Calif. man allegedly made threatening Facebook posts before fatal hatchet attack
03/26/2026 9:36 pm PDT
LAFAYETTE, Calif. (TCN) – A 34-year-old man was killed inside his home with a hatchet in what police believe to be a targeted attack.
The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office announced that on March 21, a 911 call was made, stating that a suspicious person was in the backyard and was breaking into the accessory dwelling unit where Christopher Jaber lived. Responding officers found and detained the suspect, 35-year-old David Swank Prince, near the unit. Jaber had been killed with a hatchet, and the DA believes it to have been a targeted attack.
According to KRON, an investigation is underway into whether the two men knew each other. SFGate reports that in February, a Facebook page linked to Prince allegedly referred to Jaber by name and threatened him.
KTVU reports that the now-deleted post, made a month before the homicide, read, "if you need the chaos of the supernatural to end, Chris Jaber 34 aka the eye resides at (house number redacted) westminster pl lafayette ca. Go with God." The suspect then allegedly responded to his own post a week before the homicide, “Can someone please kill this man."
According to court records obtained by KTVU, Jaber had been under a conservatorship at one point. NBC Bay Area reports that he lived on his parents’ property; his parents were reportedly not home at the time of the killing.
NBC Bay Area reports that Swank has a criminal history in multiple counties. Past convictions include illegally carrying a concealed firearm and assault with a deadly weapon in 2019, assault in 2021, and vandalism in March.
Swank is in custody and is scheduled to be arraigned March 25 on a murder charge, according to the DA. KTVU reports that he is being held on $1 million bail.
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