07-03-2019, 12:45 AM
Jury Recommends Death Penalty for Chase Merritt
A jury recommended death for the man convicted of killing Joseph and Summer McStay and their two children.
Jurors in San Bernardino deliberated for several hours over three days before reaching a verdict on June 24th in the penalty phase of the five-month trial of Charles “Chase” Merritt.
The same panel earlier in June 2019 found Merritt, 62, guilty of four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of the McStays, and their two young sons Joey Jr., 3, and Gianni, 4.
As a Superior Court clerk first uttered the word death while reading the verdict, a McStay relative gasped: “Yes.” Another wiped away tears.
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A jury recommended death for the man convicted of killing Joseph and Summer McStay and their two children.
Jurors in San Bernardino deliberated for several hours over three days before reaching a verdict on June 24th in the penalty phase of the five-month trial of Charles “Chase” Merritt.
The same panel earlier in June 2019 found Merritt, 62, guilty of four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of the McStays, and their two young sons Joey Jr., 3, and Gianni, 4.
As a Superior Court clerk first uttered the word death while reading the verdict, a McStay relative gasped: “Yes.” Another wiped away tears.
(continued)