"Associate charged in slaying of California family" Associated Press November 08, 2014
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Prosecutors on Friday filed murder charges against a business associate of a California man who mysteriously disappeared with his wife and two young sons in 2010.
Charles ‘‘Chase’’ Merritt, 57, of Homeland is facing four counts of murder in the deaths of Joseph McStay, 40, his wife, Summer, 43, and their sons, 4-year-old Gianni and 3-year-old Joseph, authorities said.
Their bodies were found in desert graves last year.
Investigators believe the family members were killed in their home in the San Diego County community of Fallbrook on Feb. 4, 2010, and were victims of blunt-force trauma, said San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon.
Authorities refused to discuss a motive or further details of how the family was killed, or evidence found at the home or at the site of the shallow graves.
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