Breaking: The 62-year-old convicted in the brutal beating deaths of the McStay family of four — including two young children — was sentenced to death.
The 62-year-old welder convicted in the brutal beating deaths of Fallbrook family of four — including two young children — was sentenced Tuesday to death.The sentence was handed down by San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Michael Smith, who last year presided over the lengthy trial.
Three years and nine months after they vanished, the family’s remains were found outside Victorville in San Bernardino County, buried in shallow desert graves.Before the sentencing, extended family of the victims addressed the court, speaking of painful loss.The McStays vanished Feb. 4, 2010, food rotting on the counter and their beloved dogs left in the cold outside their Fallbrook home. The family’s Isuzu Trooper was soon found abandoned near the U.S.-Mexico border.
The jury also recommended he be sentenced to life in prison in the death of Joseph McStay, but be put to death for the deaths of McStay’s wife and children. Among the evidence, the judge said Friday, were traces of Merritt’s DNA on the steering wheel of the family’s SUV — abandoned in San Ysidro — which he said offered “some evidence to suggest Mr. Merritt was the one who drove the vehicle there.”
Smith said that some items of evidence are “by themselves are inconsequential,” but have to be viewed in totality.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
California man allegedly rammed into another vehicle intentionally, killing 3 teens, police sayA California man is facing murder charges after police say he intentionally rammed his vehicle into another, resulting in the death of three teenage boys
Read more »
Has 'Davos Man' now morphed into 'Davos Everyone'?We may look back at the beginning of 2020 as an inflection point for the conversations that are happening both in the boardroom and at a national level.
Read more »
'We have never served one gram of caviar': Meet the man feeding the Davos eliteWhat do leaders eat at the World Economic Forum? There is no caviar, nor foie gras – the man feeding the Davos elite told CNBC Monday.
Read more »
Indiana Man Decides To Retire At Tender Young Age Of 102February 6 will Bob Vollmer's last day as a surveyor for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. He joined the agency in 1962.
Read more »
Florida man arrested and being investigated in string of sexual assaultsA Florida man was arrested over the weekend, reportedly in connection to dozens of sexual assaults going back decades.
Read more »