Paul Michael Merhige captured in Long Key in Thanksgiving Day slaying of 4 family members

4 relatives shot dead at Fla. Thanksgiving party


JUPITER, Fla. – Police were searching Friday for a man suspected in the Thanksgiving shooting deaths of his twin sisters, aunt and a 6-year-old cousin during a family celebration.

One of the sisters, Lisa Knight, 33, was pregnant, said Jupiter Police spokeswoman Sally Collins-Ortiz. She did not say how far along the woman was in her pregnancy.

Police said 17 relatives were in the Palm Beach County house when the shootings were reported around 10 p.m. Thursday in Jupiter, a small beach town about 90 miles north of Miami that is best known as a home to celebrities including Michael Jordan and Burt Reynolds.

The little girl was sleeping in her bed when she was shot, police said. A fifth man was critically wounded and a sixth was treated at the scene for a gunshot graze.

Jupiter Police Sgt. Scott Pascarella said officers were looking for Paul Michael Merhige, 35, of Miami. Merhige is a cousin of the 6-year-old victim, Makayla Sitton, and has no criminal record, police said.

The others killed were Merhige's twin sisters, Carla Merhige and Lisa Knight, 33, and an aunt, Raymonde Joseph, 76, according to police.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091127/ap_on_re_us/us_family_shootings

AP – This undated photo provided by Jim Sitton via WPTV shows Makayla Sitton, 6

Piper-what is wrong with people? He shot a sleeping 6 yr. old & his pregnant sister? Also his 76 yr old aunt & his other sister? How awful!!

How sad...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34180754/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts

That beautiful little girl.....what the HELL is wrong with people, I just don't understand.

This is so sad. I hope Merhige is caught soon.

'I've been waiting 20 years to do this,' alleged killer says after shooting in Jupiter

JUPITER — He didn't say a word. He just started shooting.

A witness to Thursday night's massacre in Jupiter said no one knows what set off Paul Michael Merhige, who police say killed four relatives and an unborn child at the end of a Thanksgiving meal.

But when the killing was near done, the first three already dead or dying, he reloaded his handgun and spoke.

"I've been waiting 20 years to do this," Merhige announced to one relative, according to Jim Sitton, whose 6-year-old daughter was the last one killed.

Moments later, Sitton said, Merhige barged into 6-year-old Makayla Sitton's room and shot her five times in her bed, executing what police say was his final victim while her father tried in vain to break through the window from outside.

"He didn't even know her," Sitton, a cameraman for WPTV-Channel 5, said in an interview Saturday. "He purposely walked down the hallway, opened her dark room and shot her five times. What kind of monster does that? What kind of evil?"

Merhige, a 35-year-old Miami-area resident said to have a history of mental problems and an ongoing grudge against several family members, was still being hunted by federal and local law enforcement Saturday night, believed to be armed and highly volatile.

Jupiter police said he bought "multiple" firearms shortly before Thursday's shootings, although they did not say how recently he made the purchase. They said the manhunt was focused on Florida, but they have also alerted police in the Detroit area, where Merhige has family ties. He also has ties to Haiti.

Alive or dead, officials acknowledged he could be anywhere.

Saturday, prosecutors issued a warrant for his arrest on four charges of first-degree murder and two charges of attempted first-degree murder. A reward of $10,000 was being offered for information leading to his arrest.

Merhige reportedly lives in an apartment in Coral Gables and has a short criminal record — one arrest in 1998 for disorderly conduct.

But court records indicate he had a troubled relationship with his sister Carla Merhige, who was among those killed Thursday.

In 1998 Carla filed a domestic violence complaint against her brother in civil court, and in 2006 he reciprocated with one against her. Neither were ever charged criminally, however.

Sitton, who lived in the house on Via Veracruz in Jupiter with his wife, Muriel, and their only daughter, said Merhige was a late addition to their Thanksgiving feast. In all 17 people came, including Merhige, who is Muriel's cousin.

The family knew Merhige — once a standout athelete at a prestigious Miami high school and an honors student at the University of Miami — had deep-rooted problems with his family. But they had not seen him in over a decade and felt no reason to be concerned.

"We had a great dinner," Sitton said. "(Merhige) sat a couple of chairs down away from me. I joked around with him. I didn't see any red flags or any irrational behavior."

No arguments or quarrels took place that Sitton could remember. But around 10 p.m. Merhige stepped outside the house without warning.

When he came back in police say he began shooting.

Police say when Merhige was done he had killed his aunt, Raymonde Joseph, 76, of Jupiter; his twin sisters, Carla Merhige and pregnant Lisa Knight, both 33 and of Miami; and Makayla, his cousin Muriel's daughter. Also injured was Knight's husband, Patrick, and a cousin, Clifford Gebara.

"I think he had the opportunity to kill his dad and he didn't," Sitton said. "So I think — and this is just speculation — I think who he wanted to punish his parents. For God knows what."

Leaders and parishioners from Calvary Chapel Palm City, where the devout Sitton family worshipped and were heavily involved in church activities, worked with family friends Friday and Saturday to provide food, comfort and monetary support.

As police continued their search for the alleged killer, the Sittons and other relatives came together to mourn the losses of so many loved ones.

Muriel Sitton, who lost both her mother and daughter in Thursday's massacre, recalled her mother Raymonde Joseph as a spunky and endlessly generous retiree, a hard-working French native who supported her husband as he set up a decades-long medical practice in Michigan.

"She was just always thinking of others," she said. "She was dedicated to my father and my family."

Jim Sitton said the death of his daughter was a dark moment but one that was ultimately hopeful when viewed through the prism of his Christian faith.

"She loved Jesus," he said of his daughter. "And he would not abandon her. He brought her home."

Police say was last seen driving a 2007 blue four-door Toyota Camry with the Florida license plate W42-7JT. The vehicle has a rear spoiler and non-tinted windows.

Anyone with information about Merhige or his whereabouts is asked to call the Jupiter Police Department at (561) 746-6201 or a local law enforcement agency.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime/i-ve-been-waiting-20-years-to-do-88712.html

Moments later, Sitton said, Merhige barged into 6-year-old Makayla Sitton's room and shot her five times in her bed, executing what police say was his final victim while her father tried in vain to break through the window from outside.

"He didn't even know her," Sitton, a cameraman for WPTV-Channel 5, said in an interview Saturday. "He purposely walked down the hallway, opened her dark room and shot her five times. What kind of monster does that? What kind of evil?"
----------------------

How tragic! I feel soooo bad for her Dad!!!! Absolutely terrible!

How sad! I hope they catch him soon, I don't think anyone is safe anymore. What a horrible memory for the ones who survived. Peace be with them.

Little girl's light shines through grief

By Sonja Isger

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

JUPITER — The service to remember 6-year-old Makayla Sitton and her 76-year-old grandmother, Raymonde Joseph, was a study in contrasts.

Outside, police checked each car as it entered the parking lot of Jupiter High School, where the memorial was to be held.

For more than two hours, they operated out of a mobile command unit and kept watchful eyes on the walks leading to and from the auditorium — almost certainly on guard for Paul Michael Merhige, a relative of the victims, but also their alleged killer.

Inside, the crime that took their lives and two others' on Thanksgiving was instead cast as a passion play of good and evil.

Guns were never mentioned. Federal manhunts ignored. The man's name never uttered.

At the center of it, Makayla was a hero and ultimately a "martyr" whose death reflects light upon her faith.

That is the only way the family can make sense of burying a child a day before her seventh birthday.

Her faith was evident Saturday afternoon.

A Sunday school classmate recalled from a step stool at the podium: "She knew the Bible more than anybody," and "Makayla would always hug everyone at church, especially those who were sad and needed it most."

By all accounts, the girl quoted Scripture from memory as easily as she held tea party chats with her dolls. She was eager to have her relatives do the same, uncle David Sitton recalled.

In video tributes, her mother and father spoke of her devotion as well.

Jim Sitton, a cameraman for WPTV-Channel 5, even hinted that her death, though tragic, was part of a larger plan. His evidence: the girl's daily devotionals.

She bookmarked them carefully each day, he said. And when he went back to cherish the last words she'd read, he found to his surprise that she had completed her nighttime and morning devotional books that day.

"She had finished it," he said. It was God's way of saying she was done and ready to meet him, said Sitton, who tucked her into bed that night and was the last to see her before the murderous rampage ended with her shot to death in her bed.

Another comfort to Makayla's parents: They say she was escorted into God's kingdom by her grandmother.

Raymonde Joseph was an attentive grandmother to all her grandchildren. She visited even the most distant ones regularly on their birthdays, they said Saturday. But she treasured her standing weekly date with Makayla, when she took the home-schooled girl to her ballet lesson.

Joseph hand-made the girl's flowered dresses and fawned over her singing, dancing and piano playing.

Thanksgiving at the Sitton house, it turned out, was something Makayla commandeered.

With the help of her parents she designed a program, planning a short speech on the meaning of Thanksgiving, a recital of Psalm 100 and the handing out of symbolic kernels of corn.

The one thing no one could possibly anticipate was the violent ending.

Authorities say Merhige sat quietly through dinner, excused himself and returned with a gun. He shot and killed both his sisters, one of whom was pregnant, and injured two others before stalking to Makayla's room.

Authorities paint the man, a cousin of Makayla's mother, Muriel, as both mentally ill and calculating — having retrieved significant sums of cash and prepped his royal blue Camry for his getaway.

But on Saturday, in that high school auditorium, that modern-day cops-and-bad-guy story was recast as a battle of dark and light.

David Sitton told a gathering of nearly 400 that the villain was bathed in a faith-filled Thanksgiving led by a devout Makayla.

"He watched this witness for Christ and all I can say is he hated it. Darkness always hates the light and he crushed it. He killed her."

Through tears, Muriel Sitton said she had told Makayla many times that God had a "mighty plan" for the girl's life.

"People are seeing true faith through the eyes of a little girl. … She went right from the arms of her mama and papa and she knew him because she was prepared to know him."

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime/little-girl-s-light-shines-through-grief-102266.html?

I hope they find Merhige before he can hurt anybody else. Somebody has to be pure evil to shoot an innocent little girl in her sleep.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Marshals have added to their “15 Most Wanted” list of fugitives a man suspected of killing four relatives Thanksgiving Day in Jupiter, Fla.
Paul Michael Merhige, 35, allegedly opened fire on his family, killing four people, including his twin sisters, one of whom was pregnant, a 79-year-old aunt and a six-year-old cousin, and wounding a brother-in-law and another man.

Merhige was invited to, and attended a family Thanksgiving dinner in Jupiter on Nov. 26. After dinner, Merhige left the house for a short period of time. When Merhige re-entered the residence, he reportedly began shooting the family members without provocation. Merhige immediately fled the scene in his blue 2007 Toyota Camry.

“The callousness of Merhige’s calculated, vicious acts against his own family is unimaginable,” said John F. Clark, Director of the U.S. Marshals Service. “We are fully committed to locating and apprehending this fugitive and making him answer for these horrific crimes.

Paul Michael Merhige is a white male, five-foot-eight-inches tall, weighing 200 lbs. Merhige has an arrest warrant for four counts of first degree murder with a firearm (premeditated) and two counts of attempted first degree murder with a firearm (premeditated).

Merhige is considered to be armed and dangerous. If you have information about his whereabouts, contact your nearest U.S. Marshals office or call the Marshals 24-hour hotline at 1-800-336-0102.

http://www.usmarshals.gov/investigations/most_wanted/merhige/merhige.htm

JUPITER--Paul Merhige has beeon on the run for nearly 4 weeks but new video has been released of a much younger Merhige. It's not what hello looks like that detectives need you to pay attention to it is what he sounds like.

The video is of Merhige as a senior in high school. U.S. Marshals say though the video is old they want our viewers to listen closely to his voice in hopes his voice may trigger an arrest.

"My name is Paul Merhige a senior at Guliver Prep in Miami, Florida."

These are the words of the man U.S. Marshals say fatally shot four people Thanksgiving night including 6-year-old Makayla Sitton.

"We want to give all the info we have to the public we don't want to hold anything back", says Manny Puri with the U.S. Marshals.

In the video Merhige talks about his talent as a kicker on the schools football team in hopes scouts would take notice.

"I am the kick off extra point and field goal place kicker in my second season"

U.S. Marshals say video with the suspects voice is just as relevant as a picture because while Merhige may be able to disguise his appearance he will have a tough time disguising his voice.

"If the voice helps--we feel that it will we need to get it out there" Puri says.

Though a picture may not be worth a thousand words U.S. Marshals say the hope the sound of his voice will be worth an arrest.

http://www.wptv.com/content/news/northpbc/jupiter/story/The-voice-of-Paul-Merhige-heard-for-the-first-time/exRH8UBRR0aTcnAkdKEHMQ.cspx?rss=762

this just proves that there is pure evil in some people.
my prayers go out to the families of those killed in cold blood by this monster.

i hope they catch him soon, so they can FRY him!!

So sad. I pray for this family to receive peace and comfort and that this ugly monster be caught so that justice will come to Makayla and her loving family.

By Rick Christie

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

JUPITER — The manhunt for Paul Michael Merhige, who gunned down four members of his family on Thanksgiving day, will be featured on America's Most Wanted on Saturday, according to Jupiter Police.

The show, and its host John Walsh, have been previewing the 10-minute segment since early December. And authorities hope that it will provide a boost in national exposure for one of the biggest manhunts in Palm Beach County history.

Merhige, 35, shot six family members on Nov. 26, killing four. Among the dead were his twin sisters, a 6-year-old girl and her 76-year-old grandmother. The reward for information leading to his capture has been increased to $100,000

"Saturday's show will now provide the nation with detailed information concerning this case," Jupiter Police said in a release today. "and through their cooperation we are confident that we will receive a tip that will bring ... Merhige to justice."

Meanwhile, friends of Jim and Muriel Sitton — whose daughter, Makayla was the 6-year-old killed by Merhige — are attempting to organize a massive "flyer handout" on Saturday, where volunteers will pass out flyers with Paul Merhige's information on them.

They are asking that people throughout South Florida both print and pass out the flyers.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime/jupiter-shooting-manhunt-to-be-featured-on-america-157267.html

http://www.miamiherald.com/854/story/1407277.html

JUPITER — Paul Michael Merhige, the subject of a massive manhunt for more than one month for the Thanksgiving Day massacre of four members of his family, has been captured.

The Jupiter Police Department has called a press conference at 11:45 p.m. to announce details of the capture.

According to reports, Merhige was arrested in the Florida Keys following a report on the family's slaying on America's Most Wanted at 9 p.m.

Merhige is accused of slaying six-year-old Makayla Sitton, her grandmother Raymonde Joseph, and his two twin sisters.

Another capture for America's Most Wanted. It is amazing how fast that show can get results sometimes.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime/merhige-captured-in-long-key-in-thanksgiving-day-159880.html

JUPITER — Palm Beach Post Staff Reports

Paul Michael Merhige, the subject of a massive manhunt for the Thanksgiving Day massacre of four members of his family, has been captured.

Merhige, 35, was arrested in Long Key after America's Most Wanted aired a segment about the case at 9 p.m.

Merhige is accused of slaying six-year-old Makayla Sitton, her grandmother Raymonde Joseph, and his two twin sisters.

After receiving a tip, authorities went to the Edge Water Lodge Motel at Mile Marker 65.5. The tipster said a person strongly resembling Merhige had checked into the motel on Dec. 2 under the name of John Baca and provided an address in Homestead, according to the Jupiter Police Department.

He was taken into custody without incident.

"I'm elated that the monster is in the cage. We don't have to worry about him killing my wife or coming back for my father-in-law. It doesn't bring my daughter back, but at least this chapter is over," said Jim Sitton, the father of Makayla.

Authorities have said Merhige carefully planned the attack. He had purchased guns days before the assault and had reclaimed his passport from his parents, according to his mother.

He also bought a cover for his blue Toyota Camry, possibly to conceal the car from law enforcement after the attack.

Merhige had been invited to Thanksgiving dinner with the family at the home of Jim and Muriel Sitton. Relatives said he was calm throughout the meal. They said they believed the attack was his horrific way of punishing his family for what his mother called "16 years of problems."

His last victim was Makayla. Her mother, Muriel, is Merhige's cousin.

The manhunt for Merhige quickly went nationwide, with a $100,000 reward issued for his capture. The U.S. Marshals and FBI were among agencies searching for him.

Earlier Saturday, volunteers distributed flyers in Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie and Miami-Dade counties in hopes someone would recognize Merhige and report his whereabout to authorities.

During the America's Most Wanted report, Jim and Muriel Sitton spoke of the attack and how they are coping.

This is good news!