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Location: Algonquin, ILL | Below is the text of an article in the Local Charleston newspaper, as you can see this Animal needs to be put down
Testimony links Mertz to Warner murder, apartment fire
BY DAVE FOPAY, Staff Writer
CHARLESTON -- Anthony B. Mertz could be responsible for two of Charleston's more notorious unsolved crimes, prosecutors want a jury to believe.
In testimony Tuesday, three people said Mertz told them he was the person who stabbed Amy Warner to death in June 1999, set fire to an apartment building being built at Fourth Street and Buchanan Avenue in February 2000, or both crimes.
Their accounts mirrored what has been rumored since Mertz was arrested for the June 12, 2001, murder of Eastern Illinois University student Shannon McNamara, though authorities wouldn't confirm he was actually a suspect in either incident.
Also during the dramatic day of testimony, a woman testified Mertz raped her during their brief dating relationship and that he sympathized with Nazi attempts of genocide. Mertz also planned a jail escape and wanted revenge against some people, other testimony indicated.
Mertz, 26, is going through a sentencing hearing where a jury will eventually decide if he receives the death penalty for killing McNamara. The jury convicted Mertz of first-degree murder charges and other offenses last week.
After one witness testified Tuesday about hearing Mertz claim he committed the two crimes, both Charleston police Detective Kevin Paddock and State's Attorney Steve Ferguson wouldn't comment in response to questions about whether Mertz is actually a suspect. Ferguson did say there's no statute of limitations for a murder case, however.
Warner's mother, Linda Walker, has attended the proceedings the last few days. On Tuesday, she said she believes Mertz killed her daughter because police have told her about similarities between the two crimes.
"I'm glad it was finally able to come out," Walker said. "Each day I spend in that courtroom, I believe he did it."
Warner was found stabbed to death at her home, 17 Seventh St., on June 29, 1999, while the apartment building, under construction at the time by Unique Properties, burned to the ground Feb. 13, 2000. The prosecution tried to link Mertz to the crimes to show the jury he could be a continued threat.
Bryan Beavers, a friend of Mertz's who lived in the same apartment building, 1128 Fourth Street, across the street from McNamara, was the first witness to claim hearing Mertz say he killed Warner and set fire to the apartment building. Beavers said Mertz "just brought it up," but added he "didn't believe him" at the time.
Later, Doug Paul, who also lived in Mertz's building, said he saw clippings of newspaper accounts of Warner's death on the wall of Mertz's apartment. Mertz said he knew Warner through mutual friends and he killed her because she was "white trash," Paul said. Also, Anthony Lauletta, another former resident of Mertz's building, said Mertz mentioned burning down the apartment building "almost in a joking manner."
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Sentencing Update