My Name Is April Dunbar. I Was Jason Marcus’s Fiancé. This Is the Truth.

I’ve been quiet for a long time. Too long.

But silence has protected the wrong people.

My name is April Dunbar, and I was engaged to Jason Marcus. When Jason was murdered, our son was only four months old. He will grow up without his father—not because of drugs, not because of a random act of violence, but because of a chain of decisions made by people who were supposed to protect lives, not gamble with them.

Jason was the second victim in a murder-for-hire scheme.

This is not speculation. This is not rumor.

This is supported by court testimony and criminal charges.

Daniel Neal has been charged with two counts of aggravated murder in connection with this murder-for-hire plot. Two victims. Jason was one of them.

And the motive matters.

According to sworn testimony in open court, Pittsylvania County investigator Jason Colbert threatened Daniel Neal with indictment over controlled buys—buys that were never charged. That threat set everything in motion. Neal believed his life was over. Facing prison, he made a decision that can never be undone.

Jason Marcus was killed because he was perceived as part of that setup.

Let that sink in.

Jason was not some faceless name in a case file. He was a father. He was my partner. He was holding our newborn son just weeks before he was murdered. He lived in fear during the last year of his life—fear that, tragically, turned out to be justified.

And after his death?

No one warned me.

No one protected me.

No one acknowledged the danger Jason had.

Instead, the system moved on.

What happened to Jason wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t inevitable. It was preventable.

This is what happens when informants are threatened instead of charged, when leverage replaces law, and when human lives are treated like tools instead of people.

I’m speaking now because the truth deserves daylight.

Because my son deserves to know who his father was—and why he’s gone.

And because no other family should ever have to live this nightmare.

I will not let Jason’s name be erased.

I will not let the story be rewritten.

And I will not be silent anymore.

If you’re reading this, please understand:

This isn’t about revenge.

It’s about accountability.

It’s about the truth.

And the truth is finally being told.

April Dunbar