The McStay Family murders of Joseph, his wife, Summer, and their sons, Gianni and Joseph Jr., baffled the country over a decade ago. The four members of the California family went missing in February 2010. Three years later, an off-road motorcyclist discovered their skeletal remains in the Mojave Desert, as per NBC News.
Joseph McStay’s former business associate, Charles “Chase” Merritt, was convicted in the killings a decade later. Prosecutors alleged that Merritt bludgeoned them to death with a sledgehammer. They further claimed that he committed the murders after learning that McStay was cutting him out of his fountain business.
Merritt received a death sentence for his conviction on four counts of first-degree murder. He is currently serving time on death row at the San Quentin Prison in California.
McStay Family killer: How was Charles “Chase” Merritt linked to the murders?
According to Oxygen, Charles “Chase” Merritt, who had prior convictions, met the McStay Family through Joseph McStay’s fountain business. Merritt was the latter’s business associate and claimed to be his best friend. However, investigators linked him to the murders after he started displaying concerning behavior after the family’s strange disappearance on February 15, 2010. Merritt spoke of his missing friend in the past tense just two weeks after the family disappeared in an interview with detectives.
Sportskeeda stated that detectives found Merritt’s DNA inside the McStay family’s vehicle, dumped near the border. They also discovered fake and backdated company checks traced back to him. Other evidence showed that someone used McStay’s checking account right before and after the disappearances. This person wrote nine checks to either Merritt or the vendors he owed money to.
Oxygen’s report also mentioned that authorities found an email from Joseph McStay dated February 1, 2010. The email was sent only days before the family disappeared and stated that Merritt owed him nearly $43,000. Moreover, cell phone records placed the suspect in the desert, where the bodies were later discovered just two days after the victims disappeared.
A documentary special on ID titled Two Shallow Graves covered the McStay family murders last year. The three-part docuseries is now available to stream on Prime Video.
