Man held in killings of California family left DNA in car: media citing warrants

[July 02, 2015]  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - DNA belonging to an ex-convict accused of killing a San Diego family with a sledgehammer in 2010 was found in their abandoned car, media reported Wednesday, citing newly released search warrants.

Charles "Chase" Merritt, 58, could face the death penalty if found guilty during his August trial for the murder of his former business associate, Joseph McStay, 40, his wife, 43-year-old Summer, and their two sons, 4-year-old Gianni and 3-year-old Joseph Jr.

Their skeletal remains were unearthed in 2013 from shallow graves near Victorville, northeast of Los Angeles.

The family was reported missing in 2010 from their home in the San Diego County community of Fallbrook and their car was discovered four days later near the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities said.
 

Newly-unsealed search warrants obtained by media in San Diego show that Merritt's DNA was found on the car's steering wheel, radio and gear shifter, KNSD reported.

The warrants say Merritt had borrowed $30,000 from McStay to pay a gambling debt, KFMB reported, and another business associate told police McStay had planned to end their business relationship.

All four victims were slain inside their home on Feb. 4, 2010, the day they were last heard from, and died of blunt-force trauma, police said. A sledgehammer tinged with the victim's blood was found at their burial site.

Merritt sparked the interest of authorities during interviews in which he referred to the family in the past tense, though at the time their bodies had not been found and they had been classified as missing persons, KNSD reports, citing the warrants.

Merritt has pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder.

(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere)

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