SBSW 14 1667 9/25/2014

This warrant is for purchase records from the Storage Facility shared by Joey and Merritt.

VVSW 14-1667-Probable Cause Affidavit 9:25:2014

Below, note that there is an 8/27/2014 SW referenced. A warrant never released to the public.

August 27, 2014 Warrant Referenced

This is the rest of that excerpt from the warrant. This is the only time it has been mentioned that Joey had keys in his pocket when his body was found.

Detective Ryan Smith Warrant and Return

32 thoughts on “SBSW 14 1667 9/25/2014”

      1. John 3.20
        Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.

        I’m assuming this is where Merritt pulled the title of his book, “Afraid of the Light”, from. The Terry Pratchett Quote is the odd part to his book. Reaper Man is a book about Death being punished for being human, and the journey that follows as he becomes the “person” named Bill Door. What does this have to do with a the murder of four people????

        “Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it.”

        1. Even if Merritt is completely innocent of having anything to do with this crime, it’s a very odd idea for a book about the brutal slaying of a close friend and that friend’s family.

          I’m calling it: killer or not, Merritt is an odd guy.

          1. Doesn’t make him guilty, but I agree, there is something a little off.

            ‘I am a normal man, trying to take care of my three kids and I have lost a very good friend. I wasn’t Joseph’s best friend, but he was mine. I didn’t have many people close to me, but we shared a lot. He told me a lot of things he didn’t tell anyone else.
            ‘Joseph’s family are the ones who lost the most from all this, no question. But financially I lost everything. I was manufacturing all the waterfalls he was selling and I lost my entire business. Without his sales, I had nothing. I went bankrupt very soon after he disappeared, It killed me financially. I even split up with the mother of my three kids because of the stress.

            Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2510247/Prime-suspect-McStay-murder-mystery-breaks-silence.html#ixzz4A5e94B8c
            Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

  2. Blast from the past. I was looking up something else and found this:

    A Special Statement From The Merritt Family

    We trust that beyond absence there is a presence. That beyond the pain there can be healing.
    That beyond the brokenness there can be wholeness. That beyond the anger there may be peace.
    That beyond the hurting there may be forgiveness. That beyond the silence there may be the word. That beyond the word there may be understanding. That through understanding there is love.

    On behalf of the Merritt family I would like to say that Charles “Chase” Merritt is innocent of the charges against him in the McStay case. We are wholeheartedly supporting Chase and we know that with the hard work and determination put forth by his defense team, he will be back in the arms of his loving family once again.

    He is a warm wonderful loving man, brother, and father that had no involvement in the disappearance and death of the McStay family. It is ours and Chase’s deepest desire to finally see justice served for his dear friend Joseph and his beautiful family.

    We are so thankful that Mr. Mettias, Mr. Terrell, Ms. Brunner, Mr. Askander and Mr. Farrell believe in Chase’s innocence and are willing to put forth every effort to bring him home.

    We thank everyone that is helping, hoping and praying for a speedy trial and his eventual release.

    At this time we would like to offer our condolences to the Aranda and McStay families, and it is our deepest wish that the individual(s) that committed this heinous crime be brought to light and held accountable for this horrific act of depravity.

    Thank You.

    1. I’ve never understood why the Merritt’s didn’t post this on a neutral forum.

      And the term “act of depravity” still strikes me as very odd.

      1. Sorry to veer off topic but Merritt’s use of a quote from Terry Pratchett’s The Reaper Man is also intriguing.

        What I go back and forth on with Merritt is, whether he is really kind of a strange guy with no filter, so things that he says appear suspicious, but are really the rantings of someone who is in fact more looney than killer.

        Or, if these statements are a window into the soul of a person so conflicted that he could kill his “best friend” and that best friends greatest loves and joys.

        Perplexing, to say the least.

        1. “Depravity” is a moral or corrupt act. Murder is amoral and corrupt, but it is so much more than that. And it is a specific, horrific act, not one of general moral lacking.

          Depraved indifference as a legal term might help explain what I’m getting at:

          “In United States law, depraved-heart murder, also known as depraved-indifference murder, is an action where a defendant acts with a “depraved indifference” to human life and where such act results in a death.”

          But it’s not capital murder, which requires intent.

          If you’ve decided that Merritt’s words indicate the degree of responsibility he feels for his acts, then his use of the term depravity might be a sign that he feels responsible, that he did things that led to these deaths, and was accountable in some way, but that he didn’t intend for the family to die.

          [CAVEAT: this is highly speculative. I just find it interesting to analyze word choices. The words people choose can be reflective of the meaning beneath the one they wish people to see. The choice of words can reveal the true feelings of the writer/speaker, that is belied by the overall statement they made.]

          1. Lurk, that’s why I was asking you if you thought it might be possible that Merritt orchestrated something, but didn’t actually kill the family himself. That he can, in fact, say: I didn’t murder this family. That is true, but he is not admitting to his part.

    1. I think it’s like you said. This shows Joey got home and wasn’t killed in Rancho. If Joey had been killed in Rancho right after his meeting with Chase, Chase would have taken the car keys from his pocket. He would have known he would eventually have to movet the Trooper.

      Joey got home and he was killed almost immediately. Most people take their keys out of their pockets when they get home. It’s habit, it’s about comfort.

        1. Some have speculated that the loose key was given to Joey by Chase who asked for it at their meeting at Chik fil a. I think the opposite. I think that getting a key was the ruse used by Chase to visit the home that night.

          While Chase and Joey are talking Chase says, oh no, lost the key to the storage unit. Can I get another copy. A lot of those locks come with three keys. Joey has the key ready to give him, then pow.

            1. Do you think it’s possible Merritt sent someone to the home and that he orchestrated the murders but wasn’t physically present for them?

                1. Because he was taking care of something else related to the murders. This is a crazy theory–but if that check written at 7:59pm is written somewhere other than the McStay home, this places him outside the home. But maybe he did help with the burial later….

                  I just feel there is a huge missing piece here. Whether Merritt is innocent or guilty. There is something big we still don’t understand about this crime.

  4. It’s called “Self Storage” now. If they had a 5×5 storage room it would be 55/month now, maybe a little less before. That’s 110 for two months, plus tax. Joseph would have paid in February, I would guess. Chase paid two months into April.

    That’s what that amount seems like. Two months rent. Maybe there was a late fee in there and that’s why it was 134.50.

            1. Probably had parts and old paperwork that neither of them wanted to keep at home or in the workshop. Or maybe this was a way for things they both needed equal access to, to be stored.

              To me it shows Chase thought Joey was still alive.

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