A Carroll County man is the final defendant to plead guilty in a federal case involving a deadly crime spree that stretched from Maryland into West Virginia.
Twenty-nine-year-old Monroe Merrell of Westminster pleaded guilty Tuesday to three federal charges related to the March 2020 kidnapping and murder of a victim identified as J.R. According to prosecutors, the victim was taken from a Westminster apartment and transported into Jefferson County, West Virginia, where Merrell admitted to fatally stabbing the victim.
The body was then taken near Rippon, where investigators say it was burned in an attempt to conceal the crime. Prosecutors also say Merrell was involved in the deaths of two people who were believed to have information about the kidnapping and murder. He also admitted participating in a murder-for-hire plot designed to keep another person from going to law enforcement.
Merrell faces up to life in prison, and all defendants are scheduled to be sentenced January 25th, 2027.
By: Dianah Gibson
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