Maryland man pleads guilty in multi-state kidnapping, murder spree

Monroe Merrell, 29, of Westminster, Maryland, pleaded guilty to three charges stemming from a multi-state violent crime spree involving kidnapping, murder and witness tampering causing death, U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey announced.

Merrell admitted he worked with others to kidnap and murder a victim identified as J.R. in a Westminster apartment in March 2020, according to the announcement. J.R. was severely beaten and stabbed multiple times before being transported across state lines into West Virginia, prosecutors said. Merrell stabbed him multiple times during the transport, killing him. Merrell and others then attempted to dispose of the body by dousing it with gasoline and setting it on fire in the woods of a rural, isolated section of Rippon in Jefferson County. The following morning, a nearby resident driving past saw a body burning in the woods near the roadway and called emergency services, prompting a multi-state investigation involving state and federal agencies, according to the release.

In April 2020, Merrell became concerned that two witnesses to the beating and kidnapping — identified as D.T., 18, of Taneytown, Maryland, and H.G., 33, of Westminster, Maryland — would speak to law enforcement, prosecutors said. Merrell and others brought the pair from Maryland to the Falling Waters area of Berkeley County, West Virginia, where they were drugged and partially incapacitated before being killed. Their bodies were burned and their remains disposed of in the Potomac River, according to the announcement.

With his guilty plea, Merrell becomes the final defendant in the multi-defendant case to accept responsibility for the kidnapping and murders, prosecutors said. His acceptance of responsibility also encompasses a fourth victim, identified as E.D. and previously referred to as “Jane Doe” in two counts of the indictment, whom Merrell targeted in a solicitation-to-commit-murder plot as part of an effort to conceal the crimes. Merrell faces life imprisonment on each count after the government’s motion to re-seek the death penalty was denied in October 2025, authorities said.

Three co-defendants — David Sanford Jr., John Black III and Jeffrey Smith Jr. — previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the kidnapping and murders, prosecutors said. April Braner, 43, of Falling Waters, West Virginia, and Norman Bradford, 55, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, also pleaded guilty to charges filed by information for their roles in the crimes. All sentencing hearings are scheduled for Jan. 25, 2027, according to the announcement.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberley D. Crockett and Kyle R. Kane are prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the FBI, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Maryland State Police, the Carroll County State’s Attorney’s Office, and the Berkeley and Jefferson County prosecuting attorneys’ offices. U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided over the plea hearing.