A Las Vegas porn actress who decapitated her ex-hubby and dumped his head in a trash can as part of a twisted plot after she married her stepson has been found guilty.
Devyn Michaels, 47, now faces life in prison for murdering former husband and Realtor Johnathan Willette, 46, whose headless body was discovered doused in chemicals at his home in Henderson, Nev., on Aug. 6, 2023.
Willette’s body was found “wrapped in blankets and bloody” by his horrified mother, according to an arrest report at the time.
The adult actress was jealous of Willette after he obtained sole custody of their two children, prosecutors said.
“And all I can say is, ‘Buckle up, because you’re in for a wild ride,’” prosecutor John Giordani told jurors as he showed them crime-scene photos, including one of Willette’s decapitated body, at Michaels’ trial, KLAS reported.
Michaels told police she hit Willette with a “candlestick-like” item while giving him a massage in his bedroom, according to video played in court Thursday.
“He didn’t say anything. He stopped moving,” Michaels told detectives in the interview.
Willette told cops she then cut off her ex-husband’s head and put it in a laundry basket and drove it to her home. She ended up dumping the victim’s head in a trash can in her neighborhood, Henderson Police Detective Dennis Ozawa testified.
Michaels wanted her ex-husband out of the picture even though Willette was in the process of moving back in with her and his son, prosecutor Brittni Griffith told the jurors.
“And the truth is, the walls were closing in on Devyn Michaels and the fantasy that she had put together,” Griffith told the jury Friday ahead of sentencing.
Michaels had married Willette in 2012 but divorced him in 2018, later marrying Willette’s son, Deviere Willette, 29, in what she called a marriage of convenience, according to court testimony.
Deviere told the jury he had no involvement in his father’s death, after Michaels’ lawyers tried to paint him as a suspect, despite no phone or video evidence placing him near the scene.
In a chilling moment during Michaels’ police interview, a garbage truck drove by outside and beeped, prompting her to tell investigators with her that Willette went “bye-bye,” Ozawa testified, as reported by KLAS.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and Willette’s head has never been found, nor any of the tools used to dismember the body.
Michaels’ lawyers had said she could not have decapitated a man of Willette’s size and added that no one had witnessed or heard the murder.
Michaels will be sentenced Jan. 8, and faces a life sentence with or without parole. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.
Last year, Michaels pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge as part of a deal that would have made her eligible for parole after 15 years in prison.
But during sentencing this summer, Michaels apologized before saying she was innocent, sending the case to trial.
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