Law&Crime Sidebar - She Killed Her Stepdad After Finding 100s of Her Nude Photos on His Laptop — The Jade Janks Story

Episode Date: March 9, 2023

The 39-year-old California woman who murdered her stepdad after discovering hundreds of her nude photos on his laptop was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Jade Janks, who claimed she had a close relationship with her stepfather, Thomas Merriman, killed him with a combination of strangulation, suffocation, and lethal doses of prescription pills. The Law&Crime Network’s Jesse Weber breaks down the case.LAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergWriting & Video Editing - Michael DeiningerGuest Booking - Alyssa FisherSocial Media Management - Vanessa Bein & Kiera BronsonSUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieObjectionsThey Walk Among AmericaCoptales and CocktailsThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. views shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that

will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. He was never intoxicated or on drugs. I don't believe the negative statements that the murderer made about Tom. I don't believe she murdered him for the reason she said she did it's a killer's word against his and he's not here to defend himself a woman kills her stepfather after discovering naked photos of herself on his computer we go over the twisted story of janex welcome to sidebar presented by law and crime i'm jesse weber if you haven't heard of the criminal case of janex out of san die go california this is why

we really need to talk about. This is the 39-year-old interior designer who is convicted of murdering her stepfather, Tom Merriman, on December 31st, 2020. The circumstances surrounding why she did this and what her defense was, it's chilling, it's strange, it is complicated. And so we wanted to spend a little time focusing on this case. And what we're going to do is a bit of a comprehensive review of this story. And as we get into it, I'm going to play some moments from Jane's sentencing, it's going to give you a little bit of a better understanding of who these two people are, their relationship, and what really went down with this horrible crime. So first, there is Tom Merriman, the 64-year-old co-founder of Butterfly Farms in Encinitas.

Tom was a son, a brother, a father, a best man, a mentor, a business leader, an entrepreneur, excuse me co-worker and a best friend Tom was only 18 months older than me and I always looked in for advice when I could not figure out life's challenges for myself we spoke regularly after graduating from college and visited many times throughout the years following I would either fly west or he would fly east to wherever myself and my family lived spent a lot of time to together spent many holidays together over the decades as well now also give you a little bit more background on tom so court records indicated that he had a very tumultuous relationship with his

ex-wife janet b merriman with a couple filing for divorce in 2002 2006 and 2008 there are two children there's cash who is the son of tom and janet and then of course there is jade and jade is tom's stepdaughter we actually heard a little bit more about Jade from her biological father, Steve Jenks, during that sentencing hearing. My name is Steve Jenks. I'm Jay's father. Jade and I left Texas and her mother when she was around three months old. I was a single parent and responsible for raising the most beautiful, happy little girl. She received all the love a child could want from friends and family. Jade has always been kind and loving to humans and animals alike. She could not.

I do not bear to see anyone hurt or an animal abused. She has grown up, she had found love of design and business. The various jobs she had she excelled in and was loved by her associates. She had joined my construction company when she was in her early 20s and in no time developed my tile and stone design center. I was extremely proud father. She then branched out in her own design business and thrived. I held my head high as she proved to be extremely capable.

Now, what it seems from the reporting is that Tom and Jade initially had a great relationship. Jenks seemed to view Merriman as a father-like figure, posting a tribute to him on Father's Day just six months before his death. He would refer to Jenks as his daughter. They even ended up as neighbors. But this is where the story takes a very dark turn. One day, when cleaning Tom's house, Jade allegedly discovered hundreds of nude photos of herself on Tom's computer, including one that was saved as a screensaver. These apparently were photos that she had taken years earlier. They included those that were taken with her then boyfriend.

And this became a major point of discussion and factor in the case and story. She's dealing with today is totally unjust. Firstly, I can only imagine what she went through when she found out that Tom, her stepfather, a person she trusted, that she called dad, was a sick, perverted individual. I want the court to know my brother may have possessed inappropriate photos, which is wrong. But there was evidence that the killer had little ethical or moral concerns with disseminating inappropriate photos of herself. In the killer's own words, Tom never acted inappropriately. I want the court to know I'm disgusted with the defense intimating Tom had underage photos in his possession. Following that, I want the court to know an ambitious journalist published an article about how close Tom's business was to an elementary school.

It's disgusting. So like I said, a lot of back and forth on that. But from here is when everything changes, because the prosecution argued that once Jenks saw these photos, she plotted to kill Tom Merriman. And she did just that about a week later. So Deputy Sheriff Lisa Brannon, a homicide detective with the San Diego County Sheriff's Office, she testified that Jenks friend Adam Spilliac told her that he received a call from Jenks on December 31st. and she said that she found the photos and thought Merriman was obsessed with her.

And then she told Spiliac that she murdered Merriman. How? By drugging him with excessive amounts of Ambien, suffocating him, and choking him. Now, the official cause of death was ruled an overdose of these prescription pills. Here's the prosecution explaining a little bit more of these graphic details. Your Honor, what sets this case apart from others is the amount of time dedicated to planning Tom's death. Captured in real time by the defendant's smartphone. Her thoughts, her feelings, her deliberations, all captured by her phone.

From the moment she discovered the photos, she began planning. never reaching out to friends, never reaching out to family, never reaching out to Tom's landlord or even to Tom to confront him. Those were options she considered for eight days and eight nights and she chose against it and she chose murder. She made the personal choice of murdering Tom and it was captured on December 30th, 2020 at 1204. P.N. I struggle with moral issues. Yet I will not be looking over my shoulder. So I made the call. What does that mean? Quote, it means everything you think it does. It means that she was going to lull Tom into a false sense of security before she sprung her trap. It meant that when she picked up Tom, she was going to make sure to appear loving to the nurse, Devin Ward.

It meant that to secure his trust, she was going to buy him alcohol and chocolates before she drugged him with painkillers and sleeping pills. It meant that she was going to care for him so that she could kill him. Once he was knocked out, sleeping, and helpless, she still could have pulled back. When Alan Roach was telling her that he wasn't coming, she could have abandoned her murder plot, yet she continued. When Brian Solomon showed up and ran away, after she asked them to strangle Tom, she could have abandoned it then, but yet she continued. She was implacable. Nothing could stop her. Especially not after Tom opened his eyes, only to see the world out through the inside of a grocery bag or a pillowcase or both.

And we know Tom was waking up because she said so in her own words. Not during her testimony, but in her text. messages. He's very aware right now. I'm on my own. And when the drugs were wearing off and the bag wasn't killing Tom fast enough, that's when she got close and personal and strangled Tom to death. So this is a case of cold-blooded murder and torture. And it was fueled by such a really bizarre and disturbing account that it was seeing these naked folks. photos of her, whether it was anger or whatever it was, it's just really horrifying to think about. And deputies from the sheriff's office, they actually found Merriman's body during a welfare

check. The body was found in a pile of trash in the driveway area between Jenks and Merriman's homes. Remember, they were neighbors. Now, it doesn't end there because prosecutors also argued that Jenks tried to enlist people to help her. That's right. First, she tried to hire a fixer to kill Merriman, even though she says she wanted this fixer to merely act as security or protection because her plan was just to confront Merriman about the photos. However, the cell phone messages in this case really tell so much more. After picking up Merriman, Jenks apparently texted this fixer, quote, I just dose the hell out of him. This was as she was planning to buy materials to kill her stepfather. By the way, there's some other notable texts that we have

to read as well. Lot came out during the course of this case. There's quote, he's waking up. I really don't want to be the one to do this. Then there's, I can't carry him alone and I can't keep a kicking body in my trunk. And then there's, I am about to club him on the head as he is waking up. Yeah, text messages really not so great for a defendant. Not so great in these kinds of cases. Well, apparently the fixer couldn't help. So he sends out a friend to assist Jane. And prosecutors say that Jenks told this man, quote, I want you to strangle him and then bring him into the house. I'll take care of the rest.

That guy said, nope, and decided to not get involved with all that. So now back to Jenks' friend Adam Spilliac. And as I mentioned, he says that Jenks confessed to him that she murdered Merriman and wanted him to get or to help push Merriman's body out of the car, help get out of the car. The plan was to put Merriman in his bed to make it look like. like he had an overdose. And again, like the other potential accomplices, Spilliac reportedly refused to help and left and then tipped off law enforcement. Now, we're going to get into what Jenks ultimately told the jury about all this, but at one point, she did say that she tried

to move Merriman's body in a wheelchair, but he ended up falling in the driveway and decided to just cover him up with boxes and other stuff to hide him. A couple of days later, we were informed that Tom was dead and they ruled his death a homicide. It isn't easy to describe what I went through and what I felt inside after receiving this news. I was numb to the news. It was all too surreal. This made no sense. This empty feeling went on for several months.

I want the court to know I live with the guilt that I didn't do more to save my brother on the day he died at the killer's hands. A decent person would have used those hands to save a life by dialing 911. I want the court to know that these things haunt me. Why did she lie to me on the phone? Did Tom struggle at any point, or was he too dozed? How much did he suffer in the hours? He had a plastic bag over his head.

How horrible is it to die in that manner? At what point did he know he was under attack? Why did the killer not take him to emergency when she retrieved the wheelchair? When the killer pulled my dead brother from the back of her killing machine that became his Hearst. Was his skin cold to the touch? When the killer looks at her murder's hands, does she now know the blood won't wash clean? What sound did his body make when it hit the ground? Why do the killer treat my brother's body like trash? Imagine that's how you find your family member.

did that satisfy the killer why wasn't the killer charged with abuse of a corpse why put us through all this i want the court to know that rumors leaked the killer while on a million dollar bail was telling anyone who asked that tom died of cancer now as we cover the j jank's case we have to talk about her defense because she maintains she did not kill Tom Merriman. In fact, here is what she had to say during her sentencing hearing.

Tom came into my life when I was just a little girl and exerted influence during that early stage of development when I was still figuring things out. Unfortunately, that influence manifested itself into appropriate touch, coercion, reckless behavior, and complete violation. What I now realize is years of psychological manipulation. All of this came crashing down on me when I found. on hundreds of naked photos of myself and his computer felt shattered. I'm still picking up the pieces, and it's my sincere hope that over the next few years,

I can put the pieces back and heal from this trauma. I'm sorry I didn't act the way I was supposed to that day. I think about it every day since. And to Tom's family, I understand you hate me for what you believe I did to Tom, however there's a lot more than you'll ever understand. So a little bit hard to hear, and she speaks pretty fast, but again, she says that there's more to the story, and essentially that she was a victim.

of Tom's, that her stepfather touched her and manipulated her and coerced her, but she's saying that she didn't kill him. So really, what is she apologizing for, right? Well, that brings me to Jay Jenk's story. So she took the stand and she testified that Merriman overdosed on his own inside of her car after picking him up from a medical facility where he had been recovering from a fall. She said she reached out to people not to help dispose of a body or kill him, but when he dozed off in her car, she needed help to actually move him into his house. She said that she decided to just let him sleep it off. And the next morning on January 1st is when she went to check on Merriman in the car and she said he was dead, that he was cold. And she was afraid that she would

be blamed so she didn't call 911. Mark Carlos, the attorney representing Jay Jenks, argued that Merriman was a substance abuser and that he died from his own cocktail of prescription and pills. And as I mentioned, she said that she used a wheelchair to move him, but his body fell in the driveway. So she covered him with all the boxes and materials to hide the body until she could figure out next steps. Now, again, his body was discovered there. And let's go back to those incriminating text messages for a second because when Jenks was pulled over by police, she texted that fixer that I mentioned, the person she tried to enlist to help with the killing, quote, lose my number. I'm getting pulled over. Now, Jenks maintains that she wrote that just so the person

wouldn't get in any kind of unnecessary trouble, not that the fixer or she did anything wrong. Well, here again is her attorney, Mark Carlos, during sentencing, speaking with the court. As you understand this, Jane's position, she has maintained her innocence throughout this matter and continues to do so and we'll move forward through the appeal process. Something happened on this evening and had a lot to do with her relationship with the victim in this particular case. There was a lot of trauma in Jay Jenks' early life. We have outlined that in our sentencing memorandum from the court.

There was some conduct between the victim and Ms. Jenks in her teens, early teens, as well as some incidents which occurred after that. And those are the factors that basically went into play on the evening that Mr. Merriman died. You know, Ms. Jenks reacted in a way. that was completely outside the way she would normally act. She had, as the court is aware, she had family members that she should have, that she could have called, she had lawyers that she could have called, there's all kinds of people that

she could have called, however, she panicked under this reaction to the trauma that she had. And as a result, she did things which made her appear to be complicit in the death of Mr. Merriman. She is moving forward at this point, trying to put her life back to her life back to her. together again. She looks forward to at least making herself valuable in the prison system, but once again, we'll continue to pursue her appeal vigorously. It was reported that after the trial, Carlos was asked by a reporter, well, how come you, you know, during trial, you didn't bring up any of these abuse allegations that your client suffered at the hands of the victim? It's a fair question, right? If Jenks was abused by

Merriman, shouldn't the jury have considered that? And Carlos responded, quote, it's because As Jade has asserted she did nothing to cause the death of Mr. Merriman, had she actually caused the death of him, that's something that goes towards a manslaughter. That's provocation. It's very interesting he said that because if their defense had been, okay, she did kill him, but she did it because of sudden provocation, you know, a sudden anger. You basically lose control of yourself in such a heated, enraged state or something like that.

perhaps there's understanding there perhaps that dynamic would be important for the jury to consider her mindset would have come into play and that could have been a way to downplay a murder charge ultimately to manslaughter but that didn't happen here they said that she didn't kill him in any way so everything that happened to her in the past really should be considered for why she panicked and tried to get rid of the body at least that's what it seems Carlos was trying to argue to the judge before sentencing. But again, not that she killed him. Well, all in all, after all the evidence was presented and after Jenks had the opportunity to present her case, the jury didn't believe her. And they convicted her a first-degree murder. After trying to get her friend Adam to move the body and

stage it to look like an overdose, she buried Tom in the driveway like a piece of trash. And now she's attacking Tom and her father as well. In her probation interview, the defendant said, quote, they twisted so many things about what I said. And both on cross and direct examination, she had ample opportunity to explain her words in those text messages, what she did. And what was twisted about her testimony was how she twisted the truth. She twisted the text message, I just dose the hell out of him, to he dose himself. And the jury rejected her twisted tales for the unreasonable and incredible testimony that it was. No, what's twisted is the plot that she hatched to kill Tom, where she decided to be Tom's judge, jury, and executioner.

What's twisted is dosing someone so that they're defenseless and vulnerable. What's twisted is suffocating someone with a plastic bag over their head, watching them squirm as they gasp for air. air, referring to them as a kicking body in her car. What's twisted is the defendant strangling Tom with her own hands in the back of her car while he had a bag over his head and was paralyzed from the dose that she gave of. And then we moved on to the sentencing hearing, where I've been playing all of these clips from. And during a sentencing hearing, the court is going to listen to statements from both sides in determining the appropriate punishment. And of course, there were victim impact statements

from Tom Merriman's side. We miss and love Tom. I want the court to know that this murder has affected many people. My nephew, Tom's son, is now without his mentor and protector. This judge is the most devastating consequence of Tom's death. I am gravely concerned about his mental in spiritual health with the conditions the killer placed on him. Was that part of the plan? Or did a drug-addled lifelong criminal mind not consider that fact? Our aging mom has been kept in the dark about the details of her son's death. It's not an accomplishment to outlive your children.

She didn't deserve this judge. And at least one person relapsed due to the fallout of the killer's actions. I want the court to know I have continued pain and confusion and my mental, spiritual, and physical health has been affected. I've lost weight. I've lost 90 minutes of sleep in the last two years. I continue to suffer. I want the court to know that my brother Pat has lost his best friend. My brothers, Tom and Pat, were as close as two brothers could be, a classic relationship.

Pat is one of the strongest people I know. He is still suffering. I want the court to know that Tom didn't deserve to die by the torture. the killer put him through. I want the court to know the killer gave my brother an undignified death. I want the court to know that the only person, that only a person Tom trusted would have been able to do this to him. I want the court to know that the killer's denial in the face of the insurmountable evidence

against her hurts me. The quick jury deliberations certainly countered that. countered that she's a liar and we all know it you know people really spoke highly of tom merriman they they talked about what a great person he was how he was humble he was kind how san diego is a less cheery place essentially trying to rebut the narrative that was put forward by jenks and her team and by the way in that realm to give you an idea of that this again is steve jenks is this is steve jenks is This is Steve Jenks, Jay Jenks' father, who maintains that she is being treated unfairly. Not for one minute do I believe that Jade premeditated, planned, or would ever deliberately take a life.

I do not believe her heart would allow that. Being the person, I know her to be. She is my only daughter that I love dearly. All I can say is this fight is not over. I truly believe that an injustice has taken. taken place. This case was not one on its merit. It was one based on an Oscar winning performance by the DA, a true travesty. I can only hope that Jade has the opportunity to be released through the appeal process, where the facts are reviewed and judgment is based on the reality,

not assumption, or DA's performance. And the judge can consider, of course, the people who speak on behalf of defendant's side. But just going back to Tom Merriman's side, There was a strong push for Jenks to receive the harshest penalty. Judge Kearney, please place this convict in solitary confinement each new year to assure us that she's reminded of the pain that she's caused Tom's friends and family. Jade Sasha Jenks deserves the punishment the state will impose on her. She won't be missed. And this vicious travesty deserves the first. force of our judicial, social, and conscious retributions.

My hope is that this murderer remains constrained within the confines of our prison system for the duration of our natural life. And after hearing all of the statements, Superior Court Judge Robert Kearney laid down the sentence. She will be committed to the Department of Corrections. for the term of the rest of her life in prison with a minimum eligibility of parole date for 25 years from now. So, in essence, 25 years to life.

25 years to life. That is a long time. She could technically get out one day. Not clear if she will. And in that thought, we'll end the discussion on Jenks with one more statement from Tom Merriman's brother, Terrence Merriman. Judge, I want the court to know that we're blessed to get to see some of Tom's mannerisms and habits in his son.

He's also tough and compassionate. The killer couldn't snuff that. And I am grateful. Tom's son has a strong network of cousins, aunts, and uncles to be there for him should he need support. Family will pull through. Judge, I want the court to know that in 7,756 days, 1,108 weeks. 255 months or 21 years I anticipate hearing the killer admit to the truth should she want a chance at parole the killer will be 64 in 25 years the same age time was when she killed him and there you have it everybody thank you so much for joining us here on sidebar please subscribe on apple podcast Spotify YouTube wherever you get your podcast I'm jesse Weber I'll speak to you next time

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