FALLBROOK, Calif. (KGTV) - More than 15 years after a family of four mysteriously disappeared from their Fallbrook home, a new book is shedding light on unanswered questions in the high-profile murder case.
Local best-selling author Caitlin Rother spent 12 years researching the McStay family murders for her new book "Down to the Bone," which explores the case from the initial disappearance through the murder trial.
"You have a father, mother and two little boys who vanished. It was a big mystery," Rother said.
Joseph and Summer McStay and their two young sons disappeared from their Fallbrook home in February 2010. Video footage of a family resembling the McStays crossing the border led sheriff's deputies to initially conclude they had left voluntarily.
But more than three years after they vanished, the family's remains were discovered in shallow graves near Victorville, along with a sledgehammer.
A year later, Chase Merritt, Joseph McStay's business partner, was arrested. Following a five-month trial, he was convicted and later sentenced to death.
Rother obtained thousands of pages of investigative files never made public before.
"Investigative reports, witness interviews and background materials from both sheriffs' departments. I was able to show exactly, blow by blow, how these investigations proceeded," Rother said.
Among the revelations in those files was information about Joseph McStay's gun, which was found in a felon's car stolen in Las Vegas.
"They found it was somehow traded by people in the cannabis industry. Another mystery remains unsolved," Rother said.
The book also examines several DNA samples recovered inside and outside the graves.
"They didn't match Merritt or the McStay family, so whose DNA was it?" Rother said.
Merritt's defense team focused on another business associate of Joseph McStay, who owned a company that sold decorative fountains.
"The entire defense's case was to blame Dan Kavanaugh, or at least to show that Dan Kavanaugh had the same, if not much more, of the exact same motive they ascribe to Chase Merritt, and yet, he was never even a suspect ... The investigative files bear that out," Rother said.
Despite the conviction, questions continue to surround the case that captured national attention.
"My takeaway from this whole case: I don't know who killed this family. I'm not taking a position on his guilt or innocence. It's possible he did do it, but there are so many holes and unanswered questions," Rother said.
Merritt is expected to make an appeal and file a writ of habeas corpus sometime this year.
"Down to the Bone" will be in stores and online June 24.
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