Charles "Chase" Merritt was sentenced to death on Tuesday after being convicted of murdering an entire family and dumping their bodies in a shallow Southern California desert grave in 2010.
Merritt, 62, was convicted in June of killing his business associate, Joseph McStay, and his family over a monetary dispute. Merritt was found guilty on four counts of first-degree murder, for the deaths of McStay, McStay’s wife Summer, and the couple’s 3- and 4-year-old sons.
Prosecutors said Merritt used a sledgehammer to kill his victims because he owed Joseph McStay money and was being cut out of their business, which was making and selling custom water fountains.
The McStays were missing since February 2010, but their bodies were eventually discovered in 2013. A motorcyclist stumbled upon their skeletal remains in the Mojave Desert and found the murder weapon alongside them. Merritt was later arrested in 2014.
Prosecutors said financial records show Merritt tried to loot the business' bank accounts just before, and after, the family disappeared. He even backdated checks to Feb. 4, 2010, which was the last day anyone had contact with Joseph McStay.
There have been no executions in the state of California since 2006, which leaves Merritt's fate up in the air.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., signed an executive order in March that put a moratorium on the executions of 737 inmates, and he decried the use of the death penalty.
source: http://bit.ly/3IsMh0Y
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