Death sentence recommended for man who killed family of four
Jurors have recommended a death sentence for a Southern California man convicted of killing a family of four and burying their bodies in shallow desert graves to death.
According to ABC 7’s Rob McMillan, Charles “Chase” Merritt receiived a death sentence for three of the killings, and a life sentence for the fourth.
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/abc7robmcmillan/status/1143293985646997504″,”author_name”:”Rob McMillan”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/abc7robmcmillan”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;Jury has decided the punishment for three of the four counts to be death. The fourth count will be life in prison without the possibility of parole. The McStay family appears relieved; smiling with the results.&#lt;/p&#gt;— Rob McMillan (@abc7robmcmillan) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/abc7robmcmillan/status/1143293985646997504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;June 24, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/abc7robmcmillan/status/1143294284105306115″,”author_name”:”Rob McMillan”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/abc7robmcmillan”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;The jury is being polled now. To be clear, the jury’s decision for the death of Joseph McStay is LIFE in prison without the possibility of parole. The decision for Summer’s death, as well as the two children, is DEATH.&#lt;/p&#gt;— Rob McMillan (@abc7robmcmillan) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/abc7robmcmillan/status/1143294284105306115?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;June 24, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
The death sentences correlate with the killings of Summer McStay and her two sons. aged 3 and 4. The sentence of life in prison correlates with the killing of Summer’s husband, Joseph McStay, who was a business associate of Merritt’s.
The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s office originally announced that the jury’s recommendation would be read in court at 3:45 p.m. Monday.
Merritt was convicted this month of the murders of his former business associate Joseph McStay, McStay’s wife, Summer, and the couple’s 4- and 3-year-old sons.
The case puzzled investigators for years after the family vanished from their San Diego County home in 2010. Their bodies were found in 2013.
Merritt pleaded not guilty. His lawyers didn’t offer witnesses during the trial’s penalty phase, insisting he’s not guilty.
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/abc7robmcmillan/status/1143294481703112704″,”author_name”:”Rob McMillan”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/abc7robmcmillan”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;The judge is thanking the jury members for their service. The trial lasted more than two months longer than expected.&#lt;/p&#gt;— Rob McMillan (@abc7robmcmillan) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/abc7robmcmillan/status/1143294481703112704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;June 24, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
