Rolling the Dice with Other People’s Lives

The penalty phase is currently underway in the McStay murder trial and Charles Merritt is facing the death penalty. When the McStay family disappeared on February 4, 2010, it rocked our San Diego community. I remember seeing the missing-person fliers posted everywhere, especially the faces of 4-year old Giovanni and 3-year old Johnny Jr. I was heartbroken when their bodies were finally found buried in two shallow graves in Victorville, California, three years later. On June 10, Joseph McStay’s business partner, Charles “Chase” Merritt, was found guilty of murdering the family because, according to prosecutors, he owed Mr. McStay over $40,000, had a huge gambling problem, and was being forced out of their partnership because of poor performance.

May 24, 2019: Fifty-seven-year-old Lois Riess is indicted on first and second-degree murder charges after shooting her husband and, after going on the run, killing a woman in Florida in an attempt to steal her identity. Reis, who was nicknamed “Losing Streak Lois” because of her gambling addiction and her bad luck, had been on the run for over a year when she committed her second murder. Police believe that, at the time of her April 2018 arrest, she had been planning a third murder in Texas; she had quickly befriended a woman, bought her dinner, and made plans to get together the following night (similar to her behavior before she…