A day before he was scheduled to take the stand in his own defense, Michael Trammell pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for the June 2004 strangulation of Lisa Merola. Trammell, a 34-year-old father of three, will serve 22 years...
Prosecutors told jurors that Merola and her boyfriend hooked up with the Trammells while both were staying at a Boynton Beach motel in June 2004. The couples agreed to get together for sex, but Merola and her boyfriend abruptly left when Trammell, who was morbidly obese at the time, repulsed Merola.
Merola disappeared the following morning. Her body was found days later in Gulfstream Park near Boynton Beach.