After seeing her personal images on her ex stepdad Thomas Merriman’s computer, interior designer Jade Janks was convicted guilty of his murder. The lady was found guilty of first-degree murder after being charged with drugging and strangling Merriman.
After less than 24 hours of deliberation, a California jury returned a guilty conviction in the North County Superior Court. Merriman’s death, according to deputy district attorney Jorge Del Portillo, was not an accident.
Janks, however, remained certain throughout the trial that she was innocent and claimed that she did not murder her stepfather because he passed away from a protracted illness. Officials earlier stated that Merriman’s cause of death was acute zolpidem intoxication and that he had overdosed on sleeping drugs.
In January 2021, the man’s body was discovered in his driveway, buried beneath a stack of cardboard boxes. Jade Janks’ attorney Marc Carlos informed the media after the verdict that there was “zero” proof that his client choked Merriman.
Interior designer Jade Janks is headquartered in Solana Beach, California. She is the proprietor of the upscale interior design and decorating firm Jade Janks Interiors.
Her company, which focuses on building “useful and wonderful” spaces or homes, offers “a unique bespoke tailored experience” to “Remodel, Refurnish, or Restyle” projects, according to her LinkedIn bio.
According to reports, Janks works closely with her clients during the entire project and refers to herself as a “design concierge” who provides them with all the resources needed to construct a “one-of-a-kind location” that they can call “home.”
According to reports, the interior designer attended MiraCosta College and San Diego Mesa College. She formerly worked in outside sales for Suntile and as a project engineer for Gordon Prill.
Before joining Peter Lik USA as a Senior Art Sales Consultant in 2013, she also contributed to sales and design at Janks Tiles & Stone. After two years of employment at Nativa Interiors, she launched her own interior design business in 2018.
Jade Janks was recently found guilty of killing Thomas Merriman, her estranged stepfather, on December 31, 2020. Her mother and Merriman had previously divorced in the past, but it was said that the families remained close.
When Janks went to clean Merriman’s residence after he was sent to the hospital due to a fall, the prosecution informed the court that she discovered her personal photo on Merriman’s computer. Merriman is also accused of setting one of the offensive images as his computer’s screensaver.
According to reports, Janks’ ex-boyfriend apparently gave his permission for the pictures to be taken nearly ten years ago. How her stepfather got access to the pictures is still a mystery.
Merriman was a butterfly activist who battled alcoholism and addiction. Janks asserted that the former died of natural causes after the alleged murder. Merriman died, according to her attorney Marc Carlos, due to poor health and after ingesting a homemade concoction of sleeping medications.
Jade Janks allegedly intended to assassinate her stepfather after discovering her personal images on his computer, according to deputy district attorney Jorge Portillo. Janks admitted to being appalled by the discovery but rejected the murder accusations, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
