CA - Joey, Summer, Gianni, Joseph Jr McStay Murders - Feb 4th 2010 #10

[missy1974]

But they didnt trust him and he was denied unsupervised access, and worked sporadically. Per testimony, sorry no link.

And then Carmen said something different LOL That he came and went as he pleased, said he had a key.

Day 14 is when she testified.

 

[smr]

Cathy Russon said in her tweet that the prosecution was expected to rest their case this week or early next week. Wonder if it's told to her by someone on the prosecution team?

 

[missy1974]

There is some evidence of that position. Joey looked at his account that morning before the lunch meeting, and called his bank, but didn't immediately report the fraud. So it does seem like he didnt want to open an investigation the the time.

How do you think he checked his bank? I have asked this many times, just today. No one has an answer, or maybe it's possible I missed it?

Why do you think he called the bank if it wasn't to report it?

If he did call to report it, why do you think there is no note on the account?

 

[katydid23]

And Joey looked at the Custom account and he spoke to his bank. He never cried foul, he never changed his passwords or put a stop payment on any checks.

We don't know if he cried foul to Chase or not. As to the other actions, he may well have given Chase an ultimatum at lunch. And then things went sideways fast...

 

[missy1974]

drive by blank post hehehe

ETA: tried to quote @citygirl blank post... wouldn't let me LOL

 

[citygirl]

It's tough to beat the Indians the % hold on their slots is as high as 10% or more. Back when I lived in Nevada there were select video poker machines where the player had the advantage providing you knew the optimum strategy. What needs to be made clear here is the casino floor was not CM's scene from everything I've read indicates he was a poker player only which is completely different than playing the casino 'house games'.

This is OT. I remember back in the day when the Indians opened a casino in CT. It was big. First of it's kind. Not Jersey . Preppy CT. The Mashantucket Pequot tribe. Will never forget Donald Trump saying they don't look like Indians to me. Freaking hilarious. They sold cartons of cigarettes out of backs of cars. Reservation prices! Cheap!

 

[katydid23]

I see it different. I think CM was attempting to exploit the fact JM was nowhere to be found and he dated the checks to Feb. 4th in order to give himself an out so when JM returned it would be CM’s word against JM in case JM did happen to report the missing money to police. CM was street smart he’s not going to kill a family and then followup with a crime that’s going to lead police right to him.

How could it be CM's word against JM's word, if the account was in JM's name and was fraudulently signed by CM? How would that even work?

 

[missy1974]

Maybe because Joey was going to speak to him first and try to sort it out. That is who Joey was. He always gave Chase the benefit of the doubt. Why would he suddenly do it any differently?

But.... everyone is speculating that he went there to fire him because of the fraud.... so are you saying you don't think he was going to fire him? Just spank him and give him a chance?

 

[missy1974]

I don't think that is correct. Originally Joey hired Chase to do the iron work. That changed after he began getting complaints and after Chase began being irresponsible and missing deadlines. JMO

No, that changed when they went into business with MSM. At no time while working with MSM was Chase doing the welding. I posted this earlier, I will post it again... this is from Sequieda's testimony:

The agreement as he understood it was: Metro was going to do all the sheetmetal work, Joseph was selling and handling whatever invoicing, and Mr. Merritt was going to do the plumbing, the pumps that operated the water features, the electrical, etching, rocks, tile, etc. and he was going to videotape them, crate them and ship them.

I will even link it since I had the time noted:
12:45

 

[missy1974]

Cathy Russon said in her tweet that the prosecution was expected to rest their case this week or early next week. Wonder if it's told to her by someone on the prosecution team?

It was stated in court.

 

[Force Ten]

Kevin Boles, in his testimony before the grand jury on the indictment of Robert Pape, claimed that he was in San Bernardino and pinged a tower 30 miles away in the Arrowhead mountains. He speculated that this was due to the altitude of the tower in Arrowhead. The towers in question, during the time period that Chase is believed to have been at the gravesite, are at a much higher altitude than the surrounding towns. If Boles is to be believed, Chase may have been as far as 30 miles from those towers when he pinged them.

Cell phones don't generate towers through mountain ranges though. Nice try.

 

[katydid23]

How do you think he checked his bank? I have asked this many times, just today. No one has an answer, or maybe it's possible I missed it?

Why do you think he called the bank if it wasn't to report it?

If he did call to report it, why do you think there is no note on the account?

I thought he checked his bank on his phone or computer. I look my bank balance up all the time. If it was 2500 less than I had thought, then I would call them to ask why.

I think he called them, they said a check just came through, for Chase, with paul mitchell on memo line.

I don't think that would be enough info or Joey to call it in as FRAUD. That would freeze his accounts and cause total mayhem.

It makes more sense to me that he would go confront Chase---and ask him, for clarification. The way they did business was a bit chaotic anyway. So he owed Chase the chance to explain. Maybe Joey thought he had forgotten about or lost track of this payment?

That is how Joey seemed to treat Chase. He gave him leeway and the benefit of the doubt. Why wouldn't he do the same in this situation? But the question is---was Chase able to wiggle out of this one?

 

[Texas Red]

OK, well I was confused by your answers because you began by saying he was most likely in a casino when the murders took place. Then you showed your reasoning, discussing jammed cell phones and no video, etc. So you seemed to be making a case for him being in a casino.

But now you are saying that because he didn't say he was in a casino, that lends credibility to his lack of an alibi and his inconsistent statements about those dates.

I am not sure he can use that as a defense. ;-}

I didn’t discuss the jammed cell phones for the purpose of supporting my comment. I was addressing the issue I had read several threads back about CM’c cell phone dropping off the network. My part of my reply concerning him being in a casino was attributed to oceanblueeyes, comment I was simply expanding upon it.

My comment originated as a reply to oceanblueeyes comment #53 of this thread.

oceanblueeyes,
“Yeah, I'm sure going to the casinos were far more important to him, like it seemed to be in a every facet of his life.”

My reply,
“You're right, and it's most likely where he was when the family was murdered.”

 

[katydid23]

No, that changed when they went into business with MSM. At no time while working with MSM was Chase doing the welding. I posted this earlier, I will post it again... this is from Sequieda's testimony:

The agreement as he understood it was: Metro was going to do all the sheetmetal work, Joseph was selling and handling whatever invoicing, and Mr. Merritt was going to do the plumbing, the pumps that operated the water features, the electrical, etching, rocks, tile, etc. and he was going to videotape them, crate them and ship them.

I will even link it since I had the time noted:
12:45

RIGHT. Joey went from paying Chase to do the iron work to paying Metro to do it. As I stated.

 

[Recidivist]

I posted it already. OK. I'll post it again. But you said you read them.

McStayFamilyMurders: The Trial: 10/21/14 SBSW 14-1594 CJ Residence

This site lists the search warrants individually, so that it is easier to sort through them.

McStayFamilyMurders: The Trial: DISCLAIMER

I read all of them and there is nothing in there to support your claim.

 

[missy1974]

I thought he checked his bank on his phone or computer. I look my bank balance up all the time. If it was 2500 less than I had thought, then I would call them to ask why.

I think he called them, they said a check just came through, for Chase, with paul mitchell on memo line.

I don't think that would be enough info or Joey to call it in as FRAUD. That would freeze his accounts and cause total mayhem.

It makes more sense to me that he would go confront Chase---and ask him, for clarification. The way they did business was a bit chaotic anyway. So he owed Chase the chance to explain. Maybe Joey thought he had forgotten about or lost track of this payment?

That is how Joey seemed to treat Chase. He gave him leeway and the benefit of the doubt. Why wouldn't he do the same in this situation? But the question is---was Chase able to wiggle out of this one?

You don't think they would have record of him looking at his bank account? Internet history?

Could you do banking on your phone in 2010? I really don't know, I checked UnionBank's 2010 archived site, no indication of "mobile banking" at the time.

And if he called the bank, even for clarification, or to see which cheque went through, why no note of that? If anyone looked into his account, the banking system would note that. I will say IMO But the fraud lady said just making a call wouldn't, but entering the various banking systems may. I also recall a poster awhile back that commented she worked at a bank and yes, they log who looks at who's account and when (which makes sense in a bank).

ETA: I would also expect Joey to check the QB's account that he normally wrote cheques out of, he didn't.

 

[MichaelCorleone]

I posted it already. OK. I'll post it again. But you said you read them.

McStayFamilyMurders: The Trial: 10/21/14 SBSW 14-1594 CJ Residence

This site lists the search warrants individually, so that it is easier to sort through them.

McStayFamilyMurders: The Trial: DISCLAIMER

Which search warrant mentions Merritt’s parenting though? Is it in a warrant or in a probable cause document? What, specifically, was the search warrant for, so I can find it without having to reread every page?

 

[missy1974]

I didn’t discuss the jammed cell phones for the purpose of supporting my comment. I was addressing the issue I had read several threads back about CM’c cell phone dropping off the network. My part of my reply concerning him being in a casino was attributed to oceanblueeyes, comment I was simply expanding upon it.

My comment originated as a reply to oceanblueeyes comment #53 of this thread.

oceanblueeyes,
“Yeah, I'm sure going to the casinos were far more important to him, like it seemed to be in a every facet of his life.”

My reply,
“You're right, and it's most likely where he was when the family was murdered.”

I have you been watching/listening to all the testimony?

 

[HelenK]

That has been my argument in the past about Chase that he has never been violent.

He is simply a thief and likes to con people but how many of those other people that he ripped off was he close to?

I genuinely think he liked and respected Joey as much as somebody like him could and so the difference I think was that he had a relationship with Joey and when it broke down he couldn’t handle it. I think the people has had ripped off in the past he wasn’t close to or had a real friendship with them.

MOO

And I think that you are absolutely on target. He spoke volumes about his feelings towards Joey when he said, "I was not his best friend, but he was mine .." Aside from the fact that he knew she'd sized him up a long time ago, I also believe his vitriol towards Summer, and even the babies, was tied to his emotions regarding Joey. Even though he was robbing "best friend" blind, he very much liked, and respected, Joseph McStay. When Joey - no doubt quite unexpectedly to Chase - lowered the boom, with all its consequences, his mental state imploded into an unstoppable rage. The train had inexorably flown off the tracks.

 

[katydid23]

But.... everyone is speculating that he went there to fire him because of the fraud.... so are you saying you don't think he was going to fire him? Just spank him and give him a chance?

I think Joey was upset and concerned. But he needed to find out what was going on. Their financial interconnection was always muddled and weird. So he had to talk to Chase and figure it out.

Chase did work on paul mitchell fountain, so maybe this was a check that fell through the cracks or was overlooked and Joey needed clarification.

I don't think Joey wanted to believe that Chase would out and out steal from him.

My husband had a similar situation with his nephew. And he always defended his nephew, even though most of us thought nephew was a lying, lazy punk. ;-[ When my husband did finally see the fraudulent PayPal charges his nephew made from hubby's account, he didnt report the fraud, and he didnt tell any of us about it--at first.

But he did make dinner plans with him, and then confronted him about the video games and cell phone etc that he had purchased. He needed to confirm it and hear it from him before taking any other action. And he gave him a time limit to repay it or he would report it as theft.