Woman kills stepfather after finding her naked photo on his computer

A 39-year-old woman from California, USA, has been accused of killing her former stepfather after she found a nude photo of herself on his computer.

Jade Janks, 39, has been accused of murdering 64-year-old butterfly activist Thomas Merriman at her Solana Beach home last January. Janks allegedly drugged and strangled her former stepfather.

The incident came to light after a friend of Janks informed police of the alleged murder. Her friend, Adam Siplyak, said that she had allegedly asked him to move Merriman's body to his room on New Year's Eve last year.

"She said, 'I killed him, and he's in the back of my 4Runner,'" Siplyak told the court. "I said, 'I can't help you...no way, I'm out of here. I have a son to raise."

He contacted the police the next day. Merriman's body was found at Janks' home in Solana Beach under a pile of boxes on January 2, 2021.

During the trial, Deputy District Attorney Jorge Del Portillo claimed that she murdered Janks after finding nude photos of herself on his computer. "This was no accident. This was murder by design," he said.

The pictures were taken by Janks and her former partner almost a decade ago and she has no idea how Merriman got access to the pictures.

Janks' attorney argued that Janks had looked after the victim before his death. "Jade Janks loved her stepfather," the defence argued. "Unfortunately, Tom Merriman was a troubled individual, and he loved her in different ways."

They said that Merriman was an alcoholic and suggested that he died of an accidental overdose of sleeping pills. He died as a result of acute intoxication from Ambien, per The Independent. Meanwhile, she has pleaded not guilty to murder charges.

Janks is an interior designer who co-founded a non-profit research institution, Butterfly Farms, with Merriman. The trial in the case continues.