Report: Ex-business partner of Joseph McStay arrested for murder Patrick McStay, Summer McStay and their two children in an undated photo CBS affiliate KFMB VICTORVILLE, Calif. -- One year after the discovery of four bodies in the desert near Victorville, there could finally be a break in the McStay family murder mystery. Charles Merritt, a former business partner of Joseph McStay, has been arrested in San Bernardino County on murder charges, police said Friday. Charles Merritt San Bernardino County Sheriff's Dept. via CBS LA Merritt was charged with four counts of murder in the deaths of Joseph, 40, Summer, 43, Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3. San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon also said at a Friday press conference that Merritt's charges make him eligible for the death penalty. "I don't need to tell you that this is a cold and calloused murder of an entire family," McMahon said. Police did not specify a motive for the killings. Several McStay relatives attended the press conference. Joseph McStay's brother Michael McStay fought back tears while addressing media. Joseph was a great brother, a great father. He would have done anything to protect those boys and Summer," Michael McStay said. He tried to help Chase and provide work for this guy and this is how he was repaid. Merritt (aka Chase Merritt), 57, is in custody at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. He will be arraigned on Friday afternoon. A jail clerk confirmed Merritt was arrested on November 5 without incident in Victorville. Joseph McStay and his wife Summer McStay mysteriously went missing from their Fallbrook home in February 2010, along with their two children, Gianni and Joey. A motorcycle rider discovered the McStay bodies in remote desert graves in November 2013, several miles from the location where investigators arrested Merritt on Wednesday. Last year, CBS affiliate KFMB profiled Merritt and conducted detailed background information on his criminal history. He is scheduled to appear in court later Friday in Victorville, the jail clerk said. Merritt also is being held on an outstanding warrant.