Charles Merritt (Chase Merritt)

Charles Ray Merritt was born in 1957 and became widely known by his nickname, "Chase." He lived for many years in Southern California and worked in construction and related trades. Merritt had a criminal history predating the McStay murders that included convictions for burglary and receiving stolen property, resulting in periods of incarceration.

By the late 2000s, Merritt was working with Joseph McStay, an entrepreneur who operated a business designing and selling decorative indoor and outdoor water fountains. Merritt constructed many of the fountains sold through Joseph's company, Earth Inspired Products. Their relationship was primarily commercial, although Merritt later described Joseph as a close friend.

The business relationship became increasingly strained by financial problems. Prosecutors later established that Merritt had a serious gambling habit and was experiencing significant financial pressure. Joseph had begun questioning payments and work associated with Merritt shortly before the McStay family disappeared. These financial circumstances would later become central to the prosecution's theory of motive.

Joseph McStay, 40, his wife Summer, 43, and their sons Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3, disappeared from their home in Fallbrook on February 4, 2010. Prosecutors ultimately argued that Merritt killed all four family members inside the residence using a sledgehammer or similar blunt instrument.

The family's sudden disappearance initially presented investigators with a mystery. Their two dogs remained at the house, food had been left out and there was no clear indication that they had prepared for an extended absence. Their Isuzu Trooper was discovered several days later near the Mexican border in San Ysidro. Surveillance footage showing a family resembling the McStays crossing into Mexico contributed to an early theory that they might have voluntarily left the United States.

According to the prosecution's reconstruction, however, the McStays were already dead. Their bodies had been transported approximately 100 miles north and buried in two shallow graves in the Mojave Desert near Victorville. Merritt continued his normal activities while investigators and relatives spent years searching for the missing family.

The McStay family members died from blunt-force trauma to their heads. Prosecutors argued that Merritt attacked them using a three-pound sledgehammer, killing the parents and both children. A rusted sledgehammer was later recovered from the burial area when the family's remains were discovered.

After the killings, the four bodies were transported from the Fallbrook area to the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County. They were divided between two shallow graves and buried along with personal items and other evidence. The remote desert location allowed the graves to remain undiscovered for more than three years.

Merritt's prosecution did not depend on eyewitness testimony or a confession. Instead, investigators developed a circumstantial case using cellphone records, financial transactions, DNA evidence, vehicle evidence and Merritt's activities following the family's disappearance.

The investigation initially concentrated on determining whether the McStays had voluntarily travelled to Mexico. Their abandoned vehicle near the border and surveillance footage believed to show a family crossing into Mexico complicated the investigation, and for years no bodies or definitive crime scene were known.

The case changed dramatically in November 2013 when an off-road motorcyclist discovered human remains in the desert north of Victorville. Investigators uncovered two shallow graves containing four sets of remains. Dental and forensic examinations identified them as Joseph, Summer, Gianni and Joseph Jr. McStay. Their deaths were determined to be homicides caused by blunt-force trauma.

The discovery shifted the investigation from a disappearance to a quadruple homicide. Detectives re-examined the family's business relationships, financial records, vehicles and communications. Merritt became a central suspect as investigators scrutinised his financial dealings with Joseph and his movements around the time of the murders.

Evidence showed that checks from Joseph's business account had been written or cashed after the family disappeared, with prosecutors alleging that Merritt had backdated checks to February 4. Investigators also used cellphone records to place Merritt's phone in areas relevant to the case, including near the desert burial region shortly after the family vanished. Merritt's DNA had also been recovered from the McStay family's vehicle.

On November 5, 2014, Merritt was arrested and subsequently charged with four counts of murder. Prosecutors alleged that he acted alone. Merritt pleaded not guilty and consistently denied killing the McStay family.

Merritt's trial began in San Bernardino County in January 2019, more than eight years after the McStays disappeared. Prosecutors argued that financial desperation provided the motive, presenting evidence that Merritt had been gambling heavily and was losing an important source of income as his business relationship with Joseph deteriorated.

The prosecution assembled its case from multiple strands of circumstantial evidence. Jurors heard about Merritt's cellphone activity, financial transactions involving Joseph's business accounts, his DNA in the family's vehicle and evidence connecting him with the area where the bodies were eventually discovered. Prosecutors maintained that Merritt killed the entire family to prevent Joseph from exposing financial wrongdoing and ending their business relationship.

Merritt's attorneys challenged the prosecution's timeline and argued that the circumstantial evidence did not establish that he committed the murders. The defense suggested alternative suspects and disputed the interpretation of cellphone, financial and forensic evidence. Merritt continued to maintain his innocence throughout the proceedings.

On June 10, 2019, after a trial lasting more than four months, the jury found Merritt guilty of four counts of first-degree murder. The convictions included the murders of Joseph McStay, Summer McStay, Gianni McStay and Joseph Jr. McStay.

The case then entered its penalty phase. On June 24, the jury recommended death for the murders of Summer and the two children and life without parole for Joseph's murder. On January 21, 2020, Superior Court Judge Michael A. Smith formally sentenced Merritt to death, upholding the jury's recommendation.

The McStay case attracted national attention long before Merritt was identified as the killer because the family's disappearance appeared inexplicable. The apparent border-crossing footage encouraged speculation that they had left voluntarily, while investigators and relatives pursued leads in both the United States and Mexico. The discovery of their graves in 2013 conclusively transformed what had become a well-known missing-family mystery into a murder investigation.

Merritt's prosecution was notable for the absence of a confession, eyewitness to the killings or a single piece of forensic evidence conclusively demonstrating how the murders unfolded. Prosecutors instead constructed a cumulative circumstantial case involving Merritt's financial problems, transactions associated with Joseph's business, cellphone activity, DNA and the location of the graves. The jury accepted that evidence after a lengthy trial and convicted him of all four murders.

Merritt has continued to maintain that he did not murder the McStay family. His death sentence placed the case within California's automatic capital appellate process. California has maintained a gubernatorial moratorium on executions since 2019, but the moratorium does not invalidate existing death sentences or prevent courts from imposing them.

Sources:

• San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department
• California court records
• Associated Press
• CBS News
• NBC 7 San Diego
• Los Angeles Times