CA - Joey, Summer, Gianni, Joseph Jr McStay Murders - Feb 4th 2010 #9

[citygirl]

Thank you!! When the McStay family disappeared I was still working and contributed far more to the thread. My memory is not what it used to be and I really appreciate the hard working posters on this case. You keep me on my toes.

At least you have a valid excuse. My memory is not what it was 10 years ago. I too appreciate the hard working posters. Would be lost with out them.

 

[Bernina]

Her testimony coupled with his interrogation I think worked perfectly together. He kept talking about visiting his sister but came across as not confident in his delivery.

Chase demonstrated classic traits of lying.

I took notice of his posturing in the video. He has his left dominant hand over his mouth much of the time which is a common gesture of lying or trying to withhold information.

He also did the same thing during the CNN interview, held his other hand down in front groin, fingers outstretched. This would be subliminally to protect his manhood and keep authority over the conversation.

In the final clip shown, he totally shifts his posture. He is leaning back as if trying to project he's at ease but his knees and legs are pointed towards the door, or away from the detectives. This is a sign that he wants get out and now. He is feeling trapped and needs to leave. Whatever was said to him before that was quite effective.

There was one point where he was doing some weird itching.

I know there is more and I'll catch it once I rewatch. His speech and jumbled excuses are also telling imo. Iirc, there was a pause for him when they asked him how it was he was in VV on the 6th.

Watch how he intertwines his fingers after putting the sheet with his cell phone pings down.......interesting.

 

[Force Ten]

I have a different experience. I feel like this case is getting much less coverage then recent murder trials in California, that come to mind.

The Scott Peterson trial was like 24/7 nonstop coverage. And more recently, the IslA Vista Killing in 2014, major coverage by the press and on tv/radio. Sierra LamAr's murder trial did not get enough coverage, imo, but it still got more that this one has.

It's sad really. If Gianni and Joseph were girls I'm sure the coverage would be different. Race and gender equality is so flawed when it comes to the media and attention. I also feel that if this family were black, hispanic or Indian, none of us probably would have ever heard of this case. Well, perhaps some in this forum, but not in the general spotlight.

 

[fridaybaker]

Hmmm, I've had major back surgery-right lung was deflated, ribs pried apart to access my spine for a fusion. I was on morphine for months and NEVER "drooled." As a matter of FACT, my mouth was constantly DRY, from all of the narcotic painkillers I was on.

The "drooling" tells me this is dishonest testimony. Overkill, trying to emphasize her point, but everything she's talked about indicate more the opposite -dry mouth -not drooling.

 

[katydid23]

I think he will claim they were signed blanks katy, well some of them anyway.

At least that is if he gives evidence. I'm not sure he will, although he is the controller so who knows. Controllers usually can't resist the opportunity.

I don't think that explanation will work though. If he was just using the blank checks he already had, why would he create one on Joey's desktop on the 4th?

 

[Bernina]

I'm toast, 10:00 pm. Got livestock to feed early in the morning, does L & C not realize the repercussions that abound with un-timely video uploads? Oh, heck, got the weekend to apprise the testimony. I'm hitting the hay....carry on, fellow WSers!

 

[Force Ten]

Totally agree with you Erin Corwin trial which was local to San Bernardino got more coverage then this one, Sierra's case got way more tweets and also news civcover I know this cause I am local to her case

I followed that case as well from the day she was reported missing. A lot more coverage. It could be because the story was still fresh in the public's mind. Lee was arrested, tried and convicted in under two years. And by Sean Daugherty to boot.

 

[katydid23]

The only rational motive for murder in all this, is if Joey was going to fire Chase. There is no evidence of fraud because there was a check cashed the week of the disappearance, Joey was on the phone with his bank and did not report fraud, did not change passwords, did not call QuickBooks to report unlawful use of that program.

Chase had 100s of thousands more reasons to keep Joey alive, than to kill him.

Why would he report the check as 'fraud' before speaking to Chase about it? Chase did have emergency checks for supplies etc. I am sure Joey would check with him before he'd call in a fraud report.

Calling the bank and making that report would FREEZE his account. That is a nightmare. I see no reason for Joey to do that when he could speak to Chat at lunch and figure it out first.

He may have confronted Chase at lunch and set this tragedy in motion...

 

[katydid23]

I'm curious, because I can't recall... did he ever say that he gave him the cheques and they were filled out? Lying by omission?

IIRC, he was asked about why they were meeting for lunch that day. And one thing he said was that Joey had some checks to drop off to him, which included the ones he actually backdated to the 4th.

THAT^^^ tells me that he was trying to cover up the writing of those checks, and he knew that already when he backdated them to the last day that everyone knew Joey was alive and well.

I don't see any explanation for that yet, besides Chase being the killer.

 

[katydid23]

Okay. She is a confirmed liar. But now we should believe her? Is that what you are saying?

Right, she was lying back then to try and help him, in a quadruple murder case.

But now that he is actually on trial for that crime, she is telling the truth?

 

[katydid23]

One very strong issue pointing to Chase's innocence is that he allowed, perhaps even insisted on his legal team investigating every bit of the evidence. They could just as easily have found more evidence against Chase, not the exculpatory evidence they found.

And if they had found evidence of guilt, they would have been required to turn that over. Under California law, discovery works both ways.

Why would a man allow a deeper investigation into the evidence, if he had anything to fear from that?

This speaks loudly to the innocence of Chase, for me.

I don't think he was worried about them finding anything in the books because he didn't have time to do much. He tried here and there to squeeze more cash out of the business, but so did others, so his didn't stand out at all.

He failed and just walked away and began stealing from his new business partners instead.

As for forensics, so much time hd passed, and the original investigators had botched it so badly, he had little to fear.

 

[katydid23]

Did she remember it or did they have to ask her if she "recalled" saying this or that?

She said she didnt even remember the interview-had blacked it out, didnt she? Didnt recognize the detective, pointed out the wrong guy? Everyone laughed....all for effect, mo.

 

[katydid23]

RIGHT!!!! or at the moment she said she was on pain meds and drooling and didn't even remember the interview... I think I would have retreated LOL

Not Me---I would have soldiered on and gotten her original statement on the record and in front of the jury. Reading what her original words were made it seem unlikely to me, that she was a drooling incoherent mess at that time. She remembered specific things, like him saying if she wanted to see his kids, come visit him in Rancho Cucamonga, and that they did all meet at CoCo's once.

 

[katydid23]

You are aware that the prosecution called her as a witness, right? Not the defense. Maybe the prosecution should have talked to her sometime between 2014 and 2019 and they would have had a clearer picture of what she was going to say, lying or not.

I think they had a pretty clear idea that she was a hostile witness. I don't see any point in meeting with her before. They just wanted to get her ORIGINAL testimony on the record and in front of the jury.

 

[fridaybaker]

Strokes can completely alter a person-and memory? Forgettaboutit.

FWIW, we're treading in a vast medical area here, and nothing much can really be attributed to this person's own case: Yes, strokes can alter virtually everything about a person. It depends on the location in the brain in which the insult occurs, as well as the enormity of it. Strokes can cause any number of deficits, including drooling, pain, memory deficits, etc., etc., etc. Virtually any symptom one can imagine, could be caused by a "stroke".

I really doubt much of what she says, and found the "drooling" comment to be more indicative of someone trying to be convincing -"overkill", as I mentioned in a previous post. However, we can speculate all day as to whether her symptoms are real or not, because they certainly could be.... or not. No way we can know.

 

[katydid23]

What if he is innocent? What if she IS telling the truth about his visiting her?

What is disgusting or narcissistic about supporting an innocent man?

He must be a very unlucky bloke.

He and his boss just happen to come up with a brand new way of financial accounting, which includes Chase backdating and deleting checks that he writes to himself from his boss's account---and he coincidentally backdates a check to the LAST DAY HIS BOSS IS SEEN ALIVE. What a wild coincidence.

And then, another unlucky coincidence. He happens to visit his forgetful, drooling sister out in the high desert. And it just happens to be a mile or so from the shallow graves that held his boss's family. So it was an unlucky coincidence that his cell pointed right there, and another unlucky coincidence that his sister was so ill that she couldn't alibi him when she was questioned about his visit.

And the other unlucky coincidence---he just happens to shake hands with his boss, on the last time he sees him, and his boss then leaves trace DNA on the steering wheel and gear shift of the car that was abandoned at the border, after the murders.

Chase is a very unlucky guy. I guess it is not surprising that he had so many gambling losses

 

[fridaybaker]

Her testimony coupled with his interrogation I think worked perfectly together. He kept talking about visiting his sister but came across as not confident in his delivery.

Chase demonstrated classic traits of lying.

I took notice of his posturing in the video. He has his left dominant hand over his mouth much of the time which is a common gesture of lying or trying to withhold information.

He also did the same thing during the CNN interview, held his other hand down in front groin, fingers outstretched. This would be subliminally to protect his manhood and keep authority over the conversation.

In the final clip shown, he totally shifts his posture. He is leaning back as if trying to project he's at ease but his knees and legs are pointed towards the door, or away from the detectives. This is a sign that he wants get out and now. He is feeling trapped and needs to leave. Whatever was said to him before that was quite effective.

There was one point where he was doing some weird itching.

I know there is more and I'll catch it once I rewatch. His speech and jumbled excuses are also telling imo. Iirc, there was a pause for him when they asked him how it was he was in VV on the 6th.

Forceten, thanks for this. I think much of this is intuitively processed and known by many of us on an unconscious level, but to have it spelled out is fascinating!

 

[itsbrookie]

I can't believe the prosecution is close to wrapping up
For me, having had the opportunity to read the evidence over and over, as well as reading discussions about the case here, I believe Chase is guilty. Whether he had help or not, I'm not so sure. However, I am so worried that he could be acquitted. The jury hasn't had the same reading opportunities as me. They've had to sit through scattered court days, many of which were filled with confusing technical information that took a lot of explaining in order for them to understand. Amongst all of this lies the tidbits of incriminating evidence. Whether they'll be able to focus on that once the defense is through is my concern.

JMO and I hope I'm wrong. Hopefully the jurors have made excellent notes

 

[Force Ten]

Forceten, thanks for this. I think much of this is intuitively processed and known by many of us on an unconscious level, but to have it spelled out is fascinating!

I want to watch the entire 8 hour interrogation.

 

[KALI]

Thank You. He is alive. Thank God.
Who is not alive is the entire Summer and Joseph's family and their baby boys.
My beloved husband is 72 years old.
He has had an amazing life.
I pray that this surgery gives him many more years for us to love each other and be together. He really is the love of my 65 years on this planet.
In regards to these brutal murders.

Joey, Summer and their beautiful children had there entire lives, ripped away from them.
Through nothing they did.
Tortured. I cannot even go there as to what was done to this innocent loving family.
During that horrible night.
The death penalty is on the table. It will never be applied. Such is our California Court system.
I pray. That the jurors, convict.

I'm so sorry to hear that. Hope he is resting comfortably and that you are holding up okay.