In a grim unraveling of events in Houston, Texas, Pamela Ann Merritt, 43, faces grave charges following the uncovering of her landlord’s demise that extend from murder to theft.

Merritt, who previously claimed her landlord, Colin Kerdachi, 78, had faked his death and escaped to Africa, now stands accused of his murder.

Kerdachi became the subject of concern after he was reported missing in February 2021. The report came at a time when the city battled a severe winter storm, plunging temperatures, and massive power outages.

A breakthrough came months later, when dedicated law enforcement, following up on the case, began piecing together a disturbing timeline.

On the 23rd of February in 2021, Joe Guy, one of Kerdachi’s tenants, returned from an extended trip to find his landlord absent and Merritt unlawfully occupying the property.

Recalling that encounter, Guy told the authorities, “He told me that he asked her where Mr. Colin, the landlord, was, and the Defendant replied that he was dead and that she killed him,” as per a Houston detective’s criminal complaint, which was based on 2021 bodycam footage and subsequent interviews.

During that period, Merritt, displaying erratic behavior, was temporarily taken to a medical facility for a psychiatric assessment, as outlined in court records. Yet, by October of the same year, with Kerdachi’s whereabouts still unknown, she was back at the property.

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Another tenant, Tabitha Pope, who had recently moved in, drew attention to some alarming findings in the building, namely, significant traces of blood and suspicious items that suggested foul play.

Pope, who was renting from Merritt and her boyfriend, Michael Brown, also noted inconsistent stories regarding Kerdachi’s status – one suggesting he had vanished and another hinting at his death in a medical facility.

Determined to uncover the truth, Pope cunningly persuaded the couple to disclose the resting place of Kerdachi’s remains, using the prospect of avoiding property foreclosure as a bait.

Police, acting on Pope’s subsequent tip-off, discovered the landlord’s remains, while Merritt and Brown were allegedly in the process of concealing evidence, as detailed in the criminal complaint.

During the police interview, Merritt stuck to a fabricated narrative, referring to the remains as “a dead dog” and maintaining the baseless assertion of Kerdachi’s self-staged death and departure to Africa.

Moreover, she presented an implausible explanation for the blood in the property, attributing it to decaying meat from a refrigerator.

Michael Brown, implicated in the dark saga, informed detectives of a chilling last sight of Kerdachi, bearing a stab wound. However, he suggested the elderly man might have sought medical attention on his own.

An official autopsy later refuted this, determining that Kerdachi had tragically succumbed to multiple stab wounds. Based on accumulated evidence, including phone records and testimonies, law enforcement believes the murder occurred on February 15, 2021.

Michael Brown was arrested in March, and by late May, authorities had pressed charges against Merritt. She evaded capture until Friday when she was apprehended without confrontation. Currently, Merritt remains in custody at the Harris County Jail, with her bond set at $500,000.

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