True Murder: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History23 Jun 2025

DOWN TO THE BONE—Caitlin Rother

A twisting, deeply engrossing investigation into the many lingering questions surrounding the sudden disappearance of the McStays, a family of four who vanished from their suburban San Diego home without a trace—until their skeletal remains were found in the Mojave Desert nearly four years later—from New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Rother.
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. They left eggs and fruit rotting on the counter. Their Dodge truck sat in the driveway. Their dogs were abandoned 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 "Chase" 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, with a controversial trial in its wake, and lingering questions of justice.
Joining me to discuss, DOWN TO THE BONE: A Missing Family's Murder and the Elusive Quest for Justice—Caitlin Rother

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(898)

KILLING THE LIEUTENANT—Lt. Raul J. Diaz and Sean Oliver

The infamy of Miami's cocaine wars of the 1970's and 80's is forever etched into the darkest chapters of U.S. history, and Lt. Raul Diaz was on the frontlines for all of it. The decorated and controve...

11 Mai 1h 2min

THE FAMILY MAN—James Lasdun

An immersive account of a seemingly loving father's transformation into a "family annihilator."In March 2023, Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of murdering his wife and younger son at Moselle, their hom...

4 Mai 58min

BROKEN PLEA—Christopher Whitcomb

Was there more than one killer? Had the crime scene been cleaned and sanitized before the police arrived? Was furniture staged to throw off detectives? In one of the most extraordinary true crime stor...

27 Apr 1h 15min

THE TRIAL OF ARTHUR J. SHAWCROSS—Michael Benson

In 1990, Monroe County’s daytime television viewing habits were disrupted by a TV first: the live broadcast of The People v. Arthur J. Shawcross. Never before had home viewers anywhere been given acce...

20 Apr 1h

TRIAL BY AMBUSH—Marcia Clark

In this dramatic true account about the power of sensationalized crime, one woman’s case is exposed for its sexism, flagrant disregard for the truth, and, ultimately, the dangers posed by an unbridled...

13 Apr 47min

DEAD IN THE WATER—David J. Farrell, Jr.

The gripping inside story of Nathan Carman’s crimes from the maritime lawyer who solved his multimillionaire mother’s disappearance at sea and his even wealthier grandfather’s shooting death in bed.Wh...

6 Apr 1h 1min

MURDER IN THE FOURTH ESTATE—Jeremy Duda

“They finally got me… Emprise…the Mafia…John Adamson. Find him.”Investigative reporter Don Bolles used his final words to name the people he believed had set the car bomb that had left him dying in a ...

30 Mar 1h 2min

MODEL DETECTIVE—Michele Wood

MODEL DETECTIVE takes readers where true crime has never gone before—inside the heart, mind, and soul of a Chicago homicide detective whose grit and instincts prove that a woman’s place is in the homi...

23 Mar 1h 3min