The white-picket fence peace of one of California’s wealthiest and safest enclaves has been shattered by a bizarre and targeted killing — the city’s first homicide in two decades.
Christopher Jaber, 34, was found dead Saturday inside his home on Westminster Place in Lafayette, an affluent San Fransisco suburb known more for its top-tier schools and multi million-dollar real estate than grisly crime scenes.
David Swank Prince, 35, has been charged with the gruesome murder — a targeted attack that involved a hatchet and a chilling digital paper trail, according to the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office. The chaos unfolded around 11:30 a.m., when a terrified relative of Jaber called 911 to report a suspicious man armed with a hatchet lurking in the backyard of their property.
The caller told dispatchers the man was breaking into an accessory dwelling unit where Jaber lived.
When officers arrived, Jaber was dead and Prince was found walking a short distance away from the home. He was detained and slapped with a murder charge, along with an enhancement for the use of a deadly weapon.
“Prince unlawfully and with malice aforethought took the life of Jaber with the use of a hatchet,” the DA’s office said in a March 24 press release.
While the DA’s office says the investigation is ongoing, a disturbing post from a Facebook page appearing to belong to Prince surfaced on local news outlets, it suggests this was anything but a random act of suburban mayhem.
The bizarre post from February — weeks before the killing — specifically threatened Jaber by name.
“If you need the chaos of the supernatural to end Chris Jaber 34 aka the eye resides at 5 westminster pl lafayette ca,” the post read. “Go with god.” In the comments of the post, Prince wrote “Can someone please kill this man.”
Prince is charged with murder and is being held at the Martinez Detention Facility with his bail set at $1 million.