Hunting Rabbits

Obviously, anyone reading this blog will know that I believe in Chase Merritt’s guilt. I’m convinced that the prosecution is stringing the evidence together wonderfully, even though the majority following the trial feel they are failing. I’m holding out for all the evidence to conclusively point squarely at Chase Merritt. But with that said, I do welcome anyone who feels differently and put the evidence submitted to be challenged. One can not look at one piece of evidence and conclude guilt, or innocence. It’s the totality of everything. There are those that will point to evidence and state “That doesn’t make him guilty”. Absolutely. When I look at this spectrum of evidence, it’s hard for me to ignore some things. No one reading here should feel their voices (or words) will be vilified, if cordial and within reason.

I have to admit I’ve been moonlighting a bit and reviewing other forums on the trial. There are over about half a dozen outlets out there. I seek other’s perspective instead of relying on my own and it’s healthy to bounce theories and speculation off others deep in the weeds. There are many weeds to sift through, and among those weeds, a multitude of rabbit holes.

There has been so much new information that we’ve received from the trial, it’s difficult to corral it all. I’m still not fully caught up on the court videos. Each one of them is fascinating in their own right. Each witness equally captivating. Dr. Alexis Gray, well, I’m enamored by her and her mind. She’s been on a project for more than a decade digging up remains in a cemetery without headstones of more than 7,000. They are attempting to find their families. The attorneys abrasive relationships and arguments, I am often appalled as much as I am in awe. I love the behind the scenes nuclear flare-ups.

I’m not surprised at the number of people that are defending Merritt, but those rather those hangers-on who just can’t let it go that their guy Mike is not on trial. Spoiler alert – It wasn’t Mike. They’ll say anything, fabricating nonsensical things in attempt to make people connected to the case to look shameful. Just petty, pathetic, angry, ugly souls. The stalwarts of Rick Baker.

Easter Eggs

Something that the defense contends is that the family was abducted (not murdered in) from their Fallbrook home in the morning on February 5th. They cite eggs left out, coffee grounds, children in pajamas. This was in their opening statement and they have been doing their damndest to drive this home for the jury since the trial began. So why would this benefit their client Chase Merritt? Because if it happened then, it couldn’t have been Merritt because his phone was pinging all over the Inland Empire from the morning of the 5th and into the afternoon. It creates an alibi. The defense suggests that Dan Kavanaugh wasn’t in Hawaii. This has become central to the argument of their client’s innocence, as if Kavanaugh wasn’t in Hawaii it somehow means he’s really the murderer, totally ignoring the fact that several thousand dollars in checks were produced and backdated to one Charles Merritt. Let’s not forget those crazy 5 (6?) pings from Merritt’s phone that pinged the tower a few miles away from 4 bludgeoned and freshly buried corpses. Is Kavanaugh really a technical mastermind able to hack Merritt’s phone to do that? Or did he steal Merritt’s phone somehow without never meeting him?

The defense wants the jury to believe the family was abducted in the morning, while Summer was preparing breakfast, because of the eggs. Sgt. Steers testified some of those eggs were broken. This would certainly be a source for the ‘rotten’ smells reported by family members. But how did those eggs get broken? Could it have been the result of a struggle or fight? Maybe. Are eggs only made for breakfast? Mostly but not always. Summer may have been prepping to bake something, a cake, a casserole, or anything really. Perhaps broken by clumsy, unfamiliar little hands. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Gianni (both those boys were pretty bold) attempted to cook or bake something. Little Joseph had a toy kitchen in the Trooper as well. Coffee grounds? Who could forget the most adorable video to ever hit the Net?

If we go back to the night of the 4th, specifically at 7:47, a truck that should not be in the McStay’s driveway, PULLS OUT and drives past not just one but two security cameras mounted on neighbor’s house. It’s not the Trooper, not the Dodge, but a truck. Why is it even backed in at all? Minutes later a check is written to “chase merritt” from the home computer. How does the defense explain all of this? They can’t. But why not? Because Merritt was not at home with his girlfriend/wife Catherine Jarvis watching a movie. He was not standing around the bar in the kitchen of his apartment. He was not on the toilet. All of these have been floated as alibis.

What was truly baffling to me was that in the video we could fully see the truck in the video, yet after all these years were told that it only caught the bottom 18 inches. After seeing the video from the other camera, I understand now. LE really kept that locked down. And many berate SDSO for their “inept investigation”. I have posted that there was a second camera in the porch area and that it had to have caught something, but that was largely ignored. Now I feel sort of vindicated LOL.

Still waiting for them to identify the tailpipe. I don’t see it.

Nose To The Wind

According to Dan’s ex-girlfriend, who’s set to testify, Dan waltzed into the Fallbrook home (how did he know where it was?) and whisked the family away at knifepoint. Then he organized “teams” off to the desert to rape Summer and brutally murder all 4. Next, Dan had the mindset use Chase’s phone to call Cathy. Sounds like a cheesy Nicolas Cage action flick with really a super cliche script. I’m waiting for someone named “Guido” to show up next.

That’s the defense’s narrative anyway, but not directly. They are offering Kavanaugh to the jury to hang their hat on. The defense is attempting to hit the detectives hard regarding their investigation, or lack thereof, of Mr. Kavanaugh. He’s a shady character but I just can’t buy into the defense’s contention of his culpability, even if he was in Fallbrook at all. It’s as if there are two prosecutions going on, one for Chase, one for Dan.

Deputy DA Melissa Rodriguez stated that the new witness “lacks credibility”. I wonder how she came to that conclusion. Could it be that she was arrested for operating in an unsavory illegal profession in 2013?

That was in 5 years ago though. People change. Maybe that profession isn’t something though that could affect your credibility. Reportedly she filed restraining orders against 2 men as well. Late last year she was also successfully sued for $6150.55 for unlawful detainer. So she was evicted and stayed well past her eviction date, or stopped paying her rent. The money probably included cleaning and repair costs. I’m still researching this and was hoping to have more by now. It’s still unclear to me at this point if she’s been approved by the judge if she’ll be allowed to testify regarding Kavanaugh’s supposed admission. It’s sounds like she will.

Incidentally, Kavanaugh is also currently being sued for the sum of $5K by Bar World.

Detective Jason Schroeder testified that there was activity on the home computer at 2 am on February 8th. The searches were for “Dinosaur Train” “Stackstone” “Intuit.com” and that Fountain Valley address. First of all, if we believe the family was dead and buried on the 6th, who’s doing this? Schroeder stated that these searches could have been typed in, clicked on from a bookmark or from a previous search. It could have also been through a drop down.

It’s very peculiar. Seemingly random searches with no real purpose. Their all stacked upon each other as well, seconds apart as if the searches weren’t actually typed in but clicked on. What does it mean?

One suggestion that has been floating about is Chase was there noodling around trying to find Joseph’s password to the Quickbooks account. However if we believe he was just in there on the night of the 4th, wouldn’t it still be up? Unless he closed it out. That’s possible.

Another possibility is it was actually Dan hacking into the computer from his own. But not for nefarious reasons. It makes sense when you think it through. He’s been trying to get a hold of Joseph from the 5th at the soonest, he’s texting Summer with no reply, emails are piling up from clients, he’ll even later call Joseph’s father. Something’s up. So Dan might have accessed the Mcstay computer to see if he can find any clues to where Joseph may be. Kind of like Mike was going to try and do.

Caught in a Web

Per Mitchely’s testimony, approximately 11 minutes before the vehicle leaves the driveway, her security camera is triggered by a spider in its web on the camera. At the 10:37 mark Mitchely turned the porch light on because she “heard noises”. At 11:07 the headlights from the vehicle (truck) turn on and it exits the driveway turning left towards the camera. What noises could be loud enough for Mitchely to hear seconds before compelling her to turn the light on? Could there have been a struggle outside the Mcstay home between Chase and a family member? Was it the sound of a body being thrown into the back of a truck or a tailgate slamming shut? Remember, the cargo bed also had a top plate that was probably quite heavy. This would also provide perfect concealment.

It has been largely assumed that the Trooper was parked in front of the house just out of sight of the camera. Collectively, it is also believed the street is wide. As someone who has been there, I can tell you it’s actually pretty narrow when there are cars parked. I don’t believe the Trooper was parked in front of the house. Pay close attention to these to pictures. The first one is a vehicle passing just before the truck leaves the driveway. The second is 16 seconds after the truck leaves.

The first passing car seems to be a bit more towards the middle of the street, as where the other vehicle is more to the right. This may be because there was no Trooper or other vehicle parked there. There is something else as well. We know that after the truck left at 7:47, Merritt, or someone, was back in the home minutes later to write the Paul Mitchell (Mitchell/Mitchely, the irony) check for $4k. I suggest that this second passing vehicle could have possibly been Merritt, 16 seconds after turning around, thinking he forgot something (hammer?). The front of the vehicle looks blocky like Merritt’s truck. The check writing might not have been what he returned for, but an afterthought. By the time Chase would leave again (as late as 8:30ish), the camera would have been in sleep mode and not capturing the truck leaving a second time.

Am I reading too much into it? Perhaps. But indulge me a bit. A few years ago I made an entry https://cuttingthebs.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/78-minutes/ in which I posted a picture of what I believed was Merritt’s Chevy utility truck. I screenshot that picture from one of Joseph’s videos in the warehouse. Someone with impeccable attention to detail noticed the stark differences of the truck bed in my post to that of what the investigators had in evidence. The suggestion was that Merritt changed the bed. It’s possible. Merritt probably did have associations with the type of outfits to arrange a swap out. I’m under the impression as of now that it wasn’t Merritt’s truck in the video, but probably another worker’s or maybe Joe Sequieda. These trucks are all too common with commercial contractors. There is however another truck in that same video, a Toyota Tundra. It’s wheelbase measures 67.9 inches.

Hello, Chase

At the start of the trial, in opening arguments, McGee argued that the truck in Mitchely’s video could not be Merritt’s truck because the tail light measured at 33 inches. This is the defense’s measurement, not the investigator’s. Merritt’s tail lights do measure 60 inches, but the defense’s calculations of the vehicle tail lights in the video being 33 inches are wrong.

Leonid Rudin presented his findings in a hearing for him to be allowed to testify. Pretty compelling guy, as well as his calculations. He co-founded Cognitech, a forensic imaging company, in 1988. They’ve been used to testify in court since 1992. Pretty impressive. Rudin also has a Phd in Computer Science, a Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics, holds numerous patents as well as several awards. The image above is part of what was used for the Mitchely video. They take a digital image of the vehicle in question and lay that image over the one in the video. Well, something like that. Rudin was much more meticulous in his description.

I feel that Rudin’s findings are not going to sit well with the jury regarding Chase. Unless the defense will argue that it can’t be proven to have been Chase’s. Good luck. I really have to laugh because in McGee’s opening statement, he felt compelled to tell the jury that the state’s cell expert, FBI agent Kevin Boles, was wrong in his calculations regarding the pings and azimuth by some degrees because their expert says so, yet they’re going to challenge Rudin’s calculations, who’s a mathematician. Really?

Here’s a quote from Rudin regarding the overlay:

“As I mentioned during that process we take that 3d model [Faroh laser scan], that’s the step number one, and we determine [indecipherable]…relevant features and we try to use everything that we can conceivably see in one that we think is in the other. Okay, because we don’t want to miss much because maybe those other ones will give us a rejection. On the other hand we can not match things that are unrealistic, right? So, so we try to do that. And you would say, okay there would be an subjective opinion involved. But actually the more points you’ve cleared the worse your life becomes because the equations are very intolerant to exceeding the data. So I mentioned there are only six points that can be matched perfectly. In this case there are only three, if you ask me a question I will tell you why, so having 10 points instead of 3 points will create inconsistent system of equations, just spit it out of the computer and everything would be unacceptable.”

In other words, the data is very precise. And accurate.

“He routinely drove vehicles into the ground and then bought “new” ones on their last leg (in cash). Chase also went to “rent-a-wreck” often to obtain temporary vehicles.”  – a close associate . 

More to come from this indispensable person. So much more.

The Old Beau

I recently had brief contact with Vick Johansen, Summer’s ex-boyfriend before Joseph. He was commenting on YouTube videos of the trial bashing Mike and Susan, whom he didn’t know from Adam. For whatever reason he has since deleted those comments. Makes me wonder.

The guy has been absolutely silent all these years. Aside from LE, there has only been one person I know of who has had contact with him. Vick was actually one of my top people that considered a viable suspect. There was so many glaring events in his past that it was difficult to not look past. Like Merritt. So much has risen to the surface on Merritt, Vick greatly pales in comparison. Vick now seems like a cagey, yet still volatile dude. I was a bit taken aback because, he didn’t lament at all about Summer or her children’s deaths. He was more concerned about throwing shade at Joseph’s family and what happened to his dog, Bear. I invited him to give some insight about Summer but he wanted no part of it. I’m not sure what to take away from that.

What is troubling is DuGal’s testimony regarding the voicemails for Joseph’s phone. They’re all missing, up until the 15th when the family was reported missing. Whoever had the phone had to have access after the 4th. Obviously people called his phone looking for him and leaving voicemails. Right, Chase? Yet Joseph’s last call pinged in Fallbrook at 8:27. At least as far as we know. So are there more pings? Where did the phone ping? Perhaps there are more surprises ahead.

Why was Chase lying about his address? There is no 1555 National Trails Highway, it doesn’t exist. WHY?

Background Check

There is something that has really bothered me (well,a lot of things) for many years. Actually, from the beginning. I’ve discussed this with many who have been around from the early days, they remember it as well. I know a little more than I want to reveal because it may be sensitive information. I have searched every article, archive, personal emails and messages possible. There’s nothing on it, yet people remember. Very early in the investigation Chase reported that he listened to a voicemail that Joseph left on his phone on that last call and but he said all he heard was background noise that sounded like “restaurant sounds”. If we are to believe the current testimony, there was no VM left from Joseph. So is this Chase caught in another lie? Maybe there is someone reading this who has that actual exchange of Chase telling the story. Or maybe it’s lost to the numerous articles now defunct.

“After the 12:52 phone call to the defendant, between 12:52 and 1:01 there are 13 frantic phone calls, primarily to his…who he called his wife, who is actually his girlfriend Catherine Jarvis. She lived with him there in Rancho Cucamonga. And if you’ll notice there’s a call at 12:52, 12:54, another at 12:54, 12:55, 12:56, 12:57, another at 12:57, 12:58, 12:59, finally she calls him back at 1:00. That’s all in a period of nine minutes.” – DDA Sean Daugherty, Opening Statements

It’s actually nine calls, not thirteen if you don’t include Cathy returning his call at 1. Regardless, why is Chase calling Cathy so many times the second he is off the phone with Joseph? What’s more, why is Cathy making her six (frantic?) calls to Chase hours later? We can’t

So much left to unravel in this ever evolving mystery. And more rabbit holes.