Woman charged with murdering boyfriend 26 years ago

Jade Benning told police in Santa Ana, California, that around 3 a.m. on January 4, 1996, a black man broke into her home and stabbed her partner, Christopher Hervey, to death

A woman who claimed an intruder stabbed her boyfriend has been charged with murder 26 years later.

Jade Benning told police in Santa Ana, California, that around 3 a.m. on January 4, 1996, a black man broke into her home and stabbed her partner, Christopher Hervey, to death.

Benning was giving “general statements” to detectives investigating the alleged burglary at the property the then 22-year-old couple shared.

Hervey had been stabbed multiple times in the torso and his injuries proved fatal.

Benning claimed that she and her boyfriend fought the intruder before he stabbed Hervey and fled the scene. according to the Orange County Register back then. The newspaper also reported that no weapon was ever found.

Police said neighbors reported hearing a loud argument inside the apartment that lasted about 15 minutes.

Police continued to work the case, but things eventually went cold until the Santa Ana Police Department received an anonymous letter in January 2020 alleging that she was implicated.

Benning was arrested Tuesday by agents with the US Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force near her home in Austin, Texas, after cold case investigators found sufficient evidence to file a criminal complaint with the Orange County Attorney’s Office.

Detectives had conducted extensive follow-up investigations, including forensic testing and consultations with forensic experts.

Police say Benning is being extradited to California to face murder charges and is being held on $1 million bail.

Benning moved to Las Vegas in 2001 — five years after the incident that killed her boyfriend — and later moved to Texas.