22 thoughts on “SBSW 14 1844 8/1/2014”

  1. I was just looking at some satellite pics of the area near where the victims were buried. I firmly believe the killer/s had a connection to this particular place, greater than a relative living a few miles away. It’s just not a spot you’d think to go to, to risk a burial if you didn’t know what you were going to encounter.

    This “sense” I have doesn’t point toward or away from Merritt’s guilt, however I do want the DA to directly tie Merritt to this area-not by way of his sister, but by way of other activity on his part.

    Did anyone bother to interview people who habituated this region, I wonder?

    1. I also believe Summer was the last to die, Joey the first. The kids were killed in between these murders, but the murder of the kids wasn’t always part of the plan.

        1. Nothing scandalous, Lurk. It’s just the way the bodies were found. Joey is deep in his grave and intact, so is Gianni. Joseph Jr. was probably buried next to last and placed wherever he fit best because of his size. But Summer is buried close to the surface and the hammer is buried with her. Tells a story.

            1. Just the way it worked out. If you are going to commit a crime like this you topple the most difficult victim first. Summer just may not have died as quickly. She was beat pretty bad, but we don’t know when. Joey is packaged up pretty good. He’s got the blanket or futon cover around him. the ratchet ties. They took the most care with him because he was first and they had more time. It may be that they simply stunned Summer and the kids. Then everything else happened at the graves. It’s so hard to know. I’m really just thinking in terms of where each victim was in their respective resting places.

              So sad.

              OK. Enough.

  2. This is the second warrant where you can see that investigators are attempting to “rule out” a potential suspect. There is an earlier warrant issued in Feb. regarding CPS issues that probably was issued for this same reason (I’m assuming).

    But here is the warrant to rule in or out, the other friend who spent a lot of time at the McStay residence in the short time that the family lived there.

    He certainly was there a lot in the week they went missing. I think he was there Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday–I’m getting this from the prelim and from general information imparted on various McStay forums.

        1. Luker, this warrant was issued the same day as 1097, and to the same officer, so he probably wrote nearly the same affidavit for both warrants.

          It doesn’t seem like investigators had found info contradicting Merritt’s version of events for Feb 4 yet.

          Does anyone remember when the CNN show first aired? The one before the arrest.

          1. The show was uploaded onto to YouTube Aug. 20 2014. I think it aired in July. It was scheduled to air much earlier though. I remember waiting for it and it kept getting preempted.

            1. That’s what I remember too. So in that CNN special Merritt says he actually didn’t remember what happened with the 8:28 call, that it was his live-in girlfriend who remembered. The problem with this version (as it turns out) is that his live-in, calls Merritt 5 times that night, while his phone is out of reach of a tower. If they are together, why is she calling him five times?

              1. But if the CNN show aired in July, but was scheduled to air sooner, then it must have been proven by May or June that Merritt didn’t ever speak to Joseph that night at 8:28pm. Since Merritt is saying this in the interview. So why isn’t this reflected in the probable cause affidavits?

                    1. This is one of the things that points straight to Chase’s guilt. I can buy that mayne four years later you forget some details, but questions about the 8:28 call were asked less than two weeks after the family went missing. If you can’t get a hold of someone you talk to thirty times a day you remember the last time you talked to them. I don’t buy that he can’t remember his last conversation with Joey.

                    2. He had to have known that his alibi wasn’t working out.

                      And even in that interview it’s odd as to what Merritt remembers vs. what he’s “fuzzy” on.

                      It could just be that he’s a weird guy. He doesn’t have much of a filter that’s for sure. He just blurts stuff out. But that could be a quirk, not a sign of guilt. In fact, you could argue it points to him being innocent.

      2. I don’t know what happened to the painter. The word was he went to Vegas and never came back…what goes to Vegas, stays in Vegas?? Do not know.

  4. I’ve added Detective Joseph Steer’s explanation of his credentials.

    You have three Detectives requesting these warrants. Detective Joseph Steers, Detective Edward Buchanan & Detective Ryan Smith. (there may be others, but these are the three listed on the warrants made public)

    These are all seasoned detectives. I do think it’s interesting to look at those who headed up this investigation. Not to criticize, but to better understand who was in charge. Who appears to have been making the decisions.

  5. This is the next SW. I’m going to leave this open for comments but will make it private after a time so that those of us who want to discuss details that might not be internert appropriate can do so without offending anyone.

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