Body of Missing Young Woman Found in Suitcase
James A. Merritt, a 35-year-old man from Morehouse, Missouri, has been sentenced to life imprisonment plus an additional 29 years and a $25,000 fine for the murder of 18-year-old Haley Marie Decker. The young woman’s remains were found in a suitcase in an Illinois wildlife refuge in 2020. Decker, originally from Normal, Illinois, had been reported missing 22 days prior to the discovery of her body. Merritt was convicted in January on charges of second-degree …