Deadly San Mateo Stabbing Posted To Facebook, Man Arrested: Police

SAN MATEO, CA — San Mateo police believe a man arrested Wednesday was responsible for a deadly stabbing that was filmed and posted to Facebook.

In a news release Thursday, SMPD said a Nevada woman contacted the Nye County Sheriff's Office shortly before 4 p.m. Wednesday after she saw the video on her feed, providing the name and phone number of the person who posted it to authorities. Acting quickly, officials said Nye County investigators "pinged" the phone number, tracking it to the area of an apartment building on 37th Avenue in San Mateo.

Passing the information onto local authorities, San Mateo investigators deployed a large response to the area, trying to pin down an exact location in the large complex. Officers saturated the area and went door-to-door to locate the victim or suspect.

After nearly three hours of searching, officers made a connection to an apartment in the same complex on the 36th Avenue side, finding the victim dead inside. Police said the suspect was not at the scene when they arrived, but officers found him within two hours.

Detectives tracked the man to San Jose, where he was arrested without incident. Police identified the suspect Thursday as Mark Merchikoff, 39, of Pacifica. The investigation is ongoing, but police said Merchikoff had known the woman who was killed.

"While the motive for stabbing the victim is still under investigation, we do know Merchikoff mercilessly filmed the last moments of the victim's life and posted the video to Facebook, then fled the area," police wrote Thursday.

Investigators ask anyone with information or surveillance video that could help the case to contact detectives at 650-522-7660 or via the tip line at 650-522-7676.