CA - Joey, Summer, Gianni, Joseph Jr McStay Murders - Feb 4th 2010 #14

[Tortoise]

OMG. This is so creepy to read. One question? Where did he store the Trooper? I know you can't answer that definitively but what is your hunch?

I think he may have driven it onto the vacant plot of land behind the house. The access to it was just around the corner in Avocado Vista. I've got pictures of it here, the bottom yellow arrow is the house, the top yellow arrow is the entrance to the land. The entrance to the land is what's shown in the second picture from google streetview.

click to enlarge

 

[Tortoise]

The only thing that makes me wonder about it being premeditated is the use of a sledge hammer. The hammer makes it seems as more of a crime of opportunity. Using a gun and silencer would've been much more efficient. Maybe he couldn't get his hands on a gun?

I suppose, I don't want to sound gruesome, but with a very hard blow with a sledgehammer the victim is going to be very quickly subdued, knocked unconscious and not much time for screaming. With a stabbing there's more possibility of screaming and getting it in a non fatal place if the person moves. I don't know why he didn't use a gun - perhaps he's not a good shot and it could leave holes in the walls or more uncontrolled spatter? Just a few thoughts and JMO.

 

[smr]

The only thing that makes me wonder about it being premeditated is the use of a sledge hammer. The hammer makes it seems as more of a crime of opportunity. Using a gun and silencer would've been much more efficient. Maybe he couldn't get his hands on a gun?

Could they have been shot after being hammered? Could there been other weapons used that were not put in the graves? Perhaps the killer or killers put the sledge hammer there for particular reasons, such as misleading? I'm not sure gunshot has been excluded, or has it?

 

[geevee]

Could they have been shot after being hammered? Could there been other weapons used that were not put in the graves? Perhaps the killer or killers put the sledge hammer there for particular reasons, such as misleading? I'm not sure gunshot has been excluded, or has it?

Bullets aren't going to miss all bones in all four people, a shooting would have been evident at the forensic autopsies. The bashed skulls of all four pretty well indicates that's how they were all killed imo.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

The only thing that makes me wonder about it being premeditated is the use of a sledge hammer. The hammer makes it seems as more of a crime of opportunity. Using a gun and silencer would've been much more efficient. Maybe he couldn't get his hands on a gun?

Hi there!

A sledgehammer is as deadly as any gun, except gunshots can be heard, and the victims usually die quickly from gunshots.

I think he used the sledgehammer as his premeditated weapon of choice because he wanted each one to suffer from great pain.

He knew using a sledgehammer is a silent weapon as it crushes the skulls.

Imo, his weapon of choice does show diabolical premeditation.

Imo

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Bullets aren't going to miss all bones in all four people, a shooting would have been evident at the forensic autopsies. The bashed skulls of all four pretty well indicates that's how they were all killed imo.

The injuries sustained from the sledgehammer painfully shows a gun was not needed to murder all four.

 

[Karinna]

I suppose, I don't want to sound gruesome, but with a very hard blow with a sledgehammer the victim is going to be very quickly subdued, knocked unconscious and not much time for screaming. With a stabbing there's more possibility of screaming and getting it in a non fatal place if the person moves. I don't know why he didn't use a gun - perhaps he's not a good shot and it could leave holes in the walls or more uncontrolled spatter? Just a few thoughts and JMO.

Agree, one or more blows to the head with a sledgehammer would be enough to kill someone.
I watched an episode of Cold Case on t.v. yesterday, and the victim was a 17 yr. old girl, and the perp. struck her in the head with just a normal hammer and she fell to the ground where he struck her hard about 3 more times and killed her.
I know it's just a t.v. show but a hammer is a harsh weapon that can kill and has done so in other real crime cases.

 

[Karinna]

The injuries sustained from the sledgehammer painfully shows a gun was not needed to murder all four.

Exactly.

 

[mom2chloe]

CM is a felon who likely couldn’t own a gun and if he did he likely would have sold it to cover his other habits. I like where minds are going regarding premeditation. He likely already knew the sledgehammer was there and because it wouldn’t cause a puncture wound I’m feeling pretty good about the no blood evidence.
Since he had so much access to the house it wouldn’t have been hard to unlock a window to gain access as needed. Anyone with allergies knows you close the window to keep allergens out!
How he could commit the violence he did to the two innocents is something I will never be able to reconcile. All four of the McStays were innocent but I’m hopefully optimistic that the jurors will realize how personal the violence committed against the two boys indicates how personal and angry the situation was.

 

[MrsPC]

As bad as Merritt's finances were all the time due to his gambling - I doubt he could afford a gun...and a sledgehammer is a tool he's familiar with (and probably owned) and it probably didn't immediately alarm the McStays if he walked into their home with it hanging from a toolbelt or something. I actually started following the McStay case a little later than most so I don't know if there has already been alot of research on the hammer used to murder the McStays. But I found the exact model online and it only costs $18.17 so that was probably something Merritt could afford. And it's interesting that it's referred to as a drilling hammer (per Wikipedia) and is used with a steel chisel for cutting stone or Metal (just another coicidence in this case.) It's also interesting to me that it's made for "single-handed" use....

Anyway, here's the actual hammer photo from trial:
CA - Joey, Summer, Gianni, Joseph Jr McStay Murders - Feb 4th 2010 #2

And you'll note it's a Stanley 3lb fiberglass jacketed handle hammer just like this one:
Stanley 56-705 3 Lbs. Hammer _Jacketed Fiberglass Handle | AceTool.com

 

[smr]

except gunshots can be heard

According to Mike McStay:

"Also there’s a shooting range up the street, so gunshots wouldn’t be out of place."

Mystery 'digger' track marks found at McStay family grave site | Daily Mail Online

 

[Mony Mony]

And still no audio, no tweets, nothing.

 

[smr]

 

[mothwings]

Yay thank you!

 

[Mony Mony]

MM sounds angry! Just starting to listen. And sounds like defense may be going the route of Mikey did it.

Poor Mikey.

 

[KALI]

Can you please give us a link to where one can listen to today's testimony?

MM sounds angry! Just starting to listen. And sounds like defense may be going the route of Mikey did it.

Poor Mikey.

 

[smr]

 

[Mony Mony]

Can you please give us a link to where one can listen to today's testimony?

 

[mothwings]

MM sounds angry! Just starting to listen. And sounds like defense may be going the route of Mikey did it.

Poor Mikey.

I'd be angry as well. There is always an alternate theory for the defense and in that—a different killer. Sometimes they choose family members. They make good targets because oftentimes they make statements in times of desperation from life and death situations such as "my fear is I'm looking for" quote to which the defense clings. I liked how the judge overruled McGee's objection about there being no testimony that Mike killed the family when Imes asked if he was insulted with that implication. LOL what else could they be suggesting? Glad the judge overruled that one. This testimony worked against them and just showed their desperation to get their client off, IMO.

 

[smr]

L&C didn't include witnesses' names in these two video titles. It will be hard to remember which is which if they continue to do so.