Madness and Murder in Florida- The Paul Merhige Rampage

At about 10PM, as guests were beginning to leave, Paul Merhige left for a few minutes, returned with a gun, and started shooting. In the terror and confusion, Jim Sutton saw a mortally wounded Carla Merhige fall. Yet Paul’s wrath was not sated; it seemed directed at light and life itself.

Paul killed his other sister Lisa Knight, who was pregnant, and critically wounded her husband Patrick Knight. Another guest was grazed by a bullet.

The cruelest blow was struck in little Makala’s bedroom, where Paul shot her to death.

Merhige also killed his 76 year old aunt and turned the gun on his uncle, but the gun misfired twice, sparing the man.

An entire family was crippled within moments, and Paul Merhige was heard to shout: “I’ve been waiting 20 years to do this.” The spree might have ended with Merhige killing himself, but instead he fled. Either he thought the gun would fail, or it was never part of the plan.

Many of those who kill close family members take their own lives, leaving in their wake unanswered questions and denying survivors any sense of closure. Paul Merhige not only decided to live, but to elude his pursuers, hanging on to freedom as long as he could. Eventually he checked into the Edgewater Motel on US 1 at mile marker 65.5 on Long Key.

Authorities were alerted to his hideout by a tip resulting from a broadcast of his story on America’s Most Wanted. When officers burst into his room they found him typing on a computer. Police will mine the hard drive for every bit of information relevant to Merhige’s desperate psychology and motive for the shootings.

Any attempt to interpose an insanity defense has been compromised by Merhige’s own actions. Bringing a gun to the gathering shows he was capable of premeditation, and trying to hide from authorities suggests that he knew what he had done was wrong.

For what it’s worth, even if Merhige is reticent to explain his actions, his computer may speak for him. And while knowledge of his true motive won’t resurrect the Thanksgiving dead, it may provide a clearer picture of this murderous and tragic event.