School Head, Jenea Chance, Found Guilty of Murdering Her Spouse Todd Chance

The Chance family’s summer vacation overnight transformed into an episode of a crime thriller when their trip to Las Vegas turned into a premise for a real life enactment of a murder plot, orchestrated by none other than their beloved mother and wife, Jenea Chance.

In 2013, Todd Chance’s family consisting of his wife Jenea Chance and their offspring embarked on an excursion to the flamboyant city of Las Vegas. Their itinerary encompassed a visit to a ‘CSI’ themed crime exhibition, a seemingly innocuous experience which inadvertently foreshadowed the dreaded happenings that were yet to uncoil. Little did Todd apprehend that Jenea, his helpmate for over a decade and a half and a respected member of the teaching fraternity, was stealthily acquiring knowledge on executing a homicide, a surmise supported by ‘Dateline: Unforgettable.’

The shocking denouement of this unfolding saga came to light in late August when Todd Chance’s lifeless body was found in an almond plantation situated just outside the city of Bakersfield, California. Years would elapse, accompanied by in-depth analysis of an abundance of surveillance video footage, before the evidential jigsaw puzzle would reach completion, culminating in the indictment of Todd’s murderer.

“Never before have I covered a case involving such staggering amounts of video-based evidence,” Andrea Canning, the correspondent for ‘Dateline’ observed, explicating the factors that rendered the case unique.

Todd Chance’s life was steeped in rustic simplicity. Brought up in a farming community proximate to the city of Bakersfield, he harboured a passion for the quintessential cowboy attire and pursuits such as off-roading and the rearing of farm animals. Young ladies swarmed around his classic blue ’76 Cobra II, a testimony to his charm. However, the allure would only work on an unassuming lady named Jenea. Despite her initial misgivings, Jenea soon discovered a deeply caring man in Todd, someone who went at great lengths to make her and her daughter feel cherished.

Just as the family was revelling in their vacations in the summer of 2013, the course of their lives was irrevocably altered. On a fateful day in August 2013, Todd’s cadaver was discovered in an almond orchard with bullet wounds suggestive of an initially suspected carjacking incident. However, finding the purported vehicle of the incident in an abandoned state in a drug-infested neighbourhood tainted with his own firearm discredited the carjacking theory.

Investigators’ attention turned to Jenea upon the revelation that she had falsified her account of her husband’s itinerary on the day of the incident and the discovery of salacious pictures of Todd’s former lover on his phone. Despite being a prime suspect, affirmation of her criminal involvement remained elusive until investigators stumbled upon a wealth of surveillance footage culminating in stunning revelations.

Evidence showcased a woman discarding her disguise, disposing evidence, and using a payphone to avail a taxi service. Improbable as it seemed, it pointed towards the person least suspected of the heinous act – Jenea Chance. The fingerprint and DNA evidences juxtaposed with the recounting of her asking for the payphone’s location during her previous visit to the store cemented the suspicion against her.

In spite of her protestations of innocence, the voluminous evidence stood against her, ultimately concluding in her conviction in 2019 where she received a sentence of 50 years to life imprisonment. Jenea continues to argue her innocence years after her conviction, maintaining her stance of incredulity at the verdict issued by the court, which realised the tragic conclusion of a family vacation that turned into a horrific souvenir.