Investigators believed that the family was tortured before they were killed. Merritts trial finally began on January 7, 2019 and on June 10, 2019, a San Bernardino County jury found Merritt guilty of murdering the McStay family. Sign up for PEOPLEs free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. [27], Prosecutors allege that Merritt had a gambling problem and killed the McStay family for financial gain. On February 4, 2010,Summer McStay, her husbandJoseph, and their young sonsGianni andJoseph Jr.disappeared from San Diego, California. A year later,Charles 'Chase' Merritt, who was a partner in Joseph's water-fountain business, was arrested for bludgeoning the married couple and their children to death inside their home in Fallbrook because he owed them $30,000. Otherwise, the family looked identical to the McStays. [10], Over the next several days, relatives of the McStays unsuccessfully tried to contact the family. [6] Joseph owned and operated Earth Inspired Products, a company that built decorative fountains, and Summer was a licensed real estate agent. [3] The trial began on January 7, 2019, in San Bernardino. Prosecutors believed that Charles Merritt had a gambling problem and killed the McStay family for financial gain. Merritt is documented as writing checks totaling $21,000 on McStays business account, after McStay went missing. Charles Merritt used that money for his gambling addiction at nearby casinos. Princess's dance partner Wayne Sleep reveals she would do his washing-up Do not sell or share my personal information. [20] Although it is possible for a U.S. citizen to enter Mexico without a passport, one is required to reenter the United States. Prosecutors contend greed is the motive for the murders. When you look at the totality of the picture, you just came right back to its Charles Merritt, Imes tellsAmerican Greed.. The defense now moves to exclude certain expected testimony and evidence from the prosecutions case in chief on the grounds that this evidence is not relevant, and that the onlypurposes of the expected evidence are to sensationalize the alleged crimes and inflame the passions of the jury against Mr. Merritt, according to the Nov. 20 motion. March 5, 2010 A lead in the case emerges when video released by deputies shows images of a group of people who might be the McStays walking together into Mexico through a border gate. Defense attorney Rajan Maline has continued to proclaimhis clients innocence, arguing there's no physical evidence linking Merritt to themurder scene. Additionally, a family friend was helping paint the house, and left with the intention of returning on Saturday, February 6, to finish the job. Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: McStay Family/ZUMA. Webmcstay family autopsy photos. In 2018, the trial was postponed again so that his current defense attorney could do more investigating, Merritt remained jailed without bail. Skip Ancestry navigation Main Menu Home [1][2] Their disappearance was widely reported by the national news media. Webdollar tree plastic candy jars with lids. Crime News is your destination for true crime stories from around the world, breaking crime news, and information about Oxygen's original true crime shows and documentaries. The tragic case will be featured in the Season 2 premiere of, Joseph McStay, 40, an entrepreneur who sold indoor water fountains, and his wife,Summer McStay, 43, and their sons, Gianni and Joseph Jr., move to Fallbrook, California, a community known as The Friendly Village.. Investigators rush to the scene and locatetwo graves containing multiple human remains in each. He conducted dozens of interviews on the case (traveling to Mexico, Belize, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic), followed leads, and reported sightings of the family. Upon his arrival, he noticed that Joseph's 1996 Isuzu Trooper was missing, but their dogs were in the backyard., Patrick noted that it was 'highly unusual for [the dogs] to be left out alone like that. Therefore, since the identities of the victims need not andcannot be confirmed by visual inspection or photograph, any photographs of the victims are not relevant to prove or refute a disputed fact.. They said that he wrote checks totaling more than $21,000 on Joseph's business account in the days after the family was killed and then went on a gambling spree at nearby casinos, where he lost thousands of dollars. Around the same date, fliers were distributed to aid in the search. ', Susan said they would stop in little towns that had just a gas station and a grocery store to post flyers., Patrick also searched for their son in Mexico and thought he had a lead when a family claimed to have seen the McStays at Walmart, but security footage confirmed it wasn't them., Inconclusive:After three years of searching, the San Diego Sheriff's Department investigators concluded in April 2013 that the McStay family had gone to Mexico voluntarily, Frustrating: The McStays friends and family insisted they would never go to Mexico with their children, but there was no other explanation, Heartbreaking: On November 11, 2013, an off-road motorcyclist came across the family's human remains in San Bernardino County's Mojave Desert, After three years of searching, the San Diego Sheriff's Department investigators concluded in April 2013 that the McStay family had gone to Mexico voluntarily., Seven months later, on November 11, 2013, an off-road motorcyclist came across human remains in San Bernardino County's Mojave Desert. Your email address will not be published. McGees law partner, Rajan Maline, is also representing Merritt in the case. How scared were they, Chase? WebProsecutors pushing for the death penalty for McStay family murder suspect Charles Chase Merritt can use one family photo of the victims during trial, a San Bernardino But hed also tell Kay during his television interview that he had definitely been the last person to see Joseph. The father's parents, Patrick McStay and Susan Blake, have opened up about the murders on the second season of the Oxygen true-crime series Killer Motive, which premieres on January 23., Mystery:Joseph McStay, 40, his wife, Summer, 43, and their sons Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3, vanished from their home in Fallbrook, California, on February 4, 2010, Tragedy: Joseph'sparents, Patrick McStay and Susan Blake, have opened up about the murders on the second season of the Oxygen true-crime series Killer Motive, In a preview clip from the episode about the McStay family, Patrick recalled speaking to his son in the morning on the day they disappeared.. In this Nov. 7, 2014, photo, Michael McStay is consoled by San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon as he reacts before talking to the media about his late brother's family at a news conference. Merritts trial has been delayed multiple times due to Merritt attempting to represent himself and repeatedly firing his attorneys, he has gone through five between November 2013 to February 2016. Because of the lack of furniture and the state of the home amidst renovations, it was difficult to determine whether or not there had been a struggle. Dad Broke into Ex's Home and Fatally Stabbed Their Children, 3 and 5, in Their Beds, Idaho Murders Timeline: Everything to Know About the Case, Phoenix Dad Kills Wife, Toddler Son and Twin Baby Daughters in Murder-Suicide: 'Complete Shock', Investigators Reveal How They Learned Chris Watts Was Lying and that He Killed Pregnant Wife, 2 Daughters, Fla. At one point, investigators wondered if the family had decided to start a new life in Mexico. California has not executed anyone on death row since 2006 as current Gov. The bodies of Joseph and Summer McStay and their sons, Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3, were found in a shallow grave in 2013, about 100 miles north of their suburban San Diego home. Cell phone records indicate that he drove home after the meeting, and he continued to make calls into the evening. Later that night, he received a phone call from animal control, which was planning to take the dogs because they had been left outside without food for over a week. This gave him a flexible schedule and the ability to work from home, so he could spend more time with his family. After the family of four was reported missing, the authorities discovered surveillance footage from the US-Mexico border in San Ysidro, California. District Attorneys Office spokesman Christopher Lee declined to comment Thursday, saying it would be inappropriate given the ongoing criminal case. In October 2009, Joseph McStay excitedly e-mailed a friend about the house he and his wife had purchased in the San Diego suburb of Fallbrook, Calif. Although a search of the house found no evidence of a struggle or foul play, there were indications of a hasty departure: a carton of eggs had been left on the counter, and two child-size bowls of popcorn sat on a sofa. In 2014, he completed a fellowship at Loyola Law School's Journalist Law School program. [14], The circumstances surrounding the family's disappearance and the lack of clues about their whereabouts triggered speculation by amateur sleuths. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. A man riding his dirt bike in the area discovered some of the remains and contacted police. So when the family seemingly disappeared four months later without telling any relatives, friends or business associates, and their car turned up four days later at the Mexican border, many people who knew them feared the worst. We just had to go over all kinds of money stuff, Merritt told detectives in an interview recording obtained by American Greed.. Although Merritt adamantly denied being at the location of the makeshift graves, To learn more about the case, tune into Monday's episode of. Cell phone records placed Merritt in the desert where the bodies were ultimately discovered just two days after the family disappeared. On Nov. 20, at a vigil where volunteers erected white crosses and released doves, Michael pondered aloud the same questions. Chase Merritt /edit However, a new discovery on border surveillance video changed the course of the investigation. Summer, meanwhile,spoke with her sister, whod recently had a baby. [15] Baker began following the case in 2013 after interviewing Michael McStay on his program. He found no signs of a break-in, except for a partially open window, which he used to get into the house. He started as a crime reporter and went on to cover a variety of beats including courts and the cities of Colton, Highland and Grand Terrace. Charles Chase Merritt, left, reacts after being found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder of the McStay family, in San Bernardino Superior Court in San Bernardino on June 10. On November 11, 2013, the remains of two adults and two children were recovered in the California desert. There was a couple bowls of I believe popcorn that it looked like the boys were eating, possibly watching TV. The sledge hammer is the likely murder weapon. He was a big part of my life and my familys life. Detectives testified during Merrittspreliminary hearingin June 2015 that Merritt was a gambling man who had written multiple checks totaling more than $21,000 on Joseph McStays QuickBooks account in the weeks after the McStay family was last seen on Feb. 4, 2010. [4] On June 10, 2019, a jury found Merritt guilty of murdering the McStay family. Merritt is documented as writing checks totaling $21,000 on McStays business account, after McStay went missing. Joseph's family confirmed that he had an unexplained illness and that Summer was possessive of her husband, but they called Merritt's suggestion that she was responsible for his illness unfounded. McGee argued that the use of family photos and/or videos in the case should only be relevant if they are used for identifying victims, otherwise they are irrelevant. Summer, meanwhile,spoke with her sister, whod recently had a baby. Were they victims of a crime? The missing persons flier for the McStay family. April 2, 2010 The FBI joins the search for the missing family. 'We went all the way down to Cabo because at first they said there were sightings, and then we just took the car and went north. In April 2013, the San Diego Sheriffs Department turned the case over to the FBI, which was more equipped to investigate cases that involve other countries. Prosecutors said he bludgeoned the family to death with a sledgehammer. Merritt told detectives that during their last lunch meeting, Joseph had given him physical copies of checks to pay for some of the projects they were working on. Investigators and the public also focused on Merritt, the last known person to have had contact with Joseph and the first to notice his disappearance. The entire case left investigators and loved ones completely puzzled. It did appear, however, as though the family left the home quickly. , was found on the steering wheel and gear shift of the McStay vehicle abandoned near the Mexico border. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. There were also incisions in her bra that lead investigators to believe it was cut off, the motion states. In 'Captive Audience', the Stayner Family Opens Up About Navigating an Impossible Reality in the Spotlight, Patrick McStay Has a Theory About Why His Family Was Murdered. The following year, authorities filed murder charges against Merritt, Josephs onetime business partner. Photos Of McStay Family Murder Suspect. CNN. February 8, 2010 The familys white 1996 Isuzu Trooper was found near San Ysidro, adjacent to the Mexico border. The man found a small human skull that appeared to belong to a child. How could you beat two precious little babies? Joseph owned a company that sold water foundations, he informed Charles Merritt that he owed him more than $42,000. Despite all the cellphone records and banking records of Merritt being tied to the murders of the family, he maintained his innocence throughout the trial. Investigators made a break in the investigation when a neighbors security camera caught the McStays car leaving their home on the evening of February 4. January 21, 2020Merritt, 62, was sentenced to life in prison for murdering Joseph McStay, 40. Summers passport was expired and investigators could not find any records that she had applied for a new one. Home U.K. That was when Charles Merritts story started falling apart and really gave us the motive, Hanke said. Sheriffs investigators arrested Charles Chase Merritt, 60, of Homeland, in November 2014. I would never have hurt him in any way. [7] Summer was born Virginia Lisa Aranda, and had also been known as Summer Martelli. stating that charles merritt has been executed is reprehensible. Investigators also say they found emails indicating the family had been interested in obtaining passports to travel to Mexico, according to the outlet. At their home in Fallbrook, California, investigators found no signs of forced entrance or violence. he was moved to death row on january 21, 2020, NOT executed. Credit: Find the McStay Family Facebook Page. Merritt was transferred to San Quentin State Prison until an execution date is scheduled.. Whether youre interested in researching and testing your ideas, saving and recalling your favourite analysis or accessing tools and strategies from leading Industry Educators, Beyond Charts+ is modern, powerful and easy to use charting software for private investors. How a Serial Killer Was Caught While 'Literally Trying to Clean His Van of Evidence', Phoenix Mother Wanted to End Marriage Before Husband Killed Her and Their 3 Children, Friends Say, a white extension cord wrapped around his neck. On February 19, California police notified Interpol to be on the lookout for the family. The comments below have not been moderated. Published on November 9, 2014 01:05 PM. After 5:47 p.m.Joseph and Summer ended all communications. Merritt not only had motive to carry out the grisly slayings, it seemed that he also had the opportunity. It gives us courage to know that theyre together and theyre in a better place, said Mike McStay, who attended the conference. Dental records confirm that the remains are those of Joseph and Summer McStay and other remains are believed to be those of their children, the San Bernardino Sheriffs Department announcedat a news conference. The McStay family of four was living a happy life, and had recently moved to a new house, which they were renovating and turning into their dream home. And they should be. Back in February of 2010 the McStay family disappeared, in Fallbrook California. In addition, neither of the children had passports. [2][7] The deaths were ruled a homicide and San Bernardino County authorities said they believed the family died of blunt force trauma inside their home, but declined to discuss specifics of the deaths or a motive. Entrance or violence, he completed a fellowship at Loyola Law School program year, authorities murder! Out the grisly slayings, it seemed that he owed him more than $ 42,000 husbandJoseph and... 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