A California woman, Jade Janks, was convicted of murdering her stepfather, Thomas Merriman, after discovering nude photos of herself on his computer.
Janks, now 41, is serving a prison sentence for the 2020 murder of Merriman, who was 64 and the co-founder of Butterfly Farms, a non-profit organization focused on butterfly conservation in Encinitas, California... Continue reading here ▶
Merriman’s body was found on January 1, 2021, in his driveway under a pile of garbage. Authorities say Janks drugged him with painkillers and sleeping pills on New Year’s Eve 2020 before suffocating him to death.
Janks made the disturbing discovery while cleaning Merriman’s home in December 2020, while he was hospitalized after a fall.
Prosecutors revealed that Janks found photos of herself on Merriman’s laptop, including shower images and some dating back to when she was a teenager. Janks testified that the discovery made her feel sick and violated. “It was the most violating, awful, gut-wrenching feeling ever,” she said.
Prosecutors argued that this discovery deeply upset Janks and motivated her to plan the murder. They noted that the photos had been taken years earlier with Janks’ boyfriend at the time. Defense attorneys claimed that Merriman loved Janks in inappropriate ways, describing him as a troubled individual.
Text messages presented in court revealed Janks’ actions after drugging her stepfather. She allegedly wrote to someone, “I just dosed the hell out of him,” “I am about to club him on the head as he is waking up,” and “It’s going to be Weekend at Bernie’s.”
Janks was convicted of murder in 2023 and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. In October 2024, a California appellate judge upheld her conviction.
