A man accused of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend and three other people in Northampton pleaded guilty to murder charges Wednesday afternoon.
While in court, Michael Ballard confessed to killing his 39-year-old ex-girlfriend Denise Merhi, her 62-year-old father, her 87-year-old grandfather, and a 53-year-old neighbor on June 26, 2010.
The neighbor rushed over to help when he heard the screams from the Mehri’s house, police said.
Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek said Merhi suffered 45 knife wounds.
He also said her grandfather was found dead in his wheelchair.
At the time of the murder, Ballard was on parole after serving 15 years of a 15 – 30 year prison sentence in which he pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing an Allentown man in 1991.
"There is absolutely no reason why we ought to have people who've been convicted of murder out on parole at all," Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli told NBC Philadelphia. "They ought to be serving their entire sentence incarcerated."
Ballard’s trial was set to begin next month. Morganelli planned to seek the death penalty if he was convicted.
