The former Virginia lieutenant governor, who fatally shot his wife before killing himself in a murder-suicide, was “obsessed” with clearing his name following allegations of sexual assault that surfaced seven years ago, friends said.
Once considered a rising star of the Democratic Party, Justin Fairfax’s political career was derailed in 2019 by two separate allegations as he was on the cusp of becoming governor.
Friends and former colleagues told The Washington Post that the father and husband’s “obsession” with restoring his reputation had worsened in recent months, and he was particularly “triggered” by media coverage of former California congressman Eric Swalwell’s alleged sexual misconduct.
Last week, Swalwell announced he would resign from the House of Representatives after a slew of allegations were leveled against him by several women, including an accusation of rape. Swalwell has vehemently denied all of the allegations.
“He never got away from that place, that’s what was disturbing,” author and journalist Sophia Nelson said of Fairfax, who described herself as a close friend.
Nelson is one of half a dozen friends of Fairfax’s who spoke with the newspaper in the wake of Thursday morning’s tragedy. Fairfax shot his wife, Cerina Fairfax, 49, in the family home before taking his own life upstairs. The couple’s two teenage children were at the home in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Annandale during the killings, police said. The couple were undergoing a “messy” divorce and just two weeks before, a judge had told Fairfax he would have to move out of the home he shared with his estranged wife.
Seven years ago, Fairfax looked poised to become Virginia’s second Black governor after the sitting governor at the time, Ralph Northam, was engulfed in a racism scandal. Northam refused to quit and served the rest of his term.
In 2019, two women came forward and accused Fairfax of sexual assault, which he denied. But his reputation never recovered.
One woman accused Fairfax of assaulting her in a hotel room during the Democratic National Convention in 2004. The other accused him of raping her in 2000 when they were students at Duke University. Fairfax was never charged in either case and repeatedly called for the FBI to investigate.
Fairfax served out the full term as lieutenant governor but was unsuccessful in a 2021 bid for governor after the scandal.
He was still emailing journalists to highlight what he claimed was inaccurate reporting in stories from “long-ago,” according to The Post, and “pestered old acquaintances” to speak out in support.
“He never recovered,” Nelson told the outlet. “He was still looking for justice, for vindication, and for somebody to hear him. He was suffering depression and isolation and hurt. There was a darkness that had descended on Justin, a depression.”
The apparent obsession to clear his name, coupled with the ongoing divorce proceedings and withdrawing from his family, left friends fearing he was approaching “breaking point.”
Nelson said that she and others “wrestled with him” to try and seek support, but he refused.
In the weeks before Fairfax killed his wife, he was almost completely broke and relying on the free wifi at Panera Bread to file his court documents, according to close friend of the family, Father Michael J. Kelley of St. Martin’s Catholic Church.
Many of Fairfax’s loved ones are grappling with how he could commit such violence against the woman who stood by him throughout the scandal, they told The Post.
Court filings also show that Fairfax had financial challenges following the sexual assault allegations, which prompted his resignation as a partner at a prestigious law firm. According to court documents, his “mental and emotional health” suffered, he drank heavily and withdrew from his family.
Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Timothy J. McEvoy described Cerina Fairfax as the family’s primary breadwinner in a written opinion related to the divorce proceedings. McEvoy wrote that Cerina Fairfax, who ran her own dental practice, was “a port in a storm for her children.”
The couple had separated nearly two years ago, according to court filings, but they were still living in the same house with their children.
Fairfax was ordered to move out by the end of April, with the judge writing “it is clear tensions in the Fairfax home have been extremely high for an extended period of time.”
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you
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