Cory gets emotional as she describes how he fell through the cracks of familial or institutional care. Her body was next to a stream and head within the water that she and her friends used for drinking water. After the fourth murder, the FBI went looking for Cary Stayner to interview him, but initially as a witness. 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 In 2002, Cary Stayner was convicted of first-degree murder on four counts and sentenced to death. Management found him a hard worker and honest. William Mapother is a cousin of, The unsub bears some similarities with Cary Stayner, older brother of infamous kidnapping victim Steven Stayner (. It was then that Steven's nightmare began as Murphy brought him to Kenneth Parnell, a known pedophile. I guess seven years changed him, too. He then carried Juli to a vista point near Lake Don Pedro, pledged his love, and then cut her throat as the sun rose. Part of TV News Archive. But instead of seeking mental health treatment, he moved to Yosemite. "He was spunky. A relatively quiet, but friendly, a motel handyman called Cary Stayners only passions seemed to be nude sunbathing and hiking. 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. "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 Stayner went from being the brother of child abductee Steven Stayer to a full-blown serial killer. 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 While he attended his meeting, the women were to tour the Grand Canyon. The FBI Laboratory has also found possible bodily fluid stains on a bed sheet taken from her residence. His attempt was foiled when other people were at the house at the time he was planning to commit the crimes. Connections He was buried Thursday in the town of Newhall, where he had worked as a Los Angeles County sheriffs deputy. Cedar Lodge, 9966 CA-140, El Portal, CA 95318. By the end of June, the FBI had reviewed the testimonies and the evidence linked to the suspects in custody. Unofficially, Jens Sund offered a $250,000 reward for information that would lead to the return of the missing women. 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. "The only time Steve would kill anything like a fish is because we were gonna eat it. He had given the FBI details "only the killer would know in such specificity that agents were able to recover evidence confirming his confession. Campbell, when first arrested on mail fraud charges, had in her possession Carole Sund's checking account and automated teller machine numbers. After Steven said his mother would be interested in donating, Murphy offered to take the boy home. 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. Unsurprisingly, it didnt take long for the story to become national news, and the teenage Steven was at the center of it all. Steven Stayners fame was short-lived. 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. 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 Stayner was already serving a life sentence for the murder of Joie Ruth Armstrong. Previously, the defense had maintained that the FBI had coerced the confession. Stayner said to investigators I want you to get a hold of some producers in Los Angeles. 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 It was the last time the women were seen alive. 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. Larry Duane Utley, 41 an associate of Dykes and Larwick, first picked up during a March parole sweep. Then all of a sudden it's gone. Decades later, Stevens older brother, Cary Stayner, made headlines when he was arrested and convicted of the serial slayings of four females. Despite this, he never appeared to behave lewdly nor perversely in public. He grew up, got married and had two kids. 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. 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. After a couple of weeks, he upped the sum to $300,000. In February 1980, Parnell decided to kidnap a new victim. For FBI agent Jeff Rinek, it was the climax of a The Stayner family was made up of two brothers, three sisters, and parents Kay and Delbert. 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. Ashley Stayner is a self-professed true crime fan. In the Bureau's mind, this time it had the right man. He was a good student, a 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. Something was clearly very, very wrong. You know what I mean? 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. A woman named Lenna learned in 1999 that her mother, her sister and her had nearly been murdered by Cary Stayner. 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. Vacuum sweepings were taken from inside Joies house, where Stayner claims to have bound her with duct tape, yielded hair evidence. 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. Alternate Versions WebCary Stayner was convicted of the 1999 Cedar Lodge Killings near Yosemite National Park. Cary Stayner Span of crimes FebruaryJuly 1999 Country United States State (s) California Date apprehended 1999 7 more rows He remains on Local police and Yosemite Park Rangers began to search the area where the missing three were last seen. Then Carole's wallet turned up in Modesto, which included money and credit cards. Some who knew Cary were shocked at his arrest. 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. 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. Latent fingerprints were also been lifted from the interior of Joie Armstrong's truck, which Stayner admits to touching during his encounter with her. The other Sund children believed their mother and sister Juli would be returned. 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. . During an off-camera jailhouse interview in Sacramento following his arrest, Cary admitted to Armstrong's murder as well as the murders of Carole Sund, 42, her By this point, Cary Stayner had a couple of nervous breakdowns. 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 told Hartman that his parents "didnt change that much," but his brother and sisters, "they changed a lot. Jeffrey Wayne Keeney, 32, of Modesto. This time, agents detained him and forced him to answer more questions. After the fourth murder, the FBI went looking for Cary Stayner to interview him, but initially as a witness. Chief James Maddock said he himself questioned whether the Bureau could have done anything to prevent Armstrong's killing. 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. The revelation came in a six "'Deep in my heart I know something my mind does not want to learn,' said Gina,13. Then he took action. I went to ask if Cary wanted to talk, reporter Ted Rowlands said. 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 Goofs Emotionally, Cary Stayner had a tough time during his childhood. 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. She also happens to have a front row seat to two true crime narratives in her own family. 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. | When Steven didnt return from school that afternoon, his parents sounded the alarm. On Good Morning America in March 1980, Steven shared with host David Hartman that it felt "great" to be home. 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 FBI pushed for Strange's arrest, but he denied any part in the triple murders. Convicted in 1978 for rape and robbery, he was jailed on March 14 for failing to register as a sex offender. After they stopped trying to teach me the fundamentals all over again, it got better. He denied any role in the Yosemite slayings. But why doesnt my dad hug me anymore? Angelia Dale, who testified before the federal grand jury. 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. "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. 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 was just seven-years-old when he was abducted a few blocks from his home in Merced, 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. Soundtracks. Check-out had apparently been done in advance and the keys were left on the room desk. where Stayner was employed as a handyman. 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. 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. On March 1, 1980, Steven waited until Parnell was at work and then fled the house with Timothy. The California Highway Patrol verified the car's license plate as the Sunds rented vehicle and immediately notified the FBI. "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. ", Stayner's apartment was searched later in the day and the authorities discovered evidence that linked him to Armstrong's murder. ", 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. They then headed out for Cedar Lodge in El Portal on February 14, which is located on Yosemite's western slope. Timothy White, the kidnap victim, was only 35 when he died. 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. In May 2002, Stayner pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1999 murder of Pelosso and the Sunds. 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 two hitchhiked to Ukiah, California. 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. Arrested on an unrelated drug charge, he has been questioned about the Yosemite case. 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. It was dark when they arrived and Timmy could remember where he lived so they went to the police station. Soon after, he confessed to murdering Carole Sund, Juli Sund, and Silvina Pelosso once in custody. Connecticut Serial Killer William Devin Howell Describes The Shockin The issue was no longer who committed the murders but whether Stayner was insane at the time and whether the confession to the FBI agents was coerced. 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. 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. A large search turned up nothing. Tragically, Steven Stayner was killed in a 1989 motorcycle accident at the age of 24. In 1999, Carole Sund, 42, her daughter Juli Sund, 15, and Juli's friend, Silvina Pelosso, 16, went missing while visiting Yosemite Park. Whites stepfather, Roger Gitlin, said White died April 1, 2010, of an apparent pulmonary embolism. There, they got a room with a plan to stay for a few days. You have the other brother who's left at home. 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. Against the odds, he flourished there. Carole and her husband, Jens, 43, owned a realtors business in the Stockton area. | 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. She was subpoenaed because she is a friend of Dykes and Larwick. He was sentenced to seven years in prison but only served five, less time than he held Steven captive. 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. Cary Stayner, now 57, was convicted of the murders of Armstrong, the Sunds and Pelosso, and sentenced to death for all except Armstrong's. More than a thousand leads, they confessed, produced nothing. Steven and Cary Stayner: The tale of two brothers' horror - ABC 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. He was arrested in May on an unrelated crime charge but was soon released. Investigators searched his truck and confiscated his backpack for examination. Specifically, the media scrutiny seemed to affect his older brother Cary, who clashed with his brother after his return. WebCary Stayner, the handyman at their hotel, confessed after being arrested for beheading another victim, female nature guide Joie Armstrong. The Cedar Lodge hired him as a handyman in 1997 and gave him the use of a small apartment on the top floor. 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. You know, hung out with him, played with him.. He usually ate lunch and dinner at the motel restaurant. For years, Parnell traveled around California with Steven. He was arrested on March 5 when he allegedly reported to his parole officer with liquor on his breath. Billy Joe Strange, 39, an El Portal parolee who worked at the Cedar Lodge lounge and restaurant, where the murdered women were last seen. Cary was 11 years old at the time, and deeply upset about his brother's disappearance. 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. I wish I could have controlled myself and not done what I did. Crazy Credits Eugene "Rufus" Dykes, 32, also of Modesto and Larwick's half-brother was arrested in March. Its manager had seen a story on television, recognized Stayner's photo as one of his guests, and notified the FBI. Cary looked out for Steven, according to Cary Stayner's former classmate Jack Bungart. 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 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.. He walked naked and and smoked pot, he could find the peace that he so desperately needed. I wouldnt think that he would think of himself as one, but he is a hero.". The dramatic story was told in the 1989 television movie, I Know My First Name Is Steven.. Parnell and Murphy were driving towards town when Stephen was lured into their vehicle and abducted. Steven Stayner had a new father figure, and it was Kenneth Parnell, who by day, was his father, and by night, was his rapist. Im so proud of the way Carole and Juli lived, and Im so ashamed of Stayner.. Items included in the Television News search service. He was also angry about how his truck had been searched. 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. '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.'". 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. "Its difficult for me to picture what Cary has done and knowing Steve because their personalities are completely opposite," Duke, Stevens former girlfriend, said. 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.". On Monday, July 22, the court heard Stayners taped confession, which he had given to FBI agents. And in 1999, the Stayner family was back in the news but this time, for a less than positive reason. All of its been bad, Delbert Stayner said of his familys life. Robyn Lively is a step sister of Blake Lively. 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. The trivia item below may give away important plot points. "And I did that almost every clear night from then on until Steve finally came back home. On days off he would escape to Laguna Del Sol, a nudist colony in Sacramento County. He was convicted of four brutal murders in 2002. He was known to take refuge in nearby Yosemite, where hed drive up and get lost in nature. They no longer want you.. Still, the Bureau intensified its search, recruiting the use of more high-tech equipment and air support. How can one family, contain two completely contrasting children? For two weeks, Steven watched Timothy suffer the separation from his family. At that time, Steven had been forced to endure sexual abuse by his kidnapper, whom he finally turned in to the police. For four weeks, police, family, and volunteers searched the area in and near Yosemite National Park by helicopter, foot, and skis. Four men were considered the main murder suspects in the initial inquiries. The death-penalty trial of Cary Stayner was moved from Mariposa County to Santa Clara County, CA. 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. 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. "Thats when I told him, 'You need to go to a doctor, Cary.'" 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. It was not animated or digitally created; a stunt driver put the truck into a full controlled jackknife in front of the camera. Steven was told his new name was Dennis Parnell and was enrolled in school. According to court documents filed Monday, Cary Stayner told the FBI he assaulted Silvina Pelosso and Juli Sund before killing them. Out of respect for his family and the victim's family, we don't want to say anymore." 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. Shortly after Stevens death, an uncle with whom Cary Stayner was very close was shot and killed in a home they shared together.