Brian Mertz has been denied a petition for appeal of his 2012 conviction of first degree murder.
The New Jersey Supreme Court has denied a petition for an appeal by the man convicted in 2012 of the first degree murder of a woman in Gloucester County.
On May 26, 2002, the body of 22-year-old Clarksboro resident, Jennifer Whipkey was found in a wooded area behind a motel in West Deptford. Whipkey had been stabbed more than 60 times.
Six years later, in December 2008, Brian Mertz was charged in Whipkey's death. Mertz had lived yards from where Whipkey's body was found at the Westwood Motor Lodge, and DNA evidence linked him to semen found in her body.
In 2012, after a lengthy trial and several days of deliberation, Mertz was sentenced to a 50-year prison term. Mertz's defense attorney, however, said the day Mertz was sentenced that he would appeal the first-degree murder conviction.
Mertz's first appeal was centered around points from the initial trial, stating that the court should have interviewed a juror who said she regretted convicting Mertz, that the jury was not properly instructed in corroborating the defendant's testimony and that Assistant Prosecutor Michael Curwin was biased against Mertz.
The appeal was rejected and the court upheld both the conviction and the sentence.
Mertz loses appeal of 50-year sentencing
Mertz petitioned for a second appeal asking the N.J. Supreme Court to reconsider his conviction and sentencing. The petition was denied on Friday.
The court's denial follows the state Superior Court Appellate Division decision from December of 2015 affirming the conviction and sentence. The appellate judges also said the 50-year sentence given to Mertz for first-degree murder was based on the evidence presented and within the permissible range for the crime.
With the denial for a second appeal, Mertz will have to serve a total of 85 percent of his sentence, approximately 42 years, before he is eligible for parole.
Caitlyn Stulpin may be reached at cstulpin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitstulpin. Find NJ.com on Facebook.