The Cedar Lodge hired him as a handyman in 1997 and gave him the use of a small apartment on the top floor. 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. There, they got a room with a plan to stay for a few days. He said, I want you to get a hold of some producers in Los Angeles. Parnell and Murphy were driving towards town when Stephen was lured into their vehicle and abducted. He was sentenced to seven years in prison but only served five, less time than he held Steven captive. On days off he would escape to Laguna Del Sol, a nudist colony in Sacramento County. He usually ate lunch and dinner at the motel restaurant. Yosemite Park Killer: When A Victim Turns Into A Murderer But instead of seeking mental health treatment, he moved to Yosemite. Because of the discovery of Sund's wallet in suburban Modesto, police, and FBI searched "the logical routes in and out of that spot, interviewing homeowners and business owners and others who may have seen them." Local police and Yosemite Park Rangers began to search the area where the missing three were last seen. Arrested on an unrelated drug charge, he has been questioned about the Yosemite case. The trivia item below may give away important plot points. 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.. Kenneth"Soldier" Stewart, 24, a former cellmate of Dykes who was charged with attempted murder. You have the other brother who's left at home. How intended victim of 1999 Yosemite killer views the tragedy Goofs He received the death penalty for killing four women, three of whom had been staying at the Cedar Lodge, where Stayner was employed as a handyman. He grew up, got married and had two kids. Yosemite Victims Were Raped - CBS News The brothers, four years apart in age, shared a room, but didnt get along, Steven didn't understand the rules that he was now expected to live by. The hire car company confirmed that Carole had never returned the rented Pontiac, nor told them that they were extending their agreement. where Stayner was employed as a handyman. Unofficially, Jens Sund offered a $250,000 reward for information that would lead to the return of the missing women. Against the odds, he flourished there. He had talked his way into the room under the guise of fixing a leak, and then sexually assaulted both girls and brutally murdered Carole Lund and Silvina Pelosso in the room. However, there were warning signs during his younger years. Larwick, who grew up in Tuolumme County near where the bodies of Carole Sund and Silvina Pelosso were found, was jailed on March 16 after he allegedly shot a Modesto police office. In May 2002, Stayner pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1999 murder of Pelosso and the Sunds. On Good Morning America in March 1980, Steven shared with host David Hartman that it felt "great" to be home. And in 1999, the Stayner family was back in the news but this time, for a less than positive reason. I got put on the back burner, you might say," Cary told J.P. Miller, a filmmaker who wrote a screenplay about Steven's abduction. The interview was conducted off camera and reported Monday on the late news. Knives were used in the slayings and the weapon suspected in Ms. Armstrong's death was recovered.". After Steven said his mother would be interested in donating, Murphy offered to take the boy home. Check-out had apparently been done in advance and the keys were left on the room desk. I guess I was jealous. 5-year-old Timothy White walking home from school and they quickly snatched him. He abandoned the group's rental car with the bodies of Carole and Silvina inside, returning two days later to burn the evidence and retrieve the wallet, which he dumped in Modesto to confuse authorities. WebCary Stayner was convicted of the 1999 Cedar Lodge Killings near Yosemite National Park. Cary Stayner confesses to killing four innocent women in 1999: He was arrested on March 5 when he allegedly reported to his parole officer with liquor on his breath. In 1972, Stayners Cary always wore a hat because he was compulsively pulling his hair out. Cary Stayner He did feel, however, that the FBI spared nothing to investigate the earlier killings. He was buried Thursday in the town of Newhall, where he had worked as a Los Angeles County sheriffs deputy. IMDb "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. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. | From the Archives: Friends surprised by Cary Stayner's arrest For two weeks, Steven watched Timothy suffer the separation from his family. Jeffrey Wayne Keeney, 32, of Modesto. 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 Cory gets emotional as she describes how he fell through the cracks of familial or institutional care. He was a good student, a Stayner said to investigators I want you to get a hold of some producers in Los Angeles. Robyn Lively is a step sister of Blake Lively. In his capacity, Stayner performed technical and housekeeping duties, everything from fixing electrical and mechanical breakdowns to delivering extra towels and bedding to guests. After the fourth murder, the FBI went looking for Cary Stayner to interview him, but initially as a witness. He had a long criminal record and had been questioned extensively by the FBI. 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. 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. Very seldom did he get into trouble. It was dark when they arrived and Timmy could remember where he lived so they went to the police station. "Thats when I told him, 'You need to go to a doctor, Cary.'" ", FBI sources claimed that he had already confessed his guilt during the Saturday evening interrogation. | 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 His attempt was foiled when other people were at the house at the time he was planning to commit the crimes. In (the) interview, Stayner said he had fantasized about killing women for the last 30 years and described in detail how he murdered all the women, He had strangled Pelosso and Carole Sund in their rented cabin in the Cedar Lodge motel, then took Juli Sund to a lake, where he killed her early the next morning. In order to prevent Steven from escaping, Parnell was constantly moving the two of them from town to town in California. Cary was the ideal son, Kay Stayner revealed to the jury during her elder sons trial for murder. The initial suspicion was that they may have wandered off the main hiking paths and got lost in the park. Despite this, he never appeared to behave lewdly nor perversely in public. Jens couldn't accompany them on this trip because he needed to prepare for an upcoming business trip. 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. She had probably been murdered on the evening of Wednesday, July 21. 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. Curtis Cousin Eddie Smith Claims Alex Murdaugh Made Him A Fall Guy, Morgan Doughty Filed A Lawsuit Against The Murdaugh Family, Buster Murdaugh Testified For The Defense At His Fathers Double Murder Trial, Randy Roth From 'A Rose For Her Grave' Is Still In Prison, Get Even More From Bustle Sign Up For The Newsletter. Connecticut Serial Killer William Devin Howell Describes The Shockin 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. In February 1980, Parnell decided to kidnap a new victim. All of its been bad, Delbert Stayner said of his familys life. But by the middle of March, their hopes faded. Stayner Concluding the interview, he addressed the victims' families: "I am sorry their loved ones were where they were when they were. "We never really got along that well after he came back All of a sudden Steve was getting all these gifts, getting all this clothing, getting all this attention. WebThe story of Steven and Cary Stayner will leave you in absolute disbelief. Quotes 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 To the dismay of the Stayner family, the case went cold. But why doesnt my dad hug me anymore? He had no criminal record and his only encounter with the law was for marijuana use in 1997. I did murder Carole Sund, Juli Sund, Silvina Pelosso and Joie Armstrong None of the women were sexually abused in any way.". There was a lot of torment: the family who endured two true Cary Stayner went from being the brother of child abductee Steven Stayer to a full-blown serial killer. He was known to take refuge in nearby Yosemite, where hed drive up and get lost in nature. ", 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. "I'm confident we've done everything that could be reasonably done.". 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. I was the oldest and all that. Specifically, the media scrutiny seemed to affect his older brother Cary, who clashed with his brother after his return. Out of respect for his family and the victim's family, we don't want to say anymore." Cary Stayner Today: Where Is He Now in 2021? | Heavy.com By the time Steven was 14, he had been abused and manipulated by Parnell for seven years and Parnell and Steven together realized that Steven was growing up and that he was no longer going to be controlled by Parnell and they would need to find someone else that they could sexually abuse. So while Parnell was at work, Steven ran away with Timothy, and the two hitchhiked to a police station in Ukiah, California. Initially, the police didn't have any solid leads as to who killed them. 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. Jens had scheduled to meet them at the San Francisco airport that evening on his way to Arizona, to where the others were to accompany him. But he was surprised that did not find his wife at the airport and assumed she had flown ahead, The next day, he tried to contact them again and failed and he called the police. A woman named Lenna learned in 1999 that her mother, her sister and her had nearly been murdered by Cary Stayner. Hastings rejected new defense claims that juror misconduct prevented a fair trial. He loved his brother. '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.'". Maria Ledbetter, 24, of Modesto, an admitted methamphetamine addict and former girlfriend of Dykes, about whom she was questioned extensively. In a jailhouse interview with a television reporter, he said he did not rape any of the women. He was also angry about how his truck had been searched. Cary was off anybody and everybody who met him will tell 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. 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. Something was clearly very, very wrong. 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. The car was hidden off a spur road where locals dump old refrigerators, cars, and washing machines. Ashley Stayner is a self-professed true crime fan. The FBI task force investigating Yosemite issued a federal warrant for her arrest after she failed to appear in Stanislaus County drug court in June. Unsurprisingly, it didnt take long for the story to become national news, and the teenage Steven was at the center of it all. Where Is Cary Stayner from Hulu's Captive Audience Now? Stayner, 38, has been charged with murder in the July 21 death of naturalist Joie Armstrong. He told Hartman that his parents "didnt change that much," but his brother and sisters, "they changed a lot. Stayner At a press conference outside the Stayner house, everyone was smiling, but Cary in his baseball cap wasnt smiling at all. After the fourth murder, the FBI went looking for Cary Stayner to interview him, but initially as a witness. Steven and Cary Stayner: The tale of two brothers' horror - ABC ", Stayner's apartment was searched later in the day and the authorities discovered evidence that linked him to Armstrong's murder. The FBI also seized clothing stained with blood from her body. He is currently in his 60s and still on death row while incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. The new three-part Hulu docuseries Captive Audience explores the tragic story of the Stayner family specifically the fraught lives of their two sons, Steven Stayner and Cary Stayner. 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. The case of a lifetime / For Cary Stayner, there was something Cary, as the older brother, had a very strange relationship now with his younger brother, Steven, who was getting all of this attention and who was a different person, former KNTV reporter Ted Rowlands told ABC News. Soon after, he confessed to murdering Carole Sund, Juli Sund, and Silvina Pelosso once in custody. Cary didnt emerge as a suspect during the initial investigation, and the FBI actually believed they had the people responsible for the killings in custody. I never did tell anybody about it, but I remember wishing on a star that my little brother would come back home. By mid-April, those who had been arrested were ordered to testify in front of a grand jury in Fresno, California. How frightened the girls must have been when he cut their clothes off.. During the session, an unexpected event occurred. He was convicted of four brutal murders in 2002. The Stayner family was made up of two brothers, three sisters, and parents Kay and Delbert. Or certainly, nothing noticed by his colleagues at the motel. That same day, Stayner allowed himself to be interviewed by a reporter from KNTV. 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. "He was spunky. Upon release, the FBI warned him not to leave El Portal. 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. Connections Stayner The Untold Truth Of Serial Killer Cary Stayner - Grunge Parnell worked at the Yosemite Lodge, located about two hours away from the Stayner home. That evening, the group grabbed some videos from the lodge's service desk to watch in their room. The FBI pushed for Strange's arrest, but he denied any part in the triple murders. The police reckoned that the killer of the three women was someone familiar with the county given the location of the Pontiac. Larry Duane Utley, 41 an associate of Dykes and Larwick, first picked up during a March parole sweep. "Her mother, sisters, and a family friend had been missing for a month by the time Gina Sund read her poem in front of a thousand or so people who gathered in Modesto," writes Time. On December 4, 1972, at the age of seven, Steven was approached after school by Edward Ervin Murphy, who claimed he was collecting money for the church. Her body was next to a stream and head within the water that she and her friends used for drinking water. Cary Stayner yosemite murders True Crime The issue of whether his confession was coerced seemed to be resolved when on July 24, the court heard the recorded demands that Stayner made to the FBI agents that he wanted to be satisfied before he would give them his confession. But when Parnell kidnapped another young boy, this time 5-year-old Timothy White, Steven knew he couldnt let another child be subjected to the abuse and torment he had faced for years. When she did not appear as planned, her would-be host had phoned the park. Decades later, Stevens older brother, Cary Stayner, made headlines when he was arrested and convicted of the serial slayings of four females. I never recognized either one of them.". According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "(A witness claimed that) Stayner was angry about authorities seizing his backpack after he was questioned earlier that day. They no longer want you.. They then headed out for Cedar Lodge in El Portal on February 14, which is located on Yosemite's western slope. Upon examination by the FBI Laboratory, some items have yielded trace evidence. 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. Unfortunately, less than a decade after his incredible escape, Steven Stayner died in a motorcycle accident at the age of 24, leaving behind a wife and two children. |