Kriti Mehrotra
When firefighter Jon Hickey was found shot to death on the couch inside his Upper Fells Point home in southeast Baltimore, Maryland, on November 30, 2017, it shocked the community. The 31-year-old was a beloved local, as per NBC’s ‘Dateline: The Killer on Camera 4,’ yet officials quickly realized his killing was personal as he had been shot execution-style the night before. It took them a while to uncover the whole truth owing to the deceptions, the infidelities, and the web of lies involved, but they ultimately managed to identify his assailant as Daniel Greene.
A Woman Was the Connection Between Daniel Greene and Jon Hickey
Daniel Joseph Greene was reportedly just a young boy growing up in Maryland when he recognized that he wanted to pursue a career serving others, so he decided to become a firefighter. According to records, though, he didn’t work for a city or the state; instead, he was employed at a company in the suburbs, approximately more than an hour outside the bustling area of Baltimore. He was also a proud family man, having settled down after coming across his future wife, Jennifer Greene, at a bar on a night out in 2006 when they both felt an immediate, innate attraction.
Jennifer soon fell head over heels in love with Daniel, not only because of his charm, humor, and wit, but also because of the way he treated his daughter from a previous relationship. As per her account in the episode, he was almost perfect, especially as he even put the latter center stage during their wedding ceremony and publicly vowed to take care of her for the rest of their lives. The couple later welcomed a daughter of their own into this world, Madeline Grace, following which he continued to serve as a “very dedicated and devoted dad, very present for both kids.”
However, according to Jennifer, everything turned upside down in 2009 when Daniel suffered a serious injury on the job, gradually developed respiratory issues, and had to medically retire in June 2013. She claims he was allegedly not the same after that, as he grew distant and stopped fighting for their family, yet it was 4 months later that things really shattered as she discovered his affair. The ex-firefighter had gotten romantically involved with his childhood friend, Jennifer McKay, who was also Jon Hickey’s girlfriend at the time of his murder 4 years later in late 2017.
Daniel Greene Was Arrested After Being Outed by the Women in His Life
When Jon Hickey was found dead inside his apartment on the 1800 block of East Pratt Street in Upper Fells Point, Baltimore, authorities immediately began a homicide investigation. They delved into his past, retraced his steps, as well as questioned those close to him, especially his girlfriend Jennifer McKay, as they had become official earlier that same month after first meeting in October. She was the one who had dialed 911 and asked them to conduct a welfare check on her boyfriend because she hadn’t heard from him for an entire day, which she claimed was unlike him.
Jennifer vehemently asserted she had no hand in Jon’s murder, seemingly cooperating at every step, but her phone records from previous months are what led detectives to Daniel. That’s when she admitted she had been a mistress, specifying it was in the past as she herself had called off the affair with Daniel earlier in 2017, before she ever got involved with Jon. It was around this same time that officials also obtained footage from surveillance cameras on a building right adjacent to Jon’s house, one of which directly faced his back door.
In the footage, a man wearing a dark jacket that covered most of his face could be seen breaking into the firefighter’s home at 2:22 am and then leaving at 2:39 am on November 29, 2017. When shown the particular clip, Jennifer indicated the man looked like her ex-boyfriend Daniel, only for him to claim he was at home sleeping with his wife when questioned. His wife reportedly initially backed his alibi, but then came forward to reveal it wasn’t true, ultimately resulting in his arrest on charges of murder, home invasion, and firearm use.
Daniel Greene is Currently Serving a Life Term in State Prison
While Daniel Greene was arrested at his home on December 5, 2017, he didn’t stand trial for the counts against him until the summer of 2023, and even then, there were some delays. In fact, not long before the court proceedings were to commence, the defense noted the case relied heavily upon circumstantial evidence because police couldn’t find the murder weapon. Nevertheless, prosecutors believed they had more than enough to secure a conviction from the jury, so they rejected the offered plea deal and chose to move forward with the public trial.
During the proceedings, prosecutors indicated that Daniel committed a cold-blooded murder because he couldn’t handle the idea of his ex-girlfriend moving on to be with someone else. They backed this claim with the aforementioned surveillance footage and further incriminating details obtained from his personal devices, which were seized during the execution of a search warrant at his home. After all, as per court records, the state argued he had displayed “stalking behavior” in the days prior to his “well-planned execution” as he had searched Jon and his home address.
In the end, after 3 hours of deliberations, the jury found Daniel guilty as charged – he was convicted of first-degree murder, home invasion, firearm use in a felony violent crime, and having a handgun on his person. As a result, on February 15, 2024, the judge deemed his actions “cowardly, brutal, unjustified” before sentencing him to life in prison plus an additional 20 years. He was handed down life for murder, 10 years for home invasion, and 10 years for the firearm counts. Thus, today, at age 43, he is incarcerated at the maximum-security Western Correctional Institution in Cresaptown, Maryland, where he is expected to remain until at least he becomes eligible for parole after 25 years.
Read More: Jennifer McKay: Where is Jon Hickey’s Girlfriend Now?
