Greed Led to McStay Family's Killing, Prosecutors Tell Jurors
Jurors heard closing arguments in the five-month trial focused on the disappearance and killing of the Fallbrook family
By Artie Ojeda and R. Stickney ••
Closing arguments were presented in the trial of the man accused of killing the McStay family. NBC 7’s Artie Ojeda has more.
What to Know
The McStay family of Fallbrook were last heard from or seen on Feb. 4, 2010.
On Feb. 15, the family was reported missing to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
Homicide investigators search the family's home on Avocado Vista Lane and found no sign of a struggle.
With the sound of a sledgehammer whacked onto a courtroom table, the prosecutor in the McStay family murder trial told jurors the killing of the defendant's former business partner and his family was intentional and motivated by greed.
“It was blow, after blow, after blow to a child’s skull. A 3 year old and a 4 year old,” San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney Britt Imes said. “That’s an intentional killing.”
Deputy District Attorney Britt Imes talks to jurors as he wraps up the case in closing arguments on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. Joseph, Summer, Joseph, Jr. and Gianni McStay were found buried in a shallow grave in the desert in San Bernardino County.
Jurors are hearing closing arguments in the five-month trial focused on the disappearance and killing of the Fallbrook family.
Charles Merritt, now 62, is charged with killing Joseph and Summer McStay along with their 3- and 4-year-old sons. The family's disappearance in 2010 perplexed investigators for years.
San Bernardino Deputy District Attorney Britt Imes plays recordings of a police interview with defendant Charles “Chase” Merritt who is accused of killing the McStay family of Fallbrook, California. In the interview, Merritt uses the past tense when talking about Joseph McStay, Summer McStay, Joe McStay Jr., and Gianni McStay.
Joseph McStay was running a water features company that designed waterfalls and other projects that included custom installs performed by the defendant.
Merritt was being sidelined in the business before the family’s disappearance, prosecutors said. Then, three days before the family vanished, he received an email from Joseph McStay saying he owed the company thousands of dollars.
After that, as of Feb. 4, 2010, there was no phone activity, internet, email, bank, credit card activity from the family.
Security camera video from a neighbor was entered into evidence. Prosecutors said the video showed a passing vehicle which a prosecution witness used 3D animation to enhance and show that vehicle was Merritt's truck.
It wasn't until November 2013 that the family was found dead, buried more than 100 miles away in a remote area of San Bernardino County, along with a 3-pound sledgehammer and a child's pants and diaper.
Summer McStay was found with a broken jaw. Joseph and his sons were found with fractured skulls.
Merritt was arrested the following year.
Imes told jurors there can be a murder case without answering where, when and how someone was killed.
The defendant forged and cashed checks after the McStays disappeared and he owed thousands of dollars in overpayments from the company as stated in an email sent just days before the family disappeared, the prosecutor said.
"He had a motive to erase the debt," Imes said.
Shutterstock
Recent images of the family from the McStay family website.
NBC 7
Charles Merritt appears in a San Bernardino County courtroom to hear closing arguments in his case on May 28, 2019.
Getty Images
Three days before the family vanished, the defendant received an email stating he owed thousands of dollars to the company run by Joseph McStay.
Getty Images
On Nov. 19, 2013, family, friends and strangers gathered in the desert in Victorville for a memorial service for the McStay family. Four crosses were planted at the burial site where the remains of the McStay family were discovered earlier this month. The Fallbrook-based family had been missing since February 2010.
Lidia Leyva
Prosecutors showed jurors images of a baby's bath towel in a McStay family photo on the right. The remnants of the baby's hooded bathtowel were found in the grave.
Getty Images
Prosecutors showed jurors a paintbrush held by one of the McStay children on the left. The same paintbrush was found with a spoon and another tool inside a backpack in the grave.
aniuska arias
The McStay family in happier times - before their February 2010 disappearance that has stumped people across the country.
Getty Images
The missing poster featuring the Fallbrook family last seen in February 2010.
Renae Patterson
The remains of four people were discovered on November 11, 2013, in a remote desert area of Victorville, Calif. Officials later confirmed the remaions were those of McStay family.
AP
San Bernardino County Sheriff Edward J. McMahon, left, looks on as Michael McStay speaks in news conference at San Bernardino County Sheriff�s Department Head Quarter on Friday, Nov. 15, 2013, in San Bernadino, Calif. McMahon confirmed that 40-year-old Joseph McStay and his 43-year-old wife, Summer, were found in shallow graves in the Mojave Desert this week. The couple and their two sons disappeared in February 2010. McStay was a brother of one of the victims. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
NBC 7 San Diego
San Bernardino officials held a press conference on November 15, 2013, to announce that the remains found earlier in the week in a remote desert area of Victorville, Calif., were those of the McStay family.
AP
Susan McStay, mother of Joseph McStay, left, and friend of victims' family, Emily, whose last name was not given, listen during a news conference at the San Bernardino County Sheriff�s Department Headquarters on Friday, Nov. 15, 2013, in San Bernardino, Calif. San Bernardino County Sheriff Edward J. McMahon confirmed Joseph McStay and his 43-year-old wife, Summer, were found in shallow graves in the Mojave Desert this week. The couple and their two sons disappeared in February 2010.(AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Getty Images
The remains of four people were discovered on November 11, 2013, in a remote desert area of Victorville, Calif. Officials later confirmed the remaions were those of McStay family.
Getty Images
The remains of four people were discovered on November 11, 2013, in a remote desert area of Victorville, Calif. Officials later confirmed the remaions were those of McStay family.
An image of Summer McStay courtesy of the family's website.
Facebook / LVK
An image of Joseph McStay courtesy of the family's website.
Getty Images
A video captured a group of people crossing the border into Mexico February 8. Relatives doubt this shows the McStays but investigators say the family may have voluntarily left the country and headed into Mexico.
Getty Images
Gianni McStay and Joseph McStay Jr.were last seen on February 4, 2010. They may be in the company of Summer McStay and Joseph McStay Sr. Joseph Jr. has a birthmark on his forehead. Joseph Sr. has tattoos on both of his shoulders. Summer may use the alias date of birth January 1, 1978. If you have any information contact 1 800-THE-LOST.
Telemundo
Joseph and Summer McStay.
Telemundo
LVK / Telemundo
adolfo jimenez
LVK / Telemundo
LVK / Telemundo
The children seen with their father.
For the first time, relatives take the media inside the McStay's house
Inside the McStay home.
Merritt's defense countered with accusations that prosecutors lied in closing arguements. His attorney said Merritt left multiple messages with McStay about their business accounts.
The case rattled Southern California residents for years before the family's remains were discovered in shallow graves in the desert.
Alerted by relatives of the Fallbrook family, investigators began looking into their whereabouts and discovered the family’s SUV had been towed from a parking lot in San Ysidro.
Surveillance footage in the area showed who officials believed to be the McStays walking into Mexico.
Merritt pleaded not guilty to the charges. Once his defense attorneys finish their closing statements, prosecutors will have a chance to give a rebuttal.
If convicted, Merritt could face the death penalty.
