ST. LOUIS — WARNING: The content below may be graphic. Individual discretion is advised.
Robert Merkle is back in jail in St. Louis County on a new harassment charge months after he completed parole supervision for four previous harassment convictions in Missouri.
Merkle, 53, was released from prison on parole on October 2, 2020, after serving two years of a three-year sentence after pleading guilty to six charges of harassment stemming from events in 2017. He completed his parole sentence in October 2021.
The new charge states, Merkle reached out to a former partner claiming he had a key to her home and that he planned to break in and rape her.
The charging documents add that, when police responded to the victim’s address, Merkle allegedly told her to stop calling the police.
A warrant issued for Merkle’s arrest states that he is considered a “substantial risk to the crime victim.” He is being held on a $75,000 cash-only bond with a requirement that if he is released, he is required to wear a monitoring bracelet.
Victims of his previous crimes recently told the I-Team that their cases reflected a failure in Missouri’s system to let victims know the terms of a perpetrator’s parole and whether reports of parole violations were being taken seriously.
Missouri state senator Jill Schupp has been in contact with Merkle’s previous victims. Multiple victims have told the I-Team that they have contacted the FBI and that there is a possibility that more victims exist in other states.
While Merkle was on parole, the I-Team learned that he lived in northern Illinois with his parents. They filed for a protection order against him, and neither Missouri nor Illinois corrections officials could provide details to the I-Team or the victims about his whereabouts for the remainder of his parole sentence. Merkle's information in CaseNet indicates that he has been living in St. Louis City.