The disappearance of the McStay family back in February 2010 gripped Southern California and beyond, a seemingly perfect family vanishing without a trace from their Fallbrook home. Joseph McStay, 40, his wife Summer, 43, and their two young boys, Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3, left behind a life of budding success in fountain design and a cozy suburban existence. Their abandoned SUV turned up near the Mexican border days later, sparking wild theories of a voluntary flight south. But three years on, in November 2013, hikers in the Mojave Desert stumbled upon two shallow graves containing the skeletal remains of all four, bound and bludgeoned in a horror that shattered any illusions of escape.
Investigators zeroed in quickly on Charles "Chase" Merritt, Joseph's business partner and a man with a tangled web of financial woes. Cellphone data placed him near the desert around the time of the killings, and prosecutors painted him as a desperate killer driven by debt and deceit, using a sledgehammer to end the lives of his associates. After a contentious trial in 2019, a San Bernardino jury convicted Merritt of the four murders, leading to a death sentence handed down in January 2020. He's been on death row at San Quentin ever since, protesting his innocence amid appeals that drag on in California's stalled capital punishment system.
Yet, as the case marks its 15th year, fresh scrutiny is bubbling up. A new book, "Down to the Bone" by investigative author Caitlin Rother, digs deep into 12 years of research, highlighting overlooked leads and questioning the reliability of that pivotal cellphone evidence. Rother points to investigative missteps and hints at confirmation bias in the prosecution's rush to close the book. Indeed, moreover, a two-hour ABC "20/20" special aired just this week, on October 3, revisits the graveside horrors and courtroom battles, featuring interviews that underscore lingering ambiguities. The episode aired amid growing calls for re-examination, especially as Merritt's legal team pushes forward with claims of prosecutorial overreach.
However, the Mojave's sands hold their secrets tightly. What if the full story, buried deeper than those graves, still awaits unearthing?