Couple Face Murder Charges

A woman who told police her husband was killed by robbers four years ago was charged with his murder Thursday along with her current husband.

Jennifer Fletcher, 32, and Matthew Fletcher, 43, each face six counts in the 1998 shooting death of Joel Andrew Shanbrom, including murder, insurance fraud and conspiracy. There are also special allegations of lying in wait and murder for financial gain, which carry with them the possibility of the death penalty, according to a criminal complaint by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. The couple are being held without bail.

Jennifer Fletcher told police that her husband at the time was killed during a home invasion robbery at their Northridge residence on March 18, 1998.

LAPD detectives said they were immediately skeptical and began to review the Shanbroms’ financial records.

They said they found that Jennifer Fletcher was the beneficiary of more than $1 million in insurance on Joel Shanbrom’s life. That included a $300,000 policy issued in April 1996 by Primerica Life Insurance Co.--for whom Matthew Fletcher worked--and a $500,000 policy issued by Midland Life Insurance. According to the information filed by prosecutors, she has collected $315,000 in death benefits from Shanbrom’s employer, the Los Angeles Unified School District.

As the investigation unfolded, police drew parallels to the 1996 killing of Robert Adair, who was beaten to death with a baseball bat, allegedly by home invasion robbers.

After an investigation, police arrested his wife, Jean, who was also the recipient of a large insurance payout and made inconsistent statements about the crime, investigators said. She was acquitted, however.

According to investigators, Jennifer Fletcher made inconsistent statements about Shanbrom’s shooting death. Nothing appeared to be missing from the rented home in the 17900 block of Raymer Street that Shanbrom shared with his wife and their 3-year-old son, Jacob, police said. The crime was not reported for two hours, when Jennifer Fletcher’s mother, Diane Bates, returned home to discover Shanbrom’s body, police said. No weapon has been found.