Facebook stabbing suspect arrested in San Jose

(KRON) — A man who police say fatally stabbed someone in a San Mateo apartment complex and posted the killing to Facebook has been arrested, the San Mateo Police Department said Thursday. On Wednesday, San Mateo PD was notified by the Nye County Sheriff’s Office that someone had reported a “stabbing” on Facebook.

The caller provided the name and phone number of the user who had posted the alleged killing. The Nye County Sheriff pinged the number associated with the account and traced it to the 200 block of 37th Avenue in San Mateo, a large apartment complex.

San Mateo PD conducted a door-to-door search of the complex. After nearly three hours of searching, officers located a deceased woman in an apartment on the 200 block of 36th Avenue, in the same complex.

The suspect was not present at the time, but police learned his identity.

Investigators tracked the suspect’s whereabouts and located him in San Jose. He was arrested without incident. The suspect was identified as Mark Merchikoff and police say he knew the victim.

“While the motive for stabbing the victim is still under investigation,” police said, “we do know Merchikoff mercilessly filmed the last moments of the victim’s life and posted the video to Facebook.”