The following post is 100% my opinion.
Usually, when a person passes away...
...they leave their children behind to remember them. We bury our parents and then we go to the cemetery to remember them. We tell our children stories about the people we've loved and lost and somehow, their memory is kept alive.
But when your only child is the main suspect in your murder and the police never find your body...who remembers you?
My father's sister was murdered by her own son. And my aunt wasn't his only victim. He murdered an ex-girlfriend and then set fire to the trailer that held her dead body. I assume that the ex-girlfriend's family is remembering her...but who will remember my aunt?
Mary Ann was a beautician. She only had one child and she never thought that she would even have that baby. He was her miracle child and she and my uncle spoiled him rotten. They were so happy to have that baby that they did everything in their power to make life easy for him. Mary Ann and her husband moved from New Jersey to Georgia years ago to live in the country and away from the congestion of the city. They loved their little place in the beautiful hills of North Georgia. Mary Ann lost her husband to a stroke a few years ago. She was living alone with her son when all of a sudden, everyone stopped hearing from her.
When anyone, including the cops, called to speak to Aunt Mary Ann...he had a different reason for her inavailabilty. He made a huge error, he never told the same story twice. He wote tens of thousands of dollars of checks on her checking account within weeks. In this state, they have to prove that the forger did NOT have the permission of the account holder before they can convict a person of forgery. Can you believe that? Also, he made numerous suspiscious purchases with her accounts, like numerous cars and trucks full of gas at the same gas station. And 3 or 4 stereo systems a day from the same stores. I don't even remember all the things that he did with her money...but he went through it like it was water.
He did eventually get arrested and he has already served the time for that crime. When the cops got a search warrant for my aunt's house, they found a bunch of stolen guns and he went to prison for "theft by possesion or something like that. Actually, that's what the cop told me...I think it ended up being a lesser crime. I'll get the link to the Georgia Department of Corrections for you if you want to see what he went up the river for. Also, they have his charming picture. I'll try to post that. Yesterday, it didn't work.
Anywa, Aunt Mary Ann was the third of 7 children and most of her siblings are rather elderly themselves right now so they don't have the energy to initiate searches for her body. They all live in states far away from Georgia, where my aunt lived, and that makes it even tougher for them to do much about the murder. Of course, they call the police every so often but they haven't gotten any answers at all. They know that the son is most likely the one who murdered their sister, but if the cops can't prove it, how can they? At least the cops KNOW it, whether they can do anything or not. If all that I can do is have people KNOW that he did it...that's better than nothing. And if the cops KNOW that, that makes them my friends. This is NOT a situation where you don't want the cops to back away at all.
Once I called greta van Susterern and she wrote back that she forwarded my e-mail "to her producers" but nothing ever came of that. I wouldn't have sent it at all if she hadn't said RIGHT ON HER SHOW...that she wanted us to write in with unsolved murders. So...I did. But nobody cares. It touches you guys because, as I learned a long time ago (and I said it many times in the first 6-8 months of the blog before I got sick of saying it or thought that you were sick of hearing it. But, I haven't said it in a long time.) the people who read this blog on a regular basis are almost always thoughtful, kind people. Not perfect, but not evil either. So I know that you understand how it must suck to know a murder victim, much less having one in the family. Murder is such a hideous thing. Can you imagine taking a life? And like everything else in the world...once you do it and get away with it, it gets easier and easier. Isn't that horrible?
My aunt and I were not very close but she's family. Her brother is my father and I care deeply about him. I care that he has to live with the knowledge that the man who murdered his sister will most likely get away with the crime. Mary Ann's other brothers and sisters will also have to live with that same knowledge.
I don't know how on earth they have the strength to do that. If someone killed one of my brothers or sisters, I would do everything in my power to find the person responsible and hold him accountable. But if I couldn't, I would have nothing but prayers to help ease my pain.
But, my original question remains...who remembers the people who die like this? What do we do as a society or as a family? Do we simply go about our lives and pretend that it didn't happen? Do we yell to anyone who will listen that there is a murderer running free? What do I do as the relative of a murder victim? What do I do to protect other people from my cousin?
All that I can think of is to tell you what I know. My cousin's name is Paul Robert Mergel, Jr. He was raised in New Jersey so he has a very pronounced Jersey accent. The last I heard he was living in Georgia but I have no reason to think that he is still here other than his children are still living here. Also, the fact that my father has control over his mother's estate gives him reason to stick around until the money is divied up. If my father succeeds in keeping the money from Paul, then his kids will be the beneficiaries so he will then have a reason to stick close to his kids. But, he could be anywhere.
Then "man" is 5' 9" tall, and well over 200 pounds the last time I saw him in court. He has dark, curly hair and he is a double-murderer. I don't know how he got away with the murder in New Jersey, but he got away with his mother's murder by finding an excellent hiding place for her body. I happen to have his old New Jersey state ID card and I'm going to take a picture of it with my web cam and post it on the blog. It's not much, but it's the only thing that I can come up with right now.
I'm going to give it some more thought and maybe even ask some questions of the police department that is handling my aunt's murder. That police department is the Murray County Georgia Police Department. I may be able to get another picture of him from the Georgia Department of Corrections web site and if I do, I'll post that picture as well. If you have the misfortune of meeting this "man", run away as fast as you can.
Meg
...they leave their children behind to remember them. We bury our parents and then we go to the cemetery to remember them. We tell our children stories about the people we've loved and lost and somehow, their memory is kept alive.
But when your only child is the main suspect in your murder and the police never find your body...who remembers you?
My father's sister was murdered by her own son. And my aunt wasn't his only victim. He murdered an ex-girlfriend and then set fire to the trailer that held her dead body. I assume that the ex-girlfriend's family is remembering her...but who will remember my aunt?
Mary Ann was a beautician. She only had one child and she never thought that she would even have that baby. He was her miracle child and she and my uncle spoiled him rotten. They were so happy to have that baby that they did everything in their power to make life easy for him. Mary Ann and her husband moved from New Jersey to Georgia years ago to live in the country and away from the congestion of the city. They loved their little place in the beautiful hills of North Georgia. Mary Ann lost her husband to a stroke a few years ago. She was living alone with her son when all of a sudden, everyone stopped hearing from her.
When anyone, including the cops, called to speak to Aunt Mary Ann...he had a different reason for her inavailabilty. He made a huge error, he never told the same story twice. He wote tens of thousands of dollars of checks on her checking account within weeks. In this state, they have to prove that the forger did NOT have the permission of the account holder before they can convict a person of forgery. Can you believe that? Also, he made numerous suspiscious purchases with her accounts, like numerous cars and trucks full of gas at the same gas station. And 3 or 4 stereo systems a day from the same stores. I don't even remember all the things that he did with her money...but he went through it like it was water.
He did eventually get arrested and he has already served the time for that crime. When the cops got a search warrant for my aunt's house, they found a bunch of stolen guns and he went to prison for "theft by possesion or something like that. Actually, that's what the cop told me...I think it ended up being a lesser crime. I'll get the link to the Georgia Department of Corrections for you if you want to see what he went up the river for. Also, they have his charming picture. I'll try to post that. Yesterday, it didn't work.
Anywa, Aunt Mary Ann was the third of 7 children and most of her siblings are rather elderly themselves right now so they don't have the energy to initiate searches for her body. They all live in states far away from Georgia, where my aunt lived, and that makes it even tougher for them to do much about the murder. Of course, they call the police every so often but they haven't gotten any answers at all. They know that the son is most likely the one who murdered their sister, but if the cops can't prove it, how can they? At least the cops KNOW it, whether they can do anything or not. If all that I can do is have people KNOW that he did it...that's better than nothing. And if the cops KNOW that, that makes them my friends. This is NOT a situation where you don't want the cops to back away at all.
Once I called greta van Susterern and she wrote back that she forwarded my e-mail "to her producers" but nothing ever came of that. I wouldn't have sent it at all if she hadn't said RIGHT ON HER SHOW...that she wanted us to write in with unsolved murders. So...I did. But nobody cares. It touches you guys because, as I learned a long time ago (and I said it many times in the first 6-8 months of the blog before I got sick of saying it or thought that you were sick of hearing it. But, I haven't said it in a long time.) the people who read this blog on a regular basis are almost always thoughtful, kind people. Not perfect, but not evil either. So I know that you understand how it must suck to know a murder victim, much less having one in the family. Murder is such a hideous thing. Can you imagine taking a life? And like everything else in the world...once you do it and get away with it, it gets easier and easier. Isn't that horrible?
My aunt and I were not very close but she's family. Her brother is my father and I care deeply about him. I care that he has to live with the knowledge that the man who murdered his sister will most likely get away with the crime. Mary Ann's other brothers and sisters will also have to live with that same knowledge.
I don't know how on earth they have the strength to do that. If someone killed one of my brothers or sisters, I would do everything in my power to find the person responsible and hold him accountable. But if I couldn't, I would have nothing but prayers to help ease my pain.
But, my original question remains...who remembers the people who die like this? What do we do as a society or as a family? Do we simply go about our lives and pretend that it didn't happen? Do we yell to anyone who will listen that there is a murderer running free? What do I do as the relative of a murder victim? What do I do to protect other people from my cousin?
All that I can think of is to tell you what I know. My cousin's name is Paul Robert Mergel, Jr. He was raised in New Jersey so he has a very pronounced Jersey accent. The last I heard he was living in Georgia but I have no reason to think that he is still here other than his children are still living here. Also, the fact that my father has control over his mother's estate gives him reason to stick around until the money is divied up. If my father succeeds in keeping the money from Paul, then his kids will be the beneficiaries so he will then have a reason to stick close to his kids. But, he could be anywhere.
Then "man" is 5' 9" tall, and well over 200 pounds the last time I saw him in court. He has dark, curly hair and he is a double-murderer. I don't know how he got away with the murder in New Jersey, but he got away with his mother's murder by finding an excellent hiding place for her body. I happen to have his old New Jersey state ID card and I'm going to take a picture of it with my web cam and post it on the blog. It's not much, but it's the only thing that I can come up with right now.
I'm going to give it some more thought and maybe even ask some questions of the police department that is handling my aunt's murder. That police department is the Murray County Georgia Police Department. I may be able to get another picture of him from the Georgia Department of Corrections web site and if I do, I'll post that picture as well. If you have the misfortune of meeting this "man", run away as fast as you can.
Meg
posted by Meg Kelso | 1:46 PM
2 Comments:
A woman named Katie Monkman is a writer for Justice Mag. She's a strong online presence on true crime forums as well as a healer using massage. Her sister was murdered and she's run the gamut of persuing the criminal and getting "justice".
One of her emails is katiecoolady@yahoo.com, I believe. Google should yield more results for her and contact information.
I'm sorry for your loss and the stress of not having an arrest made.
I recommend calling the attorney general's office of the state your aunt lived in as often as possible and the state's bureau of investigation. You'd be surprised, but not taking no for an answer from them will eventually illicit, if nothing else, an inquiry by them into the investigation.
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