California Woman Accused of Killing Butterfly Farms Co-Founder Stepdad for Having Nude Photos of Her on His Computer

A California woman is facing accusations of killing her former stepfather after she found nude photos of her on his computer.

Jade Janks, 39, has pleaded not guilty to his slaying. Janks is suspected of murdering Thomas Merriman, 64, known to be the co-founder of Butterfly Farms.

Butterfly Farms is a research and education non-profit focusing on the conservation of butterflies. Prosecutors argued during their opening statements that Janks drugged, strangled, and suffocated Merriman with a plastic bag on New Year's Eve of 2020.

It was after she discovered that her nude photos were on his computer while she was cleaning his bedroom. Merriman was earlier hospitalized for a fall.

Prosecutors claimed that the discovery of her nude photos disturbed her, which pushed her to plan his murder. Janks' mother was no longer married to Merriman. But the California woman stayed close to the Butterfly Farms co-founder.

California Woman Trial

Deputy District Attorney Jorge Del Portillo said the incident was no accident as it was a "murder by design." The trial for Jade Janks started on Wednesday.

Her attorney had a rebuttal and told the jury in a Vista Superior Court that Thomas Merriman died from a combination of poor health and "his own cocktail" of pills.

Janks' attorney Marc Carlos told jurors that the medical examiner will prove it was not strangulation, adding that "science does not support strangulation."

Prosecutors reportedly believed that the cause of death was acute intoxication from sleeping pills but continued to claim that Janks told people she had drugged and tried to suffocate Merriman. Deputies found Merriman's body underneath a pile of trash in a driveway near his home.

There was no indication of how or where Merriman got a hold of the nude photos. A prosecutor said Janks had taken the photos consensually with her boyfriend over a decade earlier.

Carlos noted that Janks was the only person who cared for Merriman. He added that it did not lead his client to kill him despite the hurtful betrayal.

Butterfly Farms Co-Founder Thomas Merriman Allgedly Murdered by the California Woman

Jade Janks' longtime friend Adam Siplyak testified Thursday that the California woman admitted to him at her home that she had killed her stepfather on New Year's Eve of 2020.

She also said Merriman's body was in her car. But Janks later asked him to move the body out of her car and into her stepfather's apartment on the same property.

Siplyak noted that he refused the request. He added that he left Janks' residence and purposefully did not look inside the SUV in the driveway due to fear of becoming even more involved.

A friend of Siplyak, Justin Hoffman, also testified and confirmed that Siplyak came to his home after he visited Janks and relayed what she had told him in vague descriptions.

However, Marc Carlos argued that Thomas Merriman was an alcoholic and had a habit of abusing pills. He added that Merriman was in chronic pain and in failing health.

He suggested that Merriman had taken all sorts of pills on his own after leaving the care with a large number of prescription pills.

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Written by: Mary Webber

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