Merrill Apparently Shot Himself On the Bay

Recast as an apparent suicide, his death strikingly parallels that of John A. Paisley, a former high-level CIA employee. In 1978, Paisley disappeared while sailing across the bay. His body was found with a fatal gunshot wound a week later near Solomons Island in what was ruled a suicide.

The loss also recalls the death of former CIA director William E. Colby, who died from drowning and exposure in 1996 after apparently falling from a canoe off Charles County. His body was recovered more than a week later, and authorities said he probably had a stroke or heart attack before the accident.

Merrill left his waterfront home in Arnold, across the Severn River from Annapolis, about 2:20 p.m. June 10. His wife, Ellie, contacted authorities shortly after 6 p.m. because her husband had said he would be home by then. The boat was spotted about an hour later.

Family members said in a statement at the time that Merrill "had sailed the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the Adriatic Sea and often in adverse conditions without incident. . . . He just couldn't resist a sunny day with the wind at his back."

Late yesterday, the family said that the "anger and shame" they felt on hearing the news had given way to "sadness and grief."

"It's impossible for us to imagine that the father and husband that we knew and loved was capable of this act," the relatives said. "Everyone who knew Phil had no doubt that he loved life and lived it to the fullest.

"We ask everyone to remember him as we will -- for the first amazing 71 years of his life."

Staff writers Annys Shin and Elizabeth Williamson contributed to this report.