Who is Jenea Chance, the elementary school principal who used tips from ‘CSI’ to kill her husband?

Jenea Chance was a single mother when she married Todd Chance in 1996. Her hard work and ambition helped her rise to the ranks in her education career, eventually leading her to gain a position as an elementary school principal. In 2016, however, Jenea, who was a respected member of the community and loved by many, was arrested for her husband’s murder.

On Aug. 25, 2013, Todd’s lifeless body was discovered at an almond orchard in Bakersfield. He had a gunshot wound on his right hand and two on his chest, and it was determined that he was the victim of a homicide. Todd’s black Ford Mustang was found later that day, and inside was a .38-caliber revolver that was later identified as the gun used to kill him.

The investigation

Jenea told investigators she last saw Todd at about 7:30 am when he left their house in his Mustang. Todd, a gun enthusiast, was headed to a gun show, and when Jenea checked her husband’s gun collection, she notified investigators that a .38 revolver was missing.

Authorities questioned witnesses and went through surveillance videos in an attempt to find Todd’s killer. They hit the jackpot when they spotted a suspicious person on a video seemingly wearing somewhat of a disguise. An officer described the person as “medium height, medium build, fairly well-disguised, wearing a hat, wearing glasses and bulky clothing.” The unknown person was seen entering a Starbucks restroom and exiting wearing different clothes. 

Todd’s activities were also investigated, and authorities found out that he had been communicating on Facebook with Carrie Williams, his ex-fiancee. The two went back and forth, sharing explicit photos and messages. While going through the chat logs, they saw that Todd wanted to meet with Carrie, but she rejected the invitation, writing, “No way, married man.”

Forensics didn’t find DNA or fingerprints on the gun, which meant the perpetrator wore gloves or wiped the gun after use. Likewise, no genetic materials were found in the Mustang, except for a fingerprint on the driver’s side exterior handle.

Why did Jenea Chance kill her husband?

Investigators grew suspicious of Jenea. The fingerprint found in Todd’s Mustang belonged to her left middle finger, but she told authorities she had never driven his car. Her alibi at the time of Todd’s death was that she was at home working on the computer, but based on the investigation, there was no computer activity at the time Jenea said she was using it.

Before Todd’s murder, the Chance family went to Las Vegas for a vacation where there was a CSI: The Experience interactive display based on the TV show CSI where visitors could try and solve cases with forensics. One of the cases was about a woman who shot her husband and dumped her body in an isolated area. Jenea participated in the interactive display and went home with a photo souvenir. Authorities believed that she used the techniques she learned from the exhibit in the commission of her husband’s murder.

Jenea was charged with first-degree murder in 2016 and during her trial four years later, the prosecution stated that she killed Todd after discovering that he had been communicating with his ex. Furthermore, she was the recipient of two life insurance policies which added up to $350,000. Jenea testified that she and Todd had a good relationship and she didn’t know that he was talking to his ex-fiancee until after he was murdered. In the end, the jury found Jenea guilty, and she was sentenced to 50 years in prison.