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. Cary Stayner was sentenced Thursday to die for committing three murders near Yosemite National Park in 1999. 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. Unofficially, Jens Sund offered a $250,000 reward for information that would lead to the return of the missing women. "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. It was then that Steven's nightmare began as Murphy brought him to Kenneth Parnell, a known pedophile. 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. Steven Stayners fame was short-lived. Soon after, he confessed to murdering Carole Sund, Juli Sund, and Silvina Pelosso once in custody. Then he took action. "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. Quotes 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. Check-out had apparently been done in advance and the keys were left on the room desk. 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. Ive never seen anything thats so close to black and white and evil and good as Stayner and our children, said Francis Carrington, the father of Carole Sund and grandfather of Juli. It was badly decomposed and her throat had been cut. He was a good student, a "The only time Steve would kill anything like a fish is because we were gonna eat it. After they stopped trying to teach me the fundamentals all over again, it got better. 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. 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. 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. Stayner said to investigators I want you to get a hold of some producers in Los Angeles. Cary Stayner, the serial killer convicted in the grisly murders of four women near Yosemite National Park, is born on August 13, 1961. 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. In 1972, Stayners 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Billy Joe Strange, 39, an El Portal parolee who worked at the Cedar Lodge lounge and restaurant, where the murdered women were last seen. He also exhibited some behaviors that made others uncomfortable, including, as he later admitted, exposing himself to his sister's friend. The California Highway Patrol verified the car's license plate as the Sunds rented vehicle and immediately notified the FBI. On Good Morning America in March 1980, Steven shared with host David Hartman that it felt "great" to be home. 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. Ashley Stayner is a self-professed true crime fan. ", Steven Stayner with his kidnapper Kenneth Parnell. But it took less than six months for another murder in the area to show them that the killer was still at large this time, the victim was 26-year-old naturalist Joie Armstrong. 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 Michael "Mick" Larwick, 42, of Modesto, part of a vagabond group of methamphetamine drug users and friends centered in the Modesto area. They finally caught up with him at the Laguna Del Sol nudist colony, which he frequently visited. The police reckoned that the killer of the three women was someone familiar with the county given the location of the Pontiac. Her mother had been dating him and he had decided to kill them on Valentines Day. Specifically, the media scrutiny seemed to affect his older brother Cary, who clashed with his brother after his return. 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. 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 ", Stayner's apartment was searched later in the day and the authorities discovered evidence that linked him to Armstrong's murder. The car was hidden off a spur road where locals dump old refrigerators, cars, and washing machines. He had no criminal record and his only encounter with the law was for marijuana use in 1997. And he wanted the same treatment. At a press conference outside the Stayner house, everyone was smiling, but Cary in his baseball cap wasnt smiling at all. 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 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 Vacuum sweepings were taken from inside Joies house, where Stayner claims to have bound her with duct tape, yielded hair evidence. His attempt was foiled when other people were at the house at the time he was planning to commit the crimes. 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, 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. 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. Latent fingerprints were also been lifted from the interior of Joie Armstrong's truck, which Stayner admits to touching during his encounter with her. 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. It was the last time the women were seen alive. But why doesnt my dad hug me anymore? WebThe story of Steven and Cary Stayner will leave you in absolute disbelief. 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. 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. 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. 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. It was not animated or digitally created; a stunt driver put the truck into a full controlled jackknife in front of the camera. 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. The Cedar Lodge hired him as a handyman in 1997 and gave him the use of a small apartment on the top floor. 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 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. Stayner, 38, has been charged with murder in the July 21 death of naturalist Joie Armstrong. After Steven said his mother would be interested in donating, Murphy offered to take the boy home. William Mapother is a cousin of, The unsub bears some similarities with Cary Stayner, older brother of infamous kidnapping victim Steven Stayner (. But, says Delbert, puberty-aged Cary endured some emotional hardships because of that incident. WebCary Stayner, the handyman at their hotel, confessed after being arrested for beheading another victim, female nature guide Joie Armstrong. He had a long criminal record and had been questioned extensively by the FBI. Some who knew Cary were shocked at his arrest. Soundtracks. Cary Stayner Span of crimes FebruaryJuly 1999 Country United States State (s) California Date apprehended 1999 7 more rows 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. 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. By mid-April, those who had been arrested were ordered to testify in front of a grand jury in Fresno, California. Larry Duane Utley, 41 an associate of Dykes and Larwick, first picked up during a March parole sweep. Local police and Yosemite Park Rangers began to search the area where the missing three were last seen. 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. Cary was the ideal son, Kay Stayner revealed to the jury during her elder sons trial for murder. 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. He is currently in his 60s and still on death row while incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. Special agent Maddock said, "During the last 24 hours, we have developed specific information linking Stayner (also) to the Sund-Pelosso murders.". He was convicted of four brutal murders in 2002. He wanted the world to take note.. Management found him a hard worker and honest. Convicted in 1978 for rape and robbery, he was jailed on March 14 for failing to register as a sex offender. | But seven years later in February 1980, Steven miraculously reappeared. "'Deep in my heart I know something my mind does not want to learn,' said Gina,13. On March 1, 1980, Steven waited until Parnell was at work and then fled the house with Timothy. Timothy White, the kidnap victim, was only 35 when he died. Previously, the defense had maintained that the FBI had coerced the confession. I guess seven years changed him, too. Steven and Cary Stayner: The tale of two brothers' horror - ABC He was charged with attempting to purchase a child and attempted child molestation in 2004, that he was sentenced to 25 years to life. In his interview, Stayner claimed that hair from his body was left on the bedspread in their motel room, but he returned later and changed the bed. Cedar Lodge, 9966 CA-140, El Portal, CA 95318. Cary was 11 years old at the time, and deeply upset about his brother's disappearance. Stevens death, along with the death of his uncle soon afterward, reportedly had a serious impact on Cary Stayners mental health and well-being. In 1999, Carole Sund, 42, her daughter Juli Sund, 15, and Juli's friend, Silvina Pelosso, 16, went missing while visiting Yosemite Park. He was arrested on March 5 when he allegedly reported to his parole officer with liquor on his breath. They then headed out for Cedar Lodge in El Portal on February 14, which is located on Yosemite's western slope. I wouldnt think that he would think of himself as one, but he is a hero.". He befriended a co-worker named Ervin Murphy to assist him in the abduction. Against the odds, he flourished there. That evening, the group grabbed some videos from the lodge's service desk to watch in their room. 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." A large search turned up nothing. By the end of that evening, the FBI felt it had gathered enough evidence to arrest Cary Stayner for murder, Sunday morning, they rushed him to Fresno to officially lodge a complaint, then to Sacramento on Monday where he was put before the courts. The initial suspicion was that they may have wandered off the main hiking paths and got lost in the park. Cory gets emotional as she describes how he fell through the cracks of familial or institutional care. Had no interest in girls, had no interest in people, he was just a creepy loner. ", 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. More than a thousand leads, they confessed, produced nothing. Connecticut Serial Killer William Devin Howell Describes The Shockin ", FBI sources claimed that he had already confessed his guilt during the Saturday evening interrogation. 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. But by the middle of March, their hopes faded. 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. The FBI pushed for Strange's arrest, but he denied any part in the triple murders. How frightened the girls must have been when he cut their clothes off.. To the dismay of the Stayner family, the case went cold. He remains on But instead of seeking mental health treatment, he moved to Yosemite. He usually ate lunch and dinner at the motel restaurant. In the Bureau's mind, this time it had the right man. "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. While he attended his meeting, the women were to tour the Grand Canyon. Eugene "Rufus" Dykes, 32, also of Modesto and Larwick's half-brother was arrested in March. I went to ask if Cary wanted to talk, reporter Ted Rowlands said. For FBI agent Jeff Rinek, it was the climax of a You know what I mean? 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. The dramatic story was told in the 1989 television movie, I Know My First Name Is Steven.. Caroles parents, Francis and Carole Carrington, appeared on the Good Morning, America TV show, to ask for the prayers of Americans and their help in locating their daughter and the children. He was known to take refuge in nearby Yosemite, where hed drive up and get lost in nature. He also struggled in high school where he was bullied for the abuse he had endured. Out of respect for his family and the victim's family, we don't want to say anymore." 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 had given the FBI details "only the killer would know in such specificity that agents were able to recover evidence confirming his confession. But, as the Hulu doc frames it, the media attention that Steven got after escaping his abductor and also saving Timothy White had a dark side both for Steven and for the rest of his family. Then on March 25, Juli Sunds body was discovered near Lake Pedro in Tuolumme County. 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.