Deadly Intersection: The Jacquelyn Smith case timeline - Decoding a staged street murder that exposed a family's dark secret

The Deadly Intersection episode of Dateline revisited the shocking murder of a 54-year-old Aberdeen Proving Ground electronic engineer, Jacquelyn Smith, by her husband, Keith Smith.

WBAL TV revealed that Jacquelyn was brutally killed on a cold and rainy night. The authorities initially believed that she had been attacked and killed by a pair of panhandlers. The 3-month search for the killer led investigators through several dead ends. After that, a dramatic chase in Texas exposed the truth and revealed suspects no one had ever expected.

CBS reported that on December 1, 2018, Jacquelyn was stabbed to death at Druid Hill Park, Baltimore. After news of his wife's murder became public, Keith appeared on camera and confessed emotionally:

"The last thing I thought they were going to take my wife's life, and so now I got to live with that, I got to live with that every day."

On December 9, 2021, a jury in Baltimore City Circuit Court found Keith guilty of first-degree murder and carrying a deadly weapon with the intent to cause injury after the investigators proved that the robbery story he had reported was false.

Continue reading more about Dateline: Deadly Intersection.

Deadly Intersection Timeline

December 1, 2018

Dateline: Deadly Intersection revealed that on this date the Baltimore Police Department investigated the stabbing death of Jacquelyn Smith. While it was initially reported that she was attacked after trying to give money to a desperate woman holding a baby, an intensive investigation later revealed that this panhandler story was completely fabricated.

December 2, 2018

Jacquelyn's friends said they were initially doubtful of the account given to police, but they never questioned that she would have stepped forward to help someone in need.

March 3-4, 2019

Deadly Intersection showed that on March 3, investigators announced a breakthrough in Jacquelyn's murder case. The announcement, made at a press conference, revealed that a panhandler was not responsible for her death and the story had been fabricated by Keith and his daughter, Valeria.

That same day, Texas police arrested Keith and Valeria roughly 20 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border while they were allegedly trying to leave the country.

The following day, both suspects appeared before a Cameron County court, where a Texas judge gave Maryland authorities 10 days to take custody of the father and daughter. The court also denied bail to both of them.

Later, authorities disclosed new details about Keith's criminal history, including his involvement in three bank robberies at a Timonium bank in the early 2000s. Keith received a 12-year prison sentence for those crimes and was released in 2007.

September 2019

Deadly Intersection revealed that Valeria pleaded guilty to acting as an accessory after the fact in the murder of her stepmother, Jacquelyn. While she was initially charged with first-degree murder alongside her father, her plea came after she admitted to helping him dispose of evidence.

December 2021

A Baltimore City Circuit Court judge sentenced Valeria to 10 years in prison with all but five years suspended — meaning she would serve five years — followed by three years of supervised probation.

On December 9, Keith was also convicted of first-degree murder and was charged with carrying a deadly weapon. Prosecutors argued that his main motive was to collect the $804,000 life insurance payout linked to Jacquelyn. Investigators used cell phone location data to track his movements.