GUILTY KS - Toby Rock, 37, murdered in Merriam motel room, 20 Jan 2012

MERRIAM, Kan. -- Merriam police said they are investigating the discovery of a body in a motel room as a homicide.

Officers said the body of a 37-year-old woman was found in a room at the Homestead Studio Suites in the 6400 block of Frontage Road on Friday morning.

"The cleaning personnel found the individual," said Merriam Police Chief Tim Burnett.

Read more: http://www.kmbc.com/news/30263573/detail.html#ixzz1k69lkKgU

MERRIAM, Kan. -- Merriam police Saturday identified the body found in a Merriam motel room Friday morning as 37-year-old Toby Rock.

Read more: http://www.kmbc.com/news/30269218/detail.html#ixzz1k8pDaESg

This is crazy-- I stayed at this motel for a night this past summer (not by choice). My best friend and I were going to a concert and it was close to the venue, so she wanted to crash there for the night. It is one of those extended stay type places. The rooms (at least ours) had a refrigerator, stove, a skillet, and some pots and pans. I would imagine a lot of construction workers, etc. stay there. The street that it's on runs parallel to a major highway. You could walk probably 50 feet and be on the highway.

I am your typical Websleuther who always scopes out her surroundings and I was completely creeped out at the proximity of this motel to the highway. I even thought to myself, "Someone could grab a person and be on the highway in a minute." I will be interested to see if this is random or not.

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Rock’s mother, Kathy Bowman of Topeka, said her daughter battled a meth addiction for quite some time but she did not know who might kill her daughter or why.
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Bowman said Rock had lived in Topeka and had worked in a factory. She has five children, ages 8 to 22.
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Police identify woman slain at Merriam motel (Kansas City Star)

http://fox4kc.com/2012/01/26/man-wanted-in-merriam-murder-arrested-charged/

Police arrested Jason Munjak, 36, Wednesday, Jan. 25. First-degree murder charges may be filed on Friday. Police continue to search for 24-year-old Gregory Ojeda.

Man charged in murder of mother of five in Merriam (joco913.com)

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....police have not publicly discussed a motive in the homicide. [The victim's mother, Kathy Bowman] said the room was rented by another woman and someone drove her daughter there and dropped her off the night before she was found dead.

“I think there is a lot more that is going to come out,” Bowman said. “We’re going to find out the truth — I’m praying for justice for Toby and justice for her kids.”
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more at link above

RIP Toby Marie Rock. Mother and dear daughter.

From May 2012:

http://www.kansascity.com/news/loca...tence-for-killing-woman-in-Merriam-motel.html

“I can’t imagine a case that shows the evil of methamphetamine more than this case,” Johnson County District Judge Peter Ruddick said Wednesday before sentencing Munjak to life in prison for killing the 37-year-old mother of five inside a Merriam motel. Munjak, 37, will have to serve 20 years before he can seek parole...

Now clear-headed, Munjak cannot explain why he thought Rock was a police informant when he killed her, said defense attorney Jason Billam. Munjak pleaded guilty in April to fatally shooting Rock at the Homestead Studio Suites in the 6400 block of E. Frontage Road...

Rock was not an informant with any police department, Assistant District Attorney Sarah Hill said Wednesday. “This truly was a senseless crime,” she said.

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