordinary amount of contact. In the approximately
46:04
Speaker 1: six months surrounding Jamie's murder, the two exchanged well over 100,000
46:11
Speaker 1: text messages and made hundreds of phone calls to each other,
46:16
Speaker 1: On some days, they even exchanged several hundred messages alone,
46:19
Speaker 1: maintaining almost continuous communication despite living in separate states.
46:26
Speaker 2: Yikes. That is a lot.
46:27
Speaker 1: It's a massive amount.
46:29
Speaker 2: I'm kind of curious now how many texts I have
46:31
Speaker 2: with certain people, but I'm like, I don't feel like
46:34
Speaker 2: it would be near that many.
46:35
Speaker 1: I would be very surprised. That's... that's impressive to be
46:41
Speaker 1: able to text that much to say the least.
46:43
Speaker 2: Well, the thing is too, like that's so much contact
46:45
Speaker 2: that yeah, Jamie would be very aware of this.
46:48
Speaker 1: Oh yeah. Now the volume was also difficult to reconcile
46:52
Speaker 1: with what Jennifer had now told police, which is that
46:55
Speaker 1: she had ended the romantic aspect of their relationship in
46:58
Speaker 1: August and was simply helping Darren through his divorce. However,
47:03
Speaker 1: although the records established the frequency and timing of their contact,
47:07
Speaker 1: the available carrier information didn't reveal the contents of every
47:11
Speaker 1: single message. Now, as detectives examined the communications surrounding October 9th,
47:18
Speaker 1: a particularly unusual pattern actually emerged. You see, on Monday,
47:23
Speaker 1: October 5th, the two exchanged hundreds of messages, with 667
47:27
Speaker 1: recorded that day. Another 419 followed on October 6th, and
47:30
Speaker 1: 640 on October 7th. On Thursday, October 8th, they exchanged
47:41
Speaker 1: 133 messages. Then their communication stopped abruptly. The last recorded
47:48
Speaker 1: message before the interruption was sent on approximately 1.07 p.m.,
47:55
Speaker 1: when Darren's phone was still associated with the Tennessee area.
48:00
Speaker 1: For two people who communicated so frequently, the sudden silence
48:03
Speaker 1: was absolutely striking. Then more than a full day passed
48:09
Speaker 1: without the regular stream of texts between the two of them.
48:12
Speaker 1: No communication. Then the communication resumed on Friday, October 9th,
48:18
Speaker 1: the same day Jamie was killed. Darren sent a message
48:23
Speaker 1: at approximately 5 18 PM, followed by a reply from
48:26
Speaker 1: Jennifer at 5 41 PM. They continued exchanging messages that evening,
48:32
Speaker 1: returning basically just returning to that frequent communication they had
48:38
Speaker 1: for months up to that point already. The interruption in
48:41
Speaker 1: total lasted approximately 28 hours and encompassed the entire period
48:47
Speaker 1: in which Jamie had been murdered. Investigators now had to
48:52
Speaker 1: establish where Darren had been during that silence, particularly whether
48:58
Speaker 1: his vehicle and telephone had traveled from Tennessee to To
49:03
Speaker 1: Dallas before the shooting. Where was he? But we'll talk
49:09
Speaker 1: about that in part two.
49:11
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. Okay.
49:15
Speaker 1: Just okay?
49:16
Speaker 3: Okay.
49:17
Speaker 1: You're just accepting the fate of a two-parter.
49:19
Speaker 2: I do just have one question though. And I don't
49:21
Speaker 2: know if you can answer this, but Jennifer was like,
49:25
Speaker 2: you had said this at some point that she was
49:27
Speaker 2: like quite willing to hand over her phone and stuff.
49:31
Speaker 1: Well, I'm not sure if she actually handed over her
49:33
Speaker 1: physical phone, but she definitely gave police permission to search
49:38
Speaker 1: the information surrounding your phone. So I'm not sure if
49:40
Speaker 1: it was like, yeah, you have like go to my
49:42
Speaker 1: provider or here's my physical phone. I'm not a hundred
49:45
Speaker 1: percent sure on that, but she, she gave them consent
49:48
Speaker 1: to search things regarding her phone. Yes.
49:52
Speaker 2: Huh?
49:53
Speaker 4: Okay.
49:54
Speaker 2: So I was just, I guess, curious if she had
49:56
Speaker 2: like deleted all this shit. Cause it would be very
49:59
Speaker 2: easy to find or figure out, you know? Yeah.
50:02
Speaker 1: So from my understanding, because they went with the carrier
50:05
Speaker 1: and the carrier didn't, at least to this point, provide
50:10
Speaker 1: the text messages and exactly what they said, that it
50:13
Speaker 1: was just a matter of looking at the record and
50:15
Speaker 1: how often they communicated. So I'm assuming that they went
50:18
Speaker 1: to her carrier and not her actual physical phone. But
50:20
Speaker 1: even if she had her physical phone, those messages are
50:23
Speaker 1: probably already all deleted, whether they were able to recover
50:27
Speaker 1: them or not. I'm not certain.
50:29
Speaker 2: Right.
50:30
Speaker 3: Okay.
50:30
Speaker 2: Well, I feel like it's almost obvious. But for the
50:34
Speaker 2: fact that this is a part two and there's still
50:36
Speaker 2: a whole entire– I'm like, maybe there's some more to
50:41
Speaker 2: this that we don't know or some shit really is
50:43
Speaker 2: going down.
50:44
Speaker 3: I don't know.
50:45
Speaker 1: Well, we will talk about it all in part two.
50:48
Speaker 1: You got to wait until then, which is coming out
50:50
Speaker 1: on Friday. Every Tuesday and Friday, we release an episode.
50:53
Speaker 1: So today's Tuesday. You got to wait for Friday.
50:56
Speaker 2: That's a terrible birthday present that you just gave me.
50:59
Speaker 1: Who said this was your birthday present?
51:02
Speaker 3: Whoa.
51:02
Speaker 2: This is my birthday celebration and you're leaving me hanging here?
51:06
Speaker 3: Yeah. Okay.
51:08
Speaker 2: Okay.
51:08
Speaker 3: Yeah.
51:09
Speaker 2: Okay.
51:10
Speaker 1: Deal with it. What are you going to do?
51:12
Speaker 2: I am going to ask you some questions when we
51:14
Speaker 2: hit stop. Just kidding.
51:16
Speaker 1: And I will not answer a single one.
51:17
Speaker 2: He's really actually not very nice when it comes to that.
51:20
Speaker 1: I'm usually very tight-lipped. I typically just read her the
51:23
Speaker 1: intro again and that's about it. Anyways, thank you guys
51:29
Speaker 1: for being here. If you were in, I mean, if
51:31
Speaker 1: you live in Canada, hopefully you had an amazing Thanksgiving weekend.
51:35
Speaker 1: I mean, if not, I mean, I know other people
51:37
Speaker 1: have cool weekends and stuff all over the world. Stuff's
51:39
Speaker 1: going on. Whatever you had going on, hopefully it was
51:42
Speaker 1: a cool weekend too. Thank you for being here. You
51:44
Speaker 1: guys' support is amazing. We couldn't do it without you.
51:47
Speaker 1: So thank you. You're amazing. And until next time.
51:51
Speaker 2: Stay wicked.
53:02
Speaker 3: You