CA - Joey, Summer, Gianni, Joseph Jr McStay Murders - Feb 4th 2010 #17

[Texas Red]

I might buy the validity in that if there weren't dozens (perhaps 100's) of other neighboring towers around RC.

The whole network in the Rancho area was defective, I was there and had the same problem, I was constantly connecting to distant towers, it would put my phone into roam mode and it eventually voided my contract.

 

[Texas Red]

Well, I must now depart, I need to be up early to irrigate my crop of corn.

 

[Karinna]

Possibly of theft, but he may have had permission from JM, we just don't know and in addition he has not been charged with theft so LE must think he's innocent.

(quote)
Daugherty said Merritt, who had characterized Joseph McStay as his best friend, was actually taking advantage of that friendship by writing and cashing multiple checks totaling more than $21,000 on the Earth Inspired Products account, which were entered into Joseph McStay’s QuickBooks accounting system both before and after the McStay family was murdered. Daugherty said Merritt’s efforts to mask what he had done by printing the checks and then seeking to delete any record of the account activity from the QuickBooks electronic registry had not succeeded, as the data had been recovered by investigators. “The defendant was already writing and printing checks on the business, from Joseph’s QuickBooks,” said Daugherty. Merritt’s thefts were augmented by calls to a QuickBooks customer service representative in which he represented himself as McStay in an effort to alter the nature of the account so he would have further direct access to the money in the Earth Inspired Products bank account.
Chase Merritt Trial In Horrific McStay Family Murder Case Begins | SBCSentinel

 

[Force Ten]

Well, I must now depart, I need to be up early to irrigate my crop of corn.

The hen house will be waiting.

 

[Sharyne]

This doesn't happen. Ever. Unless you're Steven Avery. This is not a case of planted evidence.

It's Chase Merritt's name on all those backdated checks.

It's Chase Merritt's truck on the video.

It's Chase Merritt calling QB posing as Joseph to delete the account he wrote the checks from.

It's Chase Merritt's phone pinging the tower near the burial site.

It's Chase Merritt who went on to steal more money from the family after the murders.

Was he charged with check fraud?
Was he charged for ID theft from the QB call?
Was he charged with stealing money?
If not, why not, if that is the evidence they are using to charge him with murder?
Even if none of that was know until after they found the bodies, if they are true statements and evidence, why no other charges?

 

[Sharyne]

I have seen lots of argument on this thread that the defendant is guilty because he has been arrested.

Sort of like Nancy Grace?

 

[Karinna]

Was he charged with check fraud?
Was he charged for ID theft from the QB call?
Was he charged with stealing money?
If not, why not, if that is the evidence they are using to charge him with murder?
Even if none of that was know until after they found the bodies, if they are true statements and evidence, why no other charges?

In reply to your questions here is the link to the Complaint Filing Document for CM.
http://www.sbcountyda.org/Portals/8/HighProfileCases/Charles Ray Merritt.pdf

If you read there you will see this
Penal Code Section 190.2(a)(3)
Now read about that Statute here and you will read this
190.2.

(a) The penalty for a defendant who is found guilty of murder in the first degree is death or imprisonment in the state prison for life without the possibility of parole if one or more of the following special circumstances has been found under Section 190.4 to be true:

(1) The murder was intentional and carried out for financial gain.

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=190.2.

The financial gain part addresses about what you are asking and is inclusive of the murder charges.

 

[mrjitty]

In a hypothetical situation that someone is on trial for a murder and they were using transactions such as the Paypal debit card transactions as an alibi, IMO there is no way most of us here would accept that as a valid alibi without proof that it was that person using the card. If that and the phone records the prosecution used are all that were needed, I could plan the perfect crime. JMO

I think it would easily establish reasonable doubt in any hypothetical prosecution of DK

The prosecution would not be able to rule out the alibi as a reasonable possibility

So IMO this would be an example of an alibi that would stand up in court all day long.

 

[mrjitty]

2010 is nine years ago. I agree that many things have changed. I don’t think that concept particularly helps the defense.

Exactly

Because the lookups don't show where the IP range was allocated in 2010

And indeed there is a strong indicator that it was assigned to Hawaii in the past

 

[mrjitty]

It's strange how DK was faking his alibi with phone and transactions but then used San Diego IPs for everything

 

[Longtimenoc]

(quote)
Daugherty said Merritt, who had characterized Joseph McStay as his best friend, was actually taking advantage of that friendship by writing and cashing multiple checks totaling more than $21,000 on the Earth Inspired Products account, which were entered into Joseph McStay’s QuickBooks accounting system both before and after the McStay family was murdered. Daugherty said Merritt’s efforts to mask what he had done by printing the checks and then seeking to delete any record of the account activity from the QuickBooks electronic registry had not succeeded, as the data had been recovered by investigators. “The defendant was already writing and printing checks on the business, from Joseph’s QuickBooks,” said Daugherty. Merritt’s thefts were augmented by calls to a QuickBooks customer service representative in which he represented himself as McStay in an effort to alter the nature of the account so he would have further direct access to the money in the Earth Inspired Products bank account.
Chase Merritt Trial In Horrific McStay Family Murder Case Begins

The implication here is that when CM calls QB impersonating Joseph, it was an attempt to steal more money. I always thought it was a desperate attempt to cover his tracks. Good Lord his level of greed is astonishing. He was confident and fearless.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Possibly of theft, but he may have had permission from JM, we just don't know and in addition he has not been charged with theft so LE must think he's innocent.

Jurors don't weigh what they dont know. They base their verdicts on known evidence presented to them, and what they DO know, which is very damning against this defendant. They don't weigh unsupported coulda, shoulda..or maybes.

It's that evidence against CM that is overwhelming. There is no way for the defense to unwind the OB evidence.

It is what it is, and it shows only CM knew, Joey, and his family were deceased. The only way for him to know that is he had killed them all. After murdering them he knew Joey wouldn't be alive to stop him from stealing from his business account.

It's really a rather simple straight forward case, and not complex at all. Imo.

No one, but CM knew they wouldnt ever return alive. Never. No one at that time even knew they had vanished into thin air, but the evidence shows CM did..

Even when MSM became alarmed asking CM if he knew where Joey could be he said he would go check it out later in the week when he got around to it.

These are not the actions of an innocent man, and best friend. It IS the actions of a murderer trying to cover up all of his horrific crimes, from 4 brutal murders to stealing from the man he had murdered.

Imo, the jury won't have any trouble linking all of the CE together. Imo, the picture is clear who murdered them all, and the image is of CM only.

Imo

 

[Karinna]

RSBM to insert your post in reply to mine.
The implication here is that when CM calls QB impersonating Joseph, it was an attempt to steal more money. I always thought it was a desperate attempt to cover his tracks. Good Lord his level of greed is astonishing. He was confident and fearless.
(unquote)
IMO it was to do both, to cover his tracks and to further steal from JM. But not being able to delete the QB's accounts messed up his plan.

 

[Mica]

In reply to your questions here is the link to the Complaint Filing Document for CM.
http://www.sbcountyda.org/Portals/8/HighProfileCases/Charles Ray Merritt.pdf

If you read there you will see this
Penal Code Section 190.2(a)(3)
Now read about that Statute here and you will read this
190.2.

(a) The penalty for a defendant who is found guilty of murder in the first degree is death or imprisonment in the state prison for life without the possibility of parole if one or more of the following special circumstances has been found under Section 190.4 to be true:

(1) The murder was intentional and carried out for financial gain.

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=190.2.

The financial gain part addresses about what you are asking and is inclusive of the murder charges.

CM was not charged with Special Circumstance (1) The murder was intentional and carried out for financial gain as you stated in your post.

According to the Charges listed on the Court Portal, CM was charged under Penal Code 187 A and 190.2 A (3). The number 3 in the Penal Code represents the Special Circumstance. There is no Charge for Special Circumstance 1 listed on the Portal.


190.2.
(a) The penalty for a defendant who is found guilty of murder in the first degree is death or imprisonment in the state prison for life without the possibility of parole if one or more of the following special circumstances has been found under Section 190.4 to be true:

(1) The murder was intentional and carried out for financial gain.

(2) The defendant was convicted previously of murder in the first or second degree. For the purpose of this paragraph, an offense committed in another jurisdiction, which if committed in California would be punishable as first or second degree murder, shall be deemed murder in the first or secon

(3) The defendant, in this proceeding, has been convicted of more than one offense of murder in the first or second degree.

 

[Karinna]

CM was not charged with Special Circumstance (1) The murder was intentional and carried out for financial gain as you stated in your post.

According to the Charges listed on the Court Portal, CM was charged under Penal Code 187 A and 190.2 A (3). The number 3 in the Penal Code represents the Special Circumstance. There is no Charge for Special Circumstance 1 listed on the Portal.


190.2.
(a) The penalty for a defendant who is found guilty of murder in the first degree is death or imprisonment in the state prison for life without the possibility of parole if one or more of the following special circumstances has been found under Section 190.4 to be true:

(1) The murder was intentional and carried out for financial gain.

(2) The defendant was convicted previously of murder in the first or second degree. For the purpose of this paragraph, an offense committed in another jurisdiction, which if committed in California would be punishable as first or second degree murder, shall be deemed murder in the first or secon

(3) The defendant, in this proceeding, has been convicted of more than one offense of murder in the first or second degree.

From the Complaint Filing Document
(quote)
"NOTICE: The above offense is a serious felony within the meaning of Penal Code section 1192.7(c) and a violent felony within the meaning of Penal Code section 667.5(c)." "NOTICE: Conviction of this offense will require you to provide specimens and samples pursuant to Penal Code section 296. Willful refusal to provide the specimens and samples is a crime."It is further alleged as to count(s) 1, 2, 3, 4 that the offenses charged in counts One, Two, Three, and Four are a special circumstance within the meaning of Penal Code Section 190.2(a)(3).
http://www.sbcountyda.org/Portals/8/HighProfileCases/Charles Ray Merritt.pdf

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Every death penalty trial I've ever followed had special circumstances attached.

Its those special circumstances that raises it up to the highest level becoming a death penalty case.

From what I understand the state only has to produced one qualifier only.

There are multiple choices the state had to choose from in this case. Imo.

1..Multiple murders.

2...Killed for financial gain.

3...2 victims were under the age of 12 when murdered.

4...the murders were extremely heinous, and cruel.

Imo

 

[Longtimenoc]

RSBM to insert your post in reply to mine.
The implication here is that when CM calls QB impersonating Joseph, it was an attempt to steal more money. I always thought it was a desperate attempt to cover his tracks. Good Lord his level of greed is astonishing. He was confident and fearless.
(unquote)
IMO it was to do both, to cover his tracks and to further steal from JM. But not being able to delete the QB's accounts messed up his plan.

I apologize for the crazy reformatting errors. Recovering from pneumonia, will keep hands off replies until my brain returns.

 

[travelbug]

However, since the defense is making the claim that DK was not in Hawaii, the defense needs to offer us some reason to believe that he wasn’t there. So far, they haven’t.

In actuality the defense doesn't "need" to offer "us" anything. They have, however, done an excellent job of casting doubt about the veracity of the prosecution evidence. jmho

 

[Karinna]

I apologize for the crazy reformatting errors. Recovering from pneumonia, will keep hands off replies until my brain returns.

It's all good & i actually wondered how you did that, and hope you are feeling better soon.

 

[Mony Mony]

RSBM

In a hypothetical situation that someone is on trial for a murder and they were using transactions such as the Paypal debit card transactions as an alibi, IMO there is no way most of us here would accept that as a valid alibi without proof that it was that person using the card. If that and the phone records the prosecution used are all that were needed, I could plan the perfect crime. JMO

IMO, most people would accept a debit card transaction as proof of location. People regularly accept cell phone pings. Someone else could have had the phone, but we still accept the ping as proof of location. MOO

I am trying to dig up the screen shots of the card transactions to compare to the PayPal ISP transfers. I am curious about the time stamp o them. Hawaii to San Diego is a 5 1/2 hour flight. That is if it is non-stop. And 5.5hrs is only the in-air time. Now add in security, baggage, boarding, deplaning, etc.......And add the 5.5 hours flight time back to Hawaii.