Interior designer Jade Janks turned her driveway into a crime scene
GAIL SHORTLAND
Interior designer Jade Janks promised her clients she would make their home a reflection of their personal style. Her growing California-based business, Jade Janks Interiors, offered everything from simple design inspiration to remodelling advice that would help clients “avoid costly mistakes”.
In April 2020, Janks, 37, moved next door to her stepfather, Tom Merriman, on a quiet street in Solana Beach, California, less than a mile from the sea. It was during the Covid pandemic and the pair made the most of being neighbours by sharing meals together.
Her mother had married Tom when Janks was a teenager. She grew up calling him dad and they remained close after the failure of the marriage in 2008. Tom, a butterfly expert, would often introduce her as his daughter.
He was the co-founder of a non-profit educational butterfly farm in nearby Encinitas that focused on the conservation of native species. But Tom’s health was an issue. He had heart and liver problems and had a pacemaker fitted.
On 15 December, Tom fell at home and was admitted to hospital. It would take a few weeks and a visit to a rehabilitation centre before Janks was able to pick him up and take him home on New Year’s Eve.
But on 1 January, 2021, the police received a frantic call from a friend of hers. Adam Siplyak told officers that she had admitted killing Tom and had asked him to help her move his body.
“I don’t know if what she’s saying is true… but this is something I had to tell the police,” he said.
Officers went to Tom’s home but found no sign of him. They saw Janks, who agreed to go to the station and answer questions. She told them she’d picked Tom up from the rehabilitation centre the previous day but hadn’t seen him since. Then she asked for a lawyer and stopped talking.
The police searched both Janks and Tom’s homes but found nothing – until 2 January, when an officer looked more closely at a pile of rubbish on their shared driveway. Underneath the stack of waste and cardboard boxes they found Tom’s body wrapped in a blanket. He was still wearing the identity bracelet, T-shirt and pyjamas in which he had been discharged from hospital.
A post-mortem revealed his death was the result of acute intoxication from the sleeping pill
