A 62-year-old welder convicted in the bludgeoning deaths of a Fallbrook family of four, including two young children, was sentenced Tuesday to the death penalty. Moments before learning his fate, Charles “Chase” Merritt, 62, tearfully told the judge he was innocent in the 2010 killings of business associate Joseph McStay, 40, wife Summer McStay, 43, and the couple’s two preschool sons, Gianni, 4 and Joey Jr., 3. “I don’t deserve this,” Merritt said. “I did not do this. As God as my witness, I will be back here and prove to everyone that that is true.” The sentence was handed down by San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Michael Smith, who last year presided over Merritt’s trial. The jury convicted Merritt of four counts of murder. On Tuesday, Smith said the verdict was “supported by substantial evidence.”
A 62-year-old welder convicted in the bludgeoning deaths of a Fallbrook family of four, including two young children, was sentenced Tuesday to the death penalty.
Moments before learning his fate, Charles “Chase” Merritt, 62, tearfully told the judge he was innocent in the 2010 killings of business associate Joseph McStay, 40, wife Summer McStay, 43, and the couple’s two preschool sons, Gianni, 4 and Joey Jr., 3.
“I don’t deserve this,” Merritt said. “I did not do this. As God as my witness, I will be back here and prove to everyone that that is true.”
The sentence was handed down by San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Michael Smith, who last year presided over Merritt’s trial. The jury convicted Merritt of four counts of murder. On Tuesday, Smith said the verdict was “supported by substantial evidence.”