| Unofficially, Jens Sund offered a $250,000 reward for information that would lead to the return of the missing women. Then on March 25, Juli Sunds body was discovered near Lake Pedro in Tuolumme County. 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. 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. The death-penalty trial of Cary Stayner was moved from Mariposa County to Santa Clara County, CA. Steven and Cary Stayner: The tale of two brothers' horror - ABC The hire car company confirmed that Carole had never returned the rented Pontiac, nor told them that they were extending their agreement. In February 1980, Parnell decided to kidnap a new victim. Real Crime 1.23M subscribers Join Subscribe 6.7K 562K views 1 year ago Also known as the Yosemite Park Killer, Cary Stayner murdered four women in 1999 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 never recognized either one of them.". In May 2002, Stayner pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1999 murder of Pelosso and the Sunds. Silvina Pelossos mother, Raquel, said, I just cannot understand how so many peopledidn't realize that maybe (Stayner) was the man since I heard that he was interviewed some time ago. 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. WebCary Stayner was convicted of the 1999 Cedar Lodge Killings near Yosemite National Park. The Stayner family was made up of two brothers, three sisters, and parents Kay and Delbert. 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. At that time, Steven had been forced to endure sexual abuse by his kidnapper, whom he finally turned in to the police. Four hikers visiting Yosemite National Park had been brutally murdered, and Cary Stayner had confessed to the crimes. A relatively quiet, but friendly, a motel handyman called Cary Stayners only passions seemed to be nude sunbathing and hiking. 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.". So while Parnell was at work, Steven ran away with Timothy, and the two hitchhiked to a police station in Ukiah, California. How can one family, contain two completely contrasting children? Then all of a sudden it's gone. Although the Merced police department launched a full-fledged investigation at the time of Stevens disappearance, they werent able to find any significant leads. 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. Parnell and Murphy were driving towards town when Stephen was lured into their vehicle and abducted. Michael "Mick" Larwick, 42, of Modesto, part of a vagabond group of methamphetamine drug users and friends centered in the Modesto area. 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. She had probably been murdered on the evening of Wednesday, July 21. After graduation from Merced (California) High School, Stayner worked as a window installer at a glass company. Unsurprisingly, it didnt take long for the story to become national news, and the teenage Steven was at the center of it all. Then there was another murder. The inn staff claimed that when they cleaned the room the next morning, they had detected no evidence of foul play or anything that made them suspicious. "Thats when I told him, 'You need to go to a doctor, Cary.'" 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. He was convicted of four brutal murders in 2002. He had a long criminal record and had been questioned extensively by the FBI. Decades later, Stevens older brother, Cary Stayner, made headlines when he was arrested and convicted of the serial slayings of four females. 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. Teresa Kay Gray, 36, of Modesto. 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. He died in jail in 2008 at the age of 76. 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. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. Special agent Maddock said, "During the last 24 hours, we have developed specific information linking Stayner (also) to the Sund-Pelosso murders.". Tragically, Steven Stayner was killed in a 1989 motorcycle accident at the age of 24. They then headed out for Cedar Lodge in El Portal on February 14, which is located on Yosemite's western slope. There, they got a room with a plan to stay for a few days. ", 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. Vacuum sweepings were taken from inside Joies house, where Stayner claims to have bound her with duct tape, yielded hair evidence. I did murder Carole Sund, Juli Sund, Silvina Pelosso and Joie Armstrong None of the women were sexually abused in any way.". Upon release, the FBI warned him not to leave El Portal. 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. Connecticut Serial Killer William Devin Howell Describes The Shockin 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. The police reckoned that the killer of the three women was someone familiar with the county given the location of the Pontiac. 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. Darrell Gray Stephens, 55, Strange's roommate. ", Stayner's apartment was searched later in the day and the authorities discovered evidence that linked him to Armstrong's murder. Web6,597 views Jan 24, 2019 56 Dislike Share ABC10 172K subscribers On July 26, 1999, former ABC10 reporter Tim Daly went down to the Cedar Lodge where Cary Stayner The Cedar Lodge hired him as a handyman in 1997 and gave him the use of a small apartment on the top floor. The car was hidden off a spur road where locals dump old refrigerators, cars, and washing machines. The revelation came in a six 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.. Knives were used in the slayings and the weapon suspected in Ms. Armstrong's death was recovered.". Steven was a national hero. 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 December 1972, a 7-year-old Steven was kidnapped by Kenneth Parnell, a man who worked at the Yosemite Lodge at the national park near Stevens hometown of Merced, California. After several days, the bodies were identified as Carole Sund and Silvina Pelosso through dental records. Specifically, the media scrutiny seemed to affect his older brother Cary, who clashed with his brother after his return. Goofs Because he was the handyman at the Cedar Lodge in El Portal where the Sund & Pelosso group had stayed before they were murdered, his questioning at that time seems to have been more routine than anything. Cory gets emotional as she describes how he fell through the cracks of familial or institutional care. Agents descended on the colony and returned him to El Portal on Saturday where he was put through a more lengthy interrogation. He remains on Alternate Versions Steven Stayner helped another child escape from a pedophile, after enduring years of abuse and not wanting to see the child experience the same fate. 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. This time, agents detained him and forced him to answer more questions. "The only time Steve would kill anything like a fish is because we were gonna eat it. After the fourth murder, the FBI went looking for Cary Stayner to interview him, but initially as a witness. I went to ask if Cary wanted to talk, reporter Ted Rowlands said. Steven was told his new name was Dennis Parnell and was enrolled in school. Part of TV News Archive. Jeffrey Wayne Keeney, 32, of Modesto. The interview was conducted off camera and reported Monday on the late news. You have the other brother who's left at home. 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." And he wanted the same treatment. '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.'". 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. 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. According to Special Agent Christopher Hopkins , both the FBI's Evidence Response Team and the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office collected items of potential interest from Room 509 at the Cedar Lodge Motel, the room in which Stayner sexually assaulted Juli Sund and Silvina Pelosso and murdered both Carole Sund and Silvina. The dramatic story was told in the 1989 television movie, I Know My First Name Is Steven.. They finally caught up with him at the Laguna Del Sol nudist colony, which he frequently visited. Previously, the defense had maintained that the FBI had coerced the confession. Angelia Dale, who testified before the federal grand jury. Hastings rejected new defense claims that juror misconduct prevented a fair trial. That same day, Stayner allowed himself to be interviewed by a reporter from KNTV. Concluding the interview, he addressed the victims' families: "I am sorry their loved ones were where they were when they were. For FBI agent Jeff Rinek, it was the climax of 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. He remains on death row at San Quentin Penitentiary. For two weeks, Steven watched Timothy suffer the separation from his family. Management found him a hard worker and honest. By mid-April, those who had been arrested were ordered to testify in front of a grand jury in Fresno, California. Cary Stayner was sentenced Thursday to die for committing three murders near Yosemite National Park in 1999. "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. Cary was 11 years old at the time, and deeply upset about his brother's disappearance. Cary Stayner, the serial killer convicted in the grisly murders of four women near Yosemite National Park, is born on August 13, 1961. It was dark when they arrived and Timmy could remember where he lived so they went to the police station. It was the last time the women were seen alive. Something was clearly very, very wrong. Soundtracks. Against the odds, he flourished there. Agents had interviewed Stayner, a handyman at the Cedar Lodge where the tourists had stayed, and later dismissed him as a suspect. He grew up, got married and had two kids. | He was arrested in May on an unrelated crime charge but was soon released. The 1999 murders of four women near Yosemite National Park were already a big story before Cary Stayner confessed in an FBI interview. | | He was buried Thursday in the town of Newhall, where he had worked as a Los Angeles County sheriffs deputy. 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. I guess I was jealous. 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 "He stated that he felt like jumping in a truck, driving it through the shop and killing the boss and killing everybody in the office, and then torching the place," friend Mark Marchese said in 1999. To the dismay of the Stayner family, the case went cold. The two brothers of the Stayner family are both famous - one experienced horror in the hands of a child molester, Steven, and the other, Cary, the serial killer in Yosemite. Police found her car in front of her cabin, packed for the trip. where Stayner was employed as a handyman. In a 2003 jailhouse interview with The Chronicle, Parnell admitted that he had tried to buy the boy to experience the "love and respect" that a son has for a father. Stayner said to investigators I want you to get a hold of some producers in Los Angeles. He then carried Juli to a vista point near Lake Don Pedro, pledged his love, and then cut her throat as the sun rose. ", Steven Stayner and Cary Stayner in the baseball cap in the background. 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. In 2002, Cary Stayner was convicted of first-degree murder on four counts and sentenced to death. After they stopped trying to teach me the fundamentals all over again, it got better. By this point, Cary Stayner had a couple of nervous breakdowns. In the Bureau's mind, this time it had the right man. "I've struggled with that issue for the last 24 hours and continue to do so," he confessed. 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. 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. Arrested on an unrelated drug charge, he has been questioned about the Yosemite case. He wanted the world to take note.. "And I did that almost every clear night from then on until Steve finally came back home. It then came out that Steven had been kidnapped by Parnell, who had been sexually abusing Steven while also posing as his father and forcing him to go by the name Dennis Parnell. Cary, the motel handyman and champion underachiever who was arrested at a nudist colony, said in a jailhouse interview that voices told him to kill Carole and Juli Initially, the police didn't have any solid leads as to who killed them. It was then that Steven's nightmare began as Murphy brought him to Kenneth Parnell, a known pedophile. 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. . Timothy White, the kidnap victim, was only 35 when he died. "I'm confident we've done everything that could be reasonably done.". 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. He paid a local kid to ride with him to the town of Ukiah, California and he told to go and find him a boy. He was known to take refuge in nearby Yosemite, where hed drive up and get lost in nature. Despite this, he never appeared to behave lewdly nor perversely in public. He walked naked and and smoked pot, he could find the peace that he so desperately needed. Quotes Concluding the interview, he addressed the victims' families: "I am sorry their loved ones were where they were when they were. Whites stepfather, Roger Gitlin, said White died April 1, 2010, of an apparent pulmonary embolism. But, to no avail. Carole and her husband, Jens, 43, owned a realtors business in the Stockton area. 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 prosecution team was headed by George Williamson and the defense team was headed by Marcia Morrissey. However, there were warning signs during his younger years. 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. "He had a great personality," said Lori Duke, who dated Steven in high school but knew him as Dennis. 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. After a couple of weeks, he upped the sum to $300,000. Her body was next to a stream and head within the water that she and her friends used for drinking water. Local police and Yosemite Park Rangers began to search the area where the missing three were last seen. "He was spunky. The FBI pushed for Strange's arrest, but he denied any part in the triple murders. On Good Morning America in March 1980, Steven shared with host David Hartman that it felt "great" to be home. He has been questioned about any involvement. 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. In his capacity, Stayner performed technical and housekeeping duties, everything from fixing electrical and mechanical breakdowns to delivering extra towels and bedding to guests. On days off he would escape to Laguna Del Sol, a nudist colony in Sacramento County. Timothy Lee White, 5, gets a piggyback ride from 14-year-old Steven Stayner at a news conference in Ukiah, California, in 1980, Kenneth Parnell stops the car and goes to a payphone, he comes back and tells Steven, Your parents, I just spoke to them. Four men were considered the main murder suspects in the initial inquiries. Parnell, along with Murphy, took Steven to a cabin in Catheys Valley, where he was brainwashed to believe his parents no longer wanted him. After Steven said his mother would be interested in donating, Murphy offered to take the boy home. Her mother had been dating him and he had decided to kill them on Valentines Day. He said, I want you to get a hold of some producers in Los Angeles. During the first crash, the truck jackknifed before hitting the car. But, says Delbert, puberty-aged Cary endured some emotional hardships because of that incident. In a jailhouse interview with a television reporter, he said he did not rape any of the women. 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. I want a movie-of-the-week made about my story. There was a movie made about Steven Stayner. Campbell, when first arrested on mail fraud charges, had in her possession Carole Sund's checking account and automated teller machine numbers. Steven Stayner had a new father figure, and it was Kenneth Parnell, who by day, was his father, and by night, was his rapist. But why doesnt my dad hug me anymore? "Privately, some members of the Sund-Pelosso task force were saying the same things to the media. Stayner was already serving a life sentence for the murder of Joie Ruth Armstrong. He denied any role in the Yosemite slayings. 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. 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. Had no interest in girls, had no interest in people, he was just a creepy loner. 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. 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. He loved his brother. FBI agent Nick Rossi said on February 26, "At this point, we have not yet uncovered evidence to allow us to determine conclusively whether this was a tragic accident or a criminal act. Two weeks later, FBI agent James Maddock, now placed in charge of the investigation, told the press, "We feel almost certain that the women were victims of a violent crime.". They had been hosting Silvina, who was a foreign exchange student from Argentina and a friend of Juli's, She was spending three months with the family. 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. 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. 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. The two hitchhiked to Ukiah, California. They lived in the farming town of Merced, California, the Gateway to Yosemite. Eugene "Rufus" Dykes, 32, also of Modesto and Larwick's half-brother was arrested in March. When she did not appear as planned, her would-be host had phoned the park. ", Steven Stayner with his kidnapper Kenneth Parnell. She also happens to have a front row seat to two true crime narratives in her own family. The judge said there was overwhelming evidence against Stayner and that the devastating emotional toll justified execution. In mid-July of 2002, the trial began in Judge Thomas C. Hastings courtroom. Cary was the ideal son, Kay Stayner revealed to the jury during her elder sons trial for murder. 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. Check-out had apparently been done in advance and the keys were left on the room desk. Larry Duane Utley, 41 an associate of Dykes and Larwick, first picked up during a March parole sweep. Billy Joe Strange, 39, an El Portal parolee who worked at the Cedar Lodge lounge and restaurant, where the murdered women were last seen. Emotionally, Cary Stayner had a tough time during his childhood. He usually ate lunch and dinner at the motel restaurant. ", FBI sources claimed that he had already confessed his guilt during the Saturday evening interrogation. That evening, the group grabbed some videos from the lodge's service desk to watch in their room. You know, hung out with him, played with him.. She was seen that day at the Institute offices and was planning to visit a friend in Sausalito, California, that day but never made it. Kenneth"Soldier" Stewart, 24, a former cellmate of Dykes who was charged with attempted murder. Parnell was convicted on kidnapping and false imprisonment charges. Maria Ledbetter, 24, of Modesto, an admitted methamphetamine addict and former girlfriend of Dykes, about whom she was questioned extensively. It was not animated or digitally created; a stunt driver put the truck into a full controlled jackknife in front of the camera. The trivia item below may give away important plot points. Steven later said in an interview, I returned almost a grown man, and yet my parents saw me at first as their seven-year-old. 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. For years, Parnell traveled around California with Steven. On Monday, July 22, the court heard Stayners taped confession, which he had given to FBI agents.
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