at cliff merck s autopsy, the medical examiner recovered two .25-caliber bullets from his skull. coincidentally, one of cliff s .25-caliber pistols was stolen during the robbery. investigators wondered whether cliff had been murdered with his own gun. we had been evaluating every .25-caliber automatic seized in the area as it came in to see if the ballistics would match the .25-caliber bullets that were removed from the skull of clifford merck. two months later, investigators found cliff midsection s gun. it was in the possession of a man whom we ll call dan jones at the time he was arrested on a drug charge. it was easily identifiable since cliff s initials had been carved into the handle.
gerald cowan was later convicted of manslaughter for killing his father-in-law. he served only two years in prison for that crime before he was released on parole. prosecutors believe robert cowan was one of the men sear the mercks home by the neighbor. based on forensic evidence, prosecutors say robert cowan and an accomplice broke in to the mercks home through a back door. cliff merck probably went for his gun to defend himself, and robert cowan grabbed the pistol and turned it on cliff. [ gunshots ] the men bound his wife alma, locked her in the closet, and left her to die. robert cowan left his fingerprints on a tray found in the living room. and by the back door as he left. the cowans pawned some of alma