I Send Money to a Murderer Every Christmas

My high school friend Merlin killed an exchange student soon after graduation. A drug deal gone wrong in the tunnels beneath Ohio University.

The authorities don’t like murders that are also international incidents. Merlin did over thirty years in prison after being denied parole multiple times. Way too much time if you ask me - even for murder.

Every holiday season I send him some cash. He’s in a small town where job prospects aren’t good even for people who are not convicted felons. I’ve talked to him a couple of times on the phone and can see on Facebook that he’s a good person just trying to get by.

Forgiveness is a virtue and I’m virtue-signaling today.

—Alex

See also:
Merlin Ryan has paid his debt and should be given a break
The Athens News - September 4, 2013

Parole recommended for Athens man convicted of aggravated murder
The Athens Messenger - April 19, 2019

In this file photo from 1983, authorities wait for a body to be brought up from steam tunnels under the Ohio University campus. The corpse was identified as that of an OU international student from Libya, who had been stabbed to death by a man from The Plains. - Athens News