Convicted cop killer Merle Unger released from prison, state's attorney confirms

CUMBERLAND, Md. — After many escapes from custody and several court bids for freedom, a man first convicted in 1976 of killing an off-duty Hagerstown police officer was released Wednesday, according to Washington County State's Attorney Gina Cirincion.

Cirincion confirmed Thursday morning that Merle Unger, convicted of killing Hagerstown Police Officer Donald Ralph “Barney” Kline, had been released.

"We learned this morning that Mr. Unger was released last evening," she said. "We had no advance notices of this. Obviously this is a defendant who should have spent the rest of his life in prison for the murder of Officer Kline."

Unger had been serving his sentence in maximum security at North Branch Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Md., according to previous Herald-Mail reports.

Cirincion said the state's attorney's office was "disappointed" that Unger was released, and that her office would "certainly" look into why she was not notified. "But at this point, we don't have any explanation."

Cirincion had argued before Talbot County Circuit Court Judge Broughton M. Earnest, who heard Unger's petition for sentence modification in June, that the 27 years Unger had actually served "is not justice for Officer Kline or for this community."

Unger apologized to Kline's family during that hearing, saying he didn't realize Kline was a police officer and that he reacted out of desperation and fear.

"I thought he was trying to kill me," he said. "I'm doing everything I can to make amends for it."

Unger, 73, was originally sentenced to life plus 40 years after being convicted Dec. 2, 1976, according to Herald-Mail files. He received a new trial in 2013, was convicted again, and given a life sentence.

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According to court filings, a forensic psychiatrist who interviewed him before his sentencing in 2013 found him to be a low risk for re-offending or engaging in violent behavior.

Kline was shot Dec. 13, 1975, while trying to stop an armed robbery at Kim's Korner Store in Hagerstown while off duty.

He chased Unger into an alley, where the two exchanged gunfire. Unger was found in the basement of a nearby house, bleeding from a gunshot wound, according to Herald-Mail files. Unger’s murder case was transferred because of pre-trial publicity to Talbot County Circuit Court.

'Extremely, extremely disappointed'

Robert Voytko, a retired Hagerstown Police Department Captain and now president of the Fraternal Order of Police Thomas Pangborn Lodge No. 88, was on duty the night Kline was killed, and responded. And that's all he wants to say about the incident itself.

But he had plenty to say about Unger's release.

"Extremely, extremely disappointed. And I can't get over the fact that the 13th December 1975, he murdered Donnie Kline," he said. "And the family … the sons and daughters, and now the grandchildren, have had to go through all these Christmases without a father or grandfather … year after year since 1975. And now they have this thrown on them days before Christmas. I'm having a very hard time fathoming the feeling these people are going to have regarding this and the disappointment that I have.

"It's something that at Christmastime, it becomes fresh in your mind. And you talk about it and then when they have appeal after appeal, it just refreshes everything in your mind," Voytko said. "And it's doubly so for the family. That's who I really, really feel bad for — the family."

A long criminal record and multiple escapes

Unger has escaped custody at least eight times over the years, and his criminal record goes back to 1966.

In an April 17, 2020, filing opposing Unger’s motion for an expedited hearing on his sentence-modification request, former Deputy State’s Attorney Joseph Michael noted that Unger’s record of offenses in Pennsylvania included prison breach, attempted arson, theft and escape.

The document lists Unger's two escapes from Maryland prisons following Kline’s murder and charges while he was on the lam in Florida, including grand theft, possession of a firearm by a felon, aggravated assault on a police officer and armed burglary of a business.

Cirincion said Thursday morning that she had expected a ruling from Earnest within 30 days, and that she anticipated a likelihood Unger would be released.

"He sought a modification of sentence based on his age and also what he claims he's accomplished while sitting in prison; claims that he has been a beneficial role model for other prisoners, which the state disputes," she said.

Cirinicion said the state has no further recourse against Unger, unless he violates probation. She said that during a hearing last week on Unger's petition, Earnest had been considering five years' supervised probation if he released Unger.

"Since that has happened, we are hopeful that is still the condition — that he is on five years supervised probation.

"We have fought this decision, argued against this decision, and we are very, very disappointed," Cirincion said.

"There's a number of us around that were working that night and it just keeps refreshing for us what happened," Voytko said. "And I still go back to the family; it's something that they've been living with for a lot of years, and it's gonna continue that way, since this came about, for the rest of their lives."

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Convicted cop killer Merle Unger released from prison Wednesday