Suspect in Jupiter killings had troubled relationship with sister
Authorities broadened their search over the weekend for the Miami man they say shot and killed four relatives in Palm Beach County during a family gathering on Thanksgiving Day.
Meanwhile, details have surfaced that provide background into a troubled relationship with one of the victims.
Jupiter police say Paul Michael Merhige, 35, fatally shot his 33-year-old twin sisters, Carla Merhige and Lisa Knight, both of Miami, along with two other relatives -- Raymonde Joseph, 76, and 6-year-old Makayla Sitton. Authorities said Knight was pregnant. The shooter also injured two others, including Patrick Knight, Lisa Knight's husband, police said.
Police say Paul Merhige had been at the home in Jupiter, where more than a dozen relatives were celebrating the holiday. Makayla -- Merhige's cousin -- had recited Psalms 100 from memory and the twins had sung
Via De La Rosa. At the end of the night, while the family said their goodbyes, he left and returned about 10 p.m. and began shooting.
Appearing on
Good Morning America Saturday, Makayla's father, Jim Sitton, recounted the incident. Sitton said the evening was coming to an end and the family was saying their goodbyes. Then, Sitton said, Merhige left through the front door, went to his car, returned through the back door and opened fire.
GUNSHOTS HEARD
Sitton heard gunshots and saw Carla Merhige -- who was at the front of the house -- drop to the floor. Sitton ran out the back door, thinking the shots were coming from the front of the house and that he was being chased by an unseen gunman.
After exiting, Sitton heard gunshots from inside the house. From outside, he heard shots fired from inside a room where his daughter was in bed.
``I came in the front door and he was gone and she was dead,'' he said.
Sitton -- a South Florida photo and video journalist -- added that while he was aware that Merhige had ``past problems,'' when he was told Merhige would be at the family's Thanksgiving dinner he assumed he ``was getting better.''
``I sat two seats down from him [during dinner],'' Sitton said.
He told The Palm Beach Post his daughter's alleged killer was ``evil'' and ``deranged,'' but that during the evening he had kept mostly quiet.
It's unclear what happened to send Paul Merhige on the rampage, but he and Carla Merhige had previously gone to court in connection with charges of domestic violence, records show.
In 1996, Paul Merhige accused Carla Merhige of domestic violence in a family court case. According to court documents, an injunction was filed, although neither the details of the injunction nor the incident that led to it were available. The case and the injunction were later dismissed.
COURT PETITIONED
In April of 2006, court records show that Carla Merhige accused Paul Merhige of domestic violence. A month later, Carla Merhige petitioned the court to drop that injunction. No criminal charges were filed in either case.
The manhunt for Merhige has been broadened as far as Birmingham, Mich., where police there have issued a Be On The Lookout -- or BOLO -- alert for Merhige and his royal-blue Camry, license plate W42-7JT.
Merhige may have spent time in Michigan, perhaps to seek medical treatment. At least one source who knew Merhige said he had a history of mental problems and suicide attempts.
Police ask that anyone with knowledge of Paul Michael Merhige's whereabouts call 800-458-TIPS.
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