A stepmother began sleeping with her partner’s 19-year-old son, then beheaded her husband, a murder trial was told.
Devyn Michaels’ lengthy romance with Deviere Willette, 29, was outlined as she was tried for the 2023 killing of Willette’s father Jonathan Michaels at a Nevada court on Thursday.
The court was told of how Michaels began a relationship with Michaels a decade ago while he was still a teenager and she was in a relationship with Jonathan.
The two later married.
Prosecutors alleged that Michaels decapitated Willette’s dad Jonathan – whom she was never married to but shared two children with – in order to live freely with Willette, according to 8 News Now.
Willette and Michaels married in 2021 – a decision he admittedly now regrets.
Willette has not been charged over his dad’s death and there is no wrongdoing on his part. Michaels’ attorney Robert Draskovich has tried to sew doubt by saying that Willette had a sexless marriage to Michaels and that he lied about going to work the day before his dad was killed.
Draskovich insisted Michaels, who is a former adult actress, wanted a divorce, and days before the killing, called Willette a ‘liar’ and a ‘cheater.’
The attorney also said Willette, who worked as a home-security system technician, had access to power saws.
However, investigators interviewed Willette multiple times and never found a shred of evidence to link him to his father’s death.
Deviere Willette, 29, testified on Thursday that he began a sexual relationship with her then-stepmother-turned-wife, Devyn Michaels, 47, a decade ago while he was still a teenager
In the fall, Michaels took a plea deal, which ruled she’d be eligible for parole after 15 years in prison, but she later revoked her plea. The judge accepted it and the case went to trial
His father’s head, nor the murder weapon, has ever been recovered. Prosecutors believe Jonathan’s head was dumped in the trash by Michaels.
Michaels, who also goes by Nikki Fairchild and Tracee Tavarez, is accused of beheading the man inside his home in Henderson on August 7, 2023.
In the fall, Michaels took a plea deal, which ruled she’d be eligible for parole after 15 years in prison, but she later retracted her plea.
The judge accepted it and it took the case to trial, warning the alleged killer that she now risks being convicted of first-degree murder.
On Wednesday, the opening day of the trial, Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney John Giordani told jurors to ‘Buckle up, because you’re in for a wild ride.’
The prosecutor went on to present stomach-churning crime scene pictures, including Jonathan’s headless body. Police said Michaels had beaten him with a stick, decapitated him and then poured chemicals on his corpse.
While Michaels and Jonathan’s relationship was finished, they were allegedly in the process of moving back in together at the time of his death.
Prosecutors alleged Michaels decapitated Willette’s father, Jonathan, whom she was never married to but had two children with, to be able to live her life freely with Willette and her kids
Willette and Michaels married in 2021 – a decision the 29-year-old now said he regrets. Willette has not been accused of being involved in his father’s death
Michaels, who also goes by Nikki Fairchild and Tracee Tavarez, allegedly beheaded the man inside his home in Henderson on August 7, 2023
But Giordani claimed this was far from an ideal situation for Michaels.
Referencing a photo of Michaels, Willett, and the children she’d had by Jonathan, Giordani said: ‘This is the future that she saw and that she wanted, and the only way to have that future was with John out of the picture.’
In the days leading up to Jonathan’s gruesome death, Michaels was allegedly fighting with her husband.
‘Deviere was getting kicked out, he was no longer going to be in this relationship because dad, the dad he hated, was coming in and not only taking his home, but taking his wife,’ Draskovich claimed, per 8 News Now.
‘Look at the motivations, and find her not guilty,’ Draskovich told the courtroom.
Before the murder, court records showed that Michaels and Jonathan had been entrenched in a custody battle, which resulted in Willette having full custody of their daughters.
In June, Giordani alleged Michaels said ‘she needed the victim out of the way’ because of a child custody issue, according to Courthouse News Service.
Michaels was arrested for child abuse in 2022 after a worker at a childcare facility reported bruising on one of her children’s legs.
She was sentenced to one year’s probation for the child abuse charge on August 9, 2023, after she allegedly killed Willette.
