The Murder of Steven Merritt
For this case, I watched an episode of Murdered By Morning. It’s season 1 episode 6, titled ‘Party Crashers.’
A young man is last seen by friends at a house party.
Background
Not a lot of information is known about Steven, but he was the youngest of 3 children. His mom, Ann Erickson, said Steven had always loved telling jokes even when they were trying to eat dinner. His friends said he saw the best in people and was always smiling. Steven was only 21-years-old and a student.
Steven Merritt
The Party
On February 25, 1989, Steven was hanging out with a group of his friends. The group had a keg, and one of them knew about a random house party that was going on nearby.
By 10pm, the group arrived at the party in Mission Viejo. The person who had answered the door didn’t know them, but let them and their keg in. The group broke apart, and Steven found a girl to talk to.
Around midnight, the group wanted to change the music from pop salsa to some rock. They ended up leaving the party thinking Steven had already left.
The 911 Call
Around 3:36am, a woman who lived about a mile and a half away from the party heard what sounded like gun shots. She always heard a car peeling away. She ran out in her yard, and saw what looked like a man lying in the road. She called the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
When the police arrived, they found a white male who appeared to be in his 20s. The victim had cash in his pocket, but no identification. He was referred to as John Doe until he could be identified.
The victim had been shot 4 times in the back. He also had blood around his mouth and nose from what looked like an altercation that occurred before the shots. The coroner also revealed that the victim had been shot in the back as he was running away.
Nine hours after the murder, a woman reported her son missing when he didn’t show up to her birthday party. The woman, Ann Erickson, helped the police identify their John Doe as Steven Merritt. Ann’s missing persons report matched the characteristics of their victim. Ann was shown a picture of Steven’s body and positively identified him.
Ann also contacted Steven’s friends, who told her that they thought Steven had left the party before them.
A Possible Motive
The police met with Steven’s friend group to talk about the night of February 25. The group admitted that they had complained about the music at the party, but one friend named Chris, said they hadn’t had any other issues.
One of Steven’s friends hadn’t attended the party due to having to work early. But, he said Steven contacted him around 3am, and asked for a ride home. They had agreed to meet at the intersection of Oslo Parkway and Felipe Road. However, Steven never showed, so he left.
The friends were eventually ruled out as a suspects. They did tell the police that Steven had met a girl at the party, and danced with her. The girl was the ex-girlfriend of the party host, Mark Morales. Apparently, Mark wasn't happy about his ex dancing with Steven, but there was no altercation that the friends had seen.
The Prime Suspect
Mark Morales was brought into the police station to be interviewed. Mark said the party started around 8pm, and that a group of people he didn’t know showed up around 10pm with a keg.
The police asked Mark about Steven and his ex dancing. Mark said he didn’t know who his ex had been talking to as there was too much going on at the party.
Mark was asked if he had seen anything suspicious that night. He said his roommates, who were from Colombia, had possibly been into drugs and illegal activity. The roommates were also interviewed, but they claimed they didn’t recognize Steven. A background check was done on them, but nothing illegal or suspicious came up. The police knew Mark was lying, and was potentially their only person of interest.
A Circumstantial Case
Two days into the investigation, the police received a tip from a grocery store clerk. The clerk had been driving home on February 25, and seen a man being followed by a car.
The description of the man seemed to match Steven. The clerk was able to write down a partial license plate number: NCK, and thought that the car was a 1979 Chevy Chevelle.
The police ran the last 3 digits of the plate number to the partygoers. The only person that had owned a Chevy Chevelle was Mark Morales. He owned a 1975 Chevy Chevelle, and had reported it stolen on February 26, the morning of the day Steven was killed.
Mark was again brought into the station for an interview. He claimed his car had been stolen while he was at the movies, which he hadn’t mentioned originally.
A BOLO (be on the lookout) was issued for Mark’s “stolen” car. On March 27, the LAPD found the car, which had been burned. The car was transported back to the Orange County crime lab. The testing showed that an accelerant had been clearly to cover something else up.
A Cold Case
Mark lawyered up when the police tried to talk to him for a 3rd time. Sadly, because the case was so circumstantial, it went cold.
In 1997, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office reopened Steven’s case. Mark’s former roommates were re-interviewed. They admitted that they lied in 1989 because of Mark’s temper.
At the party on February 25, 1989, Mark had become jealous of Steven dancing with his ex. When Steven left the party, Mark followed him. The roommates tried to stop him, but he was able to get away.
The police also learned from the case files from 1989, that Mark’s mom had tried to blame Mark’s friends, Jay Torres and Mike Espinoza. Mark’s mom said the two were bad influences on her son.
The police spoke to Jay first. He admitted that Mark was involved in helping Mark burn the car, but not involved with the actual murder. Mark had confessed to him that he snapped and killed someone. Mike wasn’t as forth coming, and lawyered up.
Justice for Steven
By 1997, Mark was a teacher in Belmont High School in Burbank, California, and was married. His students and other staff members at the school described him as helpful.
The police also had discovered that Mark’s mom lived nearby to him. They decided to wire tape their phones, and surveil Mark and his parents.
The police came up with a ruse to tell one of the friends of Mark’s mom that they had a warrant out for an arrest for Mark. The friend then called Mark’s mom, who called Mark. Mark and his mom had spoken in code about having him flee the area.
On March 1, 2000, Mark Glenn Morales was arrested for murder. The case was very circumstantial. At the trial, the defense argued that Mike Espinoza wasn’t a reliable witness due to his criminal activity.
On February 25, 1989, Mark had followed Steven out of the party around 3:08am. He was angry that his ex was dancing with Steven into the wee hours of the morning.
Mark and Steven had an altercation at the crime scene, and Mark shot Steven in the back 4 times, as he tried to get away. Mark then contacted his friend Mike around 4am, and together they burned the car. Mark then reported his car as stolen.
On July 1, 2003, Mark was found guilty. He was sentenced to 17 years to life in prison. (I was unable to find a photo of Mark).
FINAL THOUGHTS
Mark could’ve had a successful life as a teacher, but instead he ruined his life over some girl. Steven didn’t know Mark, and probably had no idea that he was going to be shot because her ex was a jealous loser. Mark deserves to spend every moment of the rest of his miserable life rotting in prison. My heart truly goes out to Ann, and the rest of Steven’s loved ones.
Sources
https://www.oxygen.com/murdered-by-morning/crime-news/steven-merritt-murder-mark-morales-cold-case
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-mar-03-me-4931-story.html
