- Jess Devnani was devastated when she lost her fiancé
- It was love at first sight for Jess and Patrick
- She was heartbroken to find out her future husband was killed by a fake postie
Jessica Devnani couldn’t wait to marry the love of her life.
The 29-year-old bank teller had matched with Patrick De La Cerda, 25, on a dating app.
Jessica had recently ended a tumultuous eight-year relationship with an older man, and when she met Patrick it was love at first sight.
‘ It was love at first sight.’
Patrick lived with his father, Max, 48kms away, and his romance with Jessica quickly bloomed. Six months after meeting, Patrick proposed in December 2017.
Thrilled, she said yes.
He told Jessica he’d ordered a custom-made engagement ring, giving her a placeholder ring for the time being.
Their friends and family were overjoyed and the pair were looking forward to a long and happy future together.
So on February 27, 2018, Jessica grew concerned when she couldn’t get a hold of her fiancé, who was at home waiting for the ring to be delivered.
A postie had called Patrick’s dad Max that morning, to tell him he had a package, as per the instructions on their front gate. Out at work, Max texted his son, but got no response.
‘Her fiancé’s body was lying in a pool of blood by the front door.’
Hours passed and when Patrick didn’t reply Jessica left work to check on her beloved.
But nothing could have prepared her for the scene she walked into.
Her fiancé’s body was lying in a pool of blood by the front door. He’d been shot four times.
‘By the time Detective Chad Weaver arrived, after a neighbour phoned for help, it was too late. Patrick was already gone.
Police discovered that Patrick’s computer and the hard drive from the home’s security camera had been stolen. This meant any video evidence was gone.
Max told police his son had had an altercation with another neighbour a month earlier – a possible motive for murder. Their exchange had grown heated, and the neighbour had fired shots at Patrick.
But the neighbour had a rock-solid alibi this time around – he was in jail.
With no other potential suspects, police turned their attention to two phone calls Jessica had received the day of the murder from her ex-partner Gregory Bender.
He’d been harassing the happy couple so badly that Jessica had taken out a restraining order against him. The order stated Gregory could not contact Jessica and had to hand over his firearms.
That morning in February Gregory called her twice – both times she refused to answer.
‘Gregory was already married to another woman.’
A successful hedge fund manager, Gregory began dating Jessica in 2009, despite being 21 years her senior.
Six years into the relationship he proposed. But in 2016 Jessica called off the engagement when she discovered Gregory was already married to another woman , Daymara Sanchez.
The women learned about each other when they both turned up at the hospital where Gregory had undergone a medical procedure.
He refused to accept the break-up, harassing Jessica on social media.
‘He said, “You can’t do this to me. I’m not going to let you go”,’ Jessica recounted later on TV series A Plan to Kill.
Prior to the split, Daymara had found what she believed was a murder plan in a notebook belonging to her then husband.
She’d confronted him about the elaborate plot, but he’d brushed it off as ‘fantasy’.
She forgot about it until she saw a report that the man Bender supposedly had been dreaming about killing – Patrick – had now been murdered.
‘A pile of rubbish had led police to Patrick’s killer!’
It was enough for police to obtain a search warrant.
At Bender’s home, a hand-drawn map lay at the top of his garbage bin, showing the location of Patrick’s home, and details of how Bender planned to kill his rival.
Wait for confirm that he is alone. Then turn off cell phones, it read.
A gun safe inside Bender’s wardrobe contained ammunition, the same as had been used in the shooting.
Officers were still searching when Bender returned home, having been given bail. But by then, they had enough evidence to charge him with first degree murder.”
‘Bender posed as a fake postie to gain access to their home’
Tests performed on the shell casings found at Bender’s home matched the ones found at the crime scene.
And a burner phone was discovered to have phoned Max, presumably when Bender posed as a fake postie to gain access to their home.
In May 2021 at Volusia County Court, Florida, Gregory Bender, 53, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
‘We were going to have the fairytale dream and live happily ever after,’ Jessica said in court.
‘But this dream never became a reality.’
A year on Jessica spoke to 48 Hours saying, ‘I will go on for Patrick. I will live in his happy memories close to my heart.’
