Two similar and still-unsolved murders and a third case where the primary suspect disappeared will be featured in two true-crime cable series.
"The DNA of Murder with Paul Holes" is a new show that will air on the Oxygen network. Holes is a retired investigator whose claim-to-fame is solving the Golden State Killer case in 2018. Now, he will use that same DNA technology in hopes of discovering clues in other cold cases.
Holes' Oxygen network show premieres next month. His team has schedule an episode for 2020 that will feature two of DeKalb unsolved murders that are often mentioned together because of their similar characteristics.
Tamekia Taylor, 27, was found dead in her Lithonia home in December 2002. Jennifer Clemmings, 32, was killed a month later in nearby Stone Mountain. Both were well educated women found stabbed to death in their homes.
Police have not said whether they believe the cases are related, but there are few leads. Despite cash rewards, no suspects were identified in either homicide.
The third DeKalb case that will be featured on a different show is less a death investigation and more of a missing person case. Police already think they know who killed Shirley Merritt in February: her son Richard Merritt.
Merritt was an attorney facing a 15-year prison sentence on fraud charges, but he vanished on the day he was to turn himself in. When police went to his mother’s home looking for him, they found her stabbed to death. Richard Merritt had been living there while on bond; he was granted extra time to get his affairs in order before reporting to prison.
Now, John Walsh of "America's Most Wanted" fame wants to highlight the case on his new show called "In Pursuit with John Walsh." That show airs on the Investigation Discovery (ID) channel.
DeKalb County police officials told county commissioners that the TV exposure will give the department a chance to showcase the work of its investigators while possibly shaking out new leads. Commissioners have signed off on allowing Holes’ show to film county employees and on county property, and the other approval is expected on Tuesday.
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