NASHVILLE, Tenn. — "Guess you been better, huh?" a Nashville judge asked Richard Merritt, the disgraced attorney accused of skipping out on a Cobb County jail sentence, killing his own mother and then going on the run for nearly eight months, in a court hearing Wednesday.
"Yes, ma'am," he answered.
Merritt said in that brief court appearance he would sign extradition waivers and return to Georgia. Once he's back, Merritt faces his original 15-year sentence, another potential 15 years for violating the terms of his parole and whatever else comes from murder charges he now faces in the alleged stabbing death of his mother Shirley Merritt.
Merritt was captured by U.S. Marshals this week after a nationwide manhunt, 11Alive's Joe Henke reported, following a chance break in the search thanks to a call about a suspicious person near Vanderbilt University that wasn't even him.
11Alive's Hope Ford reported the disgraced lawyer and murder suspect took on a new persona, got a job and lived a double life just 250 miles from metro Atlanta during his months on the run.
RELATED: A lawyer accused of killing his mom was on the run for 7+ months. Here's how he was caught.
Earlier this year Merritt was originally convicted on theft and elder exploitation charges, in a case where he was found guilty of settling malpractice suits for clients without their knowledge and pocketing the money.
He was sentenced to 15 years in jail in that case and 15 more on probation, but was given release in order to get his affairs in order before he was to report on Feb. 1 to begin serving his time.
Instead, he is accused of cutting his ankle monitor, going to his mother's DeKalb County house and stabbing her to death.
The Cobb County District Attorney tells 11Alive Merritt could now serve the entire 30 years behind bars, however it's still unknown how the murder charges might affect that.
MORE HEADLINES