Overview
On February 15, 2010, Joseph McStay, his wife Summer, and their two young sons were reported missing from their new home in San Diego County. Their truck sat in the driveway. Their dogs were outside without food. But investigators found no blood, signs of a struggle, or clues to their whereabouts. Did the family take an unannounced vacation? Were they running away from personal problems? Or were they victims of foul play? Nearly four years later, a motorcyclist found the McStays' remains in and around two shallow graves, one hundred miles away in the Mojave Desert. Their skulls showed signs of blunt-force trauma, likely due to the sledgehammer buried with them. Authorities focused on Charles Merritt, a close friend and subcontractor for Joseph's company. Despite a lack of physical evidence, scenarios that defied logic, and numerous unanswered questions, prosecutors convinced a jury of Merritt's guilt. After an emotional sentencing hearing, the judge imposed the death penalty. But did another possible suspect, who was ignored by investigators and ducked a subpoena to testify, get away with murder? In this twisting, deeply researched true-crime mystery, New York Times bestselling investigative journalist Caitlin Rother hunts for answers to reveal the truth behind a heinous crime that became a nation's obsession.
Full Product Details
Author: Caitlin Rother ,
Christina Delaine ,
Christina Delaine
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Imprint: Tantor Audio
Edition: Unabridged edition
ISBN: 9798228523340
Publication Date: 24 June 2025
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Audio
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Author Information
Caitlin Rother, a daily newspaper reporter for almost twenty years, has written for Cosmopolitan, the Los Angeles Times, the Daily News of Los Angeles, the Chicago Tribune, the Boston Globe, and the San Diego Union-Tribune. A Pulitzer Prize nominee, she now writes books full-time. Rother is the author of Poisoned Love, the authoritative account of the Kristin Rossum murder case, and the novel Naked Addiction. She has won three awards in the Best of the West contest, which judges stories from major metropolitan newspapers in the thirteen western states. She also won five awards for a narrative that tracked the progress of all five recipients from a twelve-year-old organ donor, including a Best Feature award from the Associated Press News Executives Council, and a Best News-Feature award from the Los Angeles Press Club. Rother lives in San Diego. Christina Delaine is a SOVAS Voice Arts Award and multiple AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator who has recorded over 100 audiobooks. She is also an Audie Award nominee. An accomplished stage and voice actor, Delaine has appeared on stages across the country and has voiced scores of commercials and video games. She has a BA from Dartmouth College and an MFA from Brown University. Christina Delaine is a SOVAS Voice Arts Award and multiple AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator who has recorded over 100 audiobooks. She is also an Audie Award nominee. An accomplished stage and voice actor, Delaine has appeared on stages across the country and has voiced scores of commercials and video games. She has a BA from Dartmouth College and an MFA from Brown University.
