Prosecutors claim that a butterfly activist drugged and strangled her former stepfather after discovering nude pictures of herself on his computer.
Janks’ murder trial in Vista Superior Court began this week. Janks, 39, is an interior designer who co-founded the research nonprofit Butterfly Farms.
She has pleaded not guilty to Tom Merriman‘s death, which prosecutors say was caused by an overdose of sleeping pills Janks gave him after she discovered the photos, one of which he allegedly used as his screensaver.
“This was no accident,” San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Jorge Del Portillo said, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. “This was murder by design.”
Authorities said Janks and her boyfriend took the photos together more than a decade ago. It’s not clear how they ended up in Merriman’s possession.
Del Portillo added that Janks discovered the photos while cleaning her stepfather’s hospitalized apartment.
Jade Janks, an interior designer, co-founded the research nonprofit Butterfly Farms, which began this week in Vista Superior Court.
Prosecutors claimed she texted another man about giving Merriman the pills.
“I just dosed the hell out of him. Stopping for whiskey then at Dixieland to stall. LMK,” Janks allegedly texted the day she picked Merriman up from the hospital, according to Del Portillo.
In another text message shared by the prosecutors, Janks appears to be second-guessing her plan.
“He’s waking up,” one alleged text read, according to NBC San Diego. “I really don’t want to be the one to do this.”
“I am about to club him on the head as he is waking up,” another read.
According to prosecutors, Janks eventually called another person for assistance. The next day, that person contacted the authorities.
Deputies then searched the house and discovered Merriman’s body as they were leaving, under a pile of boxes, blankets, and other trash.
Attorneys for Janks contended that Janks did not murder Merriman, who died as a result of poor health and “his own cocktail” of drugs.
“There will be no evidence that he was strangled to death,” Janks’ lawyer, Marc Carlos, told the jury.
