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Mertz, of Centerville, was released on his own recognizance and forbidden from leaving the state, according to court documents.
He’s charged with gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.
Mertz is the only person charged in connection to the death of Cora Fraley Grubb of Kettering.
Police found her body Oct. 28 while acting on a tip that there could be a dead body in a Hedges Street home.
Investigators aren’t sure whether she was killed in the home or if her body was moved there.
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Mertz admitted moving her body and helping wrap it in plastic and duct tape before it was placed in a trash bag, according to court documents.
When police found her body, it was severely decomposed.
Investigators believe Erik Evans killed her. But when they tried to arrest him Oct. 29, he shot and killed himself inside a car at a gas station parking lot.
Misty Alexander, who informally adopted Grubb nine years ago, spoke to News Center 7’s Mike Campbell days after Grubb’s body was found.
“A lot of people took advantage of her kindness and I think that’s what happened,” she said. “She found a monster this time.”
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Alexander is outraged that no one is currently in connection in Grubb’s death.
She said that Mertz “doesn’t deserve freedom. My Cora is dead and it won’t bring her back, but she deserves justice for what the men did to her.”