• Deviere Willette admits decade-long sexual relationship with stepmother now on trial for murder
• Defense claims son killed father while prosecution says ex-porn star beheaded victim
• Victim’s head and murder weapon never recovered from 2023 Henderson crime scene

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (TDR) — A Las Vegas man testified Thursday that he had a sexual relationship with his stepmother for years and eventually married her before his father was found decapitated in his Henderson home, revealing shocking details in a murder trial that prosecutors called a “wild ride.”

Deviere Willette, 29, told jurors he was not involved in the killing of his father and had not talked to his wife, who is also his de facto stepmother, since her arrest. His testimony came on the second day of the murder trial for Devyn Michaels, 47, who is accused of killing and decapitating Johnathan Willette, 46, on Aug. 7, 2023.

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Henderson police arrested Michaels, who also uses the names Nikki Fairchild and Tracee Tavarez and is a former adult film actress, on Aug. 15, 2023. Investigators found the victim’s body wrapped in a sheet on his bed. His head was severed and has never been recovered, along with the murder weapon.

Forbidden relationship revealed

Deviere Willette said he was first introduced to Michaels when she was his father’s girlfriend. Starting when he was 19, he developed a sexual relationship with her that eventually led to marriage in November 2021.

“I was trying to fill the shoes of my father — shoes that I had no business filling,” Deviere Willette testified, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The couple initially told police their marriage was one of convenience for insurance purposes and claimed it was sexless. However, defense attorney Robert Draskovich showed the jury intimate photos and messages the pair shared dating back to 2016, contradicting that claim.

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Deviere Willette told the jury he had recently revealed to his father that he was married to his stepmother before the murder. Chief Deputy District Attorney John Giordani apologized multiple times for what he called “airing out his dirty laundry” while questioning the witness.

Prosecution’s theory

Giordani told jurors Wednesday that Michaels killed Johnathan Willette to live a life with their two children and her husband, Johnathan Willette’s son. “And all I can say is, ‘Buckle up, because you’re in for a wild ride,'” Giordani said as he showed crime scene photos.

Michaels and Johnathan Willette never married but had an on-again, off-again relationship for years. They shared two daughters, currently under age 13. Johnathan Willette had recently been granted full custody of the children, and the couple was planning to reunite and live together for their sake.

Prosecutors allege Michaels admitted to police she was at Johnathan Willette’s home the night he was killed, giving him a massage when she grabbed a heavy object and struck him on the back of the head. Police believe she then decapitated him and poured chemicals over his body.

Michaels is accused of taking the victim’s head from the Henderson crime scene and driving it to her Las Vegas home, where she threw it in the trash. The head was likely picked up by a trash service, prosecutors said.

Defense points to son

Draskovich presented a different theory Wednesday, alleging Deviere Willette killed his father. The defense attorney told jurors there were tensions between father and son, noting that Deviere Willette originally told detectives they “never really got along.”

Draskovich also highlighted that Deviere Willette works as a home-security system technician and has access to power saws. The defense attorney questioned the witness’s credibility, pointing out he testified he worked the day before the murder when he had not.

In the days before Johnathan Willette’s murder, Michaels messaged Deviere Willette, calling him a “liar” and a “cheater” and asking for a divorce, Draskovich said. The defense suggested Johnathan Willette’s planned move into Michaels’ home would have left Deviere Willette without a place to live.

However, no cellphone or video evidence places Deviere Willette at the crime scene, Giordani told the jury. Police never named him as a suspect and interviewed him several times.

Emotional jail call played

Giordani played audio recordings of phone calls Michaels made to Deviere Willette while in custody at the Clark County Detention Center.

“They have no evidence, no murder weapon. They have absolutely nothing on me,” Michaels told Deviere Willette during the call.

“There’s a lot of news articles about you and what happened. I don’t know what to believe,” he responded. “One article was very graphic and points that you did it. If you did, I can’t be here.”

After the audio was played, Michaels, sitting with her attorneys, held her head down and reached for a tissue. Giordani asked if the call was essentially a “breakup conversation,” and Deviere Willette replied, “Yes.”

Plea deal revoked

Last fall, Michaels pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge as part of a deal that would make her eligible for parole after serving 15 years in prison. She later attempted to revoke her plea, but Clark County District Court Judge Tierra Jones determined Michaels entered it “voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently.”

During sentencing in July, Michaels apologized to Willette’s family and then immediately said she was innocent. The judge ordered the case to go to trial.

The trial continues before a jury of 14, which includes two alternates. Deviere Willette remains married to Michaels but testified he hopes to divorce her after the trial ends.

Can complex family dynamics and toxic relationships serve as defense in murder cases, or should they be viewed as motive?

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