IMO it was part of the trigger but there’s more .
Chase had an active warrant out. What are the odds Joey ,or Summer via Joey , threatened bringing in LE upon discovering charles merritt received funds from EIP’s acct that Joey had not given him. Final straw for Joey?
Supposedly they were getting some big orders with the potential from 10’s of thousands to millions. At the same time Joey is distancing himself & these desls from charles merritt. Think Chase might be getting angry?
After the disappearance, Chase had nothing good to say about Summer McStay . Summer didn’t like Chase & was not quiet about it . Blow to the jaw was probably part of the rage Chase had built up , blaming Summer for turning Joey against him, stories he tells himself in his warped brain.
He even seemed to dislike the two boys . He thought they were spoiled brats.
So it wasn’t over just $30,000 in my view . It was about more possible jail time , losing part of the profits from a million+ dollar job and any future jobs.
Rage
All , JMHO