He got played — or so he says.
A distinguished US Army veteran wants Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to knock time off his 62-year sentence for killing his high school sweetheart’s husband in 2020 — claiming she lied to him about being the victim of violent domestic abuse.
Darrin Lopez, 51, who was convicted in July of gunning down 49-year-old Jamie Faith, said he saw himself on a “mission” — much like when he was in the military — to save Jennifer Faith’s life only to find out afterward she’d tricked him, NBC’s “Dateline” reported Friday.
“I became her weapon. I understand that,” Lopez said.
The divorced killer first made his fateful contact via LinkedIn with his old flame during the pandemic when he was feeling lonely at his farm outside Nashville, Tennessee.
They started communicating, and Lopez said he fell in love with Jennifer Faith, 51, all over again.
The speech therapist, and her husband, an IT director with American Airlines, had been together for 15 years and had a teenage daughter.
Lopez told “Dateline” that it wasn’t his plan to torpedo their marriage but Jennifer Faith told him her husband was violently abusive to her and sent him emails of her alleged injuries — which were later found to have been staged.
In addition, Lopez said that Jennifer Faith told him her husband found out about their ongoing conversations and had become enraged. She sent Lopez copies of text messages purporting to be from Jamie Faith that threatened to sexually assault, and even drown, her.
The texts spurred Lopez to get in his pickup and drive 10 hours from Nashville to Dallas.
“If I didn’t do something, she was going to die,” said Lopez.
Lopez opened fire on the couple as they walked their dog near their home on Oct. 9, 2020. He shot nine times, with three bullets striking Jamie Faith in the head. In an attempt to make the slay look like a robbery, he took Jamie Faith’s wedding ring, punched Jennifer Faith and bound her hands.
Lopez then fled the scene in his truck and drove back home, flicking the stolen wedding ring out his window somewhere in Arkansas.
Jennifer Faith, meanwhile, claimed the killer approached from behind and she had no idea.
Lopez was arrested in January 2021, and Jennifer Faith a month later.
The killer’s lawyer, Juan Sanchez, told “Dateline” that it took him six months to make his client realize that Jennifer Faith made up the allegations.
Lopez said he was shattered to learn that Jennifer Faith, who once called him her”soulmate,” had lied.
“When I got arrested, I went to jail truly believing I saved Jennifer and her daughter,” Lopez told “Dateline.”
“That thought never registered in my mind that she could use me this way. I believe she loved me.”
He helped prosecutors “put her away,” he said.
In February 2022, Jennifer Faith pleaded guilty and was later sentenced to life in prison.
Lopez believes that his work helping prosecutors convict her was not adequately understood at his sentencing, where he was facing five years to life.
“It was because of me that they were able to go to her and, ‘Say hey, Darrin’s going to testify against you,’” he said.
“The jury did not know how much help I gave.”
However, one juror who asked to remain anonymous said, “This very innocent person is dead because of (his) decision.”
But Lopez hopes Gov. Abbott will help reduce his sex-decade sentence after the Republican vowed to pardon Army Sgt. Daniel Perry, who was convicted of killing a Black Lives Matter protester in Austin in 2020.