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Nov 27, 2009 11:53 pm US/Eastern
Thanksgiving Massacre Suspect Lives In Kendall
Source: Thanksgiving Massascre Suspect Has Mental Health Issues
Suspect and Three Victims Are From Miami-Dade
KENDALL (CBS4) ―
Thanksgiving day massacre suspect Paul Michael Merhige had a history of mental instability and suicide attempts, a law enforcement source tells
CBS4 News. Merhige, of Kendall, is being sought in the shooting deaths of deaths of four relatives at a family gathering in Jupiter, Florida, Thursday night.
No one was at the Kendall home Friday where Merhige, 35, lived with his parents. The Palm Beach Post reports that Merhige was an honor student at Gulliver Academy in Pinecrest and at the University of Miami. Luis Sanchez, the family's long-time handyman, described Merhige as a "conflictive" person, as he spoke with reporters outside the family home.
Among those shot dead were Merhige's twin sisters, Carla, and Lisa Merhige Knight, both 34. Carla was a project coordinator for the Miami-Dade Guardian Ad Litem program for needy children. She lived in a gated community just a few blocks from her parents' home in Kendall. Lisa Merhige was a real-estate salesperson for Coldwell Banker in Pinecrest. She worked with her mother, Carol, also a realtor. Lisa's husband, Patrick Knight, a Miami attorney, was shot and wounded in the Thursday night rampage and remains hospitalized. Lisa was pregnant with the couple's first child.
Co-worker Miguel Arrellano described Lisa Merhige as a "very loving, very caring" person.
Joanna Sherman, who also worked with the mother and daughter team at Coldwell Banker couldn't understand why it happened.
"How and who?" said Sherman. "I saw Carrol on Wed. afternoon and we spoke for probably 20 minutes. She was very excited about going up to a family dinner, and really looking forward to it."
Neighbors say the Merhige family was very close. "I'm in shock. It's such a tragedy," said neighbor Cindy Alperin. "They are wonderful people, just wonderful people."
Television news trucks lined the street in front of the family's home on Southwest 88th Avenue in an upscale neighborhood near U.S. 1. A police officer sat in a squad car at the end of the street, apparently keeping watch in case the suspect, Michael Merhige, should return home.
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