McStay suspect pleads not guilty

• Charles "Chase" Merritt is charged with murder in McStay family deaths


• Prosecutors have not said whether they will pursue the death penalty


• CNN spoke to Merritt before his arrest this year

Victorville, California (CNN) -- The man accused of killing the McStay family pleaded not guilty Wednesday in a California court to murder charges.

Charles "Chase" Merritt, 57, was a close friend and business partner of Joseph McStay, whose body -- along with those of his wife Summer and their two young sons, Gianni and Joseph Jr. -- was found November 2013. The family disappeared in February 2010.

In an exclusive interview, San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos told CNN that authorities had been watching Merritt, closely for some time before arresting him last week.

"There was no doubt in our mind this was the person that committed the murders," Ramos said. "His story is all over the place."

McStay murder suspect's CNN interview

What happened to the McStay family?

Merritt did not speak during Wednesday's hearing in San Bernardino County Superior Court. His next appearance is set for November 20.

His lawyer spoke to reporters outside.

"I'm going to do everything that I can for Mr. Merritt, everything in my power, to be able to represent him -- do everything that I can to be able to help him in this case -- to specifically see if there isn't a way that with the tragedy that's taken place, that that tragedy not extend to him and not extend to his family also," said attorney Robert Ponce.

Prosecutors have not yet said whether they will pursue the death penalty.

Police say they believe the family died of "blunt force trauma" inside their home north of San Diego, but they declined to discuss specifics of the deaths or a motive.

Suspect no stranger to family

Earlier this year, CNN interviewed Merritt, who said at the time he had "absolutely no clue" what happened to the McStays.

Merritt and McStay met for a business lunch in Rancho Cucamonga on February 4, 2010, the day the family disappeared.

"I am definitely the last person he saw," Merritt said during the January interview.

Merritt also told CNN he and Joseph McStay were also on the phone constantly, perhaps 12 to 13 times that day.

There was another call from McStay's phone to Merritt the night of the family's disappearance. It came about 40 minutes after a neighbor's security camera captured the family's Isuzu pulling out of their cul-de-sac. Merritt didn't answer.

Merritt told CNN he was watching television with his then-girlfriend, and he picked up the phone, looked at it and set it back down. He was tired. He called back the next day, he said.

"There are hundreds of scenarios. I have gone over all of them in my head," he said. "Of course, I regret not picking up the phone."

Merritt was questioned by police after the disappearance. They just asked him the "standard questions," he said. He also claimed to have taken a polygraph test.

Police had never named Merritt as a suspect before his arrest last Wednesday.

Randi Kaye reported from Victorville. Dana Ford reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Kristi Ramsay and Steve Almasy also contributed to this report.