In modern America, it is no secret that the cost of rent has skyrocketed in recent years. While the overall national average fell by half-a-percent (0.5%) over the last year, rent remains absurdly high in many regions of the country. For instance, in some small suburban towns in the state of New Jersey over an hour away from the corporate high-rise office buildings of lower Manhattan, annual rental costs for small apartments are in some instances comparable to those in Brooklyn, a borough within the city. Despite the costs, small landlords are having an increasingly difficult time managing properties in some states and cities led by progressive Democrats. In many cases, the property owner has become disenfranchised, with the renter enjoying significantly more legal protection than the homeowner themselves. Regardless, although tensions may sometimes flair, the actions of one tenant set the record for this year’s most unbelievable occurrence in property management.
A woman from the state of Texas was arrested on August 23rd on murder charges and theft charges after killing her landlord. Pamela Ann Merritt of Houston spent two years claiming that the landlord of her residence (who had been missing) had faked his death and ran away to Africa. Supposedly, Merritt had confessed to her friends that she committed a homicide, killing Colin Kerdachi (aged 78) and then proceeded to hide the body under the staircase of the building. In February 2021, amidst major winter storms and a power outage, Kerdachi went missing. After a friend arrived on the property to inquire about Kerdachi, Merritt claimed she had last seen him with a stab wound to the stomach, and that he had went to the hospital.
Eventually, another resident questioned Merritt persistently, and eventually overheard her and a boyfriend discussing a dead body of a canine located underneath the stairs. Police then arrived and discovered the remains of Kerdachi. Merritt fled the scene but was later arrested.
