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

[mrjitty]

The hammer in the grave a red herring? Well then what do you suppose caused those injuries? An industrial machine accident?

I was going to "WUT?" that post.

But why bother.

Obviously the hammer in 2010 was a forensic goldmine.

So it went in the grave. No murderer would keep the murder weapon that, even if cleaned would still have microscopic blood stains of the victims all over it.

 

[Longtimenoc]

It certainly is horrible, but is it an indication of rage or of someone who cared so little about the victims, was in fact indifferent to them, that this method of killing didn't bother them?

You are obviously a compassionate person. I would suggest who ever did this, probably wasn't.

But think about it. How can you destroy a child methodically? Not likely. Rage with a hammer.

 

[missy1974]

Do CM reflect a pattern of incoming calls going straight to VM? If so, that would give more credibility to the "bad reception" explanation.

Or, was the 4th the first time calls went straight to VM? That would give more credibility to the "going off the grid" theory.

IMO, the two timed felon felon purposely went off the grid on that fateful day.

McGee went through a month and a half of CM's phone records with Boles... I stopped taking notes after the first 7 or 8 LOL There were a few that did record a tower, but the numerous that he went through, they did not. And McGee was able to show that there were calls within minutes of the VM calls that did indeed have a tower, so it was unlikely that the phone was shut off. It is more likely that AT&T did not keep or show the tower information when a call went to VM.

Again, on re-direct... the prosecutor asked him and his answer was "I would like to confer with AT&T to give a more accurate answer." He also said the same when asked if the reception where Chase lived was bad.... he would like to confer with AT&T to give a better answer.

 

[mrjitty]

I was responding to this particular part of your post:



I personally don't think they are going to say they were "flyers". I *think* this is where Bennett comes in....

I have listened to Boles testimony, very intently because without maps, it was pretty hard to follow, but if we are to believe anything that Boles said, he was not "stationary" during those Victorville area hits, I have notes, maybe I can put something coherent together later. So how is his cell phone moving and burying bodies? I haven't decided yet just how much weight should be put on Boles testimony to be honest because of the errors. JMO

I think you are overthinking this part.

His phone was off at the gravesites. He got back on the road, turned on, and called Cathy.

That was his mistake. He was still too close to the graves and hit that tower.

He was thinking the other way round. He didn't want his phone to lead directly to the graves, if investigators looked at his phone. So a call from the highway seems safe.

But he didn't think about the opposite - what if the graves were found. In which case that seemingly innocent call on the highway actually places him at the crime scene.

 

[Recidivist]

Other than your assumption that Chase is the killer here, what evidence is there that Chase had no boundaries.

That he asked Joey's Mom for money after killing her entire family.

 

[missy1974]

You said "Was she specifically asked about the 6th of February 2010? I really don't recall. I don't know if Rodriquez just sat down at that point."

Ok, so would you agree that the reason that the prosecution put her on the stand was for her to say that she did or did not see him on that day? Did she ask? Did Maline ask? I was asking a question to another poster if the question was asked... I really don't recall.

Maline seemed to be more interest to know about Bennett in his questions

 

[Tortoise]

So how is his cell phone moving and burying bodies?

rsbm

Is there any claim being made of his minute by minute activities in the desert? Before or after the calls? Or that he was actually shoveling dirt while he was on the phone?

The two sets of tyre tracks show at least that this was not one arrival and one departure.

 

[missy1974]

As i understand it, we don't have handshake data.

So for example, customer turns on phone, phone looks to tower and registers on tower. At that time for example, customer then receives notifications of voice mails. Or an inbound call 10 mins later can reach the customer. That handshake is logged. But we don't have them.

The handshake is necessary in order for the network to successfully route your data and voice mails and inbound calls to you.

Otherwise the network can only look for your phone at the last tower you were logged on to

This system is key with travel. So for instance if you drive for an hour on a motorway, you will change towers, Your phone does this automatically, because it can see the stronger tower as you move away from the first tower.

As far as I can see, none of this data is in the records. We only see tower connections relating to calls and messages.

For instance, when Joey's phone was switched off for the last time, it should have said goodbye to the tower it was logged on to.

This would be very important in terms of proving Joey did not turn on his phone on the 5th

I guess it really does not matter why we don't have it.

They do have beginning and ending towers, if that is what you are referring to. So, in Boles testimony.... it showed when a call was made, it connected on this tower, when it ended it showed on another... when the next call was made it was on the last tower (the end tower from last call).. but ended on another tower, etc. Most of the calls on the 6th were seconds long, Boles seemed to agree that the cell phone was likely "moving".

 

[geevee]

When we decide that another human being should die-and that is what the death penalty means, what standard do we hold ourselves to, when we advocate for such a thing?

Shouldn't we really be looking very carefully at the evidence under these circumstances, especially under these circumstances?

If CA is like AZ, if after the guilt phase there is a conviction, there will be an aggravation phase (and if the jury agrees to aggravating factors) then a sentencing phase where they can recommend a sentence of life or death. I happen to be anti-DP but as I believe CM is guilty, he should spend the rest of his life behind bars.

 

[missy1974]

I would like to add that I find it intriguing that Chase starts to write cheques out and within days the family are Murdered.

It’s funny how they worked together for years and Chase never got to write his own cheques from Joey and when he finally does start to do it the family are killed.

That’s one hell of a coincidence!!!

I want to see what the defense says about this too. They have asked some questions if those cheques were compared to all others written to Merritt. Almost implying that it had happened before... but stopped short of saying it lol

 

[Tortoise]

Ok, so would you agree that the reason that the prosecution put her on the stand was for her to say that she did or did not see him on that day? Did she ask? Did Maline ask? I was asking a question to another poster if the question was asked... I really don't recall.

Maline seemed to be more interest to know about Bennett in his questions

The reason the prosecution put her on the stand was to get her prior statement into evidence, either by getting her to confirm what she said previously or by showing her previous words if she were to deviate from that in court.

It's the defense's job to alibi Merritt for the 6th.

 

[missy1974]

I think you are overthinking this part.

His phone was off at the gravesites. He got back on the road, turned on, and called Cathy.

That was his mistake. He was still too close to the graves and hit that tower.

He was thinking the other way round. He didn't want his phone to lead directly to the graves, if investigators looked at his phone. So a call from the highway seems safe.

But he didn't think about the opposite - what if the graves were found. In which case that seemingly innocent call on the highway actually places him at the crime scene.

I disagree. I think it takes longer to bury bodies in the desert.

ETA: Not that I know how long it would take

 

[mrjitty]

And McGee was able to show that there were calls within minutes of the VM calls that did indeed have a tower, so it was unlikely that the phone was shut off. It is more likely that AT&T did not keep or show the tower information when a call went to VM.

This is exactly what i was talking about before.

If the call actually connected, we have the tower data. Where it went to VM we don't have the handshake/pings

If the network could not connect, it would have looked for the phone at the last known tower, then gone to voice.

If the phone was switched off, the phone would have logged off the tower, and the network would send straight to voice.

We don't have the tower pings to differentiate.

@Texas Red indicated that ping data is only held for a few months

 

[mrjitty]

I disagree. I think it takes longer to bury bodies in the desert.

ETA: Not that I know how long it would take

What time estimate do you have for that?

 

[asyousay]

I disagree. I think it takes longer to bury bodies in the desert.

ETA: Not that I know how long it would take

The bodies were in shallow graves because the person didn’t want to waste too much time digging.

 

[missy1974]

rsbm

Is there any claim being made of his minute by minute activities in the desert? Before or after the calls? Or that he was actually shoveling dirt while he was on the phone?

The two sets of tyre tracks show at least that this was not one arrival and one departure.

I am sure we will find out when the defense has their time what they are saying.

I had gone back to my notes about the Victorville tower hits after they asked all those questions about Bennett, McGee had made a point of mentioning a building and I couldn't remember what it was.... it was the Victorville Courthouse, one of the towers hit, he asked Boles "is that south of the Victorville Courthouse?" I figured it was nothing because they wouldn't be open on a Saturday... BUT... they are, according to Google. I find it interesting, because we do know that they got Bennett's DNA back in December. Could be nothing, because it seems that the cell phone was moving at the time though too IIRC. I will not be surprised if they say that he was with Bennett that day, whether they can prove it is another story lol JMO

 

[mrjitty]

But think about it. How can you destroy a child methodically? Not likely. Rage with a hammer.

It's these aspects of the case that interest me the most at this stage.

The combination of the anger, overkill, and staging is deeply revealing IMO

This doesn't fit with a sexually motivated murder, because why do that to the kids. Or if it was "professional" why bludgeon a kids head apart?

This is also why I don't believe the DK theory. If he wanted to steal Joey's business, why batter his kids like that?

 

[citygirl]

Ok, so would you agree that the reason that the prosecution put her on the stand was for her to say that she did or did not see him on that day? Did she ask? Did Maline ask? I was asking a question to another poster if the question was asked... I really don't recall.

Maline seemed to be more interest to know about Bennett in his questions

I can't believe I am still waiting for L&C's upload. I want to see it!!!!

 

[missy1974]

This is exactly what i was talking about before.

If the call actually connected, we have the tower data. Where it went to VM we don't have the handshake/pings

If the network could not connect, it would have looked for the phone at the last known tower, then gone to voice.

If the phone was switched off, the phone would have logged off the tower, and the network would send straight to voice.

We don't have the tower pings to differentiate.

@Texas Red indicated that ping data is only held for a few months

ok, I am not disagreeing with you, but you need to listen to Boles testimony. On direct, this is not what he said. He said the calls that do not have tower information, it was one of 3 reasons.... airplane mode/off/out of range. There is no denying that the prosecution has said his phone was "off" during that time. I guess it's still possible, but it is not proven. And Boles was just plain wrong about VM calls. He said they would have recorded a tower had his phone been on and at home, this is not the case. Almost all of the calls that went to his phone that went to VM, did NOT record tower info.

Even Bachman said that his understanding when he was questioning Merritt in that 8 hour long interview was that the phone was off the evening of the 4th based on what he was told.

 

[missy1974]

What time estimate do you have for that?

I don't know, but the prosecution has said that the he was burying them when his phone was recording towers.