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

[Tortoise]

It seems likely that Joseph had been tortured before killed. That implies intense hate and extremely personal vendetta. It doesn't fit someone who's just interested in financial gains. For all the bad things CM has been know to have done, torturing Joseph and wiping out the entire family including two little kids would be both unnecessary and uncalled for. You can't label him sociopath and then say, well, a sociopath is capable of anything, so CM is capable of this crime, he likely did it.

Joseph wrote to Kavanaugh “Now, I, Summer & Kids know the ‘Real You’ and what you would potentially do to harm me and my family". What could 3 or 4 year old kids "know" about the real Kavanaugh? Little kids couldn't tell anything bad about a person unless it's visibly bad. Could there have been a nasty fight witnessed by the kids?

Joey wrote "what you would potentially do", responding to the threat of zapping the website and destroying the family's source of income. Joey isn't referring to anything physical or anything that has yet happened so it's twisting the meaning to interpret it as witnessing anything physical.

 

[Tortoise]

BBM

I think the white cord around JM's neck was to torture and control him while he was alive. The fact that it was under the blanket JM was wrapped in tells me it wasn't for transporting the body. I think JM was first incapacitated by the broken rib and broken leg. Then the cord wrapped around his neck. If JM had changed his QB password that day, then maybe CM used the cord to get the new password. Then printed/deleted that chk on the 4th to make sure JM gave him the right Password.

I think JM was wrapped in the blanket to conceal his body and SM and the kids were put in large suitcases or storage containers.

I'm just curious why the cut off end of the cord was found outside the grave. Did he really remember to bring with them?

MOO

I still haven't got around to listening to the anthropologist or the pathologist's evidence in full. Does anyone remember if the rib or the shin bone had started the healing process? I seem to remember hearing it would be a very rapid almost immediate process.

Also I know you have said the electrical cord was under the blanket but I just want to double check that this is correct, only because my impression from the photograph was that it was over the top of the fabric. I remember thinking when I saw that it wasn't used to strangle him then, but my impression may have been wrong.

 

[mrjitty]

Joey wrote "what you would potentially do", responding to the threat of zapping the website and destroying the family's source of income. Joey isn't referring to anything physical or anything that has yet happened so it's twisting the meaning to interpret it as witnessing anything physical.

Agreed

He was referring to 404ing the site or removing the SEO juice backlinks

These are just common threats in web development land.

e.g. most devs won't release the site and source, until all invoices are paid.

I get the feeling Joey was becoming a bit less naive about his business and especially his margins, and had he lived, he would have taken 100% control.

Ironically Dan K was the one delivering the real business value in terms of the sales pipe while CM was stealing and cheating.

Joey showed poor judgement IMO. I suspect mainly because he liked to be an entrepreneur and not to have to get too involved in the delivery side.

 

[mrjitty]

Is it a hard fact that he was in Hawaii? Proof?

Testimony has been given by two detectives that he was in Hawaii - so yes there is evidence he was there.

 

[mrjitty]

No proof at all, yet. The San Bernardino investigators seem to believe that he was in Hawaii, but as far as I know, they haven’t said why they believe it. (I believe that the investigator in charge of that hasn’t testified? I’m not sure if he would testify, in the State’s main case. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate as rebuttal?)

They have said why they believe it

1. Documentary evidence of flights in 2010

2. An investigative team looked into it in 2014 and established that DK was in Hawaii

Both these sets of testimony constitute prima facie evidence that DK was in Hawaii

So far there is zero evidence he was in Cali

The way this stuff works is that the defence will need to raise some real evidence that DK was in Cali to counter the primafacie conclusion that he was in Hawaii just like the detectives confirmed. It is true that the burden of proof in the case is on the prosecution but there can still be evidential burdens on the defence if they want to rely on something at trial.

They cannot just speculate that maybe DK sneaked back to Cali on 4 feb

 

[Tortoise]

Have we covered the financials yet... Am including my notes here from interaction with our threads way-back-when it was current discussion.
My notes have to be considered as IMO, as I'm a mere mortal and can make errors as best as the next person. However those who have followed the case will surely be able to verify.

There hasn't been any testimony yet about the QuickBooks but I believe the QB employee is due to have his testimony taken today.

The opening statement referred to the activity in some detail but we didn't get views of what was showing at the same time on the overhead projector.

I have noticed that the two cheques for Metro printed on the 5th and backdated to the 4th ($1650 and $250) were not in the same sequence as the serial numbers of the cheques payable to Merritt, as read out in the opening speech.

Opening speech gives 4 x serial numbers #4094 - #4097 for cheques backdated on the 5th. The two cheques given to Metro dated 4th Feb (Carmen couldn't remember whether she got them on the 8th or the 9th) were as follows:

#4236 $1650
#4238 $250

The top cheque found in Joey's home office was #4245.

It looks to me as if more blank cheques may have been taken from Joey's home office on the 4th, unless the prosecutor misread cheque numbers in his opening speech.

Edited to add -

The cheques printed and deleted on Feb 1st were serial numbers #4093 and #4092.

 

[mrjitty]

Here is what i think may happen with the DK stuff

Because he was in Hawaii, there can be no evidence he was in Cali - therefore no evidence will be produced.

The Defence case will therefore consist of "their star witness", plus wild speculation that somehow DK tricked detectives or that they were too lazy.

But I will take the bet that the defence never offer any evidence he was in Cali.

Instead they will desperately try to maintain daylight for wild speculation and leave it up to the prosecution to shut that down.

 

[asyousay]

Do we have court today?

 

[Tortoise]

I bet they will say his phone records show he was in Hawaii but he could have left his phone in Hawaii - wouldn't you leave your phone behind if you were going to commit the perfect murder? - do we know who was using his phone? blah blah blah. smoke. mirrors.

I don't honestly think the prosecution case would be he was in Hawaii if they've known since 2013/14 his phone records put him in California.

Maybe this is another reason they want the abduction/murders to have happened in daylight on the 5th, although I suspect that has more to do with Chase being out on the 4th and not answering calls from Cathy who he was supposed to be with.

 

[Mica]

Do we have court today?

Yes, supposedly starts with the witness from QB.

Edited to add - No jury trial today. Other Hearing scheduled for 9 AM. Jury Trial tomorrow, Feb. 6th.

 

[mrjitty]

I don't honestly think the prosecution case would be he was in Hawaii if they've known since 2013/14 his phone records put him in California.

Exactly. In fact I believe that is why the prosecution leave that door slightly open, hoping the defence blunder in there.

The defence will effectively try to make this about disproving a negative.

Prove he wasn't in Cali.

And of course no amount of evidence will ever be able to rule out some dastardly scheme whereby he secretly sneaks back to Cali

 

[missy1974]

Do we have court today?

I think it's only this afternoon and I it will be without the jury. They are video taping testimony of the guy that worked for QB's. They are doing it this way because the gentleman won't be available after today. L&C said they would be streaming it. I believe this morning was already going to be dark. Jury will be back tomorrow.

 

[Tortoise]

Yes, supposedly starts with the witness from QB.

I think it's a day off for the jury and the witness is going to be video-recorded and it will be livestreamed.

 

[jash]

Yes, this! ^^^
I think the stuff (insert 4 letter cuss word) went down once Summer spoke. Things were prob going smoothly, until that huge amount of $43,000 came to light. And then Summer started making demands...to Joey...to Chase. Tempers started to flare, and Chase knew his days were numbered.

His brutal acts of murder show how pissed he was, and Summer was going to pay for messing things up with 'his best friend'.........jmo

Your post made me think of SM's search for the homeopathic anger remedy.

Year later, San Diego family's disappearance is a mystery
On Feb. 4, the day of the disappearance, Summer made her last cell phone call at 2:11 p.m. to a homeopathic medicine company, and an employee remembered it well. It came minutes after an Internet search for the word "Anger" on the company website.

"Summer was adamant that she wanted to purchase a medication called Anger," DuGal said. "They said, 'Ma'am, it doesn't exist.'"​

 

[Mica]

I think it's a day off for the jury and the witness is going to be video-recorded and it will be livestreamed.

Yes, thank you. I just checked the court portal.

Feb. 5 - Other Hearing - 9:00 AM

Feb. 6 - Jury Trial - 9:30 AM

 

[Tortoise]

Tweet from last Thursday -

Jury is excused until WEDNESDAY, Feb 6. Pre-scheduled dark day on Monday. On Tuesday, the 5th, attorneys and judge will meeting late morning to discuss testimony from Ryan Baker, QuickBooks customer service rep and possibly take his video testimony that afternoon
Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) | Twitter

Also - this tweet from yesterday -

All of our trials had today scheduled off. Is there some kind of "Day after Super Bowl Holiday" I don't know about?
Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) | Twitter

 

[asyousay]

Is it just me or does it feel like that they have had more time off than on so far on this trial?

 

[oceanblueeyes]

2011, unsure if he sold it?

When SB found it, the guy that had it in 2014, bought it from Ritchie Brothers Auction in 2011.

Good morning Missy and all!

I have a close family member who owns a large car dealership and friends who have smaller ones.

Imo he traded his truck in either for a new one or a used one. It can even be a dealership that only deals in used vehicles.

What the dealer does is try to sell the traded in vehicle, but if it sits on the lot, say for 90 days, without selling, every car dealer I've known will then take it to a car auction to offload it.

Anyone can come to these auctions along with a certified dealer, and have them bid on any vehicle they want to purchase for themselves or for resale.

Vehicles auctioned can only be taken to be auctioned, and sold by a licensed car dealer.

If they find one the dealer will bid for them up to their max bid they have told the dealer they are willing to pay.

In fact at times I've helped my family member drive some of the vehicles to the auction house that is going to go up for auction.

Depending on the size of the dealership they may have 20 or 30 or even more to auction off. It's usually held once every month.

I imagine this is what happened here too with Merritt's truck. The poential buyers at the dealership may have thought it was way over priced or it had too much wear and tear.

The dealer has already made most of their profits anyway at the time of the trade in so they just try to get rid of the vehicles at auction to get them out of their inventory.

Imo, most definitely he traded it in, and it didn't sell, so off to the auction it went like many others. Lol

Someone bought it when it was run through the auction.

Jmo

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Is it just me or does it feel like that they have had more time off than on so far on this trial?

I knew it waa going to be a lot of wasted off time since this is a CA trial after all. Lol!

But I never dreamed it would be to this extreme degree already with no end in sight.

It seems there has been way more dark hours than full days of fluid testimony.

I truly feel sorry for this jury.

 

[mrjitty]

One of the downsides is the flow of information is so drawn out and we end up debating things that are a complete waste of time when we finally get the correct witness.