Stayner, clad in a red jail jumpsuit, bowed his head but showed no emotion as Judge Hastings sentenced him to death three times, once for each murder, after returning to the courtroom. He loved his brother. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. Cary Stayner confesses to killing four innocent women in 1999: Part 9 Two FBI agents were eating pizza with Stayner when he suddenly admitted he murdered Joie When Steven didnt return from school that afternoon, his parents sounded the alarm. I did murder Carole Sund, Juli Sund, Silvina Pelosso and Joie Armstrong None of the women were sexually abused in any way.". Stayner said to investigators I want you to get a hold of some producers in Los Angeles. Over the next few weeks, a task force including FBI agents and law enforcers from four surrounding counties, arrested several known sex offenders, drug users, and ex-convicts with a record of violence from within a 75-square-mile area between Modesto and Sonoma. I want a movie-of-the-week made about my story,'" There was a movie made about his brother, Steven Stayner, and he wanted the same and for the world to take notice. Acting on a tip from a caller who was worried about the whereabouts of his friend, Joie Ruth Armstrong, 26, park rangers found her decapitated body on the morning of July 22, 1999. Cary looked out for Steven, according to Cary Stayner's former classmate Jack Bungart. Shortly after Stevens death, an uncle with whom Cary Stayner was very close was shot and killed in a home they shared together. Despite this, he never appeared to behave lewdly nor perversely in public. But, says Delbert, puberty-aged Cary endured some emotional hardships because of that incident. He also struggled in high school where he was bullied for the abuse he had endured. During the session, an unexpected event occurred. Im so proud of the way Carole and Juli lived, and Im so ashamed of Stayner.. The other Sund children believed their mother and sister Juli would be returned. Four men were considered the main murder suspects in the initial inquiries. However, given Californias statewide moratorium on capital punishment, it doesnt appear that hell be executed anytime soon the states last execution was held in 2006. They finally caught up with him at the Laguna Del Sol nudist colony, which he frequently visited. Im just horrified when I think of what happened in that room, what my daughter felt when she realized she was in serious trouble, said Carole Carrington as she asked the judge to sentence Stayner to death. He had given the FBI details "only the killer would know in such specificity that agents were able to recover evidence confirming his confession. The death-penalty trial of Cary Stayner was moved from Mariposa County to Santa Clara County, CA. Stayners father, Delbert Stayner, said his son was deprived of a fair trial by a kangaroo court and a judge who ignored defense arguments. He was a good student, a Cary Stayner, now 57, was convicted of the murders of Armstrong, the Sunds and Pelosso, and sentenced to death for all except Armstrong's. Her body was next to a stream and head within the water that she and her friends used for drinking water. But, to no avail. Then Carole's wallet turned up in Modesto, which included money and credit cards. 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Steven Stayner had a new father figure, and it was Kenneth Parnell, who by day, was his father, and by night, was his rapist. While he attended his meeting, the women were to tour the Grand Canyon. The trio stayed at the lodge in February 1999, during which time Cary talked his way into their room, where he sexually assaulted and murdered all of them. That evening, the group grabbed some videos from the lodge's service desk to watch in their room. Concluding the interview, he addressed the victims' families: "I am sorry their loved ones were where they were when they were. Woman recalls moment family learned they were target of 1999 The 1999 murders of four women near Yosemite National Park were already a big story before Cary Stayner confessed in an FBI interview. Her mother had been dating him and he had decided to kill them on Valentines Day. But by the middle of March, their hopes faded. What followed turned out to be one of the most shocking crimes in both National Park and American history, involving a man whose family had already been involved in a notorious crime, literally the two faces of evil. On Good Morning America in March 1980, Steven shared with host David Hartman that it felt "great" to be home. Connections Agents arrived at the scene early on the 19th and upon opening the trunk, investigators found two charred bodies. Maria Ledbetter, 24, of Modesto, an admitted methamphetamine addict and former girlfriend of Dykes, about whom she was questioned extensively. "'Deep in my heart I know something my mind does not want to learn,' said Gina,13. He was known to take refuge in nearby Yosemite, where hed drive up and get lost in nature. She was working for the Yosemite Institute for the past year and had worked on education programs through a partnership with the National Park Service. where Stayner was employed as a handyman. Initially, the police didn't have any solid leads as to who killed them. You could see that he wanted to play and be with kids and be normal. Part of TV News Archive. Cedar Lodge, 9966 CA-140, El Portal, CA 95318. Steven Stayners fame was short-lived. I was the oldest and all that. She had probably been murdered on the evening of Wednesday, July 21. Crazy Credits Steven Stayner was just seven-years-old when he was abducted a few blocks from his home in Merced, Kenneth"Soldier" Stewart, 24, a former cellmate of Dykes who was charged with attempted murder. On February 15, the ladies hiked into Yosemite National Park on one of the many trails. The Bureau relocated its headquarters from Yosemite to Modesto at this point and, on February 28, twelve days after the women's disappearance, hinted that was is no longer treating the Sund incident as a missing persons case, but as murder. "Privately, some members of the Sund-Pelosso task force were saying the same things to the media. | It was the last time the women were seen alive. You know, hung out with him, played with him.. On Monday, July 22, the court heard Stayners taped confession, which he had given to FBI agents. Stayner's father, Delbert, admitted that he thinks son Cary may have suffered a trauma at age 11, when younger brother Steven, then seven, was abducted in 1972, disappearing for eight years. When she did not appear as planned, her would-be host had phoned the park. Cory gets emotional as she describes how he fell through the cracks of familial or institutional care. A woman named Lenna learned in 1999 that her mother, her sister and her had nearly been murdered by Cary Stayner. Steven was a national hero. Goofs After first flying to San Francisco, where Carole rented a red 1999 Pontiac Gran Prix, they stopped in Stockton, where Juli took part in a cheerleading contest at the University of the Pacific. Stayner said he thought he had gotten away with the earlier crimes, but could not resist the urge to kill Armstrong after he struck up a chance conversation with her. The Stayner family was made up of two brothers, three sisters, and parents Kay and Delbert. Cary Stayner, now 57, was convicted of the murders of Armstrong, the Sunds and Pelosso, and sentenced to death for all except Armstrong's. He remains on death row at San Quentin Penitentiary. Many local residents were convinced that no one person could have created so much horror, "'The logistics of it say it had to involve more than one person, said Letty Carolyn Barry, owner of the Yosemite Rosebud Lodge, west of Cedar Lodge. Parnell and Murphy were driving towards town when Stephen was lured into their vehicle and abducted. Although most of the stains were likely to include Armstrong's blood, Stayner was observed to have a laceration on his hand during his interrogation, and therefore may have been cut and bled during the attack. I never did tell anybody about it, but I remember wishing on a star that my little brother would come back home. . At that time, Steven had been forced to endure sexual abuse by his kidnapper, whom he finally turned in to the police. The initial suspicion was that they may have wandered off the main hiking paths and got lost in the park. While Steven was a freshman at Mendocino High School, some 300 miles to the south, his older brother Cary was an upperclassman at Merced High School. The American Court TV (now TruTV) television series Mugshots released an episode on the Stayner case titled "Cary Stayner The Cedar Lodge Killings". [29] In 2018, the Reelz channel aired an hour-long documentary about the murders titled Yosemite Park Killer. After the fourth murder, the FBI went looking for Cary Stayner to interview him, but initially as a witness. It was discovered beyond a campground adjacent to her living quarters in the Foresta community, a group of 30 cabins for use by park workers. At that time, the Bureau stated that, while no one had yet been charged, it felt that those responsible for killing the three women at Yosemite were already behind bars. Vacuum sweepings were taken from inside Joies house, where Stayner claims to have bound her with duct tape, yielded hair evidence. Whites stepfather, Roger Gitlin, said White died April 1, 2010, of an apparent pulmonary embolism. Knives were used in the slayings and the weapon suspected in Ms. Armstrong's death was recovered.". The FBI Laboratory has also found possible bodily fluid stains on a bed sheet taken from her residence. Cary Stayner, also known as The Yosemite Killer, was convicted nearly 20 years ago in the murders of four people in 1999 while he was working as a hotel For two weeks, Steven watched Timothy suffer the separation from his family. The boys were still in elementary school when on December 4, 1972, a man named Kenneth Parnell took seven-year-old Stephen, whilst walking home from school on Highway 140. He said, I want you to get a hold of some producers in Los Angeles. ", Steven Stayner with his kidnapper Kenneth Parnell. And he wanted the same treatment. On Saturday, July 24, FBI agents announced at a press conference that a man was in custody on strong suspicion of murder and that a "significant announcement" would be made shortly. Then on March 25, Juli Sunds body was discovered near Lake Pedro in Tuolumme County. Stayner said he thought he had gotten away with the earlier crimes, but could not resist the urge to kill Armstrong after he struck up a chance conversation with her. Agents descended on the colony and returned him to El Portal on Saturday where he was put through a more lengthy interrogation. He also exhibited some behaviors that made others uncomfortable, including, as he later admitted, exposing himself to his sister's friend. Those sources say it is difficult for some investigators to believe Stayner could have gotten the jump on all three women without any help, let alone dispose of their bodies.". ", Steven Stayner and Cary Stayner in the baseball cap in the background. And in 1999, the Stayner family was back in the news but this time, for a less than positive reason. The two hitchhiked to Ukiah, California. Stevens death, along with the death of his uncle soon afterward, reportedly had a serious impact on Cary Stayners mental health and well-being. Unsurprisingly, it didnt take long for the story to become national news, and the teenage Steven was at the center of it all. 'I try to stay strong because I know that's what you'd want your baby to be, but, Mommy, I don't want you to leave me.'". Police found her car in front of her cabin, packed for the trip. He had no criminal record and his only encounter with the law was for marijuana use in 1997. Out of respect for his family and the victim's family, we don't want to say anymore." But why doesnt my dad hug me anymore? You know what I mean? In order to prevent Steven from escaping, Parnell was constantly moving the two of them from town to town in California. William Mapother is a cousin of, The unsub bears some similarities with Cary Stayner, older brother of infamous kidnapping victim Steven Stayner (. Then all of a sudden it's gone. Upon release, the FBI warned him not to leave El Portal. "I've struggled with that issue for the last 24 hours and continue to do so," he confessed. Soundtracks. I never recognized either one of them.". After they stopped trying to teach me the fundamentals all over again, it got better. Although the Merced police department launched a full-fledged investigation at the time of Stevens disappearance, they werent able to find any significant leads. Concluding the interview, he addressed the victims' families: "I am sorry their loved ones were where they were when they were. He has been questioned about any involvement. In this, he calmly reviewed how he strangled 16-year-old Silvina Pelosso in the motel bathtub and how he sexually assaulted Juli Sund for hours before brutally cutting her throat. Tragically, Steven Stayner was killed in a 1989 motorcycle accident at the age of 24. ", The FBI was reluctant to finger Stayner because, they, and many others, did not believe that Stayner acted by himself, given the brazen killing of the three women in the Cedar Lodge Motel and the disposal of the bodies. However, there were warning signs during his younger years. On the way to his police interview he confessed to a detective in the car to murdering Joie Armstrong, describing the brutal killing "as if he was reading a soup label," said John Boles, another FBI agent on the case. Stayner, 38, has been charged with murder in the July 21 death of naturalist Joie Armstrong. This time, agents detained him and forced him to answer more questions. However, when they found Cary at a nudist colony nearby and brought him in for questioning, he quickly confessed to Armstrongs murder, and soon after admitted he was also responsible for the first three killings. Investigators searched his truck and confiscated his backpack for examination. They then headed out for Cedar Lodge in El Portal on February 14, which is located on Yosemite's western slope. At the time of the murders, Cary was working as a mechanic at the Cedar Lodge, which is where he met his first three victims Carole Sund, her daughter Juli Sund, and her friend Silvina Pelosso. Robyn Lively is a step sister of Blake Lively. On Dec. 4, 1972, Steven, 7, was walking alone to his familys home in Merced, California, when he was coaxed into the car of convicted child rapist Kenneth Parnell, who was posing as a minister. Chief James Maddock said he himself questioned whether the Bureau could have done anything to prevent Armstrong's killing. Then he took action. Steven told the police what happened to him and Timothy and he was also able to tell them his real name was Steven, not Dennis. From hair trends to relationship advice, our daily newsletter has everything you need to sound like a person whos on TikTok, even if you arent. They no longer want you.. Items included in the Television News search service. He was convicted of four brutal murders in 2002. By the end of June, the FBI had reviewed the testimonies and the evidence linked to the suspects in custody. On July 23, when Cary Stayner was released from custody for his marijuana charge, he quickly packed up and left for Laguna del Sol, a nudist colony, according to I want a movie-of-the-week made about my story. There was a movie made about Steven Stayner. WebCary Stayner was convicted of the 1999 Cedar Lodge Killings near Yosemite National Park. He demanded that his parents be given the reward money, that he be incarcerated at a prison near his parents home, and, to Stayners detriment, that he be given a large cache of child pornography. Carole and her husband, Jens, 43, owned a realtors business in the Stockton area. During the first crash, the truck jackknifed before hitting the car. After a couple of weeks, he upped the sum to $300,000. Jens couldn't accompany them on this trip because he needed to prepare for an upcoming business trip. See the latest list of Exclusive members-only articles on StrangeOutdoors.com, See more StrangeOutdoors True Crime Stories, The horrific rape and murder of Sophie Louise Hook whilst camping in her Uncle's garden, The miracle rescue of Alan Lee Phillips at Colorados Guanella Pass - the man who turned out to be a serial killer, The chilling story of Thomas Lee Dillon - the Ohio Outdoorsmen killer, https://casefilepodcast.com/case-161-the-yosemite-sightseer-murders-part-1/, https://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/stayner-cary.htm, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cary_Stayner, https://abcnews.go.com/US/steven-cary-stayner-tale-brothers-horror-heroism/story?id=60529944, https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/me-timothy-white10-2010apr10-story.html, https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/a26040174/cary-stayner-steven-yosemite-murders/, https://abcnews.go.com/US/video/july-25-1999-cary-stayner-arrested-murder-yosemite-60263995, https://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-recalls-moment-family-learned-target-1999-yosemite/story?id=60364987, https://www.theunion.com/news/local-news/stayner-sentenced-to-death/, Tagged: The Yosemite National Park Sightseer Murders, Carole Sund yosemite murders, Juli Sund yosemite murders, Silvina Pelosso yosemite murders, Cary Stayner yosemite murders, Yosemite park murders, Joie Ruth Armstrong, Sign up now for a one-time fee for access to over 55 exclusive member articles, The Yosemite National Park Sightseer Murders and the two faces of evil, Exclusive members-only articles on StrangeOutdoors.com, The Yosemite National Park Sightseer Murders, The miraculous escape of the Brazilian and German backpackers at Salt Creek in South Australia, Robert Hansen Butcher Baker - the Alaska Serial killer who hunted his victims in the wilderness, The shocking unsolved Keddie Cabin murders, The disturbing death of Fiona Torbet in the Scottish highlands, The unsolved Williams and Winans camping murders in Shenandoah National Park, The real Wolf Creek - The Backpacker Murders in the Australian Outback, The disturbing story of David Shearing and the Wells Gray Park camping murders, The mysterious death of Carol Laughlin in Yosemite National Park, The frightening case of the Trailside Killer David Carpenter, The mysterious Koh Tao - Death Island in Paradise, The disturbing disappearance of the Beaumont children on Glenelg Beach, The Kamloops Triangle - The British Columbia murders and disappearances, The Delphi hiking murders - Abigail Williams and Liberty German, The Peter Falconio disappearance in the Australian Outback, The unsolved murder of Scott Lilly on the Appalachian trail, The disturbing case of James Jordan - The Appalachian Trail Murderer. Hastings rejected new defense claims that juror misconduct prevented a fair trial. Cary Stayner, the serial killer convicted in the grisly murders of four women near Yosemite National Park, is born on August 13, 1961. The judge said there was overwhelming evidence against Stayner and that the devastating emotional toll justified execution. Sandy Cox, whose husband owned the window company where Stayner worked for in Atwater, says, "We've known Cary since he was a little boyIt just doesn't match up. In 1997, Stayner got a job as a handyman at the Cedar Lodge, seven miles from the gate of the national park, where he worked for 2 years before the murders.. The Sund family's worst fears were confirmed when a hiker wandered onto the site of a burned-out red 1999 Pontiac, hidden off Highway 108, in the Stanislaus Forest region on March 18. Something was clearly very, very wrong. The Cedar Lodge hired him as a handyman in 1997 and gave him the use of a small apartment on the top floor. To the dismay of the Stayner family, the case went cold. Among other things, the FBI Laboratory has found hairs in vacuum sweepings taken from Room 509 and possibly body fluid stains on a blanket (and) a latent palm print from the window sill. It seemed as though he had a compulsion with trying to get close to women or be sexual with them, but he was unable to develop any sort of interpersonal relationships with any women. Timothy White, the kidnap victim, was only 35 when he died. Ken Parnell went back to what he had been doing for years. After Steven said his mother would be interested in donating, Murphy offered to take the boy home. 51K views 3 years ago 20/20 Extra: For the first time, 20 years after the Yosemite murders, Lenna speaks out exclusively on what she learned about Cary The dramatic story was told in the 1989 television movie, I Know My First Name Is Steven.. The suspect, Cary Stayner, 37, had been one of the people questioned after the triple killings in February, but, at that time no evidence linked him directly to the crime and he had been released. For FBI agent Jeff Rinek, it was the climax of a "I remember going out one night after Steve disappeared and wishing on a star that my brother would come back home," Cary reportedly told Mike Echols, author of the book I Know My First Name Is Steven.
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