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

[InspectorGadget]

The problem with the above info is that Chase began creating these checks on Feb 1st. And he cashed one on Feb 2nd. So that is not true about Joey bringing him those blank checks on the 4th.

Chase backdated the checks that he created, on the 5th, to the date of Feb 4th. Then he told the detectives that Joey gave him those checks, on the 4th. <<<<the last date that Joey was known to be alive.

There was no reason for Joey to give up his password to that account. Joey was not too busy to slap a stamp on an envelope and send it to Chase if need be.

Would you give an employee that had a criminal history, a gambling problem, and financial problems, the passcode to your QBooks account? Joey had 90thousand bucks in that account. I don't think the jury is going to believe that Joey did that.

Here is how they place Chase in Fallbrook on the 4th:

Feb 4th:
7:59 McStay home computer accessed. Check was created for “chase merritt” for $4000 with “paul mitchell” on the memo line.

8:05 Check for $4000 to “chase merritt” is deleted.

Feb 5th:

12:06 Quickbooks accessed, check created for “chase merritt” for $4500 with ‘paul mitchell” on the memo line.

12:12 Check printed. Then the check date was edited from February 5 to February 4, 2010.

12:19 User creates vendor “metro sheet metal”.

12:21 Check created for $1650 with “Miscellaneous Manufacturer” on memo line. Backdated to February 4. Printed and deleted.

12:25 Check created for $250 to “metro sheet metal”, backdated to February 4.

12:29 Check created for $6505 to “charles merritt” with “Balance sa (1001), period.”. Backdated to February 4. Deleted.

12:33 Check for $2350 to “charles merritt” created, backdated to February 4, printed and deleted. This check would later be deposited at Bank of America.

12:38 $4500 check deleted. This check would be cashed at BOA on the same day.

In retrospect on this day, 5 checks would be created – all backdated to February 4 – for the sum of $15,255 in the span of 35 minutes.


[ So Chase writes checks for 15, 000 bucks from Joey's account, all on the day Joey and his family go missing---and we are supposed to believe it was a coincidence?]

No he had 90k in his bank account, not in quickbooks, however you are correct in that he could have written himself a check for up to 90k, so why didnt he?

 

[InspectorGadget]

The problem with the above info is that Chase began creating these checks on Feb 1st. And he cashed one on Feb 2nd. So that is not true about Joey bringing him those blank checks on the 4th.

Chase backdated the checks that he created, on the 5th, to the date of Feb 4th. Then he told the detectives that Joey gave him those checks, on the 4th. <<<<the last date that Joey was known to be alive.

There was no reason for Joey to give up his password to that account. Joey was not too busy to slap a stamp on an envelope and send it to Chase if need be.

Would you give an employee that had a criminal history, a gambling problem, and financial problems, the passcode to your QBooks account? Joey had 90thousand bucks in that account. I don't think the jury is going to believe that Joey did that.

Here is how they place Chase in Fallbrook on the 4th:

Feb 4th:
7:59 McStay home computer accessed. Check was created for “chase merritt” for $4000 with “paul mitchell” on the memo line.

8:05 Check for $4000 to “chase merritt” is deleted.

Feb 5th:

12:06 Quickbooks accessed, check created for “chase merritt” for $4500 with ‘paul mitchell” on the memo line.

12:12 Check printed. Then the check date was edited from February 5 to February 4, 2010.

12:19 User creates vendor “metro sheet metal”.

12:21 Check created for $1650 with “Miscellaneous Manufacturer” on memo line. Backdated to February 4. Printed and deleted.

12:25 Check created for $250 to “metro sheet metal”, backdated to February 4.

12:29 Check created for $6505 to “charles merritt” with “Balance sa (1001), period.”. Backdated to February 4. Deleted.

12:33 Check for $2350 to “charles merritt” created, backdated to February 4, printed and deleted. This check would later be deposited at Bank of America.

12:38 $4500 check deleted. This check would be cashed at BOA on the same day.

In retrospect on this day, 5 checks would be created – all backdated to February 4 – for the sum of $15,255 in the span of 35 minutes.


[ So Chase writes checks for 15, 000 bucks from Joey's account, all on the day Joey and his family go missing---and we are supposed to believe it was a coincidence?]

Do you have the IP addresses for these transactions? I have been following the case for years & I'm confused, so I feel sorry for the jury at this point.

 

[katydid23]

Nobody does mail any more, except for Amazon . .

My husband gets his checks sent by mail. Many people do.

Why wouldn't Joey just send Chase his check if he didn't want to drive out there?

Joey had 90, 000 dollars in that account. And he is going to give access to that money to a felon with a gambling problem? And Joey is going to tell him, go ahead, just sign my name, write yourself some checks, and then DELETE the notation from my QuickBook? Why the heck would he do that?

It makes no sense at all.

Especially knowing that Joey and his family were brutally murdered the same day that Chase claims these checks were to be backdated to. That is just chilling.

 

[A lucas]

No he had 90k in his bank account, not in quickbooks, however you are correct in that he could have written himself a check for up to 90k, so why didnt he?

Because he was stupid but not that stupid! The idea was clearly to syphon off money so it went unnoticed, hence the deletions. Once they were dead though he ramped up the amounts he took massively!

 

[mrjitty]

So Mr J please help me understand. The defence cannot lay claim to anything like JM gave CM blank cheques or JM gave him access to QB (and then told him to delete it a week later) without someone testifying about it? And as there are no witnesses to those things they would have to put CM on the stand? (which I doubt they would do).

Counsel can only ask the jury to make inferences based on evidence before the Court.

So let's take your example and assume for sake of argument the defence accepts Chase had the cheque blanks in his possession.

Only CM has personal knowledge of how he got them, and what Joey told him to do with them. So only he can testify to that

If he does not testify, then the defence only has the exhibits to fall back on. So for example Chase's pre trial statements. But unfortunately the pre-trial statements don't contain a consistent story that fits with the evidence of how he got the cheques.

So I think in this example, the best counsel can really do is invite the Jury to indulge in speculation in closing argument.

But the jury should follow the evidence, and make the natural and obvious inference that Chase was stealing.

 

[katydid23]

No he had 90k in his bank account, not in quickbooks, however you are correct in that he could have written himself a check for up to 90k, so why didnt he?

Quickbooks is the software that gave Chase ACCESS to that 90k. I am very familiar with QB. I used it for several years. Which is why I KNOW that Chase is lying his butt off with that pathetic story.

If Joey really wanted to allow Chase to create his own checks then he would have given him his own log in passcode, and allowed him to be a signee, instead of forging Joey's name. That is fraud.

Why didn't he write himself a big check immediately ? He would probably be on death row already if he had done
so.

He wrote checks totaling 15k that first week. And he asked Susan Blake for 5K. And he avoided paying Joey a large debt that he already owed. And he collected some from Saudi Arabia, IIRC. And perhaps some others that he was able to hide.

I think he hoped to collect much more and keep things rolling, but he failed, as usual.

 

[katydid23]

Do you have the IP addresses for these transactions? I have been following the case for years & I'm confused, so I feel sorry for the jury at this point.

 

[asyousay]

Quickbooks is the software that gave Chase ACCESS to that 90k. I am very familiar with QB. I used it for several years. Which is why I KNOW that Chase is lying his butt off with that pathetic story.

If Joey really wanted to allow Chase to create his own checks then he would have given him his own log in passcode, and allowed him to be a signee, instead of forging Joey's name. That is fraud.

Why didn't he write himself a big check immediately ? He would probably be on death row already if he had done
so.

He wrote checks totaling 15k that first week. And he asked Susan Blake for 5K. And he avoided paying Joey a large debt that he already owed. And he collected some from Saudi Arabia, IIRC. And perhaps some others that he was able to hide.

I think he hoped to collect much more and keep things rolling, but he failed, as usual.

Can you imagine the sheer balls it takes to ask the mother of the son you brutally murdered for money?!!

It’s so sickening!

 

[mrjitty]

Nobody does mail any more, except for Amazon . .

As I understand it, Joey had a history of mailing cheques to MSM

Sometimes he mailed them. Sometimes he gave them to Chase to give to them.

 

[mrjitty]

Do you have the IP addresses for these transactions? I have been following the case for years & I'm confused, so I feel sorry for the jury at this point.

Its likely Quickbooks logged the machine ID of the computer accessing as well as other identifying info.

 

[InspectorGadget]

My husband gets his checks sent by mail. Many people do.

Why wouldn't Joey just send Chase his check if he didn't want to drive out there?

Joey had 90, 000 dollars in that account. And he is going to give access to that money to a felon with a gambling problem? And Joey is going to tell him, go ahead, just sign my name, write yourself some checks, and then DELETE the notation from my QuickBook? Why the heck would he do that?

It makes no sense at all.

Especially knowing that Joey and his family were brutally murdered the same day that Chase claims these checks were to be backdated to. That is just chilling.

Joey needed to give Chase access to money to purchase supplies to make the fountains including money for Metro Sheet Metal. So no Feb 1 or 2 he created a way to do that & keep track of it all without having to drive up to Rancho Cucamonga all the time. Was Joey stupid? I don't think so.

If things were going to get busy with the custom fountains he would not be able to afford the time to keep meeting with Chase & tallying up what was owed. He might have wanted to keep Chase away from Summer too, if she was complaining. Rightly or wrongly he seems to have trusted Chase. He also trusted DK with access to his money via Paypal after he had paid him out (according to McGyver)? So isn't that just as suspicious?

 

[Longtimenoc]

Joey needed to give Chase access to money to purchase supplies to make the fountains including money for Metro Sheet Metal. So no Feb 1 or 2 he created a way to do that & keep track of it all without having to drive up to Rancho Cucamonga all the time. Was Joey stupid? I don't think so.

If things were going to get busy with the custom fountains he would not be able to afford the time to keep meeting with Chase & tallying up what was owed. He might have wanted to keep Chase away from Summer too, if she was complaining. Rightly or wrongly he seems to have trusted Chase. He also trusted DK with access to his money via Paypal after he had paid him out (according to McGyver)? So isn't that just as suspicious?

Dan and Joseph were partners. They had been associates for years and together built the web business. Joseph met Merritt just a couple of years prior to the murders. Merritt was a vendor to the business. Vendors arent given carte blanche access to business funds.

 

[mrjitty]

Joey needed to give Chase access to money to purchase supplies to make the fountains including money for Metro Sheet Metal. So no Feb 1 or 2 he created a way to do that & keep track of it all without having to drive up to Rancho Cucamonga all the time.

I look forward to the defendant testifying to all this.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

He only created one check on Joey's computer, which he created and erased on feb 4th ---on the HP desktop

Then he recreated that same check again on the 5th, from his own computer allegedly, and cashed it himself

It sure shows he was itching to get his hands on Joey's money. He couldn't wait even for a couple of days after he murdered them.

Imo, his check writing activity on the 4th shows guilt. After he created the fraudulent check on Joey's own computer on the day they all disappeared he then realized that was a stupid move so he deleted it.

So he then thinks he will not be detected as easily if he writes it from his own computer.

It once again shows murderers, and fraudsters are never as smart as they give themselves credit for being.

In the end it's often their own stupid mistakes that gets them caught.

Imo

 

[InspectorGadget]

My husband gets his checks sent by mail. Many people do.

Why wouldn't Joey just send Chase his check if he didn't want to drive out there?

Joey had 90, 000 dollars in that account. And he is going to give access to that money to a felon with a gambling problem? And Joey is going to tell him, go ahead, just sign my name, write yourself some checks, and then DELETE the notation from my QuickBook? Why the heck would he do that?

It makes no sense at all.

Especially knowing that Joey and his family were brutally murdered the same day that Chase claims these checks were to be backdated to. That is just chilling.

I agree - it doesn't make sense to me either! But I don't really see why, even if he had killed the family on the 4th, he would have any reason to backdate a check to the 4th when he printed it the next day. At that point no-one knew they were dead and what difference would it have made if he had left it dated 5th? Who would know if he hadn't backdated it? He could have just said that he picked it up from Joey on 5th.

Quickbooks is the software that gave Chase ACCESS to that 90k. I am very familiar with QB. I used it for several years. Which is why I KNOW that Chase is lying his butt off with that pathetic story.

If Joey really wanted to allow Chase to create his own checks then he would have given him his own log in passcode, and allowed him to be a signee, instead of forging Joey's name. That is fraud.

Why didn't he write himself a big check immediately ? He would probably be on death row already if he had done
so.

He wrote checks totaling 15k that first week. And he asked Susan Blake for 5K. And he avoided paying Joey a large debt that he already owed. And he collected some from Saudi Arabia, IIRC. And perhaps some others that he was able to hide.

I think he hoped to collect much more and keep things rolling, but he failed, as usual.

Well I don't think Joey would want Chase to see all of his financial dealings which is why he would have created a separate account. Chase also claimed that Joey owed him for certain jobs.
If Chase is not guilty, and was unable to get a hold of Joey, he may well have written the checks so that he could get on with the Saudi job. He would square it with Joey later. That may be fraud but it doesn't prove murder. He may have gambled it away but it doesn't prove murder.

 

[Longtimenoc]

It sure shows he was itching to get his hands on Joey's money. He couldn't wait even for a couole of days after he murdered them.

Imo, his check writing activity on the 4th shows guilt. After he created the fraudulent check on Joey's own computer on the day they all disappeared he then realized that was a stupid move so he deleted it.

So he then thinks he will not be detected as easily if he writes it from his own computer.

It once again shows murderers, and fraudsters are never as smart as they give themselves credit for being.

In the end it's often their own stupid mistakes that gets them caught.

Imo

Stupid mistakes indeed. Forging those checks and cashing them were so criminal and greedy. How can the DT convince the jury that it was a natural thing to do? Defies all logic.

 

[InspectorGadget]

As I understand it, Joey had a history of mailing cheques to MSM

Sometimes he mailed them. Sometimes he gave them to Chase to give to them.

Ah that's interesting, maybe Chase persuaded him that he could deliver them . . .

 

[mrjitty]

Dan and Joseph were partners. They had been associates for years and together built the web business. Joseph met Merritt just a couple of years prior to the murders. Merritt was a vendor to the business. Vendors arent given carte blanche access to business funds.

And in any event, Chase never told police in his pre-trial statements that he was allowed to do this - so its not in evidence. he told police Joey gave him the cheques.

He will have to testify to it.

 

[Longtimenoc]

I agree - it doesn't make sense to me either! But I don't really see why, even if he had killed the family on the 4th, he would have any reason to backdate a check to the 4th when he printed it the next day. At that point no-one knew they were dead and what difference would it have made if he had left it dated 5th? Who would know if he hadn't backdated it? He could have just said that he picked it up from Joey on 5th.

Well I don't think Joey would want Chase to see all of his financial dealings which is why he would have created a separate account. Chase also claimed that Joey owed him for certain jobs.
If Chase is not guilty, and was unable to get a hold of Joey, he may well have written the checks so that he could get on with the Saudi job. He would square it with Joey later. That may be fraud but it doesn't prove murder. He may have gambled it away but it doesn't prove murder.

Merritt gained 4access to the business account, Contact. Thats how he was able to grab 20k
Edit: Custom Acct.

 

[InspectorGadget]

I look forward to the defendant testifying to all this.

Don't think that's going to happen - but I will be glued to the defense case!