The man accused of shooting his childhood friend, and former neighbor, in the head then stuffing the body into a sleeping inside a Main Line bedroom will be held without bail as he awaits trial.
Judge John Bailey arraigned Merritt Dudas late Wednesday night on criminal homicide, murder, robbery, theft and weapons charges and sent him to Chester County prison without bail, according to court records.
Police say Dudas, 24, shot and killed Drew Ferguson inside his home after an argument over money.
Ferguson's grandmother reported him missing from the Malvern home they shared over the weekend, according to police.
The 21-year-old's body was found Monday stuffed inside a blue sleeping bag in the second floor garage of his grandparents' home along the 200 block of Miner Street in Malvern, Pa.
Investigators say they stumbled upon three bullet holes and a spent shell casing inside the home before finding Ferguson's body wrapped inside the sleeping bag, under a tarp and under an old bean bag chair.
Investigators say Dudas confessed to the crime. He used to live on the same block of Ferguson.
Investigators say Dudas robbed Ferguson and then shot him in the head with a .380 caliber handgun, killing him. According to police, the childhood friends got into a heated argument last week over money.
After executing search warrants and gathering evidence, police arrested Dudas at a home in Collegeville where he was staying with his girlfriend and her parents. They recovered the gun, which they say was stolen from the father of Dudas' girlfriend, as well as Ferguson's Honda Civic, keys and wallet.
Outside the arraignment, Dudas had no response when asked by NBC10's Nefertiti Jaquez about the accusations.
"I'm just confused," said Michael Cheshire, a friend of both the victim and alleged murderer. "I don't understand how this could happen in Malvern. It's a nice town. I don't know who would do this to Drew."
A friend told NBC10's Daralene Jones that Ferguson was a "good guy who loved cars."
