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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Nearly three years after Laurie Merritt died from an intentionally set fire at her house, investigators have finally succeeded in opening the iPhone found next to her body and have extracted &#8220;relevant information,&#8221; her daughter said.</p><p>Kristin Merritt on Tuesday said the Luzerne County District Attorney&#8217;s Office notified the family of the break in the case.</p><p>&#8220;We got a letter on Saturday from the DA&#8217;s office saying that they had gotten into the phone,&#8221; Merritt said.</p><p>She provided a copy of the letter to her grandmother. It was from First Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce, who provided an update on the investigation.</p><p>&#8220;Additionally, we are pleased to report that we have obtained new equipment through our Luzerne County Drug Task Force which was able to extract relevant information from (Laurie&#8217;s) cell phone,&#8221; the letter stated. &#8220;We have not completed full analysis of this information; however, the most difficult hurdle has been overcome.&#8221;</p><p>Sanguedolce confirmed the letter. He identified the equipment as Cellebrite.</p><p>&#8220;The piece of equipment was actually able to open the phone,&#8221; Sanguedolce said.</p><p>The DA&#8217;s office had obtained three search warrants and a court order for iPhone manufacturer Apple to assist investigators by opening the passcode-locked smartphone.</p><p>But rather than continue its legal fight with Apple, the DA&#8217;s office took the route reportedly followed by the FBI in the San Bernardino, California, terrorism investigation. The FBI reportedly used equipment from Israeli-based Cellebrite to open the iPhone used by Syeed Farook. He and wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people in the Dec. 2, 2015, attack.</p><p>Sanguedolce&#8217;s letter arrived exactly a week before the third anniversary of the postal carrier&#8217;s death on April 15, 2014, and marked a significant development in the case that appeared to be at a standstill.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know how to take it,&#8221; Merritt said.</p><p>She and other family members suspected foul play from the start and have been pressing investigators for answers since firefighters found the 51-year-old woman unresponsive in an attic crawl space at her home on Wyoming Street in Wilkes-Barre. She was pronounced dead at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital from smoke inhalation, and her death was originally ruled an accident.</p><p>But a state police fire marshal later determined the fire was intentionally set, forcing the county coroner to reclassify the death as pending investigation.</p><p>The fire has since received additional attention.</p><p>&#8220;We have been repeatedly in contact with additional experts to provide further information on the fire and scene &#8230; .We are in the process of scheduling further meetings to resolve certain outstanding issues,&#8221; Sanguedolce said in the letter.</p><p>He said two arson experts from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have been involved in the investigation.</p><p><ins>For other local news stories, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/category/local" target="_blank">click here</a>.</ins></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Investigators recently opened the iPhone of Laurie Merritt, left, and extracted &#8220;relevant information&#8221; in her death investigation, giving some hope to her daughter Kristin, right, and other family members. Laurie died in an intentionally set fire at her house three years ago this coming weekend. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_merritt04.jpg</photo0><caption0>Investigators recently opened the iPhone of Laurie Merritt, left, and extracted &#8220;relevant information&#8221; in her death investigation, giving some hope to her daughter Kristin, right, and other family members. Laurie died in an intentionally set fire at her house three years ago this coming weekend. </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>

Investigators open iPhone in Merritt case, extract ‘relevant information’ in death of Wilkes-Barre woman