Soon after, he confessed to murdering Carole Sund, Juli Sund, and Silvina Pelosso once in custody. Teresa Kay Gray, 36, of Modesto. 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. She also happens to have a front row seat to two true crime narratives in her own family. Many local residents were convinced that no one person could have created so much horror, "'The logistics of it say it had to involve more than one person, said Letty Carolyn Barry, owner of the Yosemite Rosebud Lodge, west of Cedar Lodge. Arrested on an unrelated drug charge, he has been questioned about the Yosemite case. Cary Stayner was sentenced Thursday to die for committing three murders near Yosemite National Park in 1999. | Very seldom did he get into trouble. Against the odds, he flourished there. In mid-July of 2002, the trial began in Judge Thomas C. Hastings courtroom. He was arrested on March 5 when he allegedly reported to his parole officer with liquor on his breath. Still, the Bureau intensified its search, recruiting the use of more high-tech equipment and air support. Larry Duane Utley, 41 an associate of Dykes and Larwick, first picked up during a March parole sweep. 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. WebCary Stayner was convicted of the 1999 Cedar Lodge Killings near Yosemite National Park. He remains on Investigators searched his truck and confiscated his backpack for examination. 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. Unsurprisingly, it didnt take long for the story to become national news, and the teenage Steven was at the center of it all. The revelation came in a six 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. Stayner said to investigators I want you to get a hold of some producers in Los Angeles. By mid-April, those who had been arrested were ordered to testify in front of a grand jury in Fresno, California. 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. Agents arrived at the scene early on the 19th and upon opening the trunk, investigators found two charred bodies. Some who knew Cary were shocked at his arrest. Stayner, 38, has been charged with murder in the July 21 death of naturalist Joie Armstrong. I never recognized either one of them.". Billy Joe Strange, 39, an El Portal parolee who worked at the Cedar Lodge lounge and restaurant, where the murdered women were last seen. 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 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. 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. 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. Parnell worked at the Yosemite Lodge, located about two hours away from the Stayner home. 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 "He had a great personality," said Lori Duke, who dated Steven in high school but knew him as Dennis. He was arrested in May on an unrelated crime charge but was soon released. 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. 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 Darrell Gray Stephens, 55, Strange's roommate. "The only time Steve would kill anything like a fish is because we were gonna eat it. 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. According to court documents filed Monday, Cary Stayner told the FBI he assaulted Silvina Pelosso and Juli Sund before killing them. 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. Maria Ledbetter, 24, of Modesto, an admitted methamphetamine addict and former girlfriend of Dykes, about whom she was questioned extensively. Campbell, when first arrested on mail fraud charges, had in her possession Carole Sund's checking account and automated teller machine numbers. I guess I was jealous. Ashley Stayner is a self-professed true crime fan. 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. 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. Despite this, he never appeared to behave lewdly nor perversely in public. But instead of seeking mental health treatment, he moved to Yosemite. 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. 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. Cary always wore a hat because he was compulsively pulling his hair out. It was then that Steven's nightmare began as Murphy brought him to Kenneth Parnell, a known pedophile. . Stayner was already serving a life sentence for the murder of Joie Ruth Armstrong. The two hitchhiked to Ukiah, California. 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. Connections For two weeks, Steven watched Timothy suffer the separation from his family. I wish I could have controlled myself and not done what I did. "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. "'Deep in my heart I know something my mind does not want to learn,' said Gina,13. "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. 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. | In 1972, Stayners 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 "And I did that almost every clear night from then on until Steve finally came back home. Robyn Lively is a step sister of Blake Lively. Then on March 25, Juli Sunds body was discovered near Lake Pedro in Tuolumme County. Cory gets emotional as she describes how he fell through the cracks of familial or institutional care. 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. 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.". 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. 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. Chief James Maddock said he himself questioned whether the Bureau could have done anything to prevent Armstrong's killing. The FBI also seized clothing stained with blood from her body. That evening, the group grabbed some videos from the lodge's service desk to watch in their room. This time, agents detained him and forced him to answer more questions. In the Bureau's mind, this time it had the right man. And in 1999, the Stayner family was back in the news but this time, for a less than positive reason. Agents descended on the colony and returned him to El Portal on Saturday where he was put through a more lengthy interrogation. He also exhibited some behaviors that made others uncomfortable, including, as he later admitted, exposing himself to his sister's friend. Cary Stayner, now 57, was convicted of the murders of Armstrong, the Sunds and Pelosso, and sentenced to death for all except Armstrong's. For four weeks, police, family, and volunteers searched the area in and near Yosemite National Park by helicopter, foot, and skis. The trivia item below may give away important plot points. 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. "I'm confident we've done everything that could be reasonably done.". 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. A large search turned up nothing. Its manager had seen a story on television, recognized Stayner's photo as one of his guests, and notified the FBI. 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. Unofficially, Jens Sund offered a $250,000 reward for information that would lead to the return of the missing women. Stayners father, Delbert Stayner, said his son was deprived of a fair trial by a kangaroo court and a judge who ignored defense arguments. For FBI agent Jeff Rinek, it was the climax of a Steven Stayners fame was short-lived. Woman recalls moment family learned they were target of 1999 By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. Steven Stayner was just seven-years-old when he was abducted a few blocks from his home in Merced, 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. WebThe story of Steven and Cary Stayner will leave you in absolute disbelief. 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.