GoFundMe Offers Refunds After Widow of American Airlines Exec is Arrested in Connection With His Murder (Exclusive)

GoFundMe is offering refunds to anyone who donated to Jennifer Faith after she was arrested in connection to the murder of her husband.

The 48-year-old widow received more than $60k from generous friends, family and complete strangers after American Airlines executive James Faith, 49, was gunned down outside their Dallas home last year.

But on Thursday, GoFundMe confirmed to TooFab it had suspended the account in light of the latest shocking development.

On October 9, the morning after celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary, the couple were walking their dog when a masked man ran up behind them, pointed a handgun at James' head and shot him several times.

The assailant then knocked Jennifer to the ground, tried to bind her hands with duct tape and steal her jewelry, police said at the time, before fleeing the scene in a pickup truck.

Faith told police she had no idea who the killer was because he wore a mask and attacked from behind.

"We walked out the door, and we made it to the house right behind you, and I heard running behind me, and I turned around and shooting just started," she told WFAA in December.

"The guy kept shooting and shooting. A neighbor said they saw him attempt to shoot me and the gun was empty. I was running up this driveway, and he tackled me, started beating on me and taped my hands together."

"It's been horrible, devastating. I teeter between being heartbroken and completely devastated. Every day has been awful," she told Fox4 at the time. "Oh my God! If you know what happened, I need that for closure," she said in the interview. "I need to make some sense out of this."

She added in a statement: "All I know is he was my best friend and the best husband and father anyone could ask for."

In January, the case had a breakthrough: police arrested 48-year-old Darrin Ruben Lopez in Tennessee, 700 miles away. His connection to the couple: he was Jennifer's old high school and college boyfriend.

Gathering evidence at his home, they found what they believe was the murder weapon. They also accessed his google account and found he had searched for directions to the Faith's house. After driving all the way back home, they said, he also searched for news stories about James Faith's killing.

But in the house, they also discovered a flat-screen Samsung television that had been shipped in a box addressed to Lopez — from Jennifer Faith.

After obtaining a search warrant for his cellphone, the full extent of their still-existing relationship was revealed — 14,000 text messages between them, sometimes hundreds per day, Dallas News reported.

Authorities then searched Jennifer's phone and found messages to a friend from earlier in the year, in which she admitted having "a full blown emotional affair", according to an affidavit, and that Lopez had "a five year plan of how they would be together".

She later told that same friend that she'd ended the affair because it "hurt" her husband and she "just couldn't do it to him."

Per the affidavit, the messages ceased for all of one day when the shooting occurred — and then picked right back up again.

On Wednesday, Jennifer was arrested and booked into the Dallas County jail.

Police said in a blog post she faced a federal charge of obstruction of justice, and was awaiting transfer to federal custody, Dallas News reported; but that information was later deleted and replaced with: "The details are still sealed and not available for public release at this time."

On Thursday, GoFundMe confirmed the fundraiser for Jennifer Faith has been removed, and its Trust & Safety team is currently investigating and assisting law enforcement.

"Our platform is backed by the GoFundMe Guarantee, which means that in the rare case that GoFundMe, law enforcement or a user finds campaigns are misused, donors are fully protected," a spokesperson said.

"If any donor would like to request a refund in the meantime, we will process it for them."