Dateline: Losing Faith - A complete timeline of the Jamie Faith murder case, revisited

On first impression, it was a senseless killing. Dateline: Losing Faith covered the case of Jamie Faith, a 49-year-old American Airlines technology director, who was ambushed at lunchtime on October 9, 2020, while walking his dog with his wife, Jennifer Faith, through the peaceful Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas, Texas. The brazen shooting left the local community shocked and national news headlines. The seemingly random nature of the crime, combined with the execution-style murder, raised immediate suspicion. That followed was an entangled web of lies, manipulation, and a murder-for-hire that ended in two arrests and a lifetime of repercussions.

The NBC crime documentary series Dateline then broadcast an episode titled "Losing Faith," which led audiences through a series of twisted and deeply disturbing events from the murder of Jamie to the subsequent convictions of Jennifer Faith and her former high school boyfriend, Darrin Lopez. As detectives pulled new facts together and started piecing the case together, Dateline reconstructed a cold-blooded timeline of lies, online identity theft, and premeditation that eventually revealed a plan that had been carefully thought out to murder a man.

October 9, 2020 – The murder of Jamie Faith, as shown in Dateline

Dateline showed that Jamie and Jennifer Faith took their dog out for their morning walk around 7:30 a.m. when they were ambushed by a masked gunman and began firing. Jamie was hit seven times, three to the head, three to the chest, and one in the groin. Jennifer was not injured, though she was said to be briefly held hostage with duct tape. The gunman then ran away in a black Nissan Titan pickup truck.

The killing shocked the community of the Faiths. Early speculation centered on the possibility of a random act of violence. Dateline revisited this part of the case later, showing the community's and media's initial response to the news. Jennifer gave emotional interviews in the days following the killing, appealing for the public to help catch her husband's killer.

October–December 2020 – Investigative red flags emerge

While the attack itself seemed to have been random, police soon found discrepancies. The black truck had also been slowly cruising the neighborhood for days leading up to the attack, caught on neighborhood video surveillance. Traffic camera photographs and residential security cameras allowed detectives to trace the truck back to Tennessee, where it was owned by Darrin Lopez, a former Army serviceman and a man Jennifer had gone out with in high school.

As Dateline examined, this romance between Jennifer and Lopez raised red flags. Authorities subpoenaed phone records and found a flurry of texts and phone calls zipping back and forth between the pair during the months preceding Jamie's death. Investigators were growing increasingly suspicious of Jennifer's involvement.

January 11, 2021 – Darrin Lopez's arrest

Police searched the residence of Lopez in Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee. There, they discovered a .45 caliber handgun—the same one that killed Jamie—gloves, a mask, and a suspected silencer. Authorities also confiscated gift packages Jennifer sent to him, including a big screen TV and airplane tickets.

The Dateline show said Lopez informed them he thought he was defending Jennifer. He said she had sent him emails detailing terrible abuse by Jamie. However, investigators revealed later that the emails were forged. Jennifer forged Gmail accounts in her husband's and a co-worker's names and sent Lopez fabricated messages in an attempt to provoke him into violence.

February 2021 – Jennifer Faith charged with obstruction

Federal authorities charged Jennifer Faith with obstructing justice. They charged her with not just lying to the police but attempting to cover her own tracks by deleting messages, ordering Lopez to burn evidence, and misleading the public.

As revealed in Dateline, detectives demonstrated how Jennifer had taught Lopez how to lie to the police about what transpired and had even given them false timelines to support their story.

March–April 2021 – Misuse of GoFundMe funds

Friends created a GoFundMe for Jennifer and her daughter after the death of Jamie, raising more than $60,000. Authorities later discovered, though, that Jennifer had used some of the donations to send cash and gifts to Lopez. Bank statements, shipping records, and electronic transactions all traced back to Jennifer's multiple purchases made for Lopez.

Dateline covered these exposés in their story, framing them in the larger context of deceptions. Sympathy of the public was soon overshadowed by shock as the exploitation of community donations became a fact.

September 2021 – Murder for hire charges filed

Jennifer Faith was officially indicted for using facilities in interstate commerce to commit murder-for-hire. She had offered Lopez economic benefit through the proceeds of Jamie's life insurance policy, which was more than $600,000, as court documents show. The indictment uncovered staggering amounts of planning, manipulation, and motive behind the killing.

Dateline featured clips from courtroom testimony as well as digital evidence—text messages, emails, and phone call records—that prosecutors used to demonstrate Jennifer's intent and planning.

February 2022 – Jennifer Faith pleads guilty

Instead of going to trial, Jennifer entered into a plea agreement in February 2022, pleading guilty to a single charge of use of interstate commerce in the facilitation of murder-for-hire. In return, she escaped the death penalty but was sentenced to life without the chance for parole.

At her sentencing hearing, Jennifer confessed to conspiracy to commit murder and admitted that she had lied to both Lopez and the public. In Dateline, it was permitted by the court to have victim impact statements, wherein the family and friends of Jamie expressed shock and betrayal.

July 2023 – Darrin Lopez convicted

Darrin Lopez was tried in 2023 and was found guilty of murder. He was given a 62-year sentence. While his defense claimed that he had been tricked into thinking Jennifer was in danger, the prosecution rebutted that he acted consciously. The security camera video, the weapon, and the explicit line of communication were all instrumental in securing his conviction.

Dateline returned to the trial proceedings and evidence that was created, showing how the electronic and physical clues finally cracked the case.

Digital evidence and psychological manipulation

Jennifer's internet manipulation was the pillar of the case. She fabricated email accounts and pretended to chat with fictitious people, where she herself acted as Jamie, being abusive and violent. Forensic experts quoted by Dateline say that the accounts were entered in Jennifer's computers, and the IP addresses belonged to her home network.

Lopez, who had a traumatic brain injury history during his time in the military, was emotionally vulnerable. Jennifer took advantage of this vulnerability by pretending to be a damsel in distress. This manipulation of the mind was instrumental in conditioning Lopez's belief system and eventually controlled his actions.

Financial motive – The life insurance policy

Jamie Faith's business-sponsored life policy had a value of over $600,000. Jennifer filed a claim immediately after the murder, but could not recover while the case was being investigated. The motive of gain was the area of conflict, as contended by the prosecution, and this was confirmed by text messages exchanged by Jennifer and Lopez, where they had described in detail what they would spend it on together.

Dateline described how, while money motivation was not the sole drive, it added a further level of premeditation to the act.

Public reaction and community betrayal

Jennifer's TV interviews, public mourning, and pleas for assistance evoked sympathy en masse. That sympathy became outrage upon discovery of the truth. People who gave money to the GoFundMe page felt duped and robbed.

Dateline states that this feature of the case indicated how appearances can conceal ill intentions, and how easily people's opinion is influenced.

The killing of Jamie Faith stands out not so much for the crime itself as for the extremely intricate web of deceit and manipulation that preceded it. Through trails on computers, neighborhood observation, and relentless investigation, police uncovered a tale as much a tragedy as an exacting one.

Dateline: Losing Faith takes a close examination of this case, tracing the psychological intimidation, online fraud, and premeditation of one of the most frightening recent crimes in the United States. It's a somber reminder of how intricate and calculated some crimes are—and how, however slow, justice will finally catch up.