39-Year-Old Interior Designer Convicted For Killing Stepdad Who Found Naked Pictures Of Her

A 39-year-old woman was reportedly convicted for drugging and strangling her stepfather after she found naked pictures of her store on the man’s computer.

Jade Jenkins was convicted of the first-degree murder of the deceased, identified as Thomas Merriman following a deliberation made by the Vista, California jury that took less than one day.

Jenkins had maintained her innocence throughout the trial, claiming she did not kill the 64-year-old stepdad on Dec. 31, 2020. She bats that Merriman had died due to an illness.

However, the 39-year-old did admit that she was horrified after learning that her stepfather had more than 100 nude pictures of her on his computer, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

“This was no accident,” Deputy District Attorney Jorge Del Portillo told jurors in the North County Superior Court. “This was murder by design.”

It was learned that the naked photos of Janks were taken by her ex-boyfriend more than a decade ago, CBS reported.

What remained unclear was how Merriman got the private photos. It was added that one of the photos was the screensaver of the 64-year-old’s computer.

Janks reportedly stumbled on the pictures as she was cleaning the apartment of Merriman who had been hospitalized at the time. Merriman and her mother were no longer married but the 39-year-old remained close to her stepfather.

Further, lawyers showed text messages of Janks saying she “dosed the hell out of him” after picking him up from the hospital.

“I am about to club him on the head as he is waking up,” she reportedly said. It was added the Janks also confessed to at least two people that she had killed her stepfather.

Merriman’s cause of death was determined to be acute intoxication of zolpidem, also known as the sleep aid Ambien. He was found dead under a pile of cardboard boxes in his driveway on Jan. 2, 2021.