Arguments made nearly five years ago by San Diego County Sheriff’s homicide investigators seeking to search the Fallbrook home of the then-missing McStay family will be made public, a judge ruled Friday.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Runston Maino ordered the search warrants unsealed after media organizations — including U-T San Diego — argued the documents should be subject to inspection, especially given that there has been an arrest in the case.
The warrants — which were obtained between Feb. 19, 2010, and Feb. 23, 2010 — revealed little new information about the initial missing-persons investigation. They say investigators who entered the home found signs that the family left in a hurry and noted other unusual items, including a tall lamp lying on the floor in the master bedroom and, in the walk-in closet, several open suitcases with folded clothing inside.
One document said that authorities "found no signs of foul play," but indicates investigators feared the worst anyway.
"I believe that some or all of the McStay family has been kidnapped or killed," San Diego County Sheriff's homicide investigator Troy DuGal wrote in a Feb. 19 request to search the home.
The McStay family — Joseph, 40, wife Summer, 43, and sons Gianni, 4, and Joey Jr., 3, went missing in February 2010. Their bodies were found three years later in two shallow graves outside of Victorville.
Charles "Chase" Merritt, 57, appears at the Victorville Courthouse on Nov. 7, 2014. Merritt made a brief court appearance on four counts of murder in the February 2010 deaths of the McStay family. (AP Photo/The Victor Valley Daily Press, David Pardo)
Three months ago, on Nov. 5, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s homicide detectives arrested Charles “Chase” Merritt, 57, a business associate of Joseph McStay, in the slaying.
Prosecutors have charged him with four counts of murder.
Authorities said they believe the family was attacked in their home, and that Merritt acted alone. They have remained tight-lipped about what led them to suspect Merritt, or what evidence they believe supports their case.
Merritt has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail in West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. He is due back in court Jan. 30.
That same day, the media organizations that fought to get the San Diego warrants unsealed will ask a San Bernardino judge to unseal warrants and supporting documentation filed by detectives there.
San Bernardino authorities opposed the opening of warrants in either San Diego or San Bernardino counties.
The two sets of search warrants could provide insight into the case and the direction of the differing investigations.
The search warrants served during San Diego’s investigation came well before the family was discovered dead. Before handing off the case to the FBI in early 2013, San Diego investigators announced they believed the family had gone missing willingly.
The search warrants and supporting documents served by San Bernardino investigators were sought after the family was found dead. They had the benefit of evidence found in the grave sites in deciding where to search.
To obtain a warrant to search something — be it a home or car or even an email account — investigators must present a judge with the probable cause they believe justifies searching something that is otherwise presumed protected from such intrusions by the government.
View Gallery
Family members and friends of the McStay family whose bodies were found in November 2013 in the San Bernardino County desert gathered at the site last year to remember them. Crosses were placed and doves were released where the Fallbrook ... — / John Valenzuela/Los Angeles News Group
Fliers with color photos of the missing McStay family handed out by family on Saturday April 3, 2010, in San Ysidro. The McStay family's vehicle, a white 1996 Isuzu Trooper, was found abandoned in a San Ysidro parking lot on ... — Nelvin C. Cepeda / Union-Tribune
Photos of the missing McStay family are posted at the press conference at the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Office. — Charlie Neuman
Gianni (on top) and Joseph McStay Jr. —
FILE - These file images provided by the San Diego Police Department shows members of the McStay family, who disappeared from their Fallbrook home more than three years ago. Patrick McStay, Joseph McStay's father, told a San Diego-area TV station ... — The Associated Press
Residents of Victorville Calif. and surrounding communities place crosses near the graves where the McStay family was found, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013 in Victorville, Calif. Four skeletons found in shallow graves in the Southern California desert are believed to be ... — The Associated Press
Mike McStay, center back, who is the brother of Joseph McStay, sits on his board sideways as he and friends and family members do a memorial paddle out for Joseph McStay, his wife Summer, and their children Gianni, 4, and ... — Hayne Palmour IV
Mike McStay, left, high fives a friend after a memorial paddle-out for hsi brother Joseph McStay and his family at the San Clemente Pier. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
Mike McStay shows a tattoo of him and his brother Joseph McStay on his left arm after a memorial paddle-out for his brother and his family at the San Clemente Pier. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
Friends and family tossed flower petals into the ocean during a memorial paddle-out for the McStay's family the San Clemente Pier — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
Kelly Salas, right, hugs Erin McStay, wife of Mike McStay, after a memorial service for Joseph McStay and his family at the Vineyard Community Church in Laguna Niguel. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
(11-14-13)--VICTORVILLE--METRO--The area where skeletal remains were found in shallow graves Tuesday November 12, near Victorville west of the 15 Freeway. The remains found there were later determined to belong to the missing McStay family from Fallbrook. LaFonzo Carter/Los Angeles News ... —
On Saturday April 3, 2010, Mike McStay hands out fliers with color photos of his brother and his family, missing from their Fallbrook home since Feb. 4. The McStay family's vehicle, a white 1996 Isuzu Trooper, was found abandoned in ... — Nelvin C. Cepeda / Union-Tribune
Susan McStay, mother of Joseph McStay, left, and friend of victims' family, Emily, whose last name was not given, listen during a news conference at the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Headquarters on Friday, Nov. 15, 2013, in San Bernardino, ... — The Associated Press
Michael McStay, brother of Joseph McStay, cries during press conference at San Bernardino County Sheriffs Station. — Charlie Neuman
Investigators arrest Charles "Chase" Merritt for the murders of Joseph, Summer, Gianni & Joseph Jr. McStay on Nov. 5, 2014. — San Bernardino Sheriff's Office
Charles "Chase" Merritt, right, enters a courtroom in Victorville, Calif. on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014. He pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that he beat to death a family of four, then buried the bodies in the desert. (AP Photo/Daily ... —
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