What happened to Marc Despain?
Marc Despain, a property investor, real estate appraiser, and successful Jonesboro businessman, was found shot to death inside his upscale home in late August 2011. His wife Michelle discovered the scene after returning home from work and called 911. Despain was shot twice - once in the chest and a second time in the head at close range.
By the looks of the crime scene, first responders initially believed that the businessman was shot during a burglary-gone-bad until they realized that the crime scene was staged and the attack was planned. Authorities eventually received a crucial tip that led them to Despain's wife and father-in-law, who allegedly hired two men to commit the crime for financial gain.
Fatal Vows on ID chronicles Marc Despain's murder-for-hire case in an episode titled The Ties That Bind. The synopsis of the episode states:
"In Jonesboro, Ark., Michelle and Marc's marriage ends in murder as a result of family ties that snap and break."The upcoming episode will air on ID this Thursday, April 20, 2023, at 7 pm ET.
Marc Despain's death in his Jonesboro home led to his family members pointing fingers at each other
Marc Despain, a loving husband and father, was found fatally shot in the home he shared with his wife of many years on August 24, 2011. Michelle found him dead on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood after returning home from work to collect some bills and called 911.
First responders found the victim dead from two gunshot wounds, one in the chest and the other shot at close range in the head. The looks of the house initially gave the impression that the incident was a burglary gone wrong, with shattered glass everywhere, drawers open, and things out of place. However, authorities had doubts and believed that the messy crime scene was likely staged.
Despain's wife and father-in-law started pointing fingers at his father, Jack, who had a fallout with the victim over their family business, money, and an incident involving his daughter. Authorities learned that the fallout was triggered after inappropriate pictures of Michelle's daughter from a previous relationship were found on his father's phone. The situation was reportedly a misunderstanding.
Meanwhile, Jack alleged that the wife and father-in-law were possibly behind the killing, claiming that the couple was going through marital problems at the time. Michelle even informed the police about her affair with a younger co-worker. Investigators also learned that the earlier incident involving Michelle's daughter was allegedly planned to draw a wedge between family members.
How did the police solve Marc Despain's shooting death?
Reports state that investigators then centered the investigation around Marc Despain's wife, Michelle, after learning that she would gain money via the victim's life insurance policies if anything happened to him. They also believed that their business was financially suffering because she was defrauding their business of money.
The breakthrough only came after authorities received a crucial tip from an anonymous caller who claimed to have heard a man named Terrance Barker brag about Despain's shooting. Using witness reports and phone records, he was placed in the same locality where the crime occurred and was also seen in a blue Mercedes, similar to the one spotted in and around the same area.
Barker eventually confessed to the crime and claimed that the victim's father-in-law, Carl, gave him the gun. The name of a third individual named Johnny Hubbard, who owned the Mercedes in question, also surfaced. Phone records further revealed that Michelle and Carl orchestrated the murder-for-hire plot. All four individuals were sentenced in connection with Marc Despain's murder.
ID's Fatal Vows will further delve into the 2011 murder case this Thursday, April 20.
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