Few knew the secret former Fort Morgan City Manager Patrick Merrill was carrying. Now, after he killed himself Friday morning, everyone does.
Just two days before Merrill killed himself with a gunshot after a slow-speed chase in Brighton, a Morgan County judge issued a warrant for Merrill’s arrest on charges of sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography, according to online court records.
The incident that led to charges dates back to October, but for almost a year, he successfully hid the existence of the investigation not only from Fort Morgan City Council members, but also from council members in Ontonagon, Mich., who hired Merrill as their new city manager in August.
Even as Merrill was put on leave in Fort Morgan, then resigned by mutual agreement in January, City Council members said they were unaware of any investigation. They voted to pay Merrill severance of $77,721 after he had the job for about 30 months.
“We decided to go a different direction with the city manager and it wasn’t working for us and for him,” said Fort Morgan Mayor Terry McAlister. “He had different ideas than what the City Council did.”
Merrill went on to apply for a job in the Michigan town. He was recently hired and was to start work in about a week.
“This is all news to me,” said Bill Johnson, president of the Ontonagon Village Council.
Ontonagon’s decision to hire Merrill came after a recommendation from officials in Fort Morgan, but no one in Fort Morgan mentioned the accusations or Merrill being put on leave, Johnson said.
Bob Watson, 13th District Judicial attorney, said Merrill had not yet been officially charged. Reasons for the lapse between the alleged October incident and the August arrest warrant were not clear Saturday. The warrant was signed Wednesday, after investigators spent several months searching Merrill’s BlackBerry phone, Watson said.
On Friday, a Morgan County sheriff’s deputy contacted Brighton police and requested a wellness check on Merrill, who knew the deputy was looking for him. He was staying at a Comfort Inn in Brighton, and the deputy was planning to speak with him later that day.
When officers arrived at the hotel, Merrill was gone. An unidentified woman who was at the hotel with Merrill gave police his cellphone number.
Merrill stayed on the phone with police as they followed him for about 25 minutes at speeds of 40 mph or less but refused to pull over.
Eventually, Merrill stopped near U.S. 85 and East 124th Avenue, where officers found him in his truck with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Jordan Steffen: 303-954-1794 or jsteffen@denverpost.com
