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Penalty phase opens to determine Merritt's sentencing

The penalty phase in the trial of Charles "Chase" Merritt began Tuesday, June 11, just a day after Merritt was found guilty of murdering all four members of the McStay family of Fallbrook.

After testimony and presentations, the jury of 12 will decide whether Merritt should be put to death or spend life in prison for committing first-degree murder of all four McStay family members and special circumstances charges.

San Bernardino County prosecutor Melissa Rodriguez presented the opening statement for the state. She showed photos and videos of the family – including the couple's two young sons, 4-year-old Gianni and 3-year-old Joseph Jr.

"Those are the voices that you did not get to hear from," Rodriguez told the jurors. "At the end of the evidence, in this case, the people believe that there is one penalty in this case that is appropriate – and that is the death penalty."

Merritt's defense team chose to give their opening statement before presenting their testimony.

The state called Susan Blake, mother to Joseph McStay and grandmother to the two little boys.

She broke down in tears watching videos of the two boys.

"I miss them all; they were little boys in a fantasy world," Blake said. "They did everything with their parents ... They didn't know fear; they didn't know to be scared; they didn't know hurt. They were just in this fantasy world, and we'll never get to see them grow up or talk to them.

"I go to the grave site to talk to them. I got them right there, all together. Their life was very short and they were loved and they didn't deserve this.

"One minute you have a whole family, the next minute half your family is missing and the hurt will never go away," Blake said.

When asked what she missed the most about Joseph, she said he was a good man.

"Everybody liked him," Blake said, breaking down. "Everybody loved Joey. I will always miss him and his family."

She said the loss has impacted the family as well.

"It's a hurtful, devastating ... it's affected the family," Blake said. "I can't explain it; it's just an effect that won't go away."

The defense chose not to cross-examine Blake and the prosecution called Michael McStay, brother of Joseph, back to the stand.

San Bernardino County Supervising Deputy District Attorney Britt Imes asked him what it was like growing up with his brother.

"Whatever he did he was really good at, so I always looked up to him," Michael said. "Joe was the kinda guy that everybody would say, I think even the defendant said in a CNN interview, Joe would give you the shirt off his back and he did because he was trusting. Just a good, good man."

In a separate court session with the jury out of the room, the defense team, led by defense attorney James McGee objected to witnesses directing comments toward the defense team or defendant.

"I would ask the prosecution to uphold their duty and admonish them appropriately," McGee said.

Superior Court Judge Michael A. Smith told jurors the penalty phase should take about four or five days, and court was not in session for the remainder of the week. Testimony was expected to resume in the afternoon Tuesday, June 18.

The prosecution is expected to call Sgt. Ryan Smith, Detective Edward Bachman, Joseph's father, Patrick McStay, as well as Summer McStay's mother and sister.

Merritt was found guilty of bludgeoning to death Joseph and Summer McStay and the couple's young sons in 2010 and burying their bodies in a San Bernardino desert.

Prosecutors built their case around the theory that greed was the basis for why Merritt subsequently killed the Fallbrook family, who lived in the Lake Rancho Viejo housing development east of Interstate 15 in Fallbrook, was last seen alive Feb. 4, 2010.

Before the family going missing, Merritt was a subcontractor for McStay and the two were good friends by most accounts. Merritt designed and built custom fountains for Joseph McStay's business, Earth Inspired Products, but, according to prosecutors, he was in debt to the tune of more than $40,000 to McStay at the time of the murders.

Prosecutors said Merritt feared being cut out of the business or having charges filed against him by McStay.

Detectives testified that Merritt deposited checks worth thousands of dollars from McStay after the family went missing, using QuickBooks and even called QuickBooks from his cellphone, identifying himself as Joseph McStay and asking to transfer the money in the account.

Investigators announced the arrest of Merritt Nov. 7, 2014, and charged him with four counts of murder. After years of delays, the trial began Jan. 7, 2019.

Merritt's defense attorneys argued that investigators zeroed in on Merritt early on the case and never looked at anyone else. The defense repeatedly attempted to point the finger at another McStay business associate, Dan Kavanaugh, who they said was overlooked by investigators.

Jeff Pack can be reached by email at [email protected].

 

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