SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) – A California man has been ordered to stand trial for murder in the killing of his business partner, his partner’s wife and their two young sons, whose remains were found in shallow desert graves more than three years after they disappeared.
San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Michael A Smith ruled Monday there is sufficient evidence for 58-year-old Charles “Chase” Merritt to stand trial.
Merritt has pleaded not guilty.
The ruling came after a preliminary hearing where prosecutors called witnesses who testified that Merritt cashed checks written from Joseph McStay’s business account after McStay and his family vanished in 2010.
Witnesses say those checks were backdated to the last day the family was seen.