Black Widow and lover murder her husband

Pictured here is: Jennifer Shanbrom and Matt Fletcher The black widow spider is deceitful and cunning as she weaves her deadly web. Only the sharpest eye could spot the fault, the clue, the dangling thread. But for a detective and a deputy district attorney they luckily had the sharpest eyes as they were called on to look into a murder. What looked like a robbery gone wrong at first was, they soon realised, much, much more. And they found themselves chasing a real-life black widow as the murder victimÕs wife and her lover soon became the prime suspects. The case started in Los Angeles on March 18, 1998 when Joel Shanbrom was found gunned down on his couch and his house turned upside down. Wife Jennifer was found cowering in a bathroom upstairs with their three year-old son Jacob. She told investigators she had heard robbers ransacking the house before shooting husband Joel. But cops soon realised her story was bogus - and became even more suspicious when she got a massive insurance payout and then wed 'family friend' Matt Fletcher just months later. It took cops more than four years to gather all the evidence but when they finally did Jennifer and Matt were both charged with first degree murder - and a jury after 12 days of deliberations found them both guilty. They were both sentenced to life in prison without the possbility of parole. Ref: F NICLA 240314 A Focus News Agency Los Angeles: + 1 310 962 4153 npittam@focusnewsagency.com *** Local Caption *** 06060694