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• Jade Janks, 39, is accused of killing stepdad after plying him with sleeping pills and then strangling and suffocating him on New Year's Eve 2020 in San Diego
• According to prosecutors, Janks planned the killing after she discovered that her stepdad, Thomas Merriman, was in possession of nude photos of her
• Her lawyer described Merriman as a 'troubled individual' who loved Janks in 'different ways'
• She maintains her innocence and says that Merriman died due to his own overdose of sleeping pills 
• Janks' mother divorced Merriman in 2008 but the pair remained close, despite multiple domestic incidents during their marriage, the prosecution says 

A San Diego interior designer is on trial for murdering her butterfly farm-owning ex-stepdad after catching him using a stolen nude photo of her as his screensaver.

Jade Janks, 39, is accused of drugging, suffocating and strangling Thomas Merriman, 64, in San Diego on New Year's Eve 2020. She denies murder.

Janks, who runs a successful interior design firm, was described by prosecutors as being 'beyond freaked out' after she found multiple naked images of herself in Merriman's home, one of which he was even using as a computer screensaver. 

Records show that Janks' mother divorced Merriman in 2008 after multiple instances of domestic abuse, although Janks and Merriman maintained a relationship. 

Deputy District Attorney Jorge Del Portillo said: 'This was no accident. This was murder by design.' In court, it was alleged that Janks suffocated Merriman with a plastic bag.

However, Janks' attorney, Marc Carlos, says that Thomas Merriman, 64, the co-founder of a popular butterfly farm in Encinitas, died due to ill health and his own cocktail of sleeping pills. His body was found under a pile of trash outside of his home on January 2.

She has pleaded not guilty to murder. If convicted, Janks could face life in prison.

Carlos said: 'The medical examiner will not tell you it was strangulation. The science does not support strangulation.' The official cause of death was acute intoxication, reports the San Diego Union Tribune. 

The attorney went on to say accuse Merriman of being an alcoholic who was addicted to pills. 

Carlos also said: 'Jade Janks loved her stepfather. Tom Merriman loved Jade Janks. Unfortunately, Tom Merriman was a troubled individual, and he loved her in different ways.'  

Merriman's body was found under trash bags by police outside of his home in Solano Beach. Officers had gone to the home to conduct a welfare check.