On Friday, a San Diego woman was sentenced to a year and nine months in prison for lying to the FBI about her whereabouts on the day her husband’s secret gay lover was brutally murdered and left in a ravine in Baja California.
According to prosecutors, 22-year-old Taylor Maria Langston was “within a hair’s breadth” of getting charged as a co-conspirator in Jake Merendino’s murder. But the evidence simply wasn’t there.
Langston pleaded guilty to an obstruction of justice charge, while her husband David Enrique Meza — a former gay-for-pay porn star for sites like Sean Cody and Mormon Boyz — was ultimately convicted of murder last month.
Evidence led investigators to believe Langston was present in Mexico in the early hours of May 2, 2015 when Merendino was murdered. Meza’s phone tracked his movement within the country and put him right at the scene of the crime, but Langston’s exact location remains unclear.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
One thing is absolutely certain: Neither were at their friend Joe’s house in Tijuana, the alibi they conjured up that wound up costing the FBI 19 days in the murder investigation.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller called the crime “a brutal murder of extreme barbarity.”
Donald Levin, Langston’s defense attorney, tried painting the picture of a woman who was manipulated and constantly lied to, claiming her relationship was both emotionally and physically abusive.
The couple met when she was sixteen and he was five years her senior. Meanwhile, he was working as a porn actor and popular escort. In 2013, he met Merendino, a wealthy Texan who quickly fell in love with him and began giving him expensive gifts.
Merendino allegedly didn’t know anything about Langston or her relationship with Meza. According to testimony, Langston knew Meza spent a lot of time with Merendino, but was told his name was “George” and he was dying of cancer. Meza apparently said the expensive gifts were from an accounting job — a job that never existed.
Eventually, Merendino purchased a condo in a complex near Rosarito Beach in Mexico, believing Meza would be moving in with him. Langston, meanwhile, was pregnant.
This is when Meza began enacting a scheme that, if successful, would make him the sole beneficiary of Merendino’s $3 million estate and condo.
The exact day escrow closed on the condo, Meza lured Merendino to a highway around 2 a.m. An hour later, his body was found — throat slashed, 25 stab wounds on his torso. He’d been dragged and dumped over a small cliff.
Border cameras caught Meza and a pronouncedly pregnant Langston re-entering the U.S. that morning in different cars. Meza had changed his clothes.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Ciaffa, Langston had much to benefit from the death. He pointed out text messages between the couple that suggested she was prepared for Merendino to die soon so they could collect their fortune.
Langston’s attorney attests she lied about their whereabouts because she was scared of Meza.
Prosecutors agreed there was little evidence to suggest domestic violence — except for an incident in 2014 when police were called to their home and Meza was convicted of battery.
In a letter to the judge, Merendino’s cousin Jennifer Sojka, who identified his body, wrote a letter to the judge urging justice:
“She willingly participated in a crime after knowing that my cousin had been murdered and that her husband had somehow been involved. … She and Mr. Meza concocted a deliberate and calculated plan of deception and confusion.”
She says the incident is a horrible tragedy “that will never be forgotten.”
“A painfully difficult chapter in my life with horrible images attached.”
h/t: San Diego Union Tribune
Donston
This dude was hardly gay-4-pay. He has extreme gay face, was very effeminate and having seen a video of his videos he was clearly sexually attracted to every aspect of a man.
This as well as that Nico Tortorella mess being posted on the same day just reminds me how fvcked in the head most of these gay/gay-leaning men who are obsessed with hetero dynamics and hetero normalcy are.
Donston
Richard/Brian/a-bunch-of-other-usernames please resist ever responding to me again. I promise I won’t engage with you and your all of your self-hating, misogynistic aliases anymore.
Also, all of this is sorta the public’s business considering these are “public figures” and widely discussed public stories. And no one is interested in stopping people from having sex with whoever they feel. But as usual you missed the point through your self-hating, hetero-obsessed prism.
scotshot
@Richard55
No one named you the boss of this website. Find someone to give orders to. F*ck Off.
JoeyRamone
Hey Anthony Perkins from Psycho: wtf does “gay face” even mean. (Seen the same vids and have no freaking idea what you’re talking about.) Do you get out much? Are you some dinosaur from some hick town in Trump country? You are such an idiot, you’re an entertainment. Keep it up. You and your comments crack me up.
Donston
I’m sorry I made you all mad and stuff. Though I’m hardly a hick. Very well educated here.
This is an article about a man who killed someone for money. Yet, I’m the “psycho” because I said something that hurt your precious feelings? A large percentage of inherently gay and gay-leaning men are known to have closer together facial features and a more protruding forehead and more effeminate facial expressions. It’s a stereotype for a reason. Of course, it’s hardly always true. Perhaps not even true for half of gay/gay-leaning men. But it’s not that difficult to look the stuff up. It’s pretty science-based at this point. And he did gay porn and was having a “relationship” with a dude. He seemed completely comfortable and passionate in the scene I saw him in and maintained a hard on. He was also quite effeminate. All of this points to him likely being a self-hating, crazy gay/gay-leaning dude. Although, indeed, there are straight guys who kill for money as well. If that makes you feel any better.
greatdane813
Who is Meza? That name is just dropped in a sentence without an explanation of who it is or was. I can ASSUME it is the porn actor, but a reader shouldn’t have to speculate.
dinard38
I totally agree. I had to re-read the story. Took me a minute to figure out that it was the porn star. The writer didn’t clarify that.
IanHunter
One of his screen names was Mario Romo.
Herman75
Straight dudes that do gay porn and/or leach off of rich gay men…..how often does it turn out bad to horrible?
It kind of casts a sad shadow on the lust for the straight enigma that’s cycled over and over and over and over in here.
prarie pup
@herman75 you have a very good point, sir; it rarely ends well. it doesn’t usually end in homicide but it usually ends in bitterness and ugliness when the one being used finally grows a spine/self esteem, or the user moves on to his next chump….errr….i mean his next lover.
Chris
A man was manipulated and killed by at least one heartless psychopath and, possibly, his wife. That even a small bit of justice is being served seems to be hardly enough.
What confuses me is why case this wasn’t tried in Mexico where the actual crime seems to have happened. I guess that lying to the FBI took place in the U.S.
crowebobby
But don’t you guys understand? She’s “just a woman.” You can’t expect her to stand up to her man.
He BGB
I wish they could invent a better word than adult film because there are adult films that aren’t sex romps. I hate porn “star” even more implying the person in the film is on the same caliber as Meryl Streep or something! I guess they could be considered actors to a degree. Porn actor in a porn film I guess,covers it.