PALM BEACH, Fla., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- A Florida man accused of killing four family members during a Thanksgiving 2009 shooting is expected to enter a plea avoiding the death penalty, attorneys said.
Paul Michael Merhige, 37, could plead guilty Thursday to murder and attempted-murder charges for the deaths of his 73-year-old aunt Raymonde Joseph, his cousin's 6-year-old daughter Makayla Sitton, and his 33-year-old twin sisters Carla Merhige and Lisa Knight, who was pregnant. He could serve seven consecutive life sentences, The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post reported Tuesday.
Makayla's parents, Jim and Muriel Sitton, say they asked Palm Beach County State Attorney Michael McAuliffe not to accept the deal.
"Life sentences is what Bernie Madoff got," Jim Sitton said. "A lot of people who have crimes that are less than murder get life sentences. In this case, there are four dead bodies, one of them a pregnant woman and the other my daughter, a 6-year-old little girl asleep in her bed on Thanksgiving night."
The Sittons and Lisa's husband, Patrick Knight, sued Merhige's parents for not stopping their son -- who they knew to be dangerous -- from showing up at the house that day. Patrick suffered a gunshot wound the abdomen in the attack and was in a coma for three months.
Merhige had threatened to kill his family members before the attack and refused to take medication for mental illness, the Post reported Dec. 1, 2009, shortly after the slayings.
Public defender Carey Haughwout had recently said he planned to pursue an insanity defense for Merhige.
