Judge rules jury can see CNN interview of Merritt

Before Charles “Chase” Merritt was arrested for the murders of Joseph and Summer McStay and their two young sons, CNN’s Randi Kaye interviewed him in relation to the killings.

In the interview, Merritt claimed to be the last person Joseph McStay saw before his disappearance. “When he left Rancho Cucamonga, nobody else, or I think there was another person he talked to,” Merritt said.

“But you were the last person he saw,” Kaye said.

“I’m definitely the last person he saw,” Merritt responded.

On Tuesday, Feb. 6, San Bernardino County prosecutor Britt Imes sought to admit the interview into evidence and allow the jury to see the interview.

Superior Court Judge Michael A. Smith ruled if the prosecution lays the basic foundation, they can show it to the jury.

“It doesn’t seem like it would be that hard to get someone from CNN to say Mr. Merritt was interviewed on such and such a date, here is the interview,” Smith said in response to defense counsels’ objections. “If you want to bring out there was more of the interview, do you have the rest of the interview? Fine, you can do all that. But I think there has to be a basic foundation. Basic foundation and I don’t have a problem with it.”

Merritt, 61, of Homeland, is accused of murdering the Fallbrook family and burying their bodies in a San Bernardino desert.

The McStay family, who lived in the Lake Rancho Viejo housing development east of Interstate 15, was last seen alive Feb. 4, 2010. Relatives reported them missing a few days later.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and FBI handled the investigation into the family’s disappearance in the early years with no resolution.

In November 2013, the skeletal remains of the four family members were discovered in shallow graves by a motorcyclist in the Mojave desert. Records show that all four were beaten to death, most likely with a sledgehammer.

At that point, the investigation was taken over by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

Investigators contend that Merritt, who designed and built custom fountains for McStay’s business, Earth Inspired Products, was in debt to the tune of $30,000 to Joseph McStay at the time of the murders.

Prosecutors maintain that greed was the basis for Merritt committing the murders.

The jury of eight women, four men, and six alternates are hearing the case that is expected to last three to four months and began on Jan. 7.

On Tuesday, Feb. 5, the prosecution called a forensic media image processing reconstruction expert, Leonid Rudin, of Cognitech Inc. who said the headlights and taillights line up with the truck that prosecutors say Merritt owns in a video provided by a neighbor around the time the McStay family’s disappearance took place.

Rudin said while he cannot eliminate Merritt’s truck as the same one in the video, he cannot also confirm that it was his truck.

“At this point, we would not call it consistent or inconsistent,” Rudin said.

“The bottom line is, you cannot eliminate it,” Judge Smith asked.

“I cannot eliminate it, no,” Rudin responded.

Also on Feb. 6, Ryan Baker, a former QuickBooks customer service representative testified via Skype from Virginia about a call he received on Feb. 8, 2010, from a man who identified himself as Joseph McStay, four days after the McStay family is alleged to have gone missing.

Baker said the man asked Baker to delete the business account and that Baker sent an email to the address listed on the Earth Inspired Products account, which McStay owned, asking for more information.

Baker said he never received a response from that email account, nor did he receive a response to follow up emails several days later, until a final email he sent indicated he was going to close the request case.

Also on Tuesday, Feb. 6, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Crime Scene Specialist Michael Russ testified about the FARO scanner and how it worked.

Russ testified in cross-examination that he found no evidence of blood in the cargo and cab portions of Merritt’s truck during a test done in 2014.

Also on Friday, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s detective Jason Schroeder, Hi-tech Crime Division, Hesperia Police Department, testified about the contents of computers and devices associated with the investigation.

His testimony was halted by an early break for the court and there was no testimony given on Friday, Feb. 8 or Monday, Feb. 11 or Tuesday, Feb. 12 due to Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.

Jeff Pack can be contacted at [email protected].