Man to face trial in slayings of McStay familyCBSNews.com
June 16, 2015SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - A California man authorities say was linked through cellphone records to the shallow desert graves where the remains of his business associate and the associate's wife and two sons were found has been ordered to stand trial in the family's slayings.
During a preliminary hearing Monday, investigators testified that Charles "Chase" Merritt's cellphone could be placed near the remote gravesites some 100 miles from the family's San Diego County home and also to a call a few days later to try to transfer and close out his then-missing business associate's online bookkeeping account.
But questions remain about what prosecutors believe happened the day Joseph McStay and his family vanished from their two-story home in Fallbrook in February 2010. Or how Merritt's attorneys, who called no witnesses at Monday's hearing, plans to defend him at trial.
The 58-year-old Merritt has pleaded not guilty. His attorneys say they hope for a speedy trial to resolve the case. Prosecutors have not said whether they will pursue the death penalty.
San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Michael A. Smith ordered Merritt to face trial following Monday's hearing. He said a key piece of evidence influencing his decision was the discovery of the defendant's DNA on the steering wheel and gearshift of McStay's Isuzu trooper, which was impounded near the Mexican border a few days after the family disappeared.
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More than three years after the family disappeared, the remains of McStay, 40; his wife, Summer, 43; 4-year-old son Gianni and 3-year-old Joseph Jr. were found in the San Bernardino County gravesites. Also recovered were a rusty, three-pound sledgehammer and a child's pants and diaper.
The elder McStay's remains had an electric cord tied around the neck and was wrapped in a woven blanket.
All four were found to have been killed by blunt force trauma to the head, with Gianni suffering at least seven blows, San Bernardino County sheriff's Detective Edward Bachman testified.
Detectives questioned Merritt two days after a missing persons report was filed, and it was then that it was noticed he referred to the family in the past tense.
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