• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

Paul Merhige gets plea deal

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
paul merhige, the CFS patient who killed 4 family members, just got 7 life terms in exchange for pleading guilty and saving himself from the death penalty.

one has to wonder what would have come out in the trial about CFS and whether this may have been a factor in offering him this deal....he is a much maligned figure after shooting a poor 6 yr old girl. very strange that he got this deal.
 

Boule de feu

Senior Member
Messages
1,118
Location
Ottawa, Canada
paul merhige, the CFS patient who killed 4 family members, just got 7 life terms in exchange for pleading guilty and saving himself from the death penalty.

one has to wonder what would have come out in the trial about CFS and whether this may have been a factor in offering him this deal....he is a much maligned figure after shooting a poor 6 yr old girl. very strange that he got this deal.

Not strange. One of my colleague's whole family got killed by her brother who has schizophrenia. She is the only one who was spared because she was absent that day. He did not get much of a sentence because he was sick.
 

SilverbladeTE

Senior Member
Messages
3,043
Location
Somewhere near Glasgow, Scotland
I don't know the details of this case, but, there's a huge difference between cold blooded killing for profit or sick lust for slaughter...
vs
being insane
what most folk cannot face is that anyone one of us can go down those three roads, these crimes aren't commited by aliens, jsut fellow Human Beings.
Nor can they consider the rational but vile choices and justifications of the 1st, the surrender of ocntrol of the 2nd, or the horror of the insane person who may grasp what they've done ot folk they love but couldn't stop themselves.
 
Messages
15,786
A plea bargain in this situation is very normal. Approximately 90% of all criminal cases don't go to trial because of pleas, and in the case of a death penalty case it makes a lot of sense for an undeniably guilty person to choose a life sentence. Death penalty cases are also extremely expensive to prosecute (not even counting the appeals processes), so there's a good incentive for the state to offer the plea bargain.

Mental illness probably didn't have much of a roll in the plea bargain. If his attorney thought they had a leg to stand on, he would have taken it to trial. Also, keep in mind that mental illness is only really relevant when it makes the defendant unable to appreciate that it's wrong to kill someone. The only other way it's somewhat relevant is when the defendant is too messed up to help his own defense, in which cause the court will order him to be medicated until he is.
 

*GG*

senior member
Messages
6,389
Location
Concord, NH
Not strange. One of my colleague's whole family got killed by her brother who has schizophrenia. She is the only one who was spared because she was absent that day. He did not get much of a sentence because he was sick.

My impression is that Canada is rather lenient, and other countries.

GG
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
sometimes i think about how hellish it must be to have CFS and be incarcerated at the same time. i might have chosen death.
 

SOC

Senior Member
Messages
7,849
paul merhige, the CFS patient who killed 4 family members, just got 7 life terms in exchange for pleading guilty and saving himself from the death penalty.

one has to wonder what would have come out in the trial about CFS and whether this may have been a factor in offering him this deal....he is a much maligned figure after shooting a poor 6 yr old girl. very strange that he got this deal.

How do we know the guy has CFS? Based on his behavior, I can see that he must have some kind of mental illness, but where does the CFS come into it?
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
ME/CFS wont make a court give a person a lighter sentence... even not all with some serious illnesses get lighter sentences unless it is proven they were affected by the mental illness right at the moment of the crime.

If he has ME/CFS too (its quite possible to have both it as well as having other conditions too) he may well find jail a relief to him in many ways eg improvement of symptoms due to having to do far less, not having to cook for oneself etc etc.. jail is like enforced rest.

Thou if he has food issues etc, jail food can be a real problem (they do cater a bit thou for food issues), also roll call is a huge issue as one has to be out of bed early for it and be standing awaiting for inspection!!