Autopsy Photos. The ID series features new interviews with Merritt who, unsurprisingly, remains adamant that he is innocent as well as trial footage, interviews with legal teams and the McStays loved ones. That was when Charles Merritts story started falling apart and really gave us the motive, Hanke said. The authorities zeroed in on Chase after the remains were found and arrested him in the first week of November 2014. 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. Charles Merrit was found guilty of the murders in 2019. The discovery of the McStay family's remains in November 2013 brought an end to more than three years of speculation regarding what happened to them. Nicole Berte Murder: Where is Randy Lee Bode Now. Joseph and Summer McStay had two sons Gianni and Joseph Jr. He was joined by his defense team: three attorneys from the High Desert. 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. 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. Merritt is accused of killing his former business associate, Joseph McStay, McStay's wife Summer, and their two small children on Feb. 4, 2010. He found no signs of a break-in, except for a partially open window, which he used to get into the house. Investigators from the San Bernardino Sheriffs Department soon uncovered the bodies of all four McStay family membersincluding Joseph, Summer, 4-year-old Gianni and 3-year-old JosephJr.buried in two shallow graves in the harsh desert. But the killer remained a mystery until investigators uncovered a disturbing clue they said pointed them toward Joseph McStays close friend and business associate, Charles Chase Merritt. Charles Ray Merritt, 61, stands trial for the murder of a couple and their two sons in San Bernardino County, California. Selena autopsy photo. The memorial is located about 200 feet west of Quary road and requires visitors to leave their car at Quary Road and walk east to the actual location. Please logout and login again. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. They recognized that the children and Summer were the people in the video, but Josephs mother believed that if the man in the video were Joseph, his hair would have been much bushier. Josephs business partner, Chase, claimed to have met him for a lunch meeting on the afternoon of February 4, 2010. Publicly Merrittwho had several prior convictions on his recordclaimed to be Josephs best friend,once telling CNNs Randi Kay that although they began as work acquaintances, they quickly grew to be friends, playing paintball together andsharingdinnera few nights a week. At that time, no one knew what happened to the family. Suspicion had long fallen on Joseph McStays business partner, Chase Merritt, as he had been the last person to have contact with the family, and he also had a criminal record, albeit for small-time offenses. How To Paint Citadel Miniatures Download Pdf NEW! Nov. 17, 2013 -- The 2010 disappearance of the McStay family, whose skeletal remains were discovered in shallow graves in the California desert last week, led a former North Carolina radio host to . On Feb. 4, 2010, Joseph and Summer McStay, ages 40 and 43, and their two sons, Gianni, 4, and 3-year-old Joey Jr., vanished without a trace from their Fallbrook home. Tribune Broadcasting. The familys remains were later unearthed by sheriffs crime scene investigators and forensic anthropologists. Merritt would also make a bold claim about his last contact with Joseph. The video shows a male adult and a child walking in front of a female adult with another child. The entire case left investigators and loved ones completely puzzled. Buried in the Desert: Was a Family Friend Their Killer? 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. On Thursday, February 4, the last day that the McStay family was heard from, Joseph attended regular work meetings. The remains were identified as the McStay family's and were buried in two shallow graves. Investigators believe Summer was raped at the time as her pants were in the grave near her head, and her panties were in the pants as (if) they were pulled off together, according to the motion. The seven-episode Two Shallow Graves premieres Sunday on Investigation Discovery and will be available to stream on discovery+. San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Michael A. Smith ruled Monday afternoon that there is sufficient evidence for Merritt to stand trial. The details of Walker's death are equally lurid and disturbing. A motorcyclist found human remains in a desert near Victorville, California. While speaking to Merritt, she said. Charles Merritt, former business partner of Joseph McStay, has just been found guilty of killing the entire McStay family with a sledgehammer and burying their bodies in the desert. Who Killed The McStay Family? Randi Kaye discusses her investigation into the murder of the McStay family, including her interview with "Chase" Merritt GUILTY. 4:25. McStay Memorial Erected In . Two Shallow Graves will shed fresh insight into Merritt's disputed murder trial by gaining unprecedented access to both Merritt's defense and prosecution teams. Charles 'Chase' Merritt was convicted in June of killing his former business associate Joseph McStay, McStay's wife Summer and the couple's children The McStay family vanished from their San Diego . Merrit wasarrested a year after the McStay familysskeletal remainswere discovered in two shallow graves, west of the 15 Freeway and north of Stoddard Wells Road, near Victorville. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. Searches about travelling to Mexico were also uncovered on the familys computer, bolstering a theory that theyd gone on a trip. After a four-month trial, nine years after the McStay killings . Summer will be forever missed by her family and many friends. Eddie Bachman tells American Greed. That kind of cued into us as a red flag there because I dont know how any one person could be certain and say that he was the last person that saw his best friend alive if he wasnt in fact the last person who saw him alive.. McStay Family Murder Investigation: Search Warrants Unsealed, Reveal Details Of Fallbrook House. Prosecutors claim he killed business partner Joseph McStay, McStay's 43-year-old wife Summer, and the couple's sons--4 year-old Gianni and 3-year-old Joseph Jr. On November 7, 2014, police announced they had arrested Charles "Chase" Merritt, Joseph . Joseph Sr ran a successful waterfall business in suburban California, spending every inch of spare time with his raven-haired wife, Summer, and their two young sons, Gianni, four, and Joey Jr, three. 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. One of the most infamous murder cases in the Inland area will be a focus of the second season premiere of the Oxygen show "Killer Motive" Saturday, Jan. 23 at 6 p.m. Hes a scumbag;hes a creep;he doesnt deserve to walk the earth or take a breath, Patrick tellsAmerican Greed. He killed somebody that trusted in him and gave him a chance when a lot of other people knew he was a crook and then he kills my grandsons, brutally. Joseph McStay's business partner, Charles Chase Merritt, was eventually charged with the deaths of the McStay family after detectives found apparent evidence of desertion and, ultimately, foul play. Chase further stated that Joseph called him at around 8:28 pm on that evening. To learn more about the case, tune into Monday's episode of "American Greed" at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CNBC. There were also incisions in her bra that lead investigators to believe it was cut off, the motion states. He boasted it had a loft/game room & big yard for kids to go crazy, referring to their rambunctious preschoolers, Gianni and Joe Jr. Love it.. Visitation will be held on Sunday, March 5th 2023 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM at the Perry-McStay Funeral Home (2555 Pawtucket Ave, East Providence, RI 02914). Morbid Tourism does not recommend visiting the area after dark, as it can be dangerous at times. After he reported the family missing on 15 February, police discoverd the McStays vehicle had been towed from a parking lot near the border with Mexico on 8 February. It wasn't until January 2019 that his trial even started after it was revealed that he dismissed many lawyers to defend himself in court. 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. While there was little evidence and various theories floated around, nobody really precisely knew what happened to Joseph, his wife, and their two sons until years later. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Inside, he found a relatively normal scene. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department has yet to release a . 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. Even more troubling, a QuickBooks customer service representative told investigators he remembered an unsettling call from a man claiming to be Joseph McStay who wanted to completely delete his account and all information on the account, but Hanke said the phone used to call the customer service line had belonged to Merritt, not Joseph. I think its fair to say the show looks at other suspects, and its fair to say that, towards the end of the show, we will confront some of them.. With trial footage, and with getting access to Merrit and to the prosecution and to the defense attorneys, I think we were able to creat a much more intimate picture for an audience that gives you the whole story, Mr Fitzpatrick says. These bodies were soon confirmed as the McStay family. The missing persons flier for the McStay family. Two Shallow Graves on ID is examining the tragic murders of the McStay family, who were butchered by business associate Charles "Chase" Merritt, and buried in the desert near Victorville, California, in 2010. She was predeceased by : her parents, Manuel Sousa and Nicolina Sousa (Melo); and her siblings . With heavy hearts, we announce the death of Maria Carvalho (Providence, Rhode Island), who passed away on March 3, 2023. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. At the time, Joseph owned an online company named Earth Inspired Products that sold decorative water fountains. Lee Harvey Oswald autopsy photo. The investigation revealed that Chase was a gambling addict who owed Joseph about $42,000. Arrest in slaying of . Merritt used the money to fuel his gambling addiction at nearby casinos, in which he lost thousands of dollars. He continued to plead his innocence, and at his sentencing, he told the judge, I dont deserve this. When you look at the totality of the picture, you just came right back to its Charles Merritt, Imes tellsAmerican Greed.. The McStay family murders occurred on or about February 4, 2010, after the family disappeared from their home in Fallbrook, California, United States. Sheriffs investigators arrested Charles Chase Merritt, 60, of Homeland, in November 2014. Detectives said when they interviewed Merritt about the missing family, he referred to them in the past tense, saying Joseph McStay "was my best friend.". Around about February 4, 2010, the McStay family, Joseph, 40; his wife, Summer, 43; and their . In the end, Merritt was represented by a defense attorney . Case 8, Dorothy Scott January 30, 2015 / 2:32 PM / CBS News. However, there was raw food left out, which seemed to indicate the family left in a hurry or had the intention to come back soon after. The McStay Family Memorial is located in a very rural desert area directly north of the I-15 Stoddart Wells/Quary Rd exit. Charles "Chase" Merritt, who has been convicted of killing the 4-member McStay family of Fallbrook and burying their remains in the San Bernardino County desert back in 2010, carries papers to . 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.. I never settled on anybody. The case had been baffling from the start. Charles "Chase" Merritt was sentenced to death Tuesday for killing the McStay family of Fallbrook. Smiley Public Library program will focus on womens dress during the Civil War, BLU Education Foundation helps Black, Latino students prepare for careers, Dine 909: New restaurants coming to San Bernardino, Upland and Redlands, Plow the roads, mountain residents say, as San Bernardino County vows to do better, Snow collapses roof of Goodwin and Sons, Crestlines only grocery store, 55-hour closures on 210 Freeway in Redlands and San Bernardino postponed again, Obernolte: Newsom must declare state of emergency for San Bernardino Mountains, San Bernardino mountain residents frustrated after volunteer helicopter efforts are restricted, We are coming, San Bernardino County officials tell trapped mountain residents, Conditions for snowed-in Crestline mobile home park pretty bleak, Shake Shack sets date for Victoria Gardens grand opening, Monday, March 13, 3 apparent gas explosions in San Bernardino mountain homes worry local residents, As Adderall shortage continues, DEA plans to limit some telemedicine prescriptions, House where JonBenet Ramsey was found dead listed for sale for almost $7M, Columbia University permanently drops SAT, ACT admissions requirement, The Waterbed Doctor: California retailer lays claim to retro bed with nearly 40 years of service, sales, Felonious Florida podcast: Missing teenage girl leads to several cases of child sex trafficking, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information.
Are Ucl And Imperial As Prestigious As The Ivies?, Import Car Shows In California, North Royalton Wrestling, Articles M