He was a good student, a It was the last time the women were seen alive. 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. When she did not appear as planned, her would-be host had phoned the park. Items included in the Television News search service. 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. 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. It was dark when they arrived and Timmy could remember where he lived so they went to the police station. He told Hartman that his parents "didnt change that much," but his brother and sisters, "they changed a lot. The FBI also seized clothing stained with blood from her body. The FBI Laboratory has also found possible bodily fluid stains on a bed sheet taken from her residence. 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. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. "He had a great personality," said Lori Duke, who dated Steven in high school but knew him as Dennis. I did murder Carole Sund, Juli Sund, Silvina Pelosso and Joie Armstrong None of the women were sexually abused in any way.". Upon examination by the FBI Laboratory, some items have yielded trace evidence. 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. 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. After they stopped trying to teach me the fundamentals all over again, it got better. WebCary Stayner, the handyman at their hotel, confessed after being arrested for beheading another victim, female nature guide Joie Armstrong. But instead of seeking mental health treatment, he moved to Yosemite. He befriended a co-worker named Ervin Murphy to assist him in the abduction. Soon after, he confessed to murdering Carole Sund, Juli Sund, and Silvina Pelosso once in custody. 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. Cary always wore a hat because he was compulsively pulling his hair out. He had no criminal record and his only encounter with the law was for marijuana use in 1997. 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. 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. For years, Parnell traveled around California with Steven. Upon release, the FBI warned him not to leave El Portal. It was then that Steven's nightmare began as Murphy brought him to Kenneth Parnell, a known pedophile. In the Bureau's mind, this time it had the right man. 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, says Delbert, puberty-aged Cary endured some emotional hardships because of that incident. Ken Parnell went back to what he had been doing for years. Cary Stayner went from being the brother of child abductee Steven Stayer to a full-blown serial killer. 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. Local police and Yosemite Park Rangers began to search the area where the missing three were last seen. "Its difficult for me to picture what Cary has done and knowing Steve because their personalities are completely opposite," Duke, Stevens former girlfriend, said. 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. In his capacity, Stayner performed technical and housekeeping duties, everything from fixing electrical and mechanical breakdowns to delivering extra towels and bedding to guests. And he wanted the same treatment. Stevens death, along with the death of his uncle soon afterward, reportedly had a serious impact on Cary Stayners mental health and well-being. 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 ", 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. Decades later, Stevens older brother, Cary Stayner, made headlines when he was arrested and convicted of the serial slayings of four females. 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. 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. 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 was arrested in May on an unrelated crime charge but was soon released. 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. Chief James Maddock said he himself questioned whether the Bureau could have done anything to prevent Armstrong's killing. On February 12, 1999, Carole Sund, 42, her daughter Juli 15, and Silvina Pelosso 16, left their home in Eureka, California to go on vacation in the area near Yosemite National Park in the same state in the United States. Against the odds, he flourished there. | Had no interest in girls, had no interest in people, he was just a creepy loner. In the end, Stayner confessed without the promise of child pornography or reward money for his parents. The prosecution team was headed by George Williamson and the defense team was headed by Marcia Morrissey. Woman recalls moment family learned they were target of 1999 He also struggled in high school where he was bullied for the abuse he had endured. He wanted the world to take note.. After several days, the bodies were identified as Carole Sund and Silvina Pelosso through dental records. Police found her car in front of her cabin, packed for the trip. For two weeks, Steven watched Timothy suffer the separation from his family. 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. That same day, Stayner allowed himself to be interviewed by a reporter from KNTV. Agents had interviewed Stayner, a handyman at the Cedar Lodge where the tourists had stayed, and later dismissed him as a suspect. How frightened the girls must have been when he cut their clothes off.. 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. A woman named Lenna learned in 1999 that her mother, her sister and her had nearly been murdered by Cary Stayner. The trivia item below may give away important plot points. They then headed out for Cedar Lodge in El Portal on February 14, which is located on Yosemite's western slope. I never recognized either one of them.". I wish I could have controlled myself and not done what I did. At a press conference outside the Stayner house, everyone was smiling, but Cary in his baseball cap wasnt smiling at all. Rachel Lou Campbell, 36, of Modesto, was charged in April with stealing checks and credit cards, and converting them into cash and merchandise worth $365,000. The initial suspicion was that they may have wandered off the main hiking paths and got lost in the park. He did feel, however, that the FBI spared nothing to investigate the earlier killings. Connections Steven was told his new name was Dennis Parnell and was enrolled in school. 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. Steven Stayners fame was short-lived. 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. You have the other brother who's left at home. Cary Stayner Span of crimes FebruaryJuly 1999 Country United States State (s) California Date apprehended 1999 7 more rows The revelation came in a six He usually ate lunch and dinner at the motel restaurant. Im just horrified when I think of what happened in that room, what my daughter felt when she realized she was in serious trouble, said Carole Carrington as she asked the judge to sentence Stayner to death. 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 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. 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.. Campbell, when first arrested on mail fraud charges, had in her possession Carole Sund's checking account and automated teller machine numbers. He had a long criminal record and had been questioned extensively by the FBI. | Angelia Dale, who testified before the federal grand jury. Connecticut Serial Killer William Devin Howell Describes The Shockin The 1999 murders of four women near Yosemite National Park were already a big story before Cary Stayner confessed in an FBI interview. He also exhibited some behaviors that made others uncomfortable, including, as he later admitted, exposing himself to his sister's friend. Hastings rejected new defense claims that juror misconduct prevented a fair trial. Or certainly, nothing noticed by his colleagues at the motel. Some who knew Cary were shocked at his arrest. When Cary Stayner was questioned by FBI agents, he immediately confessed to the four Yosemite Park murders and provided a detailed accounting of his crimes. He was known to take refuge in nearby Yosemite, where hed drive up and get lost in nature. 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. In May 2002, Stayner pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1999 murder of Pelosso and the Sunds. 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. He grew up, got married and had two kids. The California Highway Patrol verified the car's license plate as the Sunds rented vehicle and immediately notified the FBI. WebThe story of Steven and Cary Stayner will leave you in absolute disbelief. Emotionally, Cary Stayner had a tough time during his childhood. 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. | She was subpoenaed because she is a friend of Dykes and Larwick. Soundtracks. 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. 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. 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. Larry Duane Utley, 41 an associate of Dykes and Larwick, first picked up during a March parole sweep. Timothy White, the kidnap victim, was only 35 when he died. Vacuum sweepings were taken from inside Joies house, where Stayner claims to have bound her with duct tape, yielded hair evidence. Unofficially, Jens Sund offered a $250,000 reward for information that would lead to the return of the missing women. On February 15, the ladies hiked into Yosemite National Park on one of the many trails. However, there were warning signs during his younger years. 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. Despite this, he never appeared to behave lewdly nor perversely in public. He was sentenced to seven years in prison but only served five, less time than he held Steven captive. 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. 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. Steven Stayner had a new father figure, and it was Kenneth Parnell, who by day, was his father, and by night, was his rapist. Parnell, along with Murphy, took Steven to a cabin in Catheys Valley, where he was brainwashed to believe his parents no longer wanted him. "And I did that almost every clear night from then on until Steve finally came back home. Initially, the police didn't have any solid leads as to who killed them. Then on March 25, Juli Sunds body was discovered near Lake Pedro in Tuolumme County. 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. His attempt was foiled when other people were at the house at the time he was planning to commit the crimes. 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. 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. More than a thousand leads, they confessed, produced nothing. Stayner, 38, has been charged with murder in the July 21 death of naturalist Joie Armstrong. 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.". He said, I want you to get a hold of some producers in Los Angeles. Special agent Maddock said, "During the last 24 hours, we have developed specific information linking Stayner (also) to the Sund-Pelosso murders.". How can one family, contain two completely contrasting children? There, they got a room with a plan to stay for a few days. The two hitchhiked to Ukiah, California. But, to no avail. They no longer want you.. Michael "Mick" Larwick, 42, of Modesto, part of a vagabond group of methamphetamine drug users and friends centered in the Modesto area. Parnell worked at the Yosemite Lodge, located about two hours away from the Stayner home. The dramatic story was told in the 1989 television movie, I Know My First Name Is Steven.. 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. Alternate Versions Jeffrey Wayne Keeney, 32, of Modesto. 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. Unsurprisingly, it didnt take long for the story to become national news, and the teenage Steven was at the center of it all. 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. 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.". Stayners father, Delbert Stayner, said his son was deprived of a fair trial by a kangaroo court and a judge who ignored defense arguments.