To the dismay of the Stayner family, the case went cold. 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. On February 15, the ladies hiked into Yosemite National Park on one of the many trails. ", Steven Stayner and Cary Stayner in the baseball cap in the background. Agents arrived at the scene early on the 19th and upon opening the trunk, investigators found two charred bodies. Steven Stayners fame was short-lived. Very seldom did he get into trouble. 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. 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. "Privately, some members of the Sund-Pelosso task force were saying the same things to the media. 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. Parnell was convicted on kidnapping and false imprisonment charges. 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. He was charged with attempting to purchase a child and attempted child molestation in 2004, that he was sentenced to 25 years to life. Upon release, the FBI warned him not to leave El Portal. On Good Morning America in March 1980, Steven shared with host David Hartman that it felt "great" to be home. They no longer want you.. It was the last time the women were seen alive. Against the odds, he flourished there. Out of respect for his family and the victim's family, we don't want to say anymore." I never recognized either one of them.". 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. Soon after, he confessed to murdering Carole Sund, Juli Sund, and Silvina Pelosso once in custody. He had given the FBI details "only the killer would know in such specificity that agents were able to recover evidence confirming his confession. | Steven was told his new name was Dennis Parnell and was enrolled in school. Some who knew Cary were shocked at his arrest. But seven years later in February 1980, Steven miraculously reappeared. The dramatic story was told in the 1989 television movie, I Know My First Name Is Steven.. In a jailhouse interview with a television reporter, he said he did not rape any of the women. Knives were used in the slayings and the weapon suspected in Ms. Armstrong's death was recovered.". 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. Soundtracks. However, given Californias statewide moratorium on capital punishment, it doesnt appear that hell be executed anytime soon the states last execution was held in 2006. He walked naked and and smoked pot, he could find the peace that he so desperately needed. I did murder Carole Sund, Juli Sund, Silvina Pelosso and Joie Armstrong None of the women were sexually abused in any way.". 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. "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, 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 worked at the Yosemite Lodge, located about two hours away from the Stayner home. 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. 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. 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. While he attended his meeting, the women were to tour the Grand Canyon. 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.. Crazy Credits Check-out had apparently been done in advance and the keys were left on the room desk. The initial suspicion was that they may have wandered off the main hiking paths and got lost in the park. It was dark when they arrived and Timmy could remember where he lived so they went to the police station. 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. 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. 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. The Stayner family was made up of two brothers, three sisters, and parents Kay and Delbert. The hire car company confirmed that Carole had never returned the rented Pontiac, nor told them that they were extending their agreement. Cary Stayner, the serial killer convicted in the grisly murders of four women near Yosemite National Park, is born on August 13, 1961. Steven was a national hero. By the end of June, the FBI had reviewed the testimonies and the evidence linked to the suspects in custody. A woman named Lenna learned in 1999 that her mother, her sister and her had nearly been murdered by Cary Stayner. 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. That same day, Stayner allowed himself to be interviewed by a reporter from KNTV. Whites stepfather, Roger Gitlin, said White died April 1, 2010, of an apparent pulmonary embolism. After Steven said his mother would be interested in donating, Murphy offered to take the boy home. Timothy White, the kidnap victim, was only 35 when he died. "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. Cary Stayner Span of crimes FebruaryJuly 1999 Country United States State (s) California Date apprehended 1999 7 more rows 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. He had a long criminal record and had been questioned extensively by the FBI. | After several days, the bodies were identified as Carole Sund and Silvina Pelosso through dental records. Stayner said to investigators I want you to get a hold of some producers in Los Angeles. Investigators searched his truck and confiscated his backpack for examination. Darrell Gray Stephens, 55, Strange's roommate. | You could see that he wanted to play and be with kids and be normal. He usually ate lunch and dinner at the motel restaurant. 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. All of its been bad, Delbert Stayner said of his familys life. 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. Parnell and Murphy were driving towards town when Stephen was lured into their vehicle and abducted. Agents had interviewed Stayner, a handyman at the Cedar Lodge where the tourists had stayed, and later dismissed him as a suspect. He was arrested on March 5 when he allegedly reported to his parole officer with liquor on his breath. He then carried Juli to a vista point near Lake Don Pedro, pledged his love, and then cut her throat as the sun rose. And in 1999, the Stayner family was back in the news but this time, for a less than positive reason. | 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. Had no interest in girls, had no interest in people, he was just a creepy loner. "He was spunky. 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. Ken Parnell went back to what he had been doing for years. ", 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. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. 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. Cary Stayner went from being the brother of child abductee Steven Stayer to a full-blown serial killer. Cory gets emotional as she describes how he fell through the cracks of familial or institutional care. One of those arrested, and later released, was Cary Stayner, who worked at the Cedar Lodge as the handyman. 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. Steven Stayner was just seven-years-old when he was abducted a few blocks from his home in Merced, He did feel, however, that the FBI spared nothing to investigate the earlier killings. Cary Stayner, now 57, was convicted of the murders of Armstrong, the Sunds and Pelosso, and sentenced to death for all except Armstrong's. He remains on death row at San Quentin Penitentiary. Carole and her husband, Jens, 43, owned a realtors business in the Stockton area. 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 He remains on By Friday, July 23rd, Stayner, in the meantime, had disappeared from the area, by the time agents came to arrest him. You know what I mean? Cary Stayner, now 57, was convicted of the murders of Armstrong, the Sunds and Pelosso, and sentenced to death for all except Armstrong's. The judge said there was overwhelming evidence against Stayner and that the devastating emotional toll justified execution. He has been questioned about any involvement. 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 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. In May 2002, Stayner pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1999 murder of Pelosso and the Sunds. 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. 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. A large search turned up nothing. Cary was the ideal son, Kay Stayner revealed to the jury during her elder sons trial for murder. 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. More than a thousand leads, they confessed, produced nothing. She was seen that day at the Institute offices and was planning to visit a friend in Sausalito, California, that day but never made it. Connecticut Serial Killer William Devin Howell Describes The Shockin I went to ask if Cary wanted to talk, reporter Ted Rowlands said. Angelia Dale, who testified before the federal grand jury. For four weeks, police, family, and volunteers searched the area in and near Yosemite National Park by helicopter, foot, and skis. Decades later, Stevens older brother, Cary Stayner, made headlines when he was arrested and convicted of the serial slayings of four females. Convicted in 1978 for rape and robbery, he was jailed on March 14 for failing to register as a sex offender. Cary always wore a hat because he was compulsively pulling his hair out. Quotes | 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 2002, Cary Stayner was convicted of first-degree murder on four counts and sentenced to death. Then he took action. Local police and Yosemite Park Rangers began to search the area where the missing three were last seen.