Man’s gruesome slaying leaves friends shocked
Sandra Holloway was in a convenience store when she spotted a familiar smile and ditched her social distancing.
It was her friend Marcus Merge, and they hugged and walked out of the store together. “I’m so glad that our last encounter I did embrace him,” she said.
Weeks later, on July 9, the 58-year-old Merge was found strangled in his condo in the 5700 block of North Sheridan Road in the Edgewater Beach neighborhood. His body was found in the refrigerator, according to Chicago police.
No arrests have been announced, and police have said nothing about their investigation, deepening the mystery of the death of a man friends described as a kind and spiritual soul.
“It sounds like obviously that day he let the wrong person in his apartment,” said Holloway, 53. “I just have no idea how that happened — why that would happen.”
Another friend William McCord, 34, said he was on a trip when he heard the news. “It was just this weird, surreal, shock feeling,” he said. “He was just always really happy.”
Each day, McCord repeats a piece of wisdom from his friend, who once told him expectations are resentments in the making. McCord said he went to see his own family after Merge encouraged him.
Claire Buckley, 41, said Merge easily befriended people and would include them in group outings. He would ask questions to draw out the quietest people.
“He was really good at meeting people, and then getting them out of their shell,” Buckley said.
On any given day, Merge could be found walking down Bryn Mawr Avenue in Chicago and talking with shop workers, Buckley said.
“He was a talker, oh, my God,” Holloway said. “He would just never shut up talking.”
Holloway said Merge was a sponsor in the Alcoholics Anonymous program, helping other men through recovery. He was passionate about “just helping people stay sober.”
Before his mother’s recent death, Merge would ride trains and buses to visit her in Lake Forest. An interior designer by profession, he would decorate the windows of her senior housing according to the seasons, Buckley said.
“He always made everybody feel very comfortable,” she said. “Marcus to me is nothing but kindness and welcoming, and I don’t know why anybody would want to do that to him.”
Friends are planning to eventually organize a memorial over the video platform Zoom or near the lakefront.
“There’s a sadness,” Holloway said. “People are just … still trying to wrap their hearts around it.”