Murder conviction affirmed against Solana Beach woman for killing her stepfather

A state appeals court today upheld the first-degree murder conviction of a Solana Beach interior designer who was found guilty of killing her stepfather.

Jade Sasha Janks, 41, was convicted by a Vista jury of murdering 64-year-old Thomas Merriman, co-founder of Butterfly Farms in Encinitas.

Prosecutors say Janks killed Merriman on Dec. 31, 2020, through a combination of strangulation, asphyxia and lethal doses of prescription pills. Police discovered Merriman's body under a pile of trash in his driveway on January 2, 2021.

Defense attorney Marc Carlos argued at trial that Merriman's death was due to drug abuse and overall poor health. Merriman's official cause of death was determined to be a prescription pill overdose, and Carlos argued there was little to no physical evidence that he was strangled or suffocated.

Janks was sentenced last year to 25 years to life in state prison.

Prosecutors said the murder stemmed from Janks discovering nude photos of himself on Merriman's computer. The photos – taken years earlier consensually with her then-boyfriend – led her to hatch a plan to kill Merriman with the help of several other people, according to prosecutors.

On the last day Merriman was seen alive, Janks picked him up from a medical facility, and at that point, prosecutors alleged she had already put into motion a plan to kill Merriman with the help of a man prosecutors described as ” Fixers” identified.

After picking up Merriman on Dec. 31, Janks was accused of texting the fixer, “I just gave him one hell of a dose,” before stopping at a mall to purchase items that prosecutors say were at the store murder were used.

When the fixer was unable to get to Solana Beach to help with the murder that day, prosecutors alleged he sent a friend of his instead.

When that friend arrived, Janks was accused of telling the man, “I want you to strangle him and then bring him into the house. I'll take care of the rest.” The man didn't want to get involved and left Assistant District Attorney Jorge Del Portillo told jurors.

Prosecutors allege Janks next contacted a friend of hers. After arriving, Janks allegedly told him that she had killed Merriman and needed help moving the body. Prosecutors say he also left and called police the next day.

Del Portillo said Janks then used either a grocery bag or a pillowcase to suffocate a drugged Merriman. When that didn't kill quickly enough, she strangled him with her bare hands, the prosecutor said.

Janks testified during the trial that she understood that the fixer worked security and that she wanted his protection while she confronted Merriman about the nude pictures.

She also testified that Merriman was heavily intoxicated after his release from the medical facility and she only enlisted the help of others to get him from her vehicle to her home. When she couldn't move him on her own, she left him in her vehicle to sleep off.

On the morning of Jan. 1, she said she drove the car to Merriman's house and then realized he was dead because he felt cold.

When asked why she didn't call 911 at that time, Janks said she was afraid she would be blamed for Merriman's murder. In a panic, she tried to put him in a wheelchair to get him inside, but his body fell onto the driveway, she testified.

She didn't want a neighbor to see it and said she piled empty boxes and other debris on top of Merriman to hide him until she figured out what to do.

Janks was pulled over by a police officer later that day and texted the fixer: “Losing my number. I'm getting pulled over.” Janks said she wrote this text because she didn't want the man to be falsely suspected by the police.

On appeal, Janks argued that the physical evidence in the case was insufficient to prove her guilt and that her conviction was based largely on statements she allegedly made to various parties.

A three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed, writing that her statements – such as that she “gave him hell” – combined with the physical evidence helped support the conclusion that she killed Merriman. The panel wrote that Merriman had “toxic levels of zolpidem in his body” and the presence of Janks' DNA on Merriman's blister pack of pills confirmed that she administered Merriman, rather than Merriman taking the fatal dose himself.

Merriman's DNA was also found on a rope, a bag and disposable gloves, which the panel said could lead the jury to reasonably conclude that she used those items to strangle or suffocate Merriman.

The appeals panel also rejected other arguments that the murder may have been committed in the heat of passion or that the jury was not properly informed about how provocation could reduce first-degree murder to second-degree murder.

-City intelligence service