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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; After three search warrants and a court order all failed, Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis is still looking to take another bite out of Apple, attempting to force the California-based tech giant to open an iPhone at the center of a death investigation.</p><p>Apple has not budged when pushed legally to assist with opening the <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/546610/apple-refuses-das-request-to-unlock-laurie-merritts-iphone" target="_blank">passcode-locked smartphone found along side Laurie Merritt</a>, who died more than two years ago in an intentionally set fire at her Wilkes-Barre home. Despite the legal delays, Merritt&#8217;s iPhone is still not considered forbidden fruit by investigators.</p><p>&#8220;We are still having conversations with Apple about opening the phone,&#8221; Salavantis said. &#8220;We don&#8217;t know where we&#8217;re going to end up with our conversations with them.&#8221;</p><p>Investigators unsuccessfully tried to open the iPhone 5C themselves, before turning to Apple in their attempts to determine if the device contains evidence that might lead them to file charges in Merritt&#8217;s death on April 14, 2014. Officials said Merritt died of smoke inhalation from a fire set in an attic crawl space of her Wyoming Street home.</p><p>Initially, the 51-year-old postal worker&#8217;s death was ruled accidental. It was changed to pending an investigation after a state police fire marshal concluded the fire had been intentionally set.</p><p>On the second anniversary of her death, Merritt&#8217;s family, friends and co-workers walked along the route she covered delivering mail in the city. Her family members have been critical of the investigation, and have said they suspect foul play.</p><p>The local case has similarities to the FBI&#8217;s legal fight with Apple regarding the iPhone used by Syeed Farook, who, along with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, attacked and killed 14 in San Bernardino, California last December. The FBI abandoned that pursuit when it found an alternate way to open the phone.</p><p>But in the California case, the iPhone belonged to Farook&#8217;s employer, San Bernardino County, and was a different model than Merritt&#8217;s. Salavantis has pointed out the phone here belongs to the victim, and has said no extraordinary technological steps need to be taken by the company to open it.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Investigators are still in touch with Apple to unlock the iPhone of Laurie Merritt, left, who died in an intentionally set fire the night of April 14, 2014 at their Wyoming Street home in Wilkes-Barre. This photo of Merritt and her daughter Kristin, right, hangs in the house. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/web1_merritt04.jpg</photo0><caption0>Investigators are still in touch with Apple to unlock the iPhone of Laurie Merritt, left, who died in an intentionally set fire the night of April 14, 2014 at their Wyoming Street home in Wilkes-Barre. This photo of Merritt and her daughter Kristin, right, hangs in the house. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott</p></shirttailMeta></div>

DA still pushing Apple to open phone in Laurie Merritt death investigation