A California woman, Jade Janks, was convicted of murdering her stepfather after discovering nude photos of herself on his computer.
The incident happened in December 2020 when Janks, 36 at the time, was cleaning her stepfather Thomas Merriman’s home while he was in the hospital recovering from a fall... Continue reading here ▶
She found photos of herself, including some taken while she was in the shower and others dating back to her teenage years.
According to prosecutors, the photos were sorted by body part, and the discovery deeply upset Janks.
Thomas Merriman, 64, was the co-founder of Butterfly Farms, a non-profit organization focused on butterfly conservation in Encinitas, California.
On New Year’s Day 2021, Merriman was found dead in his driveway under a pile of garbage. Investigators said that on New Year’s Eve, Janks drugged him with painkillers and sleeping pills before suffocating him.
Janks testified about how disturbed she felt after finding the photos, describing it as a “violating and gut-wrenching” experience. Prosecutors argued that this discovery drove her to commit the murder.
However, Janks’ defense team claimed Merriman was a troubled person who had an unhealthy fixation on her.
Text messages presented during the trial revealed that Janks told someone she had drugged Merriman and was considering hitting him on the head.
She was convicted of murder in 2023 and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. In October 2024, her conviction was upheld by a California appellate court.
