Jurors have reached a verdict in the case of a Southern California man charged with killing a family of four and burying their bodies in the desert.
The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office said Friday that the verdict in the case against 62-year-old Charles “Chase” Merritt will be read in court Monday.
Merritt is charged with killing his business associate Joseph McStay, McStay’s wife, Summer, and the couple’s 3- and 4-year-old sons.
The family vanished from their San Diego County home in 2010. Three years later, their bodies were found in shallow graves in the desert.
Merritt was arrested in 2014. Prosecutors say Merritt killed McStay at a time when he was being cut out of McStay’s water features business.
Jurors began deliberations last week.