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A US woman is accused of murdering her stepfather after finding nude photographs of herself on his computer.
39-year-old Jade Janks is facing court in California after the body of Thomas Merriman was found in January 2021, under a pile of rubbish outside his San Diego home.
She has pleadednot guilty to killing the 64-year-old, but prosecutors allege she fed him an overdose of sleeping pills after she was “disturbed to the core” by finding the intimate snaps, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Interior designer Janks had stayed close to Merriman after her mother divorced him in 2008 and was cleaning his home while he recovered in a rehab facility following a fall - when she bumped his computer and the screensaver switched on.
Prosecutors say she was “beyond freaked out” after seeing the photo and finding others stored on the computer.
Jade Janks discovered the nude photos while cleaning. Photo / Facebook
Deputy District Attorney Jorge Del Portillo told the court that the photos had been taken consensually with a boyfriend years earlier, though no evidence was presented as to how they came into Merriman’s possession.
Del Portillo said Janks then began to plan the killing, showing the jury text messages she sent to people after she picked Merriman up from the rehab facility on New Year’s Eve 2021.
“I just dosed the hell out of him,“ one text read. Others appeared to ask for help in dispatching the ailing Merriman.
”He’s waking up. I really don’t want to be the one to do this.“
”I can’t carry him alone and I can’t keep a kicking body in my trunk.“
”I am about to club him on the head as he is waking up.”
“I’m not strong enough. He is very aware now and I am on my own.”
Janks, seen here in an online ad for her design business, is accused of killing her stepfather. Photo / Facebook
Prosecutors allege that Janks would go on to suffocate Merriman with a plastic bag.
Janks’ lawyer, Marc Carlos, says that Merriman, who ran a butterfly conservancy, was an alcoholic and died due to ill health and taking the medication prescribed to him during his rehab.
One friend who responded to Janks’ desperate pleas was Adam Siplyak, who the Daily Mail reported went to the home on New Year’s Eve but refused to help her dispose of the body.
Siplyak went to the property after Janks told him she needed help with Merriman because he was high on pills.
He arrived to find Merriman dead and Janks in need of help he was unwilling to provide.
Detective Lisa Brannan told the court “Ms Janks told Mr Siplyak that she killed her stepfather and she said, ‘I suffocated him with a bag and I choked him.’ She also said that she gave him a bunch of drugs.”
Siplyak refused to help, telling Janks: “I have a son to raise.’
He called police the next morning.
Deputy District Attorney told the court that the evidence showed Janks had killed her stepfather.
“This was no accident,” he said. “This was murder by design.”
