Almost a year after the bodies of the McStay family had been found, authorities announced

they believed they had found the killer.

They arrested Chase Merritt in November 2014.

And they made it very clear, nobody else was involved.

We're extensive in our investigation, nobody else was involved, and it happened in the

home.

Chase Merritt's defense attorney said those words during opening statements as his trial

started in January 2019 in a San Bernardino California courtroom.

It was going to be a showdown, a marathon of a trial, lasting nearly six months, and

bringing multiple witnesses to the stand to give information on the lives of Chase, Joseph,

and their business.

The prosecution lacked a smoking gun, so to speak, but asked the jury to piece together

circumstantial evidence and to look at the big picture to connect Chase to the murders.

If convicted, Chase could face the death penalty.

Leading up to this point, and even later during the trial, Chase was unhappy with his defense

and fired or tried to fire his legal team.

As the trial got underway, however, he had a team of defense attorneys at his side who

were ready to contest the prosecution's interpretation of the financial records, phone call logs,

and witness statements.

Outside the courtroom, the media was closely following the high-profile case.

The Los Angeles Times, the San Diego Union Tribune, CNN and other media outlets had covered

the family's disappearance, and were now writing updates about the legal proceedings.

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