Landlord’s remains were found in backyard, Texas cops say. Woman arrested years later

Nearly two years after the remains of a Texas landlord were found in his backyard, a woman has been arrested in his death, records show.

The landlord, 78-year-old Colin Kerdachi, was found dead on Dec. 6, 2021, according to the Houston Police Department. He had been reported missing in February of that year.

In May 2023, police charged 43-year-old Pamela Ann Merritt with murder and asked the public for information on her whereabouts. She was believed to be homeless at the time.

Now, Merritt has been arrested and booked into the Harris County Jail, records show. She’s being held on a $250,000 bond.

Merritt lived in a home with her boyfriend and Kerdachi, who was their landlord prior to his death, according to the criminal complaint filed in Harris County. Her boyfriend told police he last heard Kerdachi upstairs on Feb. 15, 2021, shortly before an unprecedented winter storm hit the area.

Sometime in the summer of 2021, a woman moved into the home and agreed to pay the couple $600 a month in rent, police said. Merritt and her boyfriend offered the woman a lower rate if she helped clean the second and third floors of the home.

While cleaning the home, she discovered a bloody mattress, along with blood on the floor and a wall, according to the complaint. She told police she asked about the blood and was given “conflicting stories about the owner of the house ... and what happened to him.”

In December 2021, the man and woman showed her a “dead dog” under the home’s back stairs, police said. She called police on Dec. 6, 2021, the day after she saw the remains.

Those remains belonged to Kerdachi, police said. An investigation into his death found that he died of “sharp force and blunt force trauma of the torso.”

Following an investigation into the fatal stabbing, authorities charged Merritt with murder.

This story was originally published August 21, 2023 at 11:30 AM with the headline "Landlord’s remains were found in backyard, Texas cops say. Woman arrested years later."