Wesley Earnest and Shameka Wright were the couple at the center of one of Virginia’s most closely watched murder trials. Earnest, a former high school assistant principal, was convicted of the first-degree murder of his estranged wife Jocelyn Earnest and is serving life in prison plus three years. Wright, a former Lynchburg police officer who was his girlfriend before and after Jocelyn’s death, testified at trial, and physical evidence tying Earnest to the killing was found inside her home.1InsuranceNewsNet. Key Players in the Wesley Earnest Murder Trial
Who Wesley Earnest Is
Earnest studied mathematics at West Virginia University and married Jocelyn in 1993. The couple settled in Bedford County, Virginia, where he worked in education, eventually serving as an assistant principal at a Lynchburg high school. In 2005 he took a position with Chesapeake Public Schools, first at Oscar Smith Middle School and then as one of four assistant principals at Great Bridge High School, roughly three hours from the marital home.2The Virginian-Pilot. Chesapeake Assistant Principal Charged With Murder
By 2007, the marriage was over in practice. Jocelyn had filed for divorce on grounds of desertion, citing his affair; Wesley counter-sued for constructive desertion. Prosecutors said Earnest had accumulated more than $1 million in debt on a combined household income of nearly $200,000, weighed down mainly by a 7,000-square-foot house he designed on Smith Mountain Lake. The monthly mortgage ran about $6,000, and the property, listed at $2.9 million, was not selling. Finalizing the divorce would have forced its sale, because he could not afford to buy out Jocelyn’s share.3CBS News. Murder or Suicide: How Did Jocelyn Earnest Die4vLex. Earnest v. Davis
At the same time, Earnest was telling colleagues at Great Bridge High School that he was unmarried. Teacher Molly Sullivan testified that when she emailed condolences after Jocelyn’s death, Earnest wrote back asking “what are you talking about?” Another teacher, Sonya Stevens, said he had told her he “did not have to work for a living.”3CBS News. Murder or Suicide: How Did Jocelyn Earnest Die Prosecutor Wes Nance framed the motive as “frustration over her unwillingness to give him that goose that lays the golden egg,” arguing Earnest concluded he “had to remove her” to protect his lifestyle.5InsuranceNewsNet. Jury to Begin Deliberations on Monday in Earnest Trial
Who Shameka Wright Is
Shameka Wright was a Lynchburg police officer who later became deputy director of human resources for Campbell County. She and Earnest were involved while he was still married to Jocelyn, and their affair was the reason Jocelyn cited when filing for divorce in 2006.6The News & Advance. Wesley Earnest Trial Coverage
The two disagreed on the timeline. Wright testified the relationship began in the summer of 2003; Earnest placed the start in August 2005.6The News & Advance. Wesley Earnest Trial Coverage They continued to see each other after Jocelyn’s death, and Wright helped Earnest with his finances, personally handling calls from collection agencies. The relationship eventually ended.3CBS News. Murder or Suicide: How Did Jocelyn Earnest Die
How Wright Was Connected to the Evidence
Wright was not charged, but her home and her account of the night of the murder became part of the prosecution’s case.
The most direct physical link ran through the murder weapon. Jocelyn was shot in the back of the head with a .357 revolver, which was left beside her body in a scene arranged to look like a suicide. The box for that revolver was found inside Wright’s home in Campbell County.1InsuranceNewsNet. Key Players in the Wesley Earnest Murder Trial Earnest acknowledged the gun was a gift he had given Jocelyn but dismissed the location of the box, comparing it to a grocery bag that you don’t put the groceries back in.7Daily Press. Defendant Wesley Earnest Delivers Testimony in Murder Retrial
Wright also testified about the night of December 19, 2007, when Jocelyn was killed. She said she was unable to reach Earnest by cellphone that evening, though they typically spoke every night. Earnest had told her his reception in his Chesapeake neighborhood was “sometimes spotty.” Prosecutors used the gap in contact to argue he was unreachable because he was driving to Forest.6The News & Advance. Wesley Earnest Trial Coverage
She described his arrival at her home near Rustburg the next day, December 20, which had already been a scheduled day off from work. When Wright’s mother told Earnest that Jocelyn had died, Wright said he “became faint and his legs kind of buckled” and “had to go to the other room.”6The News & Advance. Wesley Earnest Trial Coverage That reaction sat awkwardly against the testimony of his Chesapeake coworkers, who said he continued to deny being married even after returning from Christmas break.3CBS News. Murder or Suicide: How Did Jocelyn Earnest Die
Prosecutors introduced photo albums Wright had made of their trips together, including one titled “Our Journey Begins,” documenting more than a dozen destinations such as Sea World, Universal Studios, and the Daytona 500. The albums were used to counter Earnest’s claims of extreme financial hardship.7Daily Press. Defendant Wesley Earnest Delivers Testimony in Murder Retrial
The Killing and the Staged Scene
Jocelyn Earnest, a 38-year-old financial services manager at Genworth Financial, was found dead in the living room of her Forest, Virginia home on the morning of December 20, 2007, by her friend and coworker Marcy Shepherd. Shepherd had grown worried after Jocelyn abruptly stopped answering text messages around 7:30 p.m. the night before and used a spare key to let herself in.3CBS News. Murder or Suicide: How Did Jocelyn Earnest Die
She had been shot in the back of the head with the .357 sometime between 7:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. on December 19. Several features of the scene pointed to staging rather than suicide. The thermostat had been turned up to 90 degrees, which investigators believed was meant to distort the estimated time of death. Jocelyn’s dog was locked in a crate without food or water, something those who knew her said she would never have done. Bloodstain analysis showed the body had been moved at least two feet after the shooting, and the state medical examiner testified that the wound’s trajectory and positioning were inconsistent with self-infliction. There were no signs of forced entry. A condom package sat by the bed and an unwrapped condom in the trash, which investigators read as an attempt to suggest a sexual encounter gone wrong.3CBS News. Murder or Suicide: How Did Jocelyn Earnest Die
An 83-word typed note addressed “To Mom” was found near the front door. Forensic examiners identified two of Wesley Earnest’s fingerprints on it. None of Jocelyn’s fingerprints were on the note.8Supreme Court of the United States. Earnest v. Davis, Petition for Writ of Certiorari A linguist testified that the writing style, tone, and punctuation did not match Jocelyn’s known writing. Prosecutor Randy Krantz called it a “homicide note” typed by Earnest to deflect suspicion.9WSET. New Wesley Earnest Trial Begins Monday
Several people close to Jocelyn testified that she had feared her estranged husband. Shepherd told the court: “She had expressed fear to me, she didn’t feel safe and was afraid of Wes Earnest.”9WSET. New Wesley Earnest Trial Begins Monday Her best friend Jennifer Kerns said Jocelyn “on more than one occasion, expressed the fear to me and the worry that he would kill her.” Her sister Laura Rogers said Jocelyn was “unhappy and afraid of Wesley Earnest.”3CBS News. Murder or Suicide: How Did Jocelyn Earnest Die
The Borrowed Truck and the Trip That Was Never Documented
No cell tower data or eyewitness placed Earnest at the scene, and on the stand he admitted no one could vouch for his whereabouts between roughly 4:00 p.m. on December 19 and 9:00 a.m. on December 20. Prosecutors introduced evidence that he had borrowed a friend’s pickup truck in the days before the murder and then bought four new tires for it under the fake name “Tom Dunbar of Roanoke,” paying cash. The prosecution argued this was meant to eliminate tire tracks that might tie the vehicle to the scene. Tire store manager Rick Keuhne testified about the purchase.10The Roanoke Times. Wesley Earnest Testifies, Denies Killing His Wife Prosecutors also told the jury that Earnest notified his school principal that Jocelyn had apparently died by suicide before police had publicly released details about the scene or the note.8Supreme Court of the United States. Earnest v. Davis, Petition for Writ of Certiorari
The Mistrial and the Retrial
Earnest’s first trial ran in Bedford County Circuit Court from March 24 through April 5, 2010. Jurors convicted him of first-degree murder and use of a firearm after roughly three and a half hours of deliberation. Before sentencing, a post on a local newspaper’s website revealed that jurors had read Jocelyn’s personal journals during deliberations. The trial judge had ruled the journals inadmissible hearsay, but they had been inadvertently placed in a box of exhibits sent to the jury room. One entry read: “if I die. Wesley killed me and he probably shot me.” On July 26, 2010, Judge James Updike declared a mistrial and vacated the conviction, saying nothing intentional had occurred.3CBS News. Murder or Suicide: How Did Jocelyn Earnest Die11WSET. Wesley Earnest Trial and Retrial
The retrial was held in Amherst County with a jury selected from Nelson County. Prosecutors again presented the fingerprints on the note, the staged scene, the borrowed truck and cash tire purchase, the financial motive, and the gap in communication with Wright on the night of the murder. Earnest testified in his own defense, denying the killing and saying he had stayed home in Chesapeake that evening to rest from allergies. The defense also called Wayne Stewart, a Taco Bell employee from Chesapeake, who said he remembered serving Earnest tacos that night; Stewart had not appeared at the first trial because, according to the defense, his mother had shielded him from subpoenas.12WSET. Day 9: Wesley Earnest Re-Trial
On November 19, 2010, after four hours of deliberation, the jury again convicted Earnest of first-degree murder and recommended a life sentence. On January 25, 2011, Judge Updike formalized the sentence: life in prison for the murder plus three years for use of a firearm.13Daily Press. Ex-Va. Principal Sentenced for Killing Wife
Where the Appeals Stand
The Court of Appeals of Virginia affirmed Earnest’s conviction on December 4, 2012, and the Supreme Court of Virginia later denied his appeal.14FindLaw. Earnest v. Commonwealth15WSET. Wesley Earnest’s Appeal Denied He filed a federal habeas corpus petition in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in 2018; on September 30, 2020, Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon dismissed it as untimely and found he had not shown entitlement to equitable tolling or actual innocence.4vLex. Earnest v. Davis The Fourth Circuit denied a subsequent motion to amend in an unpublished opinion on March 20, 2025.16GovInfo. Earnest v. Clarke, No. 23-6934 The U.S. Supreme Court denied his petition for certiorari on October 20, 2025.17Supreme Court of the United States. Docket No. 25-5524, Earnest v. Bowles Earnest remains in the Virginia state correctional system. Wright was never charged in connection with Jocelyn’s death.