WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. ? A South Florida man who gunned down four relatives during a 2009 Thanksgiving massacre was depressed and controlled by obsessive compulsive rituals, taking five-hour showers and sometimes wearing two pairs of underpants because he was afraid he would somehow impregnate a woman otherwise, medical records show.
The records were released by prosecutors after Paul Merhige, now 37, pleaded guilty last month in a deal that spared him the death penalty in exchange for serving seven consecutive life sentences. The records show disturbing details from Merhige's years of doctor and hospital visits as his family sought treatment across the country for his mental illnesses, the Palm Beach Post reported Sunday (http://bit.ly/sB3Af5).
He still sucked his thumb at age 24, but it had to be wrapped in cellophane before he would put it in his mouth. He tried to kill himself at least twice and told numerous psychiatrists that he couldn't get death off his mind, the records reveal.
Court documents show Merhige considered killing himself after the shootings. He never followed through, and was arrested about a month after the Nov. 26, 2009, killings in the Florida Keys.
Long before that night in 2009, his medical records show Merhige told one psychiatrist after another that he couldn't get death off his mind. His mental illnesses were so severe that he had to give up plans for law school and couldn't function on his own, according to a report from 1996 when Merhige was in his early 20s.
"The amount of water, soap bars, paper towels used is very sad," he wrote of his own condition before he later added: "Been under `house arrest' for 2 1/2 years."
He told a therapist in 1998 that he should move back home with his family because he felt they should "suffer with him." He described his sisters as being jealous because he "was the center of attention." One sister had won a restraining order against him after he lunged at her and threatened to slit her throat. It was just one of many violent incidents between Merhige and relatives.
The plea agreement came after Merhige's attorneys filed a notice signaling they may use an insanity defense. As part of the deal, the defense withdrew that notice.
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