Hearing For Thanksgiving Massacre Suspect Postponed
WEST PALM BEACH (CBS4) - A hearing involving the man accused of killing four members of his family in a 2009 Thanksgiving Day massacre has been postponed.
On Wednesday one of Paul Merhige's attorney's had planned to request that the judge delay the start of the trial. The attorney's wife is pregnant and due in August, he plans to take a month of family leave. However, the start of the trial has been scheduled for August 8th.
Because Merhige faces the death penalty, he must be represented by two attorneys.
Prosecutors oppose the delay.
Merhige is accused of going on a shooting spree inside his cousin's Jupiter home as Thanksgiving dinner was winding down. Those who didn't survive included Merhige's sisters, twins Lisa Knight and Carla Merhige; their aunt, Raymonde Joseph, 76, and their cousin's daughter, Makayla Sitton, 6. Lisa Knight was also pregnant.
After the shooting, Merhige vanished. He fled to the Florida Keys where he reportedly planned to commit suicide. After a five-week manhunt, Merhige was finally taken into custody January 2nd, 2010 on Long Key when the Pfaff family, who own of the Edgewater Resort, saw his face on the local news and recognized him as one of their customers.
The trial is expected to last five weeks. If convicted, he could receive the death penalty.
(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
