A Solana Beach interior designer convicted of murdering her stepfather because she found hundreds of nude photographs of herself on his computer was sentenced Monday to 25 years to life in state prison.
Jade Sasha Janks, 39, was found guilty by a Vista jury of first-degree murder in connection with the death of 64-year-old Thomas Merriman, co-founder of Butterfly Farms in Encinitas.
"While Merriman was recovering on Dec. 23, 2020, at a medical care facility in Encinitas, Janks went his home to tidy up when she accidentally bumped his computer mouse and discovered hundreds of nude photos of herself on his computer," San Diego County district attorney Summer Stephan's office said in a statement sent out on Monday.
Prosecutors say Janks killed Merriman on Dec. 31, 2020, by a combination of strangulation, suffocation and lethal doses of prescription pills. Police discovered his body underneath a pile of trash in his driveway on Jan. 2, 2021.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
According to prosecutors, Janks' discovery of the nude photographs — which were taken years earlier consensually with her then-boyfriend — prompted her to hatch a plan to kill Merriman with the assistance of several other people. She asked one of those people to strangle Merriman and told another she had done it herself, according to prosecutors, who said she planned to stage Merriman's death as an accidental overdose.
Janks' defense attorney, Marc Carlos, told jurors Merriman's death stemmed from a history of substance abuse and overall poor health. Merriman's official cause of death was found to be an overdose of prescription pills and Carlos argued there was little to no evidence to suggest he was strangled or suffocated.
At Janks' sentencing hearing, Carlos said Janks intends to file an appeal.
Local
"She has maintained her innocence throughout this matter and continues to do so," Carlos said in court.
On the last day Merriman was seen alive, Janks picked him up from a medical facility and by this point, prosecutors allege, she already had a plan in motion to kill Merriman with the assistance of a man prosecutors identified as a "fixer."
Janks testified during the trial that she understood that the fixer worked in security and she wanted his protection while she confronted Merriman about the naked pictures.
After picking up Merriman on Dec. 31, Janks was accused of texting the fixer, "I just dosed the hell out of him," before stopping at a shopping center to buy items prosecutors allege were used in the killing.
The fixer never showed up, however, prosecutors said, prompting Janks to send a series of texts, including:
- “He’s waking up. I really don’t want to be the one to do this.”
- “He is waking up and I really need help.”
- “I am about to club him on the head as he is waking up.”
- “It’s going to be Weekend at Bernie’s.”
When the fixer was unable to come out to Solana Beach that day to assist in the murder, prosecutors alleged he sent a friend of his instead.
When that friend arrived, Janks was accused of telling the man, "I want you to strangle him and then bring him into the house. I'll take care of the rest." The man did not want to get involved and left, Deputy District Attorney Jorge Del Portillo told jurors.
Prosecutors allege Janks next contacted a friend of hers. After he arrived, Janks allegedly told him that she had killed Merriman and wanted help moving the body. Prosecutors say he also left, then called police the next day.
Del Portillo said Monday that Janks then used either a grocery bag or a pillowcase to suffocate a dosed-up Merriman. When that didn't kill him fast enough, she used her bare hands to strangle him, the prosecutor said.
Janks testified during the trial that Merriman was heavily intoxicated following his discharge from the medical facility and she had reached out to others for help moving him into her home. When she was unable to move him on her own, she left him in her vehicle to sleep it off.
On the morning of Jan. 1, she said, she moved the car to Merriman's house, then realized he was dead after he was cold to the touch.
When asked why she didn't call 911 at that point, Janks testified that she was scared that she would be blamed for killing Merriman. In a panic, she tried to move him into a wheelchair to take him inside but his body fell onto the driveway, she testified.
Not wanting a neighbor to see, she said she piled empty boxes and other debris on top of Merriman to keep him concealed until she could figure out what to do.
"The San Diego Sheriff’s Department contacted Janks and looked for Merriman but couldn’t find him anywhere in his home or her residence," Stephan's office said in the email sent out Monday. "As they were finishing their search of the premises, detectives looked under a pile of trash in Merriman’s driveway and found his body buried underneath it.
Janks was pulled over by a police officer later that day and texted the fixer, "Lose my number. I'm getting pulled over." Janks testified she wrote that text because she did not want the man to be unfairly suspected by the police.
On Monday, Carlos said there was "some conduct" that occurred between Janks and Merriman during her teenage years, which the attorney said affected her reaction to the prospect of Merriman returning home from the medical facility and realizing she had discovered the pictures on his computer.
Carlos said there were family members and friends she could have relied upon for help, but she "panicked."
Janks told Superior Court Judge Robert Kearney on Monday that Merriman "exerted influence" upon her after coming into her life at an early age. She alleged that influence eventually "manifested" into coercion and psychological manipulation.
Regarding the days surrounding Merriman's death, Janks said, "I'm sorry I didn't act the way I was supposed to that day. I think about it every day since."
Several of Merriman's friends and family members spoke in court, including one of Merriman's brothers, Terence Merriman, who told the judge, "Only a person Tom trusted would have been able to do this to him." He called Janks a liar and said, "If the killer dies in prison, the state will treat her remains more humanely than she did my brother."
