Motion Filed to Unseal McStay Investigation Search Warrants

NBC 7 is at the forefront of a motion to unseal search warrants in the McStay murder trial.

Courts in San Diego and San Bernardino counties have sealed dozens of warrants related to the family of four’s disappearance, the discovery of their bodies and the prosecution of the suspect in the case: Charles Chase Merritt.

The motion to unseal the warrants involves a number of news outlets, including the U-T San Diego, KNBC, The Associated Press and CNN. A hearing in San Diego on Jan. 23, and another a week later in San Bernardino, will determine if the warrants will become available.

NBC 7 is trying to reveal more details about the killings of Joseph and Summer McStay, 43, and their two children, Gianni and Joseph Mateo, ages 4 and 3 respectively. The family mysteriously vanished from their Fallbrook home in February 2010, prompting a San Diego County Sheriff’s Department homicide investigation and a Southern California search.

More than three years later, their skeletal remains were found by a motorcyclist in and around shallow graves near Victorville in southwestern San Bernardino County — about 100 miles north of their home. The site was about 50 yards from the nearest road, and officials said it appeared the bodies had been there for “an extended period of time.”

A subsequent investigation revealed the McStays had been killed in their home, and all died from blunt-force trauma, according to sheriff’s officials. In April 2013, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department announced it was transferring the case to the FBI after no suspects had been arrested.

Then, on Nov. 7, 2014, authorities announced they had arrested and charged Merritt with four counts of murder. Merritt was Joseph McStay’s business partner and was working on a custom decorative water fountain project with him when the family went missing.

Merritt said in a November 2013 interview that he was the last person to see McStay. Investigators have not released an alleged motive for the killings. They said there was “no smoking gun” that led them to Merritt, but they reviewed evidence that pointed to him.

Merritt has pleaded not guilty to the charges. At a pretrial hearing, his attorney revealed the suspect has congestive heart failure, a potentially deadly condition.

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