PHELAN – Sheriff’s deputies have arrested the second suspect in the August 22 murder of a Phelan man. 26-year-old Kyle Patrick Comrie was tracked down by investigators about two weeks after discovering a body at the 12000 block of Hacienda Road on Monday, August 24.
Louis John Merrigan III was found unresponsive when deputies arrived at his Hacienda Road address. Following initial investigation, deputies called in homicide detectives to take the case. Merrigan, 58, who was found at 10:45 p.m. by Victor Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies, was lying on the ground next to a motor home on the property.
When the death investigation determined that Merrigan had been killed two nights earlier, the case led them to a 15-year-old male resident of Phelan, who was arrested on September 3. Police served a search warrant and a Ramey warrant – the latter a warrant signed by a judge without going through a district attorney – at the minor’s Phelan home during early morning hours. Merrigan’s cause of death was not immediately released.
Detectives continued the investigation, which led them to Anaheim resident Comrie, located in Orange County. Comrie was arrested on Sunday and taken to Central Detention Center, booked on murder charges.
Detectives tracked him to a motel in Anaheim, served a search warrant and eventually took him into custody at 2 a.m., according to reports.
No motive was released for the crime, though Comrie was also charged with armed robbery, along with charges of felony theft. The cause of Merrigan’s death was not disclosed by investigators.
Comrie, who is scheduled for two court appearances at Victorville Superior Court this week, is being held on $1 million bail, according to court records. Phelan is a city located in the high desert between Victorville and Palmdale.
