Palm Beach County homicides less than 100 for first time since 2005

The dramatic arrest late Saturday of a suspect in a Thanksgiving massacre that stands as one of Palm Beach County's worst crimes ever recorded capped a year of fewer homicides in the county.

The county saw at least 93 homicides in 2009, a number inflated by the vicious quadruple-murder of four family members at a Thanksgiving Dinner in Jupiter. Police arrested Paul Merhige, 35, after he eluded authorities for more than a month. He was caught at the Edge Water Motel in Long Key after the case aired on America's Most Wanted. A tip alerted police that a man fitting Merhige's description had checked into the motel Dec. 2 under the name John Baca.

Merhige, of Miami, is suspected of killing four relatives, including his 6-year-old cousin, Makayla Sitton, in a case so outrageous the U.S. Marshals Service named Merhige to its list of 15 most wanted fugitives in the nation.

Even with the Jupiter massacre, last year's total indicates a break in the violent, three-year streak of at least 100 homicides a year. Last year there were at least 93.

The last year in which the county recorded killings in double digits was 2005, when there were 76 homicides, according to the Medical Examiner's Office.

About four years ago, gangs started taking a foothold in Palm Beach County. With them came bloodshed.

xA concerted anti-gang effort — using local, state and federal law enforce ment resources — hit the problem hard.

Since then, there has been a steady decline in gang-related shootings, said Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Maj. Jim Storms.

"We've had a lot of initiatives," Storms said.

He referred to:

Gangbusters, a Sheriff's Office unit that made more than 2,000 arrests and pulled 130 guns off the street in 2007 and 2008 before it was disbanded because of budget cuts.

State racketeering charges to seek stiffer sentences for gang members.

Hiring a coordinator in 2009 to focus on keeping youths from gang life.

"The problem [with gang homicides] is when you have one, you'll normally have more," Storms said. "You'll have retaliation incidents."

Racketeering prosecutions, historically used against organized crime, helped Palm Beach County fight gangs.

Threats of decades in prison were made against several longtime members of SUR-13, a gang with ties to the Mexican Mafia. The threats prompted gang members to take plea deals in return for testifying against associates.

Prosecutors said SUR-13 trafficked cocaine, sprayed bullets in drive-by shootings and was responsible for at least one murder.

Likewise, federal charges put two members of the Lake Worth-based Top 6 gang in prison for more than 20 years each. Ten other members of the gang are awaiting trial, authorities said.

Authorities have linked Top 6 to at least 18 homicides and significant drug dealing throughout southern Palm Beach County.

Most recently, prosecutors hit the "Yung Thug Government" gang with racketeering charges, accusing 12 members of several assaults in their efforts to sell crack cocaine in the Pearl City area of Boca Raton.

"A majority of violent crime is directly related to gangs," said Lt. Michael Wallace, commander of the county Violent Crimes Task Force. "If you target gangs, you should reduce violent crime."

The task force includes police officers from most agencies in the county.

Sharing information is crucial to thwarting crime trends, especially organized crime, said Richard Mangan, a criminal justice professor at Florida Atlantic University and a former police officer and DEA agent.

"Those kind of homicides are not like the old days when all you have to do is find someone who had a grudge," Mangan said. "Now the guy's killed by an assailant who doesn't personally know him. They're like hate crimes where a person's killed because they're black or Asian or Jewish."

Statistics often are driven up by domestic homicides, despite law enforcement efforts to provide advocates, education and awareness to households thought to be at risk.

"We try to catch it early on," Storms said.

Domestic killings, like the Jupiter killings, are difficult to prevent because they often occur with little warning, investigators say.

And in situations where there has been a previous domestic-abuse arrest, most cases are dropped because witnesses refuse to come to court, experts say.

Even with proactive measures in place, Storms said, police can't be on every street corner at all times acting as shields against murder.

"At times, no matter what you do," Storms said, "there are certain cases you're not going to prevent."

 

(source: sunsentinel.com)