“Isn’t it true that you researched Carol Martinez’s financial status before inviting her to the birth?”
Jennifer didn’t answer.
“Ms. Webb, we have evidence that you accessed Carol Martinez’s credit reports and bank statements two weeks before your son was born. Did Marcus Webb force you to do that financial research?”
The courtroom went completely silent.
David grabbed my hand, his face white with shock.
“Ms. Webb, answer the question.”
“No,” Jennifer whispered. “No, he didn’t force me to research her finances.”
“So you planned to defraud Carol Martinez before you ever invited her to Colorado, didn’t you?”
“I… I thought she could afford it. She has money.”
“Ms. Webb, you planned to humiliate and defraud your husband’s mother because you thought she could afford to be victimized?”
Jennifer started crying, but her tears still looked calculated to me.
“You don’t understand what it’s like to be scared all the time.”
“Scared of what, Ms. Webb? Being honest with your husband about who you really are?”
“Yes.”
“Scared of getting a job and paying your own bills?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Ms. Webb, you stole from six family members over three years. You lived under a false identity. You excluded your mother-in-law from her grandson’s birth after making her travel across two states. And you did all of this because you were scared of being honest. Is that your testimony?”
“Yes.”
Williams turned to the jury.
“Ladies and gentlemen, fear of honesty is not a defense for federal crimes.”
As Jennifer was led back to the defendant’s table, she looked directly at me for the first time since the trial began.
What I saw in her eyes wasn’t remorse.
It wasn’t regret.
It was hatred.
The same expression she had worn when the court officers led her away from the preliminary hearing.
Jennifer Webb wasn’t a victim. She wasn’t a desperate mother who had made poor choices.
She was a predator who had targeted my family because she thought we were easy marks.
And I had a feeling the worst revelations were still to come.
On Thursday morning of the second week of trial, prosecutor Williams called a witness I hadn’t been expecting: Detective Maria Rodriguez from the Oregon State Police.
“Detective Rodriguez, can you tell the jury about your investigation into Jennifer Webb in 2016?”
“Certainly. Ms. Webb was arrested as part of a larger investigation into an identity theft ring operating throughout the Pacific Northwest. She was one of eight defendants in a case involving over $200,000 in fraudulent charges.”
Williams pulled up a photograph on the courtroom monitor.
“Do you recognize the man in this photograph?”
“Yes. That’s Marcus Webb, Jennifer Webb’s husband at the time. He was the ringleader of the operation.”
“Can you describe the nature of their criminal partnership?”
“Marcus Webb recruited vulnerable women—typically women facing financial problems or emotional instability—and trained them to commit identity theft. Jennifer was his most successful partner.”
I felt David’s hand tighten around mine.
Jennifer hadn’t been a victim of Marcus Webb’s manipulation.
She had been his criminal partner.
“Detective Rodriguez, what made Jennifer Webb particularly effective at identity theft?”
“She had a natural ability to gain people’s trust and get access to personal information. She was charming, sympathetic, and able to convince people to share details they would normally keep private, like Social Security numbers and financial information.”
“Exactly. Jennifer would befriend elderly women, single mothers, people going through divorces—anyone emotionally vulnerable. She’d offer help and support while gathering the information she needed to steal their identities.”
Williams showed another document to the jury.
“Detective Rodriguez, this is a list of Jennifer Webb’s victims from 2016. How many people did she defraud?”
“Fourteen victims over an eighteen-month period. Total losses exceeded $85,000.”
Fourteen victims.
I had thought Jennifer’s crimes against our family were her first serious acts of fraud.
But she had been a career criminal long before she met David.
“Detective Rodriguez, what happened to Marcus Webb?”
