Sarah Ferguson reveals her long time personal assistant has been in murdered in Texas – as the Duchess of York says she is ‘shocked and saddened’
Sarah Ferguson reveals her long-time personal assistant was murdered in Texas – as the Duchess of York says she is ‘shocked and saddened’
- The body of 46-year-old Jenean Chapman was found Monday in her Dallas home
Sarah Ferguson has paid tribute to her former personal assistant after she was murdered in the United States.
The Duchess of York said she was “shocked and saddened” to hear of the death of Jenean Chapman, who had previously worked with the member of the royal family.
The 63-year-old said Mrs Chapman, 46, was a ‘loyal, hardworking, beautiful and fun’ woman and promised to help her family pay for her funeral costs.
Ms Chapman’s body was found by police in her apartment in Dallas, Texas, on Monday, just five months after she moved to the city.
A 48-year-old man, James Patrick, was arrested by police in Austin, Texas on Wednesday on suspicion of murder. NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth reported. He remains in custody.
Sarah Ferguson has paid tribute to her former personal assistant Jenean Chapman after she was murdered in Texas. Pictured: The Duchess of York (left) in a car with Mrs Chapman (right)
Jenean Chapman’s body was found by police in her apartment in Dallas, Texas, on Monday afternoon
Ms Chapman started working for the Duchess of York as her first job after graduating from Syracuse University in New York with a degree in TV, film and production.
In a statement on her Instagram page, she wrote: “I am shocked and saddened to hear that Jenean Chapman, who worked with me as my personal assistant many years ago, has been murdered in Dallas at just 46 years old. .
“Jenean was loyal, hardworking, beautiful and fun and my heart breaks for her family and friends. I heard from her just a few months ago and she seemed so happy. Her family is raising money to transport her body back to New York City and pay for legal and funeral expenses.
‘I will be making a donation and supporting the family in any way I can – please help if you can via the link in my bio.’
According to a LinkedIn page, Ms Chapman worked with Sarah Ferguson for four years between 2001 and 2005, assisting with the Duchess’s travel, press and tour plans, and handling her research and diary.
Ms Chapman’s family claimed that after living in New York, she had worked in San Francisco before traveling to Dallas for a new job.
Speaking to reporters after her body was found, Ms Chapman’s sister Nicole Marshall said: ‘She was a force to be reckoned with, she was a role model.
“She was a wonderful person, and I still look up to her. I always look up to her as something I wanted to achieve in my career as an entrepreneur.”
Another sibling, Crystal Marshall, said: ‘Her first job out of university was working for Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York.
“So she worked for the Royal Family as a personal assistant, and from there she worked for Def Jam, so she worked for the Simmons family.”
Nicole added, “She was just an accomplished intellectual. She was a kind person and compassionate. She had a heart full of porridge.’
Police discovered Ms Chapman’s body in her apartment in Elm Street, Dallas, at around 1.15pm on Monday, September 25.
Her death was initially investigated as ‘unexplained’, before a post-mortem determined her death was a homicide.
A day later, James Patrick, 48, was arrested by University of Texas police on suspicion of murder.
Ms. Chapman’s family has set up a fundraiser to help with the costs of transporting her body from Texas to New York City and funeral expenses. You can check this out here.