Man gets 72 years in prison for murdering Duchess of York’s former assistant in Dallas
DALLAS - Dallas County jurors on Friday found a man guilty of murdering his wife in 2023 and sentenced him to 72 years in prison.
Jenean Chapman’s family said she was an accomplished woman who once worked for Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York.

But her short marriage to James Michael Patrick was plagued by domestic abuse.
James Michael Patrick’s Murder Trial
What we know:
James Michael Patrick's murder trial began last week in Dallas County.
Prosecutors rested this past Friday, and the defense rested on Wednesday. Jurors deliberated for several days afterward.

On Friday morning, they found Patrick guilty of murdering 46-year-old Jenean Chapman in her Downtown Dallas apartment. He showed no emotion as his sentencing was announced.
Jurors considered whether Patrick acted in a moment of sudden passion, which would've resulted in 2 to 20 years in prison. But in the end, they settled on a 72-year prison sentence.
Family faces killer in court
What they're saying:
Family members spent an hour delivering victim impact statements to Patrick.
Chapman’s mother, Ann Marshall, was the first witness called to the stand for the punishment phase of the trial on Friday afternoon.

After giving tearful testimony about the day she learned of her daughter’s death, she talked about the kind of person Chapman was. She said everyone loved her daughter.
"It was just her personality and how kind she is. She’s a very giving person. She give what she doesn’t even have, and she put herself aside and do for you. This is how she is," Marshall said.
Charene Chapman says she’s been working to find words to say to her sister’s killer.
"May you endure a life of perpetual fear and decay, confined to an existent devoid of solace or redemption. I want you to suffer. Every day for the rest of your life," she said. "And I want him to hear those words forever."
"You’re a monster," said Nichole Marshal, Charene’s sister. "And I will sleep well at night knowing that you are where you belong in prison away from society."
After expressing their pain to the killer, Chapman’s family wanted to share a message with the world.
"To people out there, if they see any sign or indication that a loved one is being impacted by a toxic or abusive relationship, do not take the signs lightly," said Crystal.
The other side:
Jurors also heard from Patrick’s mother, Penny Patrick, who offered her condolences.
"I can’t imagine how you have suffered," she told Chapman's mother.
Jenean Chapman’s Murder
The backstory:
Chapman was found dead in her Downtown Dallas apartment in October 2023.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, she had taken time off of work for "domestic issues." But when her office did not hear from her for five days, her HR manager called police for a welfare check.
Police discovered Chapman on her bed with obvious injuries to her neck, face and body. The nightstand and a lamp had been knocked over, and there was a large amount of blood in the apartment.
Chapman’s family told FOX 4 her body was unrecognizable.
"It’s hard to wrap our brains around the fact that she’s dead because it’s like, it didn’t look like her," her sister, Crystal Marshall, said in an interview in 2023.
Patrick was arrested in Austin after he was admitted to a hospital for "treatment to an adverse reaction to an unknown substance" he took.
While in the hospital, he told doctors he got a bloody and black fingernail while fighting with his wife.
"My sister was a classic domestically abused woman," Crystal Marshall told FOX 4 shortly after her death.
The family said Chapman and Patrick were only married for only about five months but during that time there were signs of it being a rocky and unstable relationship.
Duchess of York’s Personal Assistant
Marshall said Chapman worked for Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, for about five years after graduating from college.
During that time, she made a big enough impression on the duchess to warrant a personal phone call to her mother following her death.

"She called me three times. We talked. And she gave me her sympathies and she told me if there’s anything she can do I must let her know. And then maybe a week later, she called back and she sent me gifts," Marshall said.
Ferguson posted on Instagram that she was shocked and saddened by Chapman's murder. She said she would make a donation to support Chapman's family.
The Source: The information in this story comes from the sentencing phase of James Michael Patrick's murder trial and past news coverage.