Joseph McStay was a hardworking man, well-known for running a successful decorative fountain business in Fallbrook, California. He shared a beautiful life with his wife, Summer, and their two young boys, Gianni and Joseph Jr., in their newly settled home. On February 4, 2010, Joseph McStay made a phone call to his father, Patrick. During the conversation, he mentioned being late for a business lunch, giving no indication that anything was out of the ordinary. This call was the last known communication from him, marking the beginning of a disturbing mystery that no one could have predicted.
As days passed without further contact from Joseph or Summer, family members became increasingly anxious. Patrick, particularly close to his son, sensed something was wrong. The lack of communication was unusual. Although other family members tried to remain calm, assuming Joseph McStay was simply busy, Patrick’s instincts told him otherwise. He eventually asked his other son, Michael, to check on the house, hoping to confirm that everything was fine.
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McStay Family
Summer McStay, dedicated to her family, had recently been in contact with her sister, who had just given birth. She explained to her sister that she was busy with the house and taking care of the children. Life seemed normal, but after that day, her voice too went silent. Her absence, combined with Joseph McStay’s lack of communication, worried their relatives. Even though some of them thought it was simply the chaos of family life with two young kids, the days of silence were troubling.
Patrick’s growing concern led to his insistence that Michael visit the family’s house. Michael, at first, didn’t believe anything was wrong and thought they’d just gone on a trip. However, when he arrived at the house, he noticed that while their car was gone, the family’s two dogs had been left behind without care. Something wasn’t right. He managed to get inside through a window, and once inside, the scene was unsettling. Spoiled food was left in the kitchen, popcorn was strewn about the living room, and the overall sense was that the family had left in a rush.
Gianni McStay, four years old at the time, was Joseph McStay and Summer’s older son. The carefree life of a child in a loving family suddenly took a dark and unexpected turn. Gianni and his younger brother, Joseph Jr., had been part of this happy family routine. On the surface, there was no reason to think anything was wrong. However, their sudden disappearance without a trace led to growing suspicion.
Initially, some speculated that the family might have decided to leave voluntarily. Further fuel was added to this theory when Summer’s internet history revealed searches related to traveling to Mexico. On February 8, just days after the family was last heard from, their car was found abandoned near the Mexico border. Surveillance footage showed a family resembling the McStays crossing the border on foot, but the video quality was too poor to confirm their identities.
This discovery led some to believe that the family had willingly fled to Mexico, but many, including Joseph McStay’s parents, didn’t buy this theory. They firmly believed that Joseph McStay and Summer would never leave without informing someone, and they rejected the notion that the footage showed their loved ones.
The First Theory
The case took a shocking turn in November 2013. A motorcyclist riding through the Mojave Desert stumbled upon a child’s skull and alerted the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department. Further investigation uncovered two shallow graves containing the remains of four people. Dental records soon confirmed what many had feared: the remains were those of Joseph McStay, Summer, Gianni, and Joseph Jr. Alongside their bodies, investigators found a 3-pound sledgehammer, which they determined to be the murder weapon. The McStay family had been brutally murdered, with evidence suggesting they were tortured before their deaths. The autopsies revealed that Joseph Jr. had suffered multiple severe blows to the head, while Joseph Sr. was discovered with an electrical cord wrapped around his neck.
This horrifying discovery turned what had once been a mysterious disappearance into a homicide investigation. The new focus was on understanding who could have committed such a heinous crime and why. Investigators worked tirelessly to piece together the McStays’ final days, combing through phone records, security footage, and conducting interviews with those close to the family.
A critical clue surfaced from a neighbor’s security camera, which revealed that Joseph’s business partner, Charles “Chase” Merritt, had been the last person to meet with him on February 4, the day of the disappearance. Merritt had initially cooperated with authorities, claiming he had spoken with Joseph McStay by phone on the day they vanished and describing Joseph as his best friend. However, Merritt’s behavior soon raised red flags. During one interview, he referred to Joseph in the past tense, even before the family’s bodies had been discovered. When questioned about this later, Merritt brushed it off, claiming it was an innocent mistake.
On February 4, 2010, Charles “Chase” Merritt claimed he and Joseph McStay met for a business lunch to discuss ongoing financial matters. According to Merritt, Joseph McStay handed him physical copies of checks meant for active projects. However, further investigation into these checks revealed troubling discrepancies. Digital records indicated that while the checks were dated February 4, they were actually written days after the McStay family had already disappeared. This discovery led investigators to believe that Chase had forged the checks in an attempt to cover his tracks and create the illusion that the family was still alive at that time.
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The Financial Deception
The investigation revealed an even deeper layer of deceit. Detectives uncovered that Chase had a long-standing gambling addiction and had been secretly stealing money from Joseph’s business accounts for several months. It’s suspected that Joseph McStay eventually found out about the theft, sparking tension between the two men. This discovery may have given Chase a motive for murder, as investigators believed he feared Joseph would expose his criminal behavior.
Authorities discovered that in the days following the family’s murder, Chase had issued checks from Joseph McStay’s business account totaling more than $21,000. Afterward, he went on gambling sprees, losing large sums of money in casinos. As the evidence against Chase grew, police also learned that someone had called Joseph McStay’s bank, claiming to be Joseph, and requested the complete deletion of his account information. However, the caller failed to provide the correct password, and the request was denied. When police traced the call, it led back not to Joseph but to Charles Merritt.
On February 1, just days before the family vanished, Joseph McStay had sent an email to Merritt, stating that Chase owed him almost $43,000, adding to the already established financial tension. Cell phone data further placed Merritt in the Mojave Desert two days after the McStay family was last seen, and it became clear to authorities that Chase was familiar with the area, having grown up nearby. Investigators later recovered DNA from the McStay family car, specifically from the steering column and gearshift, which matched Merritt. This DNA evidence, along with his suspicious behavior, led detectives to believe that Charles Merritt was responsible for the brutal murder of the McStay family.
The working theory presented by investigators was chilling. They believed that Merritt had murdered Joseph McStay, Summer, Gianni, and Joseph Jr. with a sledgehammer, later transporting their bodies to the Mojave Desert. There, he buried the family in two shallow graves and discarded the murder weapon. In an attempt to throw off investigators, Merritt allegedly drove the McStay family car to a location near the Mexico border and abandoned it. He also conducted searches on Summer’s computer related to Mexico, fueling speculation that the family had fled the country voluntarily.
Arrest and Charges
On November 5, 2014, Charles Merritt was formally charged with four counts of first-degree murder. Despite his vehement denials, Merritt was taken into custody, but his legal journey was far from straightforward. His trial faced numerous delays as he fired several of his attorneys and even attempted to represent himself at one point. Over a period of two years, Merritt went through five different lawyers before the trial finally commenced on January 7, 2019.
Prosecutors built a strong case against Merritt, confident that they could prove both his guilt and his motive. They argued that Joseph McStay had confronted Merritt about the stolen money and that, fearing exposure and a possible prison sentence, Merritt decided to eliminate Joseph McStay and his entire family. Prosecutors suggested that Merritt first killed Joseph and then lured Summer, Gianni, and Joseph Jr. to their deaths.
They asserted that after committing the murders, Merritt hid the bodies for two days. During this time, he accessed Joseph McStay’s bank accounts and forged checks, ultimately transporting the bodies to the desert on February 6, where he buried them in shallow graves. To mislead authorities, Merritt abandoned the McStay family’s car near the Mexico border, though his DNA left inside the vehicle would eventually help build the case against him.
The Defense
Merritt’s defense team, however, contested the evidence presented by the prosecution. One of the key points of contention was security footage that allegedly showed Merritt’s truck leaving the McStay residence, but the blurry video led to debates over whether it was truly Merritt’s vehicle. Additionally, the prosecution struggled to establish the exact location of the murders, unable to say definitively whether the family was killed in their home or elsewhere.
Merritt’s defense also offered an alibi. His girlfriend testified that Merritt was with her at home on the night of February 4, and Merritt’s daughter corroborated this, saying she remembered her father being home that evening. As for Merritt’s cell phone data placing him in the Mojave Desert on February 6, the defense argued that he could have been in the area visiting his sister, who lived nearby.
As the trial progressed, both sides presented compelling arguments, but the weight of the evidence against Charles Merritt painted a grim picture. The jury deliberated over Merritt’s fate, tasked with determining whether he had indeed committed the heinous crime of murdering the McStay family in cold blood.
Juanita Merritt, Charles “Chase” Merritt’s sister, took the stand during the trial and testified that her brother frequently visited her, though she couldn’t recall if he had visited on the specific day in question, February 6, 2010. However, prosecutors confronted Juanita with a contradiction in her story, presenting a recorded interview from 2013 in which she stated that Chase rarely visited her and, in fact, hadn’t done so for five years. This previous statement sharply contradicted her trial testimony, casting doubt on the credibility of her claims.
The defense, facing these inconsistencies, attempted various strategies to discredit the prosecution. They accused the prosecutors of withholding evidence and filed motions requesting that key figures in the case be removed. However, the judge overseeing the trial rejected these motions, allowing the case to continue without further delays.
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The Defense’s Counterarguments
Charles Merritt’s defense team presented alternative theories, arguing that investigators had failed to properly investigate other potential suspects. They focused on three individuals they considered to be persons of interest, beginning with Joseph McStay’s brother, Michael McStay. During the trial, Michael took the stand and was subjected to a series of pointed questions from Merritt’s attorney, who suggested that Michael could be responsible for the crime.
The defense lawyer questioned the nature of Michael’s relationship with his brother, insinuating that there might have been tension between them. Michael, along with the rest of the family, maintained that their relationship had always been good. However, the defense highlighted Michael’s behavior following the family’s disappearance, questioning why he didn’t immediately go to check on his brother’s home and why he delayed reporting the family as missing. Michael responded that he hadn’t initially been alarmed, assuming Joseph and his family had simply gone on a trip without notifying anyone.
The defense also suggested that the truck seen in the grainy security footage leaving the McStay residence might have been Michael’s vehicle, not Charles’. But a particularly unsettling detail that led some to suspect Michael was a comment he made before the McStay family’s remains were found. He reportedly told officers that he hoped the family hadn’t been buried in shallow graves—a remark that became chillingly relevant when their bodies were discovered in shallow graves in the Mojave Desert. While some found it suspicious that Michael had made such an accurate prediction, Joseph McStay and Michael’s parents dismissed it as a strange coincidence.
The Allegations Against Dan Kavanaugh
In addition to Michael, the defense also turned their attention to another person of interest: Joseph McStay’s business partner, Dan Kavanaugh. Known as “Dan the Hacker” due to his computer skills, Dan managed Joseph’s online sales and received a percentage of the profits from their e-commerce activities. Dan had previously caught the attention of law enforcement when his ex-girlfriend, Tracy, accused him of confessing to the murders in early 2018. Tracy’s claims were ultimately dismissed due to her history of substance abuse and her bitter breakup with Dan, leading police to believe her accusations were an attempt to frame him out of spite.
However, Charles Merritt’s defense team insisted that Dan had a strong motive to harm Joseph McStay. In late 2009, Joseph and Dan had a falling out over profit distribution. Dan believed he deserved a share of all sales, not just online sales, while Joseph disagreed and refused to pay Dan more than what had been agreed upon. Dan allegedly retaliated by threatening to sabotage Joseph’s business, specifically by redirecting the website’s traffic to adult content sites. In the end, Joseph relented and agreed to pay Dan more money, including giving him his BMW and additional payments.
According to the defense, the timing of these payments was crucial. The last payment owed to Dan was due around the time of the McStay family’s disappearance, making him a suspect with both motive and opportunity. Following the murders, Dan continued to work with Susan, Michael, and Charles to keep Joseph’s business running, but in June 2011, Dan sold the company, profiting over $100,000 from the transaction. This sale, coupled with the earlier conflict between him and Joseph McStay, led the defense to argue that Dan Kavanaugh had more reasons than anyone else to commit the crime.
Dan Kavanaugh’s Alibi
The defense argued that Dan Kavanaugh’s exclusion from certain business deals and the lack of payments he was owed could have driven him to commit the murders. However, Kavanaugh had a solid alibi that placed him far from California during the time the McStay family was killed. He had been on vacation in Hawaii with his girlfriend, and both testified that they were together on February 4, 2010. To support this, Kavanaugh’s ex-girlfriend even provided photos from the trip, which she had posted on Facebook at the time. While some questioned the reliability of social media posts as definitive proof, the ex-girlfriend emphasized that she had no reason to lie for Dan, as their relationship had ended badly.
Authorities later confirmed that Dan Kavanaugh had indeed been in Hawaii when the murders took place. Despite the defense’s attempts to implicate him, his established alibi ruled him out as a suspect.
In another effort to introduce doubt, the defense also brought up Joseph McStay’s ex-wife and her partner. Joseph McStay shared a son, Jonah, with his ex-wife, and tensions between Joseph and her new partner had been high in the months leading up to the McStay family’s disappearance. The defense suggested that these strained relations might have motivated Joseph’s ex-wife’s partner to harm him and his family. However, police quickly ruled him out as a suspect after thoroughly investigating the claims.
The Guilty Verdict
Despite these efforts by the defense to shift suspicion away from Charles Merritt, the evidence against him remained overwhelming. In June 2019, the jury found Merritt guilty on four counts of first-degree murder. During the sentencing phase, emotional victim impact statements were delivered by the families of Joseph McStay, Summer, Gianni, and Joseph Jr.
Patrick McStay, Joseph’s father, addressed Merritt directly in court. He spoke about how much Joseph McStay had helped Merritt, particularly during Merritt’s legal troubles in 2009. With a heavy heart, Patrick expressed his anger and grief, saying he could never understand how someone who had been shown such kindness could commit such an atrocious act.
Susan McStay, Joseph McStay’s mother, gave a tearful statement, calling Merritt a “despicable monster” who had mercilessly murdered two innocent children—her grandchildren. She did not hold back, labeling him a coward and a baby killer. Summer’s sister also spoke, sharing how her family would never recover from the loss of their loved ones and how the brutality of the murders had left a permanent scar.
Perhaps the most heartbreaking testimony came from Joseph McStay’s eldest son, Jonah. Only 12 years old when he lost his father, stepmother, and two younger siblings, Jonah spoke about how the tragedy had shattered his world and taken away his chance to grow up with his family. His words were a painful reminder of the deep, long-lasting impact the crime had on those left behind.
After hearing these emotional statements, Charles Merritt asked for the opportunity to speak. Through tears, he maintained his innocence, insisting that he did not commit the murders. “I didn’t do it,” Merritt stated, “with God as my witness, I will prove everyone wrong.” He went on to say that he loved Joseph McStay and would never have hurt him or his family, despite the overwhelming evidence presented during the trial.
Merritt’s sentencing was delayed after he requested to dismiss his attorney once again, though the judge denied his request. His legal team also filed for a new trial, accusing the prosecution of misconduct, but this request was similarly rejected.
The Sentencing
Finally, on January 21, 2020, after years of legal delays, Charles Merritt, now 62 years old, was sentenced to death by the San Bernardino Superior Court. Despite the death sentence, it is unlikely that Merritt will ever face execution, as California has not carried out an execution since 2006. Merritt is expected to spend the remainder of his life on death row.
