True Crime Collection

The McStay Family Murder

In 2010, Joseph McStay and his wife Summer lived in Fallbrook, California, with their sons Gianni who was 4 years old and Joseph Jr. who was 3 years old. Joseph owned a company that built decorative fountains, and Summer was a licensed real estate agent.

On February 4th, 2010, at 7:47pm, a neighbour's surveillance system captured the bottom of a vehicle, thought at the time to be the McStay family's 1996 Isuzu Trooper. In the recording, the vehicles occupants couldn't be seen. At 8:28pm, a call was made from Joseph McStay's phone to his business associate, Chase Merritt, which went to voicemail. Joseph's phone pinged a tower in Fallbrook.

Over the next several days, family relatives of the McStay's tried to contact them but were unsuccessful. On February 13th, Joseph's brother Michael traveled to the McStay residence and, upon finding an open window in back, climbed  in and gained entry to the home. Michael McStay did not find any of the family at home, and their two dogs were in the backyard. On February 15th, Michael phoned the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and reported that his brother and his family were missing. Officers arrived at the home and found no evidence of a struggle or foul play, there were indications of a hasty departure as a carton of eggs had been left on the counter and two child-size bowls of popcorn sat on a sofa.
During the investigation, the police learned that around 11:00pm on February 8th, the family's Trooper had been towed from a strip mall parking lot in San Ysidro, San Diego, near the Mexican border. It was believed to have been parked there between 5:30 and 7:00 that evening. The car's location from February 4th to February 8th remains unknown.

On November 11th, 2013, a motorcyclist found four sets of human remains buried in two shallow graves in the desert near Victorville, California. Two days later, two sets of remains were officially identified as those of Joseph and Summer McStay. The deaths were ruled as homicides and San Bernardino County authorities said they believed the family died of blunt force trauma inside their home, but declined to discuss specifics of the deaths or a motive.
Days after the discovery of the bodies, Patrick McStay stated the San Diego Sheriff's Department investigation was faulty and filed formal complaints.

After their disappearance, it was speculated that the McStays left voluntarily, since investigators found searches on the family's computers for, "What documents do children need for traveling to Mexico?" And Spanish language lessons. Because their car was found so close to the Mexican border, police reviewed surveillance footage of the pedestrian gate into Mexico. Video recorded the evening of February 8th, released on March 5th, showed a family of four resembling the McStays crossing the border. On February 19th, 2010, California police notified Interpol to be on the lookout for the family. In April 2013, the San Diego Sheriff's Department announced that they believed that the McStays travelled to Mexico voluntarily.

Unconfirmed sightings of the family were reported in Mexico and elsewhere, perpetuating hopes that they were safe and left voluntarily. Relatives of the McStays doubted that they would travel to Mexico, saying that Joseph and Summer avoided the country because of the safety threat posed by recent drug wars. Other people who didn't agree with the theory noted that the McStays had more than $100,000 in bank accounts, with no withdrawal of funds in preparation for a trip, and their accounts were untouched after their disappearance. Summer's sister stated that her passport was expired. Although it is possible for a U.S. citizen to enter Mexico without a passport, one is required to reenter the U.S.

Investigators and the public focused on McStay's business partner, Charles "Chase" Merritt, who was the last known person to have had contact with Joseph McStay, and the first to notice his disappearance. According to state records, Charles had felony convictions for burglary and receiving stolen property. His most recent felony conviction, in 2001, was for the theft of $32,000 worth of welding and drilling equipment from San Gabriel Valley Ornamental Iron Works in Monrovia, California. Someone who knew Charles told a San Diego reporter, "I think police should look at him and anyone associated with him."

In 2013, Charles acknowledged he had spent more than an hour with Joseph the day the McStay family went missing. Charles, who reportedly was the last person Joseph called from his cell phone, also said that he had passed a polygraph test and did not know anything that could help solve the mystery of the family's disappearance.

In 2014, Charles said that he might write a book about the family, alleging that Summer had anger issues and that Joseph had been ill for some time with a mysterious aliment. Joseph's family confirmed that he had an unexplained illness and the Summer was possessive of her husband, but they called Charles' suggestion that she was responsible for his illness unfounded. Patrick McStay said, "I truly believe she loved my son."

On November 5th, 2014, detectives from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department arrested Charles in connection with the deaths of the McStay family after discovering that his DNA had been recovered from their car. His arrest was announced on November 7th, 2014. Charles was charged with four counts of murder, and the district attorney sought the death penalty. In July 2015, Charles' defence attorney filed a request to have the case dismissed because of the wording used by the prosecution when the charges were filed.

According to arrest warrant affidavits filed in the case, autopsies concluded that all four victims had been beaten to death with a blunt object, and investigators believe the murder weapon was a 3-pound sledgehammer, which was found in the grave containing the remains of Summer and her son. Investigators testified they believed the victims were tortured before they were killed.

Prosecutors allege that Charles had a gambling problem, and killed the family for financial gain. They said that he wrote checks totalling more than $21,000 on Joseph's business account in the days after the family were killed, and then went on a gambling spree at nearby casinos, where he lost thousands of dollars. Charles' trial was delayed as he had repeatedly fired his attorneys or attempted to represent himself. As of February 2016, he had gone through five attorneys.

In January 2018, a trial-setting conference was scheduled for February 23rd. Charles' attorney filed a motion in San Bernardino Superior Court on April 7th, 2018, arguing that Joseph's business and accounting records were hearsay evidence and therefore inadmissible. On May 4th, the case was scheduled to go to trial in July 2018. The trial finally began on January 7th, 2019, in a San Bernardino court, with both sides making opening statements.

On June 10th, 2019, a San Bernardino County jury found Charles guilty of murdering the McStay family. On June 24th, the jury recommended that Charles be sentenced to death. The court upheld the jury's recommendation, and Charles was sentenced to death on January 21st, 2020.