Benway Murder Accessory Free, Sans Supervision

Cody Merritt, left, heads to court for sentencing May 31, 2002, at the Kootenai County Courthouse. The teen was present when his father, David “Coon” Merritt, killed Carissa Benway, a teenage runaway. /Spokesman-Review.

Two months after the man who helped murder her daughter was released from prison, Bonnie Heilander said she now worries he may return to Coeur d’Alene and come after her. Cody Merritt, 23, was released from the Idaho State Correctional Institute near Boise on Jan. 2 after completing a five-year sentence for his role in the 2000 rape, murder and decapitation of 14-year-old Carissa Benway. Kootenai County District Court last month denied Heilander’s request for a protection order against Merritt. Story here .

Bonnie Heilander: “I can’t even get a protection order against him because I haven’t had sex with him, and I’m not related to him. He only killed my daughter.”

Order dismissing Bonnie Heilander’s request for protection order here .

Question: Is Cody Merritt’s release another indication the system is broken? Or does he deserve to go free because he’s paid his debt to society?