In April of 2015, the body of 25-year-old Jean Marie Smith, a former Navy sailor, was discovered by hunters in a wooded area in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. An autopsy would later reveal that she had died from a single gunshot wound to the head. The investigation into her death quickly focused on Eric Brandon Saub, a man Smith had met online and who had been living with her and her grandmother.
The two had recently taken a trip to Florida and returned to Virginia on April 15, 2015,
the last day Smith was seen alive. Investigators found evidence placing Saub with Smith in the location where her body was found on the afternoon of the 15th. Cell phone records for both individuals pinged off towers near the crime scene before Smith's phone went dark. In the days following her death, Saub was initially arrested on unrelated fraud charges against Smith's grandmother. Authorities also discovered that Saub had a history of financial fraud convictions in Oregon.
During the investigation into Smith's murder, detectives found Saub's DNA on her clothing. They also discovered that on the day her body was found, he had wiped all the information from his cell phone. Initially, Saub denied ever being in Isle of Wight County but later admitted to having been in the wooded area where Smith's body was discovered on at least two occasions.
Eric Saub was charged with the murder of Jean Marie Smith. In 2018, he went on trial and chose to represent himself. Despite his claims of innocence and his statement that he could not apologize for something he didn't do, a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder, with an additional three years for the firearm charge.
