At the end of his murder trial in 2002, Cary Stayner was sentenced to death for the murders of Carole and Juli Sund and Silvina Pelosso. Kay and Delbert had already lost Steven to a motorcycle accident in 1989, so they dreaded losing their other son. The first time, he was a seven-year-old child on a missing person poster, having disappeared without a trace on his way home . 190.14.37.124 Cary Stayner is now 57 years old. "They call [Merced] the gateway to Yosemite," said Ted Rowlands, a former reporter who covered Cary Stayners story at KNTV for the San Francisco Bay area. "He had a great personality," said Lori Duke, who dated Steven in high school but knew him as Dennis. According to a psychiatrist who would later evaluate Stayner for his defense team, the Stayner family tree was riven with mental illness and sexual abuse going back five generations. Stayner's defense attorneys positioned Stayner as a victim of mental illness and trauma, stemming from his brother's abduction and having been molested as a child, according to SFGate. In February 1980, Parnell decided to capture a new, younger boy. Click to reveal But Rinek recalled Stayner saying he would die with a clear conscience. "Steven was a national hero. When Steven returned home on March 2, 1980, the cameras were there to capture the moment he hugged his parents, Kay and Delbert Stayner. Cary Stayner's Parents are Kay Stayner and Delbert Stayner. Steven's older brother, Cary Stayner, took his disappearance particularly hard. Steven Stayner with his parents In their four years together, they welcomed daughter Ashley, followed by son Steven Jr. Hulu. But there isnt. In fact, the wrong men were custody. Parnell worked at the Yosemite Lodge, located about two hours away from the Stayner home. In the little time I worked with him, he just seemed like a regular person.". Tragically, Steven Stayner was killed in a 1989 motorcycle accident at age 24. Stacy has worked at the San Francisco Chronicle as a reporter since 1997, when she moved to San Francisco after previously working at the Rocky Mountain News, Los Angeles Daily News, San Diego Union-Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. "Steven didn't understand the rules that he was now expected to live by. A month later, Juli's body was found 40 miles away. Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). 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Born on August 13, 1961, Cary was raised in Merced, California along with his younger brother, Steven Stayner, who was kidnapped by child molester Kenneth Parnell in 1972, when Cary was barely 11. When Steven was abducted, Cary had wished upon a star every night that Steven would return, per SFGate. The attorneys also requested a new trial since it appeared that three jurors were victims of child molestation, but the judge rejected the motion. He had visited the resort before in March after his first murder spree, and he lived there in a tent beside a lake. Investigators went to the location depicted on the map and found the remains of Juli, whose throat had been cut. He had been a young patrol officer in 1972 when Cary Stayner's younger brother, Steven Stayner, was snatched off a Merced street in the county's most infamous kidnapping. Losing perspective? He returns to Merced triumphant. Timothy "Timmy" White was 5 years old when he was kidnapped by child molester Kenneth Parnell as he walked home from his Ukiah school in 1980. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. One relative described child sexual abuse as like a family sickness because it had been going on for so many generations. State authorities said Delbert Stayner molested them. "Cary was pretty much a loner. "One time Cindy (Stayner) and I were outside at night and he exposed himself to us. Lenna was just 10 or 11 years old when her mother began a relationship with Cary Stayner, a maintenance worker at the Cedar Lodge right outside of Yosemite National Park. They then slept in the same bed, and Cary awoke to his uncle attempting to molest him, according to SFGate. He would joke around with us workers, but he was also kind of quiet," said Albert Sanchez, who worked with Stayner on a month-long gardening project earlier this year. But they said they can't imagine losing another son. Some of the older children, including Cary Stayner, had moved out by then. Investigators initially didn't suspect Cary Stayner as a suspect, despite spending much of his time in the area. The pictures tell a different story than savage killer: Cary Stayner when he was just 8 months old, wearing a baby bonnet. Cary was arrested the following year and was convicted of all four women's murders and put to death in the trials that followed. Meanwhile, investigators began to suspect Stayner and released his name to the public. "He said, "OK,' and gave me these booklets and he asked me if I wanted a ride home. Steven was kidnapped at 7 years old (12/4/72) by a child molester who he lived with for 7 years. Cary Stayner is led into a van by a U.S. [16], Kidnapping resulting in death (18 U.S.C. When the decapitated body of Joie Ruth Armstrong was found, eyewitnesses said they saw a blue 1972 International Scout parked outside the cabin where she was staying. A true crime book and TV movie, both titled I Know My First Name Is Steven, were made about the ordeal. Originally published January 20, 2007 at 12:00 am. In addition to her fathers unwanted advances, one of Stayners sisters said that Cary started peeping on her and inappropriately touching her when she was ten. However, it took several months for investigators to realize Stayner was behind the killings. Still, Stayner wanted to help his parents, so he asked as a condition of his confession that a $250,000 reward offered by his victims family members go to his own family, Rinek wrote. During the sentencing hearing, Stayner stunned the courtroom when he suddenly broke down in tears and apologized. He graduated from Merced High School, and worked as a window installer for a glass company in nearby Atwater. "I said, "Well, yeah. The boy was asked if he wanted to donate something to a church. In 2002, he was convicted of all four murders and sentenced to death row, per A&E True Crime.At the time of this writing, Stayner, now 60, remains locked up at San Quentin State Prison in California, alongside another high-profile convicted killer, Scott Peterson.That seems unlikely to change anytime soon. By the time Steven was 14, he had been abused and manipulated by Parnell for seven years. As per her testimony during Carys 2002 trial, she was raised to keep her emotions to herself by her father, who insisted that she would otherwise seem crazy like her mother. When Cary Stayner was just 11, his younger brother, Steven, 7, was snatched from a Merced street on his way home from school. You could see that he wanted to play and be with kids and be normal.". Kay Stayner said that although her father molested her as a child, she allowed him to live in the Stayner home but kept him away from her daughters. Stayner is reported to have attempted suicide in 1991,[6] and was arrested in 1997 for possession of marijuana[4] and methamphetamine,[7] although these charges were eventually dropped. I wouldnt think that he would think of himself as one, but he is a hero.". His story was turned into a television miniseries. [4] In addition to his fraught life at home and at school, Steven, still just a teenager by this point, also had to face Parnell in court. Sadly, even though she kept her father away from her daughters while he stayed with them, they were still unsafe as Delbert reportedly carried on the cycle of parental molestation. Stayner and White left while Parnell was at work and took refuge at a police station, where they informed authorities of their abduction. "Ken Parnell went back to what he had been doing for years. Her head, which had been removed, was found several feet away in the water. "Merced was the lead police department, and so they really mounted a large effort to search. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Stayner was lured into the vehicle and abducted. ". Stayner's father, Delbert Stayner, was accused of sexually abusing his daughters, and Rinek wrote sexual abuse in the family went back at least five generations. So, Steven figures the best thing to do is to take him to the police station," Flynn said. Psychiatrist George Woods, who evaluated Cary while he was in prison, said Steven's return was stressful for Cary since he was dealing with mental health issues and obsessive thoughts at the time, per SFGate. have yall heard of Steven and Cary Stayner? They no longer want you,'" investigative journalist Pat LaLama said. Cary Stayner, Steven's older brother, was a handyman at the Cedar Lodge just outside the park where the women were staying, according to the Modesto Bee. Cary Stayner "was a very, very good cartoonist," and was voted "most creative" at school, according to Purdy. He loved his brother. "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," Rowlands said. [5] FBI agents John Boles and Jeff Rinek found Stayner staying at the Laguna del Sol nudist resort in Wilton, where he was arrested and taken to Sacramento for questioning. He smoked cigarettes. Panda's thread on parents of murderers reminded me of the Steven Stayner case and his parents. In the car, Stayner started rambling about seeing Bigfoot in the woods. He stayed away from most of the other kids.". Five months after killing the trio, he decapitated Joie Armstrong, a 26- year-old Yosemite naturalist. The Stayners' neighbors told SFGate that Cary felt disregarded by Steven's fame and wanted that same attention and publicity. Very seldom did he get into trouble. He finally ran away and turned himself over to a nearby police department. When the FBI arrived at the restaurant, Stayner was eating breakfast. Parnell convinced 7-year-old Steven that his parents no longer wanted him by pretending to speak to them on a payphone. [13] He was nevertheless found sane and convicted of three counts of first degree murder with special circumstances and one count of kidnapping by a jury on August 27, 2002. His father, Delbert Stayner, admitted that he became so obsessed about finding Steven at the cost of his relationship with his other children, according to SFGate. He had joined the Mormon Church. The other grew up to become a serial killer who terrorized the Yosemite forest. [2] His seven-year-old brother, Steven Stayner, was kidnapped by child molester Kenneth Parnell in 1972, when Cary was 11, and held captive for more than seven years before escaping and being reunited with his family. When Steven Stayner returned home, the whole family's focus was on him, she said. He. Last year, he became famous for the bad things that happened to four women in Yosemite National Park. The panel has rejected his insanity defense and found him guilty of killing Carole Sund, 42, her daughter, Juli, 15, and their 16- year-old Argentine friend, Silvina Pelosso. Cary Stayner is now better known as 'The Yosemite Park Killer' after being convicted of the serial murders of four women in the grounds of the national park. And now this. "They did mention about finally getting a chance to get out of here," said Ennis Mayberry, 36, who bought the house from the Stayners 10 years ago. He was always nearby and on hand, opening rooms at the Cedar Lodge for investigators to search for evidence. Stayner is now 60 years old and is currently being held in San Quentin State prison, per California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. On February 15, 1999, Yosemite tourists Carole Sund, 42, her daughter Juli Sund, 15, and exchange student Silvina Pelosso, 16, went missing, per SFGate. He loved country music and animals. As he was walking home from school on December 4th 1972, he was approached by a man named Ervin Murphy claiming to be a representative of the church who was looking for donations. He was one of two sons and three daughters to parents, Delbert and Kay Stayner.. Joie Ruth Armstrong, a naturalist at Yosemite National Park, was brutally murdered by Cary Stayner, a motel handyman at the Cedar Lodge in El Portal, Calif. (The . San Quentin is a notoriously tough place to live with a checkered human rights history. And I go, "Well, OK,' and so I got in the car. "I'm just shocked that he would be involved in something like this.". 42-year-old Carole Sund, 15-year-old Juli Sund, 16-year-old Silvina Pelosso, and 26-year-old Joie Ruth . "He said we should be glad that Steven was gone. ", "The first year was kinda hectic," Steven said on GMA in 1983. Stayner considered doing it on three different occasions. Because Stayner is on death row, he likely lives in a 48-square-foot single cell with only five hours of exercise allowed outside. Delbert served as a mechanic at a peach can factory at that point in time, whereas Kay was a wife and mother whom many characterized as cold and distant. Stayner's attorneys request that the location of his trial be moved away from the area surrounding Yosemite in order to guarantee him a fair trial was granted, per The Los Angeles Times. The Stayners' family history of pedophilia had long been a problem, one that may have lasted for three generations, according to SFGate. A child abductee's journey back. No executions have been made in California, since the year 2006 when a court . When his sister had a sleepover, he crawled under the bed of one of her friends in order to touch her breasts. From the time Cary was a small boy, the Stayner family vacationed together in Yosemite and the surrounding high countrypiling into the family van and driving 60 miles east to camp, fish, and . However, during Cary's murder trial, his attorneys argued that he never wanted fame or attention, calling him a "shrinking violet," per the Independent. "Working at Cedar Lodge gave Cary access to his beloved Yosemite," Rowlands said. The murders occurred in Mariposa County, California near Yosemite National Park. However, due to an error, he was released, according to ABC News. Seven years later, after escaping his captor, he returned home. On the other hand, Kay still lives in California, rarely speaks out about either of her sons publicly, and prefers to go by her day-to-day life away from the limelight. That girlfriend worked at a restaurant at Cedar Lodge. Stayner's parents fear losing another son. But adding children to the equation seemed to only make their relationship worse. The case remains unsolved. When Cary Stayner was just 11, his younger brother, Steven, 7, was snatched from a Merced street on his way home from school. Delbert even referred to Steven as his real son and pushed the other away. He was perverted," Flores, 35, said. "Thats when I told him, 'You need to go to a doctor, Cary.'". The day after she spoke to Stayner, Damant watched the news and saw that the FBI were looking for Stayner. By Gina Tron. Here are some untold facts about Cary Stayner's grim past and his monstrous crimes. "They said they wanted to get away and wash away some bad memories.". Cary was the ideal son, Kay Stayner revealed to the jury during her elder sons trial for murder. [14], After being sentenced to death for the brutal killings, Stayner has been housed at the Adjustment Center on death row at San Quentin State Prison in California since 2002. He goes, "OK. Don't worry. There was a "pall over" Cary, because he was "the kid who had his brother kidnapped," said Bungart. Advertisement Nearly 20 years later, Stayner is still on death row, his prison record shows. But instead of seeking mental health treatment, Stayner "ended up taking refuge" in Yosemite, Rowlands said. On trial for his life, Stayner sat just a few feet away. He also revealed a disturbing truth: he originally intended to kill his girlfriend and her daughters before he went on to target Carole Sund, Juli Sund, and Silvina Pelosso on February 15, 1999. Few families have seen so much tragedy and horror as the Stayner family. FBI/California Department of Corrections On July 21, 1999, when Stayner saw Joie Armstrong, a 26-year-old naturalist at Yosemite who taught children about nature in the park, "something instantly" changed with him, Rowlands said. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Growing up, brothers Cary and Steven Stayner shared a home with their parents and three sisters in Merced, California a small farming town near Yosemite National Park according to the. Currently, she is a business reporter, covering the food and wine industries, agriculture and tourism. The description is echoed by Cary Stayner's co-workers and friends at the Cedar Lodge near Yosemite Valley, where he lived and worked as a handyman. In the Name of the Children: An FBI Agents Relentless Pursuit of the Nations Worst Predators, Steven Stayner Death: How Carys Stayners Brother Died. According to Rowlands, "He was wearing a hat because he was compulsively pulling his hair out. After several weeks, the bodies of all three women were discovered. I wish there was a reason. This is a carousel. According to his evaluation, Stayner's murder of a mother, her teen daughter, and her daughter's friend at Yosemite came as a result of these violent thoughts. "There wasnt really much time for us to speculate on whether this was related, I mean it quickly became related," said Des Kidd, former medical director at Yosemite who participated in search and rescue. In 2021, it was penalized around $400,000 for safety violations that resulted in a COVID-19 outbreak and 28 inmate deaths, per CNN. A cousin said that Stayner spied on her and his sisters and a neighbor girl, hiding under their beds and secretly videotaping them in the bathroom and bedroom. Stayner told another psychiatrist, Park Dietz, who was hired by the prosecution to evaluate whether he was sane at the time he committed the Yosemite murders, that as a child he worried that the obsessive thoughts he had about holding the neighbor girl against her will somehow caused Steven to be kidnapped. Staynerwhose young brother Steven was abducted as a child and later received nationwide attention through the TV miniseries, "I Know My First Name is Steven"murdered two women and two teenage girls near Yosemite National Park in 1999: Joie Armstrong, Carole Sund, Juli Sund and Silvina Pelosso. [] "If his dying would bring these people back, I'd say do it," she said. Steven Stayner, then 24, had married and had two children. What happened to Gary Hilton? According to local reporter Ted Rowlands, Stayner wanted to connect sexually with girls but struggled to have normal relationships with them (via ABC News). In 1997, Stayner was hired as a handyman at the Cedar Lodge motel in El Portal, California, just outside the Highway 140 entrance to Yosemite National Park. 1980, Parnell decided to capture a new, younger boy ' and me. Sickness because it had been going on for so many generations advertisement Nearly 20 years later, Stayner stunned courtroom! 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