A former adult movie star accused of murdering the father of her children drove to her Las Vegas residence with the victim’s cell phone after decapitating him, a detective testified in court Monday.
Monday marked the fourth day of testimony in the murder trial of 47-year-old Devyn Michaels. She is charged in 2023. August 7 killing 46-year-old Johnathan Willette. Michaels allegedly beat Willette with a stick and cut his head off, prosecutors said. Police then believe she doused his body with chemicals.
Michaels, who had two children with Johnathan Willette, later married Johnathan Willette’s son, making the man her husband and essentially her stepson. Michaels, who last worked as a real estate agent, also uses the names Nikki Fairchild and Tracee Tavarez.
Michaels and Johnathan Willette never married, and in the months before his murder, Johnathan Willette was awarded full custody of their two children. To stabilize their life, Johnathan Willette moved in with Michaels.
Devyn Michaels, 47, is charged in 2023. August 7 killing 46-year-old Johnathan Willette. (CLASS)
Johnathan Willette lived in Henderson in a home he shared with his mother and her boyfriend. Michaels lived in the Northwest Valley.
Monday’s testimony focused on a timeline of events and phone and GPS data. Henderson police detectives recorded an interview with Michaels in which she said Johnathan Willette had recently asked her to marry him.
Prosecutors say Michaels killed Johnathan Willette sometime between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. Michaels’ cell phone records show she was home around that time, but those records and data recorded on her car’s onboard computer indicated she left around 2 a.m., detectives said.
On Friday, Johnathan Willette’s mother, Yoko Willette, told a jury that around 10 p.m. saw her son and Michaels together. She said she woke up to a loud noise around 3am.
Henderson Det. Luke Good showed the jury detailed tapes of conversations involving Michaels, Johnathan Willette and Michaels’ husband Deviere Willette. Data showed that Johnathan Willette’s phone moved with Michaels’ device while traveling from Johnathan Willette’s home to her home after the murder.
Michaels’ device and Johnathan Willette’s phone ended up at Michaels’ home around 2:45 a.m., Good said.
Michaels’ two children later found the phone in her driveway and took it to police, prosecutors said. On Monday, detectives said the phone did not have any messages or alerts indicating it had been accessed. It was cracked and there was blood on it too.
Data from Michaels’ car and her phone showed she traveled back and forth from the home on and after the day of the murder.
Michaels is accused of taking Johnathan Willette’s head from the crime scene and taking it to his home in Las Vegas, where he dumped it in a trash can, the documents state. According to prosecutors, the head was most likely taken by the garbage service.
Michael’s defense attorney, Robert Draskovich, told jurors a different story last week, arguing that Deviere Willette killed his father. Police never named Deviere Willette as a suspect and interviewed him several times, according to Wednesday’s testimony. On Thursday, Deviere Willette denied killing his father.
According to Draskovich, Deviere Willette told police that he and Michaels had a sexless marriage. Draskovic then showed the jury intimate photos and messages the pair shared in 2016 when Deviere Willette was a late teenager.
In the days before Johnathan Willette’s murder, Michaels texted Deviere Willette, calling him a “liar” and a “cheat” and asking for a divorce, Draskovich said.
No cell phone or video evidence put Deviere Willette at the crime scene, Good told the jury.
Police never found Johnathan Willette’s head or the murder weapon.
The trial was suspended Tuesday for the Veterans Day holiday and will resume Wednesday.
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