Ex-Con Michael Eric Ballard Goes on Murderous Rampage Killing Ex-Girlfriend, Denise Merhi & Three Others

Ex-convict Michael Eric Ballard kills ex-girlfriend Denise Merhi, her father, grandfather & neighbor Steven Zernhelt in Northampton, Pa.

The news from the weekend has been tinged with acts of gun violence. Michael Eric Ballard, who served prison time for a 1992 murder was charged Sunday with fatally stabbing four people, including his ex-girlfriend Denise Merhi. Ballard went on the murderous rampage Saturday in the town of Northampton, located about 70 miles north of Philadelphia, Pa. He also killed Merhi's father and grandfather, along with a neighbor who came to help after he heard the initial screams coming from her home. According to the Allentown Morning Call, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said he will seek the death penalty.

According to court documents, Ballard told police he "murdered [his] girlfriend and her family and then the neighbor," according to court documents.

Ballard pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in 1992 and was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison, according to court records in Lehigh County. Ballard, then 18, was accused of stabbing Donald Richard in December 1991 in Richard's Allentown apartment, according to newspaper accounts from the time. Police identified the other victims as Merhi's father, Dennis Marsh, 62; her grandfather, Alvin Marsh Jr.; and her neighbor, Steven Zernhelt, 53. Merhi had two children, but neither was home at the time of the attack.

Ballard, who was injured in a car accident shortly after the rampage, was arraigned at his hospital bedside. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney. Source

Ballard was arrested late Saturday afternoon after crashing his car less than two miles from the home at 1917 Lincoln Ave. where the bodies were found. According to the Morning Call, police said they found Ballard seriously wounded, with apparent knife wounds to his legs and injuries to his face and hands. Further, police said when an officer asked him what happened, Ballard said, "It's obvious, I just killed everyone." The motive for the "slaughter" is unclear, but police theorize that there was "some type of relationship" between Merhi and Ballard. My thoughts and prayers go out to the children of Ms. Mehri and pray they will live as normal a life as possible. How many more women have to die at the hands of men with whom they have or have had a relationship? To put it simply, this is a travesty.