3 Cold Cases That Were Recently Solved | Mr. Davis

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I know we've all become accustomed to talking about the horrors of the world but given it's the holiday season I thought it would be nice to talk about cases that had a more positive outcome not everything we talk about here has to be extremely somber with that said some of the subject matter will be disturbing so here are three cold cases that were recently solved on the morning of february 9th 2010 josephs business partner emailed his friend's father the email said I haven't heard from Joe he's not answering the phone he's not answering his texts it isn't like Joe can you get back to me the following day a detective from the San Diego County Sheriff's Department Troy Duggal investigated the home he would knock and receive no answer when he made his way inside Joseph his wife summer and their two sons Gianni who was four and Joseph Jr who was three were nowhere to be seen this was of course incredibly strange but even stranger was that there was no sign of foul play according to the detective it seemed like everyone had just up and left there were paint cans in the kitchen from where they were renovating and a carton of eggs on the counter in the living room there were two bowls of popcorn sitting on the futon dugal later said in an interview that's weird it was like two kids were sitting there eating popcorn then they were just gone a year would pass and the investigation that was put under way showed no signs of real progress the police searched over phone records bank statements and interviewed countless individuals but no one or anything they tried seemed to have answers to add to the strangeness dugal stated that the family seemed to have been planning for the future rather than planning to drop off the grid the family left behind their two dogs and over a hundred grand sat untouched in Joseph's bank account the only things that police had to help them with this investigation came from the first four days following their disappearance it begins with the police discovering their white Isuzu Trooper in the parking lot of the San Diego shopping mall it was around 60 miles from their home and very close to the us-mexico border followed by this discovery surveillance footage of a man woman and two children was discovered showing the group crossing the border in a statement Dougal said there are 75% sure it's them so let's say it was that only raises more questions the biggest being why friends and family told investigators that the family seemed very happy where they were and would often talk about the house being an investment somewhere was working to make it theirs and was also getting back into the realtor work while joseph´s decorate a fountain business was thriving close friends and family claimed the McStays showed no signs of being unhappy or wanting to leave February 4th was their last day seen by anyone Joseph had met with a business associate in summer was working on getting their son's birthday party set up at chuck-e-cheeses the McStays family case would be cold for three years it left friends and families heartbroken wanting answers but not finding any finally in 2013 something came up regarding the case November 11th 2013 a man driving near Victoriaville California came across two shallow graves that contained the remains of four bodies two scents of remains were identified as Joseph in summer 2010 the search for the missing McStay family of California has drawn international attention and puzzled investigators police now say they might have found all four of the family's bodies for more than three years investigators have speculated that the family packed up its belongings and left the country the family's SUV was found two blocks from the border four days after they went missing their deaths were ruled a homicide by blunt force trauma but there was still no clear motive the police would further their investigation by taking a look into the family's computers it was then they decided the family left voluntarily on their home computer police found searches for Spanish lessons as well as a search for documents children needed to get to Mexico many suppose it's sightings of the family in Mexico and elsewhere were reported but none seemed to help the investigation furthermore while the police stated officially that they believed the family left on their own will friends and relatives believed differently many of them say the couple wouldn't vacation there because of the rampant crime and drug trade in the area they believed it wasn't safe moreover summers sister said her sister's passport was expired but it is possible to get into Mexico without one and of course the money over 100 thousand dollars was left in the husband's bank account totally untouched the investigation then shifted focus to Joseph's business partner and the man who last saw him alive chase Merritt he was the last person to speak to Joseph as well as the one who noticed the family was missing a look into his records show police that while he had a criminal past it wasn't a violent one his most recent charge was from 2001 for theft of welding and drilling equipment valued at $32,000 some who knew him implored the police to take a look into him further he was given a polygraph test and passed so he was let go when Joseph's father was asked if he thought chase was involved he said I have to have faith in chase because I have faith in my son I believe that he Joseph McStay trusted chased and I believed in chase do I think chase is involved I don't think so and I truly hope not a small time later in January of 2014 chase Merritt played with the idea of writing a book about the case and the family he claimed that summer had issues with her temper and Joseph was very ill but no one was sure what it was he was planning to frame it in such a way that summer would look responsible for the illness that plagued Joseph's but Summers friends and family quickly put that to rest they claimed that while she was quite possessive she was in no way responsible for what he was going through Joseph's father said in an interview that it was completely untrue and added I truly believe she loved my son finally on November 5th 2014 the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department arrested chase Merritt in connection to the murders of the McStay family detectives had discovered his DNA on the inside of the McStays family car furthermore a cell tower picked up his cell phone only a few miles from where the family was killed a few days after they were reported missing the testimonies for the arrest stated that the family had all been beaten with a three pound sledge hammer one that was found in the grave of summer McStay as far as a motive for the killing police are alleging that Merritt had an extreme gambling problem and committed the murder for financial gain Merritt had written checks to himself on Joseph's business account for over $21,000 most of which he lost when he went on a gambling spree the trial was postponed multiple times as Merritt constantly fires his attorneys and tries to represent himself in February of 2016 he'd already gone through five separate attorneys the most recent update I can find for this case is that Merritt was supposed to stand trial in July of 2018 but I can't find a verdict anywhere online with that said I believe it's safe to say the police have found the guilty party Jessica Keene was a 15 year old cheerleader who lived in Weinland Park Ohio she was also an honor student who was well-liked and had quite the bright future ahead of her her mother says she had plans on becoming an actress or singer as Jessica had quite an interest in the arts the good behavior and great grades began falling off when Jessica met Shawn Thompson Shawn was an 18-year old high school dropout and Jessica fell for him hard in an interview with Jessica's mother she said I had forbidden her to see Shawn I said you can't see him until your grades come up as far as her going to college she knew she'd have to keep a good grade average in order to get a scholarship and her grades just started dropping she had skipped school a couple times to be with Shawn and of course she was threatening I don't want to live with you anymore but I knew I had to do something as you can tell Jessica's mother was not a fan of Shawn no one around Jessica really was they knew that he was pulling her down her grades were slipping and she began skipping school with him on a regular basis Jessica's behavior became too much for her mother to bear and the two got into a heated argument about Jessica's future and her relationship with Shawn this is when Rebecca Jessica's mother suggested she go into a group home for troubled teens they agreed to the terms and Jessica was placed in the huckleberry house on March 4th 1991 two weeks after her being placed in the huckleberry house it was time for her to head back home the night of March 15th she had a phone call with Shawn that is said to have ended in an argument although it's unclear what they were arguing about after that call she called a close friend to say she was going to the mall this was at 6:00 p.m. that night while standing at a bus stop the last place she would be seen jessica was missing for two days before being found in a graveyard 20 miles from her home she'd been raped and beaten to death investigations of the cemetery helped detective pieced together what happened they believe she was abducted at the bus stop but somehow escaped and began running through a graveyard and hiding behind tombstones while running in the pitch-black Jessica collided with a fence post knocking her on the ground in this small time the attacker was able to catch up to her when she was found she was still wearing her ring and watch indicating the crime was not monetarily motivated the only thing that was missing was a necklace with a pendant that reads taken on it this coupled with the fact that Shana Nara had just had it heated arguments made him the number one suspect the police did investigate further but soon found out that he was innocent Sean and a group of friends were out of town at the time and the DNA found at the scene was not a match to him and so he was let go police said Sean was questioned the friend to have gone with him were also questioned and through the questioning examination of physical evidence we all but eliminated the boyfriend and the friends and that is where the case sat for years no new leads and no one came forward but then the pieces slowly started falling into place in 1996 a law was passed in Ohio that certain felons had to submit DNA samples into the system 12 years later and 17 years after the murder police arrested Martin Lee Smith jr. in connection with the crime based on DNA evidence Smith was one of the many convicted felons who had to submit a DNA sample into the system when his DNA was run with the DNA from the scene he was extradited to Ohio from North care Linna to face his charges in court he pleads guilty to escape the death sentence he gave statements about the crime that had not been known before explaining he'd abducted her from the bus stop with plans of keeping her indicated by the duct tape he had with him Jessica was able to escape the car and that's when she ran into the nearby cemetery from there we know she hit her head and fell to the ground when Smith caught up with her he removed a 70 pound tombstone from the ground and beat her until it's split in half he then discarded it nearby while he didn't receive the death penalty he was charged with aggravated murder with suspicion of rape and was charged with 30 years to life he'll be up for parole in 2038 as a quick word of warning this final case does involve sexual violence towards children if you're unsure if you can handle that kind of thing go ahead and skip to the end of the video on a Sunday afternoon in October of 1955 three boys from left right Robert Peterson 14 John Schuessler 13 and Anton soos ler 11 left in her home with permission of their parents to go see a showing of Disney's and African lion at the nearby theatre after many hours had passed the boy's parents became incredibly worried and headed to the theatre to check on them when they weren't there they checked a nearby bowling alley as Robert was known to enjoy bowling it was later found out that the boys did stop at a bowling alley but despite this they were nowhere to be found two days after the boys left their home to see a film they were found all three had been bound gagged molested and strangled Bobby Peterson had also been cut multiple times on his head an article from the day they were found read the naked mutilated bodies of the three boys were found piled in a forest ditch yesterday authorities called their sling one of the Chicago area's most brutal in history and blamed it on either a madman or a gang member of older youths the parents commented on the case saying when you get to the point that children can't go to the movies in the afternoon and get home safely something is wrong with the country with no leads and no possible suspects the case went cold quickly and Tom's senior the father of Anton and John passed away at 41 only a month after the murders took place an Eleanor his wife also passed away 31 years later in 1986 while they weren't alive to see justice the case would eventually be closed 39 years after the boys had their lives stolen from them Kenneth Hansen was arrested in connection to the crime Kenneth was 22 at the time of the killings and was a horseman and former stablehand it's believed that Hanson lived or worked near Milwaukee Avenue where he saw the boys hitchhiking he picked them up and tried to pay them to perform sexual acts with him the boys refused and that's when things turned violent it wouldn't be until August 11 1994 that Hanson would be arrested when the trial began that same year four witnesses came forward to testify against him Herbert Hollis stated that Hanson had confessed the crime to him in 1955 only a week after they'd taken place Roger spry was 15 years old when Hanson confessed to him in 1968 saying you'll end up like those other boys William habla Metz alleged Hanson confessed in 1976 and finally Josef Clemens claimed Hanson confessed again in 1968 these testimonies while they were instrumental in putting Hanson away have been scrutinized as everyone who testified were paid by the prosecution all exempt Herbert Hall 'it's who denies it completely the final ruling was 200 to 300 years in prison while there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime the judge allowed the state to use the fact that Hanson was a homosexual in their favor once the trial was over women came forward saying that it was her husband who committed the crimes however he was deceased a small time later the Illinois Court of Appeals stated that the fact Hanson was homosexual should be thrown out and so the conviction was reversed despite this he was tried for a second time in 2002 and even though the woman had come forward saying her husband had done it he was given the same sentence of 200 years [Music] you

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Channel: Mr. Davis

Views: 1,457,730

Rating: 4.7696843 out of 5

Keywords: Cold Cases, True Crime, True Scary Stories, cold case, cold, case, Documentary

Id: G6jtMu0z0Lk

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Length: 18min 50sec (1130 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 20 2018

Reddit Comments

I was obsessed with the McStay family.. how awful. I did read that Jan. 7 2019 is the evidentiary court date.

How the hell do you sledge hammer an entire family?!? And this POS was friends with them.

👍︎︎ 34 👤︎︎ u/divine_question27 📅︎︎ Dec 24 2018 🗫︎ replies

Wish there were more videos dedicated to solved cold cases, they are so satisfying to watch

👍︎︎ 12 👤︎︎ u/scribblerdribbler 📅︎︎ Dec 24 2018 🗫︎ replies

Thanks for this! I had forgotten about the McStay case I appreciate the update.

👍︎︎ 8 👤︎︎ u/lola1stella2 📅︎︎ Dec 24 2018 🗫︎ replies

The last one didn't seem like it was proven to me. Just hearsay from a handful of decades old witnesses, all of whom were paid by the prosecution. No physical evidence.

👍︎︎ 15 👤︎︎ u/F1RST_WORLD_PROBLEMS 📅︎︎ Dec 24 2018 🗫︎ replies

Love your channel, binged a ton of vids in a row after clicking this one. I'm glad to have a new channel to keep up with :)

👍︎︎ 5 👤︎︎ u/attacksyndrome 📅︎︎ Dec 25 2018 🗫︎ replies

I discussed this case with a friend the other day. Some things don't make sense to me.

I'm not saying he did or didn't do it. I was always sketchy of the brother to be honest, but people react differently during grief.

They said they were killed by a sledgehammer. Ok, maybe he had a gun to control them. But you'll have to shoot me then.
Joseph had lunch with Merritt that day in Rancho Cucamonga, at Chick-Fil-A, only 1 mile from Merritt's apt.
Their isuzu truck was found at a parking lot strip mall, in San Ysidro near the Mexican border. They know it was parked there that day (8 Feb 2010) because security is strict about people not shopping there but parking there. So, throughout the day the lot is patrolled. At 11p.m. every night, any vehicles left are ticketed & towed. So where was the Isuzu from the 4th-8th?

My first question is how did Merritt drive his truck and they claim he drove the Isuzu too.

Too many questions. I will say perhaps Merritt's gf helped with driving and dropping him off. Then he his the Isuzu somewhere for 4 days.

👍︎︎ 4 👤︎︎ u/blessed_Momma5 📅︎︎ Dec 26 2018 🗫︎ replies

I’m against the death penalty in all cases...yet this one certainly giving me a hard time. The idea that a person could kill an entire family like that...

👍︎︎ 1 👤︎︎ u/AntiqueFriendship2 📅︎︎ Jan 03 2019 🗫︎ replies

I'm super late to this thread but thanks for sharing my vid! I really appreciate it.

👍︎︎ 1 👤︎︎ u/MrDustinDavis 📅︎︎ May 13 2019 🗫︎ replies