Merrill Suicide Confirmed; New Details of Case Released

The Maryland medical examiner's office and police confirmed yesterday that publisher Philip Merrill, whose body was found this week in the Chesapeake Bay, died of a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head.

Merrill, 72, suffered a "contact shotgun wound," the medical examiner's office said, meaning that the shotgun was fired at close range. The autopsy confirmed that he committed suicide, said Shirl Walker, a spokeswoman for the office.

Merrill, whose Annapolis-based publishing holdings included Washingtonian magazine and the Capital, a daily newspaper, disappeared June 10 after leaving his Severn River home, alone at the helm of his 41-foot sailboat, Merrilly. His body was found by a boater on the ninth day of an intensive police search.

In the statement closing their investigation, Maryland Natural Resources police provided new details about Merrill's death.

The statement said their involvement in the case began when they responded June 10 to a report of an unattended sailboat near Breezy Point in Calvert County, 20 miles south of Merrill's home. Onboard were Merrill's cellphone; his wallet, which contained a large amount of money; and, in the rear of the boat, what appeared to be blood.

When they phoned his home, investigators said, Merrill's family told them he had gone sailing that afternoon and failed to return at the expected time.

During their investigation, police said, the family also told them that "Merrill had been suffering from medical problems and had been recently despondent." At the same time, police said, "information from an outside source" indicated that Merrill had bought a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun within a week of his disappearance.

The shotgun has not been found.

On the ninth day of a search that included a half-dozen boats, helicopters and members of several law enforcement agencies, a recreational boater saw Merrill's body floating about 11 miles from where the boat was found adrift and called police.

Investigators initially identified Merrill by his shirt, which bore the name of his boat. The publisher "had suffered significant trauma to the head. . . . In addition, an eight-pound mushroom anchor was found tied to Merrill's lower left leg," the statement said.

A full autopsy report will be released in two to three months, said Walker, the medical examiner spokeswoman.