MERRETT, DONALD: Great Crimes & Trials TV -
1926: Police were called to a house in a respectable area of Edinburgh where a suicide attempt had been reported. There they found 17-year-old Donald Merritt who told them that he had been reading in the sitting room while his mother had been writing letters at her desk. Suddenly, he had head a shot and she had slumped forward with a pistol in her hand. Great Crimes & Trials s3e10, BBC 1996
Staff at the Clydesdale Bank had been surprised to receive several checks apparently signed by the dead woman while she had been in a coma. ibid.
Police arrested Donald Merrett and charged him with forgery [guilty] and the murder of his mother [not guilty]. ibid.
As was loomed, ‘Chesney’ sold up in the Mediterranean and took his family back to London. He then volunteered to join the Royal Navy. No checks were made on his past since with his seagoing experience the big buccaneer seemed a natural recruit. ibid.
‘Chesney’ had always been a classic psychopath. ibid.
Brutal Double Slaying In Home For Old. ibid. Daily Record & Mail front page
MERRITT, CHASE: People Magazine Investigates TV - Two Shallow Graves 2022 -
McStay family: When the Sheriff’s department arrives, they thoroughly search the home; they find no sign of force entry, no sign of a forced struggle, not a drop of blood … People Magazine Investigates s2e3: Shallow Grave, Discovery 2017
A motorcyclist offroading in the Mojave Desert has just made a disturbing discovery … A sledgehammer was found nearby. ibid.
It was DNA belonging to Chase Merritt … Joey’s business partner … Why is his DNA in the trooper? ibid.
Chase Merritt had a gambling problem. ibid.
[911 Call]: Hi, I’m out here behind the dump and I found what looks like part of a human skull. Two Shallow Graves: The McStay Family Murders I: Vanished, 2002 DiscoveryPlus
The remains of our people were discovered in the Mojave Desert. ibid. news
Merritt was a business associate of Joseph McStay. ibid.
How does this family of four disappear off the face of the earth? ibid.
In 2010, Joseph owns a business called Earth Inspired Products. And he employs Chase Merritt. ibid. caption
February 15th 2010: 11 days since the McStays went missing, Michael calls the police. ibid.
The bodies of the McStay family are found 100 miles from their home. San Bernardino County takes over the investigation. ibid.
Detectives believe they can place someone at the gravesite two days after the family disappeared. Chase Merritt. ibid.
Police believe the DNA hit indicates Merritt was one of the last people in the car before it was abandoned near the Mexican border. ibid.
The People vs Charles Merritt, January 7th 2019. Two Shallow Graves: The McStay Family Murders II: Missed Call
So the gambling addiction led him [Merritt] to the money mismanagement that led him to ultimately trying to steal money from Joseph. ibid. prosecutor
I know he is not guilty because he was with me the night the McStays went missing. The whole time period that they’re talking about, the entire weekend, he was in and out of the house. ibid. Merritt’s ex-girlfriend & mother of three children
They are desperate. This is a team that knows they don’t have a case. Two Shallow Graves: The McStay Family Murders III: The Killer’s Truck, defense dude
The prosecutors’ subpoena footage recorded for the original documentary. ibid. caption
Dan ‘The Hacker’ Kavanaugh: I believe he has virtually everything to do with this. ibid. Merritt
Dan Kavanaugh maintained the website for Joseph McStay’s business. The McStays vanished on February 4th 2010. When the trial begins in 2019, Dan Kavanaugh has also vanished. ibid. captions
He [Kavanaugh] had not right to be logging into his [Joseph McStay’s] account, taking his money. Joseph always initiated the transfers. ibid.
Dan Kavanagh: He was saying that he was the owner and that he wanted to sell it. ibid.
The Surveillance Video: This is not his [defendant’s] truck. ibid. defense dude
The defense point the finger at Dan Cavanaugh and maybe others. Two Shallow Graves: The McStay Family Murders IV: The Desert Ping, comment
A Brady violation in a death penalty case? Come on. ibid. defense
How can you explain your cell phone pinging near the gravesite? ibid. producer to Merritt
My fear is that I’m looking for two adult shallow graves and my two nephew’s crosses. Two Shallow Graves: The McStay Family Murders V: Where’s Dan? Michael McStay
When San Bernardino took over the murder investigation in 2014 they found Dan Kavanaugh. ibid. caption
Four months later, when San Bernardino asks Merritt about driving the Trooper, Merritt gives a different answer. ibid.
I said, No, Jim, I’m going to be convicted. ibid. Merritt to defense counsel
When you look at the phones, with the car, with the financial fraud, with his behaviour, this is who did it. Two Shallow Graves: The McStay Family Murders VI: The Verdict, comment
It was blow after blow after blow to a child’s skull. ibid. prosecution
He’s off the grid for three and a half hours. ibid.
They defense lawyers] kept asserting things they just could not prove. ibid. Merritt, having been persuaded not to testify
Almost everything they said is a lie. ibid. defense attorney press conference
[Kavanagh] I was actually told by the homicide detectives. They’re like, Stay Out of Dodge. Two Shallow Graves: The McStay Family Murders VII: Stay Out of Dodge
This [cooked books] is a serious motive for Dan. But it never came up in trial. ibid. Merritt
Merritt insides that the cell-phone evidence used against him is inaccurate. ibid. caption
Vlad [cellphone expert] didn’t just say there was a problem with that call. He said specifically, you cannot trust these records for geolocation. ibid. Merritt
MESA, JOSEPH: People Magazine Investigates TV -
Police are investigating two murders at Gallaudet University when one student comes forward and tells police that his roommate has a coat matching the murder suspect’s. People Magazine Investigates s4e11: The Sound of Silence, Discovery 2020
On February 14 2001 police arrest Joseph Mesa junior. ibid.
MEYER, ROBERT: Crime Stories TV -
An Alaskan yacht bursts into flames in the middle of the ocean. A mother and daughter vanishes at sea. Crime Stories: Fire and Ice
Bob and Diana Meyer owned the most popular boating store in the region. ibid.
Detectives suspect Meyer may have killed his wife and daughter, but why? ibid.
Investigators learn Meyer has two life insurance policies on his wife and daughter totalling $1,000,000, plus yacht insurance for a another $250,000. ibid.
MIAH, AKMOL: How I Caught the Killer TV -
June 21st 2009 a house in a residential street in South London was on fire … The burning house was home to the Masud family. How I Caught the Killer s3e5: The Killer. Maud – Unrequited Love, Sky Crime 2023
When the fire brigade arrived and their fire investigation team arrived it was obvious they could smell accelerant, they could smell petrol … An accelerant had been put through the letter-box. ibid.
Maleha had been involved with a boy, that they’d split up, and that this boy had been … threatening to expose the fact that she had been having a relationship. ibid.
‘We were left with Akmol Miah making threats to the victim.’ ibid. rozzer
MIAMI SHOWBAND MASSACRE: Miami Showband Massacre 2012 -
Northern Ireland 1975: Many dancehalls may have to close down and that’s because of what happened to the most popular group in Ireland. Miami Showband Massacre, news report, Netflix 2012
Showband in Murder Trap. ibid. newspaper headline
The venue was the Castle Ballroom in Banbridge … in Northern Ireland. We got to the gig and everything was as normal. ibid. band member
Massacred: Pop Band in UVF Ambush. ibid. newspaper headline
And it’s my belief that Robin Jackson [UVF local leader aka The Jackal] was involved in the Miami Showband attack. ibid. investigator
There was collusion as part of a system. ibid. band’s bassist investigates
MIAZGA, MAREK & REMIGIUSZ PIOTROWSKI: Anglia TV news - 999 call - Double Murder: The Inside Story TV - BBC news online -
The bodies of two men [Markuszewski brothers] are discovered in a house. Police launch a major investigation. Anglia television news
Oh my God, there’s two of them dead! 999 call recorded
On June 1st 2005 a Polish man and a distraught English woman friend dial 999. Double Murder: The Inside Story, 2010
The bodies of two men [Waldemar & Andrzej Markuszewski] are discovered in a house; police launch a major investigation. Double Murder: The Inside Story, Sky Crime 2020
On June 1st 2005 a Polish man and a distraught English woman friend dial 999. They had just returned to his home in Dunsmore, Luton to find his two Polish housemates lying on the floor brutally murdered. ibid.