Thomas Merriman co-founded Solana Beache's Butterfly Farms for the conservation and study of native butterflies, in 2013.
Fans of the nonprofit were baffled by the news of his killing on New Year's Eve 2020, and who investigators believed to be his killer.
Jade Janks, Merriman's stepdaughter, was cleaning his apartment while he was in the hospital and came across the photos, according to prosecutor Jorge Del Portillo. On Wednesday, during the first day of trial, Del Portillo said Janks came up with a plan to drug her stepfather after the upsetting discovery.
In his opening statement, Del Portillo told the jury they would be hearing things about Merriman that could be disturbing and cause them not to like him. He also shared text messages Janks and another man allegedly exchanged between a few days before Merriman's death and Janks' arrest. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
“I just dosed the hell out of him. Stopping for whiskey then at Dixieland to stall. LMK," one text allegedly sent by Janks read. It was sent at 11:30 a.m. on the day she picked Meeriman up from the hospital, according to prosecutors, which is also the day Merriman died. “The motive is the photographs she found, the means were all the items found inside her car, the opportunity was that she was the one who picked him up … the confession is the text messages, ‘I just dosed the hell out of him,'” Del Portillo said.
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