A Las Vegas adult film actress has been found guilty of decapitating her ex-husband and disposing of his head in a trash can as part of a twisted plot following her marriage to her stepson.
Devyn Michaels, 47, now faces life in prison for the murder of her former husband, Realtor Johnathan Willette, 46. Willette’s headless body was discovered at his home in Henderson, Nevada, on August 6, 2023, doused in chemicals. According to an arrest report, the body was found “wrapped in blankets and bloody” by Willette’s horrified mother.
Prosecutors revealed that Michaels was jealous after Willette obtained sole custody of their two children. During the trial, prosecutor John Giordani addressed jurors, warning them to “buckle up, because you’re in for a wild ride,” while showing crime scene photos, including images of Willette’s decapitated body.
Michaels admitted to police that she struck Willette with a “candlestick-like” object while giving him a massage in his bedroom. “He didn’t say anything. He stopped moving,” she told detectives during an interview shown in court.
She further confessed that after Willette became unresponsive, she decapitated him, placed his head in a laundry basket, and drove it to her home. Henderson Police Detective Dennis Ozawa testified that Michaels later dumped Willette’s head in a trash can in her neighborhood.
Prosecutor Brittni Griffith told jurors that Michaels wanted Willette out of the picture, even though he was in the process of moving back in with her and his son. “And the truth is, the walls were closing in on Devyn Michaels and the fantasy that she had put together,” Griffith said ahead of sentencing.
Michaels married Willette in 2012 but divorced him in 2018. She later married Willette’s son, Deviere Willette, 29, in what she described as a marriage of convenience during court testimony. Deviere testified that he had no involvement in his father’s death, despite defense efforts to implicate him. There was no phone or video evidence placing Deviere near the crime scene.
In a chilling moment during her police interview, a garbage truck passed by and beeped, prompting Michaels to tell investigators that Willette had gone “bye-bye,” as reported by Detective Ozawa.
The murder weapon was never recovered, and Willette’s head has yet to be found, along with any tools used in dismembering the body. Michaels’ defense argued that she was physically incapable of decapitating a man of Willette’s size and noted that no witnesses heard or saw the murder.
Michaels is scheduled to be sentenced on January 8 and faces life in prison with or without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors chose not to pursue the death penalty.
Last year, Michaels pleaded guilty to second-degree murder as part of a deal that could have made her eligible for parole after 15 years. However, during sentencing this summer, she apologized but maintained her innocence, leading the case to proceed to trial.
https://nypost.com/2025/11/16/us-news/devyn-michaels-guilty-of-beheading-ex-after-marrying-stepson/
