Merline Mayfield Weathersby was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas on February 4, 1970 to Frank and Jolene Mayfield. Shortly after her birth, the family moved to Mountain Home, Arkansas. Frank had gotten a job in construction and Jolene taught third grade in the local elementary school.

Merline grew up a bit of a tomboy. Her mother was often embarrassed when Merline would get completely dirty at church in the break between Sunday School and the worship service because she was climbing trees with the boys.

As Merline grew older, she began to settle down into being more of a lady. Frank and Jolene were both pleased with her newfound manners and lady-like behavior. However, they were dismayed at the sudden amount of attention Merline began receiving from the local boys. By her freshman year in high school, Merline was dating a senior linebacker on the football team. From that point on, Merline was very popular with the boys in Mountain Home High. However, although Merline was now dating and had left behind her tomboy ways, she still retained a bit of that fire and grit that enabled her to fight with the boys for so many years. Now, she just directed it at other girls. Anytime a girl talked to her boyfriend, Merline was the first to start fighting.

By her senior year, Merline refused to have anything to do with high school boys and began dating Lyle Weathersby, a man five years her senior who had just opened his own RV dealership in Mountain Home. Shortly after Merline graduated high school, the young couple had a pregnancy scare and decided to get married. Although it turned out to be a false alarm, the couple went ahead and got married around Christmastime after graduation.

The couple settled into married life with Merline working as a secretary at an engineering firm. In late 1989, the couple was thrilled to learn they truly were pregnant and their only son, Eddy, was born in May 1990. Over the years, Merline and Lyle's relationship was not easy. Merline caught Lyle cheating on several different occasions. It seemed that whenever Lyle went out for a beer, he always came home smelling of women, cigarettes and alcohol. Merline forbade him from going to bars anymore.

Unable to go out, Lyle began spending more and more time on the computer. He would surf the Internet for hours. At first, Merline was pleased with her husband's new interest. She thought he might translate that interest in computers into something that would help his business grow even more. She was shocked to find that he had been spending all those hours visiting hardcore porn sites and chat rooms. As soon as she found out, she insisted that Lyle move out of the family home. But in less than a year, Lyle convinced her that she was the only one he loved and she let him move back in.

Things were better between Merline and Lyle for a while, but Merline still checked the computer's history directory to keep track of what sites Lyle visited. When she started seeing signs he was visiting porn sites again, Merline insisted that they go to marriage counseling and Lyle ultimately agreed. Even though they were getting counseling, Merline still kept an eye on Lyle's internet activity and eventually managed to get his email password. She found that Lyle had been talking to women about meeting and having an affair. One particular woman was supposed to meet Lyle in Tunica, Mississippi for a tryst over a weekend when Lyle had said he was planning to go hunting. Merline sent the woman an email telling her to stay away from Lyle and she started biding her time for the best opportunity to confront her husband.