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For two decades, FBI agent Robert

0:11

Hansen sold secrets to the Kremlin. He

0:13

violated everything that my FBI

0:16

stood for. Hansen was the most damaging

0:18

spy in FBI history, and his betrayals

0:20

didn't end there.

0:21

Do I hate him? No, I don't hate anyone. But

0:24

his motive, I would love to know what

0:26

his true motive is so I can get that

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out of

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How did he do it? Why? Follow

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Agent of Betrayal to Double Life of Robert Hansen

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wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free

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on the Amazon Music or Wondery app.

0:39

Sheriff's

0:40

Communications, Dispatcher 5538.

0:56

Well,

0:59

I've got a situation. Last night, a

1:01

friend of mine asked

1:03

me to come over. She

1:06

said that she

1:08

had possibly killed

1:11

her stepdad.

1:13

I don't know if she really did this.

1:15

What execution reports? It

1:18

sounds like she killed this guy. It

1:22

was the first day of a new year.

1:25

The sheriff's department received a call from a guy

1:28

that said she confessed to

1:30

drugging him, suffocating

1:32

him, and strangling him to death.

1:37

Jade was very cool,

1:40

very popular. I could not

1:43

believe what they were saying

1:45

that Jade did. Tom

1:48

Merriman is Jade's stepdad.

1:51

And 100% she loved Tom. She

1:54

took care of him. They

1:56

lived next door to each other. They made

1:58

him dinner.

1:59

She was always there for you.

2:06

Detectives knew they had a phone call from her

2:08

good friend. She confessed

2:10

to murdering Tom Merriman, so they

2:12

got a search warrant. We

2:16

don't have the proof motive, but we're going to show

2:18

a motive. Okay. The

2:20

books. She

2:23

accidentally bumped his computer and

2:25

the screensaver came out. The

2:27

screensaver is a new photograph

2:29

of her in the shower. She

2:32

was able to find a lot more new photos

2:34

of her. Hundreds, hundreds.

2:39

It was the most violating,

2:42

awful, gut wrenching feeling ever. I

2:45

felt sick. I

2:47

couldn't even touch my own skin. She

2:50

was beyond freaked out. She's sleeping with

2:52

a knife. She is scared for

2:54

her life. Did

2:59

you love Tom?

3:00

I

3:03

love you. Yes. You

3:05

did you want your stepfather dead? Did

3:09

you stand over him with a plastic

3:10

bag and pull tight to

3:13

keep him from breathing? No. Did

3:15

you wrap a cord around his neck? No. And

3:18

did you strangle him? No. So

3:21

you have this supposed confession of her

3:23

saying she strangled him, but

3:25

no evidence of strangulation. Your

3:27

own strangulation expert said it's not

3:29

strangulation. That's right. So your big

3:31

bomb... Fizzled. It

3:34

was gone.

3:55

Fizzled.

4:11

Almost a century ago, a murder-suicide

4:14

rocked a quiet London neighborhood. But there's

4:16

a lot more to this story. And I'm documenting

4:18

my investigation in the new podcast, Ghost

4:20

Story. Ghosts aren't real. At least,

4:23

that's what I've always believed. Sure, odd

4:25

things happen in my childhood bedroom. But ultimately,

4:28

I shrugged it all off. One is, until a couple

4:30

of years ago, when I discovered that every subsequent

4:33

occupant of that house is convinced they've

4:35

experienced something inexplicable too. Including

4:38

the most recent inhabitant who says she was visited

4:40

at night by the ghost

4:41

of a faceless woman. It

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just so happens that the alleged ghost haunting

4:45

my childhood room might just be my wife's

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great-grandmother, who was murdered in the house

4:50

next door by two gunshots to

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the face. Ghost Story, a

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podcast about family secrets, overwhelming

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coincidence, and the things that come back

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to haunt us. Follow Ghost Story wherever

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you get your podcasts. Listen everywhere on

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October 23rd, where you can binge early

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and ad-free on Wandery Plus the same day.

5:10

This is 48 Hours correspondent

5:12

Aaron Moriarty. My podcast,

5:14

My Life of Crime, is delving into a new

5:16

season of true crime cases like no

5:19

other. For a number of years, they

5:21

thought they had committed the perfect crime. With

5:23

decades of experience as a lawyer

5:25

and reporter involved in murder cases,

5:28

I'm taking on the most chilling investigations.

5:31

This season, I'm looking into the labyrinth

5:33

of crime and secrets within families.

5:36

You are under arrest

5:38

for

5:38

the murder of your mother. Oh, see

5:40

my love is killing me. See my love.

5:43

Join me and my journey to go beyond the

5:45

scene of each crime, behind prison

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walls,

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and into the killer's inner

5:50

thoughts. Enjoy My Life

5:52

of Crime with Aaron Moriarty, starring

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October 18th on the Wandery

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app or wherever you get your podcasts.

5:59

You can listen. of my life of crime with Aaron

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Moriarty ad free on Wondery

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Plus. Get started

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with your free trial at wondery.com

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slash plus.

6:25

San Diego County, California.

6:29

An idyllic place.

6:33

Most of the time.

6:34

I

6:37

stood on this all night.

6:39

I barely slept and I'm scared to death. I

6:41

don't want to be a part of this. I didn't have anything

6:44

to do with her.

6:45

That frightened phone call came in

6:47

New Year's Day 2021. The caller

6:50

said his one time girlfriend may

6:52

have committed a murder.

6:53

The sheriff's department received a call from

6:55

a guy that said my friend

6:58

confessed to me last night that she murdered

7:00

her stepfather.

7:01

San Diego County Deputy D.A.

7:04

Jorge Del Portillo.

7:05

He told deputies, hey, I

7:08

don't know what she's saying is true. I didn't see him.

7:10

But this is something I had to tell the police.

7:13

The alleged victim was a 64 year

7:15

old man named Tom Merriman.

7:18

He lived here. I liked him.

7:20

I thought he was very nice. Ramona

7:22

Hamilton and her husband, George, were Tom's

7:25

neighbors. Ramona knew him better and

7:28

she found out Tom also ran an unusual

7:30

business.

7:31

More milkweed, more milkweed, more

7:33

milkweed. A butterfly farm.

7:36

I'm a gardener and I love butterflies.

7:40

Pat Flanagan also likes butterflies.

7:43

He was Tom Merriman's business partner

7:45

out at the

7:45

farm. He was my best

7:48

friend. Did he become kind

7:50

of a butterfly expert? Oh, he is a butterfly

7:52

expert. You say he is? Yeah.

7:56

You still talk about him in the present

7:58

tense?

8:01

I

8:03

do. It was right here on

8:05

December 31, 2020 that Tom Merriman was last seen alive. Ramona

8:11

and George saw him in his stepdaughter's

8:13

SUV in the driveway.

8:15

And he was sitting on this side, the passenger

8:17

side, with his feet out and this walker

8:20

out in front of him.

8:21

And he looked like hell.

8:23

Tom had just spent more than two weeks in

8:25

the hospital and a rehab center after a

8:27

bad fall. He also had heart

8:29

and liver problems. He looked awful.

8:32

I don't even know if he knew me. But at the time,

8:34

it just seemed like maybe he got sent home from the hospital,

8:37

heavily drugged.

8:38

Heavily. That's all we

8:40

knew.

8:41

That's all we knew. Hi, sweetie. And then

8:43

George saw Tom's stepdaughter, 37-year-old Jade

8:45

Jenks. Tom Merriman had come

8:48

into Jade's life when she was 14, marrying

8:50

her mom. Jade

8:52

and Tom were apparently close. She

8:54

lived right next door. On

8:56

this day, Jade had just driven him

8:58

home.

8:59

And he called her his daughter. He

9:01

called Jade his daughter. Yes.

9:03

They seemed close. And they seemed

9:05

very close. She was the cesare for him

9:07

every night. She seemed to take care of them.

9:10

What did you think of Jade? I thought she was a very

9:12

pretty woman. Jade had done some work

9:14

in Ramona's apartment. She was an interior

9:17

decorator. This is Jade. She

9:22

can be a tomboy and a girly girl on

9:24

the same day. She can get herself

9:27

dirty for work, carrying rocks

9:29

and concrete in her pickup truck. And

9:31

we're dressed up ready to go to like a nice,

9:34

fancy dinner. Heather Pierce grew

9:37

up next door to Jade in San Diego

9:39

County. Jade was very

9:41

cool. I loved being around her. Jade

9:44

was 13 years older. She's definitely

9:47

a little more than a big sister and a little

9:49

less than a mom. Her energy

9:51

is just very strong. Filling and

9:53

caring and genuine. And

9:55

so when you're around her, like you feel good.

9:58

She also knew Jade's stepfather.

9:59

dad, Tom Merriman. I think

10:02

she always just loved him and

10:04

cared about him. Back

10:06

at Tom's place in Solana Beach, it

10:08

was now January 1st, the

10:11

day after he'd gotten back from the hospital.

10:14

The day after George and Ramona had

10:16

seen him looking

10:17

so poorly in the driveway.

10:19

This time, they only saw Jade

10:21

in the driveway. She was standing

10:24

by a pile of trash and boxes.

10:27

And I saw her out at the side here with the boxes

10:29

and cartons. A little while later, there

10:31

was a knock on the door. And she'd come to the door to

10:33

tell me that she'd made a mess down here, but

10:35

she cleaned it up later. Where was the pile?

10:37

Right about here. Let's see what that dirt is right there.

10:40

Yeah, like right in this area here. It

10:43

was a few hours later when law enforcement

10:45

pulled into their driveway.

10:47

I'm scared to death. I don't want to be a part

10:49

of this. They came to investigate that

10:51

strange phone call, the one that

10:53

claimed Tom Merriman had

10:55

been murdered.

10:57

They were trying to find Tom. Where is Tom? They

10:59

walked by this pile of trash in

11:01

the driveway. They knocked

11:03

on his door. They went inside.

11:05

They didn't find Tom, but they

11:07

did see his stepdaughter.

11:08

When they saw Jade

11:11

Jenks driving out of her driveway,

11:13

they pulled her over, brought her in for

11:15

questioning, and

11:17

asked that very question. Where is Tom?

11:20

Jade said she was cold,

11:22

so they gave her a blanket. We're trying

11:24

to find Tom. Do you know where

11:27

Tom is? No.

11:28

His family hasn't seen him over 40 years

11:30

now. What's he doing? He's in the

11:32

hospital. Yes, she is. OK. Did

11:34

you see him there for him? Yeah, I think I'm

11:36

not in the hospital. OK. Do you know

11:38

where he went? No.

11:40

What can you tell me? Other than

11:42

he's just missing. We don't know where he's

11:44

at. We're trying to find him.

11:47

Eventually, they let Jade go. But

11:49

there was still no sign of Tom.

11:52

Officers spent all night combing

11:54

through his apartment,

11:55

looking for clues.

11:57

Then, just after the first morning

11:59

light, One of the officers was walking down

12:02

the driveway toward Tom's apartment when

12:04

she saw that pile of trash. It was just

12:06

about here. I have a picture of it here.

12:09

There's a wheelbarrow there,

12:10

some boxes, some bags. She

12:14

moved a trash bag from that trash

12:17

and immediately saw the silhouette of

12:19

a man. And there he was, Tom

12:22

Merriman. Tom Merriman played

12:24

dead and buried.

12:37

I've

12:44

never seen that. I've never seen a case

12:46

where a body was buried under a pile of trash

12:49

in the driveway.

12:52

The apparent crime scene was smack

12:54

in the middle of the driveway of this lush compound,

12:57

just a mile from the beach.

12:59

He was wearing the hospital bracelet

13:01

that he was just in the hospital, the same

13:04

t-shirt and the same pajamas that he was discharged.

13:06

As soon as they found the body, they knew we have

13:10

our suspect and they may be arrested.

13:14

On the morning of January 2nd, 2021, Jade

13:17

Jenks was arrested and charged with Tom

13:20

Merriman's murder. But things were

13:22

about to get complicated.

13:23

She lawyered up and

13:26

didn't want to answer any more questions. So

13:28

authorities

13:28

continued to work the case,

13:31

starting with that phone

13:32

call. It sounds like she

13:34

killed this guy.

13:36

That call had come from that friend of

13:38

Jade's, a man named Adam Siplak.

13:41

He told police she'd called him to her apartment

13:44

and then she asked him for a favor.

13:46

And asked

13:48

me to move the body with her. Okay.

13:52

I can't help you. And I never saw the body.

13:56

Adam Siplak may not have seen

13:59

the body that night.

13:59

But eventually, he

14:02

did tell police that Jade confessed

14:05

to him, that she knocked Tom out with

14:07

an overdose of medicine and then strangled

14:10

him. It was a pretty dramatic story.

14:12

And authorities were confident that the autopsy

14:14

would confirm it, that there'd be physical

14:17

evidence that Tom Merriman was strangled

14:19

to death. But

14:21

that's not what happened. I was actually

14:23

there for the autopsy. Assistant

14:25

DA, Theresa Pham, who led the investigation,

14:28

talked to the medical examiner. So

14:31

what they found was, unfortunately,

14:33

not a lot of physical evidence. Right.

14:36

So you have this supposed confession

14:37

of her saying she strangled him,

14:40

but no evidence of strangulation. That's

14:42

right. The final

14:44

autopsy report created even more of a

14:46

challenge for the prosecutors. It

14:48

said that the cause of Tom Merriman's death

14:51

was acute zolpidem intoxication.

14:54

Zolpidem is the generic name for the sleeping pill,

14:56

Ambien. Is it possible that

14:59

Tom Merriman died by accident? He was

15:01

in poor health. It's not that

15:04

many pills that he took.

15:05

Certainly it's possible, but the evidence belied

15:07

that notion. This was no accident.

15:09

But even if the autopsy

15:11

didn't point to strangulation, investigators

15:14

say other evidence clearly pointed

15:17

to murder. Jade's cell phone was

15:19

a goldmine.

15:20

It was a goldmine.

15:21

Jade's phone was full of texts.

15:24

How would you categorize those text messages? Suspicious.

15:28

Incriminating. A plan.

15:32

According to prosecutors, that plan

15:34

was to get rid of Tom Merriman, one

15:37

way or another. Investigators

15:41

say it all started on December 23rd. That's

15:43

about a week before Tom's body was

15:46

found. Tom was in the hospital

15:48

after that bad fall. Jade

15:50

says she was cleaning up his apartment when

15:53

she found something. So she's

15:55

at Tom's apartment and his

15:57

laptop, I guess it must have been in...

15:59

sleep mode or something like that, but she

16:02

knocked

16:02

into it and it woke

16:04

up and on the screen saver is

16:07

a nude photograph of her in the shower. And

16:10

there was more, much more. She

16:12

must have had his passwords, so once she was able

16:15

to get into his laptop was when she was able to find

16:17

a lot more nude photos of her,

16:19

hundreds, hundreds.

16:21

These were photos that she took willingly with

16:24

her partner at the time. Some were

16:26

of her in the shower, naked.

16:33

Authorities don't know how Merriman

16:35

got those pictures, but Jade says

16:38

she never gave them to him and

16:40

prosecutors say she panicked.

16:42

In her words, she was beyond

16:44

freaked out. That's what she wrote to a

16:47

friend, that she couldn't shower alone,

16:49

that she was vomiting at just the idea

16:52

of looking at a shower based on what

16:54

she discovered. She's sleeping with a knife

16:57

on the nightstand just in case he comes

16:59

early home from the hospital.

17:03

According to prosecutors, that's when Jade

17:05

launches her plan. How? One

17:08

of her friends connects her with a guy, a

17:10

guy the prosecutor's

17:11

called the Fixer. There's

17:13

a text message where he tells Jade,

17:16

if you have a problem, I can fix it for you. And

17:18

that's how we came up with the label, the Fixer.

17:21

The so-called Fixer was a man named

17:23

Alan Roach. Who is

17:25

Alan Roach? Alan

17:28

Roach is a guy, he's a security

17:30

guard, that's what he does. But I think

17:33

he makes himself out to be someone

17:35

else that he's not. We were

17:37

thinking Jade views him as the

17:40

character in Pulp Fiction, someone

17:43

that you reach out to when you want

17:45

one of your problems fixed. And

17:48

that's what he was, he was the Fixer. He was

17:50

the Fixer. Is Alan a hitman?

17:53

He is not a hitman. What's important

17:55

is, what does Jade think Alan

17:58

is?

17:59

Prosecutors say Jade wanted

18:02

her fixer to help her get

18:04

rid of Tom.

18:05

She had a plan that she

18:08

stuck to. The plan was murder.

18:11

The plan was murder.

18:26

It was December 2022.

18:28

Two years after Tom

18:30

Merriman's body was found under that

18:32

pile of garbage, and Jade Jenks

18:35

was about to stand trial

18:36

for his murder. Let me just ask you

18:39

flat out, did Jade Jenks murder

18:41

her stepfather Tom Merriman? Jade has

18:43

maintained her innocence throughout this entire incident.

18:47

Jade's attorney, Mark Carlos, he

18:49

insists this was not a murder and

18:52

says Jade had no reason to kill

18:54

her stepfather.

18:54

Finding nude photos of yourself on a

18:56

stepfather's computer would make you angry, you

18:59

know, might make you break off relationships with him, but

19:02

enough to kill somebody, I don't think so.

19:04

He says Tom's death was an unfortunate

19:06

accident brought on by his poor health

19:09

and self-administered

19:10

prescription drugs. I

19:12

think he took the medication himself. He had multiple

19:14

substances in his system. I think he made a cocktail

19:17

of the drugs that he had with him and

19:19

had a bad reaction to it and caused

19:21

his death. At trial,

19:24

Jade was supported by family and

19:26

friends, including her biological

19:28

father, Steve Jenks, and her

19:30

longtime friend, Heather Pierce. Tom

19:33

was a mess, an

19:36

absolute mess, for a long time. There's

19:39

no way that she had, like,

19:42

a plan and first degree and all that. I

19:44

was like, there's no way, because that's not

19:46

Jade. Prosecutors Jorge Del

19:48

Portillo and Teresa Pham were

19:50

worried the jury might feel that Jade

19:53

herself

19:54

was the victim.

19:55

She's a sympathetic defendant.

19:56

She

19:57

is. I mean, she found naked photos

19:59

of herself. herself on her stepdad's computer.

20:04

Hello Jade J. Jade takes

20:07

a stand to tell the jury what happened

20:09

in her own world.

20:11

My name is Jade

20:11

J. Jade says that

20:13

ever since she met Tom when she was a teenager,

20:16

they maintained a strong bond.

20:19

It's hard to come by somebody you just feel that you can

20:21

trust completely and I did feel that

20:23

way. I refer to him as my father

20:25

and he could call me his daughter. Which

20:27

is why Jade tells the jury

20:29

it was so devastating to find

20:31

those photos on December

20:33

23rd while Tom was in the hospital and

20:36

she was cleaning his

20:37

apartment. I bumped the mouse

20:40

on his desktop computer and it

20:43

shook the screen awake and I looked and

20:45

there's a picture of female breath on

20:48

the screen. And

20:51

I looked and I thought those are

20:53

my breath. I

20:55

just couldn't believe it. I was

20:57

in complete shock. Jade describes

20:59

finding even more on Tom's computer

21:02

after that. There was a rolling screen

21:05

like a slideshow of pictures of

21:08

me taken over the years. What

21:10

type of pictures were they?

21:11

They were naked

21:14

photos. Did you

21:16

ever give naked photos to your

21:19

stepfather? No. Did

21:21

you ever show him naked photos

21:23

of himself? No. How did

21:25

he get these photos? Jade doesn't know.

21:27

I think these were photos that Jade had taken of herself.

21:31

Jade and various boyfriends.

21:33

Jorge del Portillo and Teresa

21:35

Pham were worried the jury might

21:37

feel that Jade herself was

21:39

the victim. She's a sympathetic defendant.

21:41

She is. I mean, she found

21:44

naked photos of herself on her

21:46

stepdad's computer.

21:50

Call Jade, James.

21:51

Jade takes a stand to tell the jury

21:53

what happened in her own words. Oh,

21:56

Jade, James. Jade says that ever since

21:58

she met her, she's been a victim of her death.

21:59

When she met Tom when she was a teenager, they

22:02

maintained a strong bond.

22:04

It's hard to come by somebody you just feel that you can

22:06

trust completely. And I did feel that

22:08

way. I referred to him as my father.

22:11

He could call me his daughter. Which

22:13

is why, Jade tells the jury,

22:14

it was so devastating to find

22:17

those photos on December

22:19

23rd while Tom was in the hospital and

22:21

she was cleaning

22:22

his apartment. I put

22:24

the mouse on his desktop computer and

22:28

it shook the screen awake. And there

22:31

was a picture of a female breast on

22:33

the screen. And

22:37

I thought, those are my breasts.

22:39

I just couldn't believe it. I was

22:43

in complete shock.

22:43

Jade describes finding even

22:46

more on Tom's computer after that. There

22:48

was a rolling screen. Like

22:51

a slideshow of pictures of me

22:54

taken over the years. What type of pictures were

22:56

they?

22:57

They were naked

22:59

photos. Did you

23:01

ever give naked photos to your

23:04

stepfather? No. Did

23:06

you ever show him naked photos of

23:08

yourself? No. How

23:10

did he get these photos? Jade doesn't know.

23:13

These were photos that Jade had taken of herself.

23:16

Jade and various boyfriends. Have

23:18

you ever made any sexual

23:21

overtures toward your stepfather? No. Did

23:24

you tell him that you had naked photos

23:26

of yourself? No. You never showed him

23:28

anything similar to that, correct? No,

23:30

he was my dad.

23:32

Tom was still in the hospital, but

23:34

Jade says she didn't feel safe.

23:37

And you were afraid that he was going to come back and find out

23:39

that you had found the photos.

23:42

Yes? Yes. And

23:44

you were worried about how he might react

23:47

toward you? Yes. And

23:49

he lived next door to

23:51

you? Yes. And that's why

23:54

Jade says she got in touch with Alan Roach,

23:57

who worked in security the day she

23:59

found those photos. those. So why did

24:01

you think that you needed somebody like Alan

24:03

Rutch?

24:05

I was scared. I mean

24:07

when I first

24:08

saw the photos

24:10

I couldn't even use

24:12

the bathroom. I just felt so disgusting.

24:16

I couldn't show it either. I was

24:18

just scared. I

24:20

was scared of being nude

24:22

and vulnerable. I

24:26

wanted somebody to

24:27

look out for me and make sure that

24:29

I was safe. Over the next

24:32

few days Tom was moved from the

24:34

hospital to a rehab center and

24:36

Jade felt she had to act. I

24:39

can't continue just leaving next

24:42

door to him and not feeling safe or

24:44

just

24:45

feeling like there's something to do.

24:47

When you say I needed to do something, did

24:50

you need to kill him? No. I wanted Tom

24:52

to just go away and leave me alone.

24:54

According to Jade, Alan was planning to come

24:56

over after she brought Tom home to

24:59

help her confront him. I

25:00

wanted Alan to basically,

25:02

you know,

25:04

explain to him, this is not

25:06

a plan or I could explain it but Alan just

25:08

stayed there just in case. Your plan

25:10

was to. Jade says that on December

25:13

31st, in spite of her feelings, she was doing

25:15

everything she could to help Tom

25:18

who she says seemed preoccupied

25:20

with finding medication.

25:21

He started calling at about 6 45 in

25:24

the morning and she's asking me to

25:26

get him codeine which we

25:28

understand he says that he hasn't been

25:30

sick for us and she's

25:32

up to rest. Jade took Tom

25:34

out of the rehab at a little after 11 a.m.

25:37

He had a bag of medication with him including

25:40

Ambien and remember the autopsy

25:42

says Ambien is what killed

25:43

him. Jade says almost as soon

25:46

as Tom got into her car, he also

25:48

helped himself to her prescription medicines.

25:51

Jade says Tom seemed fine when

25:57

she stopped at

25:59

this shopping Plaza and texted

26:01

Alan Roach to come meet her. She

26:03

went into a couple of stores while she waited to

26:05

hear back. I was just getting started

26:07

on a house

26:10

project, so I think it will take

26:12

a different part of that show around.

26:14

Jade bought gloves, towels and a nylon

26:17

cord and some spray paint. She

26:19

says these items were for a painting

26:20

project. The way the place

26:23

has to be done and kind

26:25

of enclose it so that I'm not getting paint on

26:27

all the portfolios.

26:29

Jade still hadn't heard back from Alan

26:31

and took Tom home. She says Tom

26:34

was now too groggy to walk on his own

26:36

and she couldn't get him out of her car. She

26:39

says she was worried about him and drove

26:42

him back to the rehab for help.

26:44

I just explained, you know,

26:46

that I've just been released and

26:48

something wrong with me

26:51

and I ran back. The little girl in my room, I mean,

26:53

it's all different. I couldn't go

26:55

outside. Jade returned home with Tom

26:57

but says she was still not able to get him out

26:59

of her car. Alan had finally

27:01

texted back to say he couldn't make it

27:03

over after all but sent his friend,

27:06

a man named Brian Solomon, to help

27:08

her get Tom inside. Have you

27:10

ever met Brian Solomon before? No.

27:13

Jade says Brian wouldn't help her with

27:15

Tom and left right away. So

27:17

Jade reached out to her

27:18

friend Adam Siplak and asked him

27:20

to come over. Adam arrived later

27:22

that evening.

27:23

I just said, I'm just

27:26

in tears. I said that, you know, I

27:28

want to get him into

27:30

my house or into his house.

27:32

Jade says Adam quickly got upset and

27:34

left without helping her. And this

27:37

is where Jade's story doesn't line up

27:39

with Adam's. Remember, Adam

27:41

was the person who

27:42

called police on New Year's Day. She

27:46

said that she had possibly

27:49

killed her stepdad.

27:51

Jade says she didn't confess to anything.

27:54

She says Adam was distressed by

27:56

how sick Tom looked and that's why

27:58

he wouldn't

27:58

help her.

27:59

After he left, Jade says she

28:02

didn't know what else to do and tried

28:04

to get Tom situated in her car for

28:06

the night so he could sleep off whatever

28:09

he had taken. I'm sure he's comfortable

28:11

with hand-held pillows and a

28:13

channel of the... ...the

28:15

earlier blanket. The next morning,

28:17

in the cold light of New Year's Day, Jade

28:20

says Tom was still in her car when

28:22

she realized the worst had happened.

28:25

You touch Miss Merriman? Yes.

28:29

What did you feel? I...I tried

28:31

to call his legs

28:33

and I just...I just...I just...I

28:35

just...I just...his legs was cold. She

28:41

thinks... Did

28:43

you...did you think Tom Merriman was dead at

28:45

that point? I knew he was.

28:51

How do you think Tom died?

28:53

Chat now with the 48 Hours Team on

28:55

Facebook and X.

28:58

He's a

29:07

...a ...a

29:12

...a Did

29:14

you think about calling 911?

29:16

I'm scared

29:18

too. Why

29:19

were you scared?

29:22

I didn't want to get planned. I mean

29:24

I just... I was still in that

29:27

picture,

29:27

Mom. I didn't want

29:30

to get blamed for...for

29:32

killing him. And

29:35

she tried to explain what she did

29:37

with his body. I continued to...to follow

29:40

up.

29:43

I still wanted to get out of my three house. I mean

29:45

I didn't...I didn't know what else to

29:47

do. I couldn't...I

29:50

cut the blanket over. I cut the

29:52

empty boxes and just kind of... She

29:55

just made it look like a flower.

30:01

Jade may have left Tom's body in the

30:04

driveway, but she says she

30:06

never meant him harm.

30:26

And then the prosecutors told their

30:29

version of the story.

30:47

Prosecutors said Jade was lying

30:50

to cover up her plan.

30:51

The plan was to drug him, suffocate

30:53

him,

30:54

and stage

30:55

it to look like an overdose.

30:57

Del Portillo says after she picked

31:00

Tom up from the rehab, Jade used

31:02

his own prescription sleeping pills to

31:04

knock him out. And he says

31:06

he has proof Jade's DNA

31:09

is on those packs of pills.

31:10

The package of Zulpidum,

31:13

which is the Ambien sleeping pills that

31:16

had the defendant's DNA on it,

31:18

but not Tom. And I think it's important

31:21

that the jury heard that,

31:23

that it was Jade Jenks' DNA

31:26

on that Zulpidum pack. And according

31:28

to prosecutors, there's much more evidence

31:30

too. Jade, they say, left

31:32

a real-time trail of clues

31:35

that day. Remember her cell phone,

31:37

the one they called a goldmine? Turns

31:40

out it was packed with texts, messages

31:43

that they say outlined her plan

31:46

to kill. We're talking 11, 12 minutes

31:49

after being discharged, she sends a text

31:51

message to Alan, the fixer,

31:53

saying, I just dosed the hell out

31:55

of them.

31:59

the hell out of them.

32:01

You would agree with me that that

32:04

means someone

32:06

gave another person a whole lot of

32:08

drugs.

32:13

Del Portillo thinks Jade's explanation

32:15

is nonsense. He says

32:17

first she drugged Tom and then

32:19

she needed to stall for a bit and her

32:22

texts even say that.

32:24

Stopping at Dixieland to stall.

32:26

So she was stalling for the drugs to

32:28

really kick in and make him asleep

32:31

and unaware of what she was about to do. She's

32:34

stalling to see if this guy, Alan

32:36

Roach,

32:37

can come by and help her commit the murder.

32:40

And

32:41

remember those supplies Jade said

32:43

she picked up for a painting project? According

32:46

to the prosecutors they were actually

32:48

Jade's murder kit. She goes

32:50

to the store and buys this murder kit.

32:53

It ties gloves rope

32:56

and towels. Prosecutors

32:58

say up to that point Jade's

33:01

plan was on track but by

33:03

a little afternoon things started to

33:05

go

33:05

wrong.

33:06

You can see from the text

33:09

messages that she was in a panic.

33:10

She writes he's waking up. Jade's

33:13

texting her so-called

33:14

fixer Alan Roach and

33:17

she adds can you come over? But

33:19

the fixer is not responding. This

33:21

thought was a total mess and it fell

33:23

apart right away. Finally

33:26

the fixer texts her back. He

33:28

says he can't come but he's sending

33:30

someone he knows that guy named

33:33

Brian Solomon.

33:33

Okay

33:35

so the plan is

33:38

Brian will bring Tom

33:40

into the house. Brian

33:42

Solomon later told us that when

33:44

he went over to help

33:46

Jade that she told him

33:49

something that he'll never forget. I want you

33:51

to bring him inside,

33:53

strangle him and I'll take care of the

33:55

rest.

33:56

Brian Solomon quickly left the house

33:59

without doing anything.

33:59

And soon, Jade is back

34:02

texting the missing

34:03

fixer again.

34:05

At 3 p.m., you

34:07

texted Alan. He's waking up,

34:09

and I'm not sure how much longer I can control myself.

34:12

Is that right? Yes, that's right. So

34:14

you texted Alan. He's waking up

34:16

and getting way more aggressive, so it's way more real.

34:19

True? True.

34:21

I think again, I was just kind of

34:23

getting kind of urged Alan to come over.

34:26

You would agree with me that this was very sufficient, this

34:28

text. Oh, yeah.

34:32

Jade texts Alan again. I can't

34:35

keep a kicking body in my truck.

34:37

Now that we know Tom was

34:40

found dead in his

34:42

driveway, under a pile of trash right there, you

34:44

put together that this

34:46

text message looks very suspicious. You'd

34:49

agree with me, right? I mean, I would. Yes.

34:53

It's now around 4 p.m. Alan

34:55

has disappeared.

34:56

At 4.08 p.m., you

34:58

texted Alan. See that? I

35:01

guess I'm on my own. True?

35:03

True.

35:06

How do you think she killed Tom?

35:08

We believe that the evidence

35:10

shows

35:11

that she put a bag over his head. When

35:15

the bag's not working fast enough, she

35:17

has to strangle him, and she has no other

35:19

choice. It's too late to back out

35:21

now.

35:23

Investigators even found a plastic

35:26

bag in Jade's car. It had her

35:28

DNA on the outside

35:29

and Tom on

35:31

the inside.

35:33

But there's a huge problem with the prosecution's

35:36

case, and that's the autopsy.

35:39

The autopsy never said Tom was strangled.

35:42

There weren't any marks on his neck. So

35:44

what happened? How could Jade possibly

35:47

have strangled him to death?

35:51

That presented a big difficulty

35:53

for us strategically of going forward

35:55

in trial. Right. So you have this

35:57

supposed confession of her saying she's...

35:59

strangled him,

36:01

but no evidence of strangulation. Right.

36:04

Turns out the prosecutors had an answer for

36:06

that. They say it's totally

36:08

possible to strangle someone to death without

36:11

leaving marks if the victim

36:13

is already knocked out. I

36:15

think that is part of the plan

36:18

is to dose them just enough to where

36:20

he's incapacitated. So if

36:22

you're unconscious, your breathing is already

36:25

depressed. When someone is already unconscious,

36:28

it does not require that much pressure and

36:30

would not leave bruising.

36:32

It would not leave breakage

36:35

of the cartilage that's inside the throat. It

36:37

would not leave physical evidence.

36:38

It only takes

36:41

four pounds of pressure to kill, to

36:43

cut off the blood supply to your head. And

36:46

when you and I shook hands earlier today,

36:49

that was about 11 pounds of pressure. So

36:51

it's less than a handshake to kill. After

36:53

she murdered Tom, prosecutors say

36:55

she left his body in her car overnight.

36:59

And the next morning, Jade had to do

37:01

something about it. In a story full

37:03

of strange twists, this may be the

37:05

oddest. Prosecutors say Tom's

37:07

body was still in Jade's car, and

37:10

she wanted to make his death look like an accident, like

37:12

he'd overdosed on his own medicine. But

37:15

she couldn't get his 180-pound body out of her car and

37:18

into his apartment, and no one would

37:20

help her.

37:21

So they say she drove

37:23

to a hospital with Tom dead in

37:26

the back of her car, picked up a wheelchair,

37:28

put it in her car, and drove back to Tom's

37:30

place.

37:32

How'd you get the wheelchair in

37:35

your car if Tom was still in there? Tom

37:37

is big. Tom

37:39

was kind of, his legs were a Kimball.

37:42

He was playing golf. And I kind

37:45

of, like, could have happened. The back window of

37:47

the four-runner can roll down. When

37:49

you were doing this, at this point, could

37:51

you know Tom was dead? I was dead, but I

37:53

didn't want to know

37:55

it yet. You

37:58

suspected Tom was dead. You're

38:00

at Scripps Hospital and

38:02

you don't tell anyone at the hospital that

38:05

Tom

38:06

may need some help. Alright.

38:10

And there was just one more thing. On

38:13

the day the cops came by looking for Tom,

38:16

they didn't know anything yet. Just that Tom

38:18

might be missing.

38:19

Jade jumped into her car.

38:22

4.30 when she was pulling out

38:24

of her driveway, when they were getting ready to do the welfare

38:26

check, she was pulling out of her driveway and she was getting detained

38:28

after being pulled over. The very last

38:31

text message on her cell phone was

38:33

to Alan Roach saying, lose my

38:35

number. What does that say

38:38

to you?

38:39

Get rid of the evidence.

38:52

What do you think of the case?

38:57

That was the biggest hurdle in our case, we feel.

39:00

The jury might dislike Tom

39:02

Airmen so much that they would

39:04

vote to either acquit or reduce

39:06

the murder to something else.

39:08

As Jade's trial is drawing to a close,

39:11

prosecutor Jorge del Portillo wants

39:13

to make sure the jury's attention is on

39:16

what Jade Janks has done and

39:18

not on Tom. Tom

39:19

was not on trial. This wasn't

39:21

his trial. He didn't get a trial.

39:23

She was his judge, jury and

39:26

executioner. And so it all comes

39:28

back to Jade. Mr. Carlos,

39:30

she made a phone call. In his closing argument

39:32

to the jury, Mark Carlos emphasizes

39:34

what he says are the weaknesses of the

39:37

prosecution's case.

39:38

What type of evidence do we have? We

39:41

have a lot of speculation. It's

39:43

speculation upon speculation upon

39:46

speculation. He argues

39:47

Adam Siplak's story that Jade

39:49

confessed is a lie. Mr. Siplak

39:52

has no call of duty. He wants to get out

39:54

of something that he thinks might have happened.

39:56

And he says Brian Solomon, who

39:58

also claimed Jade...

39:59

confessed to him that day can't

40:02

be telling the

40:02

truth. He claims that immediately,

40:04

and this was his testimony, immediately upon

40:07

entering, she says,

40:09

anything in the car does strangle. This

40:11

is somebody that Jackson never met

40:13

before.

40:14

Neither Adam Ciplack, Brian Solomon,

40:17

nor Allen Roach was charged with any

40:19

crime in this case. And Mark Carlos

40:22

urges the jury to stick to what he calls

40:24

the truth. And the truth is, they

40:26

have zero

40:28

evidence to support

40:30

a murder.

40:31

Her DNA was on the blister

40:34

path. But Jorge del Portillo

40:36

gets to make the last argument the jury

40:38

will hear. It starts with

40:41

I just dosed the hell out of him.

40:43

The plan is starting. And

40:45

with Allen,

40:46

it ends with lose

40:49

my number, I'm getting pulled over.

40:52

And buried in between all of those

40:54

text messages is a murder plot.

40:57

Spine her guilty of murder. Because

41:00

the evidence proves it,

41:01

the law requires it,

41:03

and justice demands it. The

41:05

jury went out that afternoon and was back

41:08

the next morning to

41:10

continue their deliberations. Jury

41:12

comes in at 9 a.m. We get

41:15

the call at 9.30 a.m. We

41:17

have a verdict. We were shocked. We were

41:19

a little bit nervous. The quickest verdict I've ever

41:21

had was 15 minutes and it was not guilty. So

41:24

I don't put a lot of stock in quick verdicts.

41:27

Tom's business partner, Pat Flanagan,

41:29

got a text about it. I was very anxious.

41:32

My hands were sweating. I was nervous. We

41:35

are your own. We

41:37

the jury in the event of the shooting because

41:39

he defeated Jade Pasha

41:42

Jakes, guilty of the crime

41:43

of murder in violation of penal

41:46

code section. Guilty of first degree murder.

41:48

In the defense of section A of felony. Jade

41:52

appears stunned. Turn

41:54

number one. Yes. Number two.

41:57

Yes. Number three. Yes.

41:59

Number five. Yes. Number

42:02

six. Yes.

42:03

Number seven. Yes. Number

42:06

eight. Yes. It was a

42:08

huge release. It was an absolute release. And when you heard

42:10

that word, guilty. Um,

42:13

it

42:15

felt right.

42:17

Pat Flanagan says he saw Jade's

42:19

reaction to the verdict later online.

42:21

I still go back

42:23

and watch that sometimes. Why? Because

42:27

I feel bad for Tom. He died

42:29

buried in trash. Now she gets

42:31

to feel a little of that pain that we've all been feeling

42:33

for years.

42:34

But there's still the matter of those

42:37

photos.

42:38

Jade said that she found nude photos

42:41

of herself on Tom's computer. Do

42:43

you believe that?

42:44

I can't disprove it. I

42:47

find it...

42:50

I don't want to believe it. It's interesting

42:52

you say you don't want to believe it. Yeah. Tom's

42:56

hard drive was not recovered after

42:58

his body was found. But prosecutors,

43:01

who spent two years

43:02

investigating this case, believe

43:04

Jade

43:05

is telling the truth, at

43:07

least about this. Did you have any

43:09

doubt that

43:09

these photos actually existed? We

43:12

talked about that, but we had no doubt. We found

43:15

that photo on Tom's laptop

43:18

showing that it had been used as a wallpaper,

43:21

showing that it had been on his laptop... ...and

43:24

that it had been shared his memories of

43:26

Tom and the butterfly farm. I still

43:28

remember Tom and wish I could drop by for

43:30

a smile,

43:32

to ask a question about plants or butterflies,

43:36

or just to recharge those batteries that keep seeing

43:38

me to wear down as I get older.

43:42

I believe my life is richer

43:44

because I knew Tom.

43:46

Steven Jaids? Jade's

43:48

biological father, who had not spoken

43:51

publicly since she was charged, put

43:53

the focus back on Tom's betrayal.

43:56

Firstly, I can only imagine what she went through

43:58

when she found out that Tom was a bird. Her

44:00

stepfather, a person she trusted

44:04

that she called dad, was a sick, averted

44:07

individual. All I can

44:09

say is this fight is not over. I

44:11

truly believe that an injustice

44:13

has taken place. Jay Jags spoke

44:16

that day, too. Talking into my

44:18

life when I was just a little girl and

44:20

observing and volunteering at early stages of development

44:23

when I was still figuring things out. Unfortunately,

44:25

that incident manifested itself into appropriate

44:27

tension, coercion, assisting behavior

44:29

and complete coercion. And I know

44:32

that it is a psychological manipulation. All

44:35

of this came crashing down on me when I found hundreds

44:37

of naked photos of my children as a computer. So,

44:40

I've shared it.

44:41

Jay did not tell this story

44:43

during trial, and we can't

44:45

verify it. Jay

44:46

still insists she didn't kill Tom

44:48

and only admits to covering up his dead

44:51

body.

44:51

I'm still getting the pain,

44:53

and I can't see their soul. But I can see

44:55

your... I can see the people that I could know

44:57

from the trauma. I'm sorry I didn't ask

45:00

the way I spoke to that day. I think

45:02

about it every day.

45:03

We will be committed to the Department of

45:05

Corrections. The judge sentenced Jay

45:07

to serve 25 years to life.

45:10

And as the prosecution

45:12

looks back on a difficult and emotional

45:14

case, they say it could have easily

45:17

turned out very

45:18

differently. She could have gone

45:21

away with murder. Had she carried out her

45:23

plan and the police did a welfare check and

45:25

found Tom laying in his bed, she

45:27

would have got away with murder.

45:44

Join me Tuesday for

45:46

Host Mortem from 48 Hours,

45:49

where we'll dive even

45:52

deeper into today's episode

45:54

and answer your

45:56

questions about the case.

46:00

Hey, Prime Members, you can listen

46:03

to the 48 Hours podcast ad-free

46:06

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46:08

the Amazon Music app today,

46:11

or you can listen ad-free with Wondery

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Plus in Apple Podcasts. Before

46:16

you go, tell us about yourself by completing

46:18

a short survey at wondery.com

46:21

slash survey.

46:23

Thanks for joining me, 48 Hours correspondent

46:26

Erin Moriarty, on my podcast,

46:28

My Life of Crime,

46:29

as I take on true crime investigations

46:32

like no other. This season,

46:34

I'm looking into the secrets within families,

46:37

cutting straight to the evidence and talking

46:40

to the people directly involved. Enjoy

46:43

My Life of Crime, starting October

46:45

18th on the Wondery app or

46:47

wherever you get your podcasts. You

46:50

can listen ad-free on Wondery

46:52

Plus.