Man investigated for California sex assault released from Spokane jail

A man facing multiple felony charges in Spokane and under investigation for a sexual assault in Beverly Hills, California, posted bond at the county jail this week hours after police took his DNA hoping to pin him to the sex crime.

Mark W. Merrifield, 37, was booked into the Spokane County Jail in July facing felony charges. That arrest came three months after a 33-year-old Beverly Hills woman claimed she was sexually assaulted by a man matching Merrifield’s description who lay in wait at her apartment.

DNA matching Merrifield’s profile was found on the woman last month, according to court records. Beverly Hills police, upon learning Merrifield was jailed in Spokane on unrelated charges, flew to Spokane on Monday and collected a sample from him in his cell, according to court records.

On Tuesday at 9:30 p.m., the jail accepted a $65,000 bond fronted by Angel’s Bail Bonds for Merrifield’s release. He had been in jail for more than two months without posting bond before then. Court records do not indicate who paid for his release.

George Elwell, Beverly Hills detective in charge of the assault case, said late Thursday he was unaware Merrifield had been released. Elwell and another Beverly Hills detective did not request that the county jail hold Merrifield on the alleged crime in California.

But Elwell wrote in his request for a warrant to obtain the DNA that a sketch of the suspect in the assault “more than strongly resembled” a Spokane County booking photograph of Merrifield taken in July. The alleged victim also identified Merrifield from his booking photograph, according to court records. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Crime Lab returned a positive match for Merrifield in its analysis of DNA evidence collected at the Beverly Hills crime scene on Sept. 16, according to court records.

“A new evidentiary reference sample from Mark Woodroe Merrifield should be obtained and analyzed by your laboratory,” wrote the Los Angeles lab technician to the Beverly Hills Police Department, prompting the detectives’ trip to Spokane.

Spokane County Jail Cmdr. John McGrath said none of the paperwork filed at the Superior Court’s clerk office in the county courthouse made it into Merrifield’s jail file. Because no charges had been filed in the California case, the jail could not legally hold Merrifield if he posted the bond amount on his Spokane cases, McGrath said.

No warrant had been issued for Merrifield’s arrest in Spokane County on Thursday night. McGrath said they could not release Merrifield’s booking photo because he is not wanted by authorities here.

The alleged sexual assault victim said she returned home to find her assailant lying in wait. He punched her, but she took a fighting stance, as she had been trained in krav maga, a self-defense technique used by the Israeli military, and jiu-jitsu. She screamed for help, and the man – who she described as a 5-foot-11 white man – fondled her and left the apartment.

Merrifield was imprisoned from 2006 to 2012 in Washington for residential burglary and unlawful possession of a firearm, according to court records.

He was released from jail in June pending trial on five charges, including drug possession, theft and possession of a stolen motor vehicle. But he did not appear for court-scheduled appointments until his arrest a month later. He has been in custody of the jail since then. His next court appearance in Spokane County is scheduled for January.

Merrifield’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.