ID of family's killer contested in murder trial

Prosecutors say greed, debt and a gambling problem led a man to kill his business partner and his family, then bury them in the Southern California desert. But the defense says they have the wrong man.

Opening arguments were held yesterday in the trial of Charles Merritt, who’s accused of using a sledgehammer to bludgeon Joseph McStay, his wife, Summer and their 3- and 4-year-old sons.

A prosecutor told jurors in San Bernardino that Merritt wrote checks for more than $21,000 on his partner's QuickBooks account after the family vanished in 2010.

But the defense suggested the killer was another business partner. The San Bernardino Sun reports attorney Rajan Maline told jurors that man stole $7,900 from McStay's account in the days after the family vanished.