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Jake Clyde Merendino was a Texan retiree who was murdered in Mexico in May 2015. He had gone to Baja California to close the sale of an oceanfront luxury condo. His body was discovered on May 2, 2015, in a ravine along the highway between Rosarito and Ensenada.
Merendino had been stabbed 24 times, including two large slash wounds on his neck, and his body had been dragged and tossed into a ravine, as per the court documents. The investigation revealed that his younger lover, David Enrique Meza, was the murderer.
Meza had drawn up a handwritten will that made him the sole beneficiary of Merendino's estate, including the newly acquired condo. Meza was subsequently convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. The case will be featured in the Fatal Destination premiere episode on June 3, 2025, on Investigation Discovery (ID) at 10/9c.
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The relationship and incidents leading to the offence
As per the LA Times, Jake Clyde Merendino and David Enrique Meza became acquainted through the internet in 2013 and started a romantic relationship. Although he was involved with Merendino, Meza was also in a long-term relationship with Taylor Marie Langston, who bore him a child.
Merendino and Meza had been traveling back and forth between San Diego and Mexico together during the months before the murder. Jake Clyde Merendino was in the process of purchasing an oceanfront condo in Baja California for $300,000, a milestone that he shared with Meza.
As per the documents from the US Court of Appeals, on the evening of May 1, 2015, Meza and Merendino were seen heading to Merendino's hotel room in Baja California. Later that evening, Meza called Merendino and requested that he come and pick him up because his motorcycle had broken down.
Jake Clyde Merendino drove from his hotel in his vehicle and never returned. The following morning, Mexican police discovered Merendino's body in a ravine and began to question Meza as a suspect.
Jake Clyde Merendino's murder and initial investigation
As per the same publication, Jake Clyde Merendino was found with 24 stab wounds, two of them large slashes on the neck. His belongings, including a cellphone, iPad, laptop, and Rolex watch valued at $15,000, were stolen. The iPad was found later in the San Diego apartment shared by Meza and Langston.
According to the court documents, GPS information put Meza at the crime scene, and surveillance photographs caught him removing his clothing before returning to the United States about 4:00 am on the morning of the murder.
Following the murder, Meza drew money from a joint account with Merendino and presented a handwritten will naming him as the sole beneficiary of Merendino's $1.3 million estate. Meza also reached out to an acquaintance to assist in supporting a bogus alibi and apologized to Langston in texts and a recorded voicemail, which was deemed an admission of guilt for the murder.
Arrest, trial, and sentencing
As per LA Times, Meza and Langston were taken into custody in December 2015. Meza was indicted on foreign domestic violence that led to murder and conspiracy to obstruct justice, and Langston was indicted on conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and making a false statement to a federal law enforcement officer.
According to the court documents, during the trial, prosecutors introduced evidence against Meza's motive, opportunity, and post-crime conduct. Meza's defense claimed that he did not intend to kill Merendino, but the jury was convinced by the evidence of premeditation.
As per the press release from the US Attorney's Office, a federal jury convicted Meza of murder on May 2, 2017. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. The will that Meza presented was challenged in court in Texas. Meanwhile, Langston pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice.
For more details about the murder of Jake Clyde Merendino, watch Fatal Destination on Investigation Discovery.
