Search warrants unsealed in McStay murder case
SAN DIEGO - A San Diego judge on Friday ordered the release of four search warrants from the early stages of an investigation into the disappearance of the McStays, a family of four who disappeared in 2010 and whose remains were found in 2013 in the California desert.
The warrants were unsealed at the request of CBS News and several other media organizations and shed light on the initial investigation in the case of Joseph McStay, 40; his wife, Summer, 43; and their two sons, Gianni, 4; and Joey, 3.
According to the warrants, which were filed by the San Diego Sheriff's Department in order to gain access to the McStay family's Fallbrook, Calif. home and their vehicles and telephone records, at least one detective believed very early on in the investigation that the family may have fallen victim to foul play.
The warrants indicate that when authorities first responded to the family's home to conduct a welfare check on February 15, 2010, eleven days after the family was last seen, they found no signs of forced entry - but the family's dogs were in the backyard and a notice from the San Diego County Animal Control was on the door indicating that the residents were being warned for abandoning their dogs.
Authorities also wrote in the warrants that two small bowls of popcorn were sitting on a couch in the living room and in the kitchen, and there was a carton of raw eggs and a bag of microwave popcorn on the counter.
According to the warrants, in the upstairs bedroom of the home, there was a tall lamp lying on the floor and in the walk-in closet of the master bedroom, there were several suitcases open with folded clothing inside and a large quantity of clothing tossed on the closet floor.
In a search warrant dated February 19, 2010, Detective Troy DuGal of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, wrote, "...It is my opinion the McStay family is the victim of foul play."
"...I believe that some or all of the McStay family has been kidnapped and killed," he added.
But despite that initial belief detailed by DuGal, investigators apparently reached the conclusion that the family likely fled voluntarily to Mexico and the disappearance was investigated as a missing-persons case for more than three years. The McStay family's Isuzu Trooper was found abandoned near the Mexico border and the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said it was convinced people seen on a dimly lit surveillance video walking into Tijuana, Mexico were the McStays.
That theory, however, was shattered when the family's remains were found in November 2013 in shallow graves in the Mojave Desert, about 100 miles north of where the family lived. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department then became the lead investigative agency on the case and a year later, in November 2014, an arrest was made.
Chase Merritt, 57, a former business associate of Joseph McStay, is behind bars and facing four counts of murder in the deaths of Joseph and Summer McStay and the couple's two young sons. He has pleaded not guilty.
In announcing the arrest, authorities said they believe the McStays were bludgeoned to death in their home on February 4, 2010. They have not commented on a motive.
It's unclear what ultimately led authorities to arrest Merritt. His name had long been associated with the case. He has publicly claimed to be the last person to see Joseph McStay alive, and has said he was first to notice the family missing.
Patrick McStay, Joseph McStay's father, told 48 Hours' Crimesider in the days after Merritt's arrest that he was thankful that the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department investigated the case, something he said the San Diego County Sheriff's Department failed to do.
"San Bernardino says that they believe that it all happened in the home. You mean to tell me that they can figure that out and San Diego can't?," he said.
CBS News and other media organizations are also seeking access to search warrants filed later in the investigation, when it was in the hands of San Bernardino County. A hearing on that matter is scheduled for next week.
