Local police and Yosemite Park Rangers began to search the area where the missing three were last seen. For two weeks, Steven watched Timothy suffer the separation from his family. Michael "Mick" Larwick, 42, of Modesto, part of a vagabond group of methamphetamine drug users and friends centered in the Modesto area. On February 15, the ladies hiked into Yosemite National Park on one of the many trails. On Good Morning America in March 1980, Steven shared with host David Hartman that it felt "great" to be home. The death-penalty trial of Cary Stayner was moved from Mariposa County to Santa Clara County, CA. 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 car was hidden off a spur road where locals dump old refrigerators, cars, and washing machines. During the first crash, the truck jackknifed before hitting the car. He was arrested on March 5 when he allegedly reported to his parole officer with liquor on his breath. But by the middle of March, their hopes faded. 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. The two hitchhiked to Ukiah, California. ", FBI sources claimed that he had already confessed his guilt during the Saturday evening interrogation. The FBI pushed for Strange's arrest, but he denied any part in the triple murders. Darrell Gray Stephens, 55, Strange's roommate. And he wanted the same treatment. I want a movie-of-the-week made about my story. There was a movie made about Steven Stayner. | The Stayner family was made up of two brothers, three sisters, and parents Kay and Delbert. 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. On December 4, 1972, at the age of seven, Steven was approached after school by Edward Ervin Murphy, who claimed he was collecting money for the church. 5-year-old Timothy White walking home from school and they quickly snatched him. 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. Management found him a hard worker and honest. They no longer want you.. Stayner was already serving a life sentence for the murder of Joie Ruth Armstrong. However, there were warning signs during his younger years. 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. Cary was 11 years old at the time, and deeply upset about his brother's disappearance. Out of respect for his family and the victim's family, we don't want to say anymore." He told Hartman that his parents "didnt change that much," but his brother and sisters, "they changed a lot. Her mother had been dating him and he had decided to kill them on Valentines Day. 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. Despite this, he never appeared to behave lewdly nor perversely in public. Teresa Kay Gray, 36, of Modesto. The FBI task force investigating Yosemite issued a federal warrant for her arrest after she failed to appear in Stanislaus County drug court in June. He walked naked and and smoked pot, he could find the peace that he so desperately needed. Parnell, along with Murphy, took Steven to a cabin in Catheys Valley, where he was brainwashed to believe his parents no longer wanted him. Unofficially, Jens Sund offered a $250,000 reward for information that would lead to the return of the missing women. He grew up, got married and had two kids. That same day, Stayner allowed himself to be interviewed by a reporter from KNTV. 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. When she did not appear as planned, her would-be host had phoned the park. Convicted in 1978 for rape and robbery, he was jailed on March 14 for failing to register as a sex offender. "The only time Steve would kill anything like a fish is because we were gonna eat it. In mid-July of 2002, the trial began in Judge Thomas C. Hastings courtroom. The prosecution team was headed by George Williamson and the defense team was headed by Marcia Morrissey. After they stopped trying to teach me the fundamentals all over again, it got better. Vacuum sweepings were taken from inside Joies house, where Stayner claims to have bound her with duct tape, yielded hair evidence. Steven and Cary Stayner: The tale of two brothers' horror - ABC In February 1980, Parnell decided to kidnap a new victim. 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. Alternate Versions I never recognized either one of them.". He was arrested in May on an unrelated crime charge but was soon released. He had no criminal record and his only encounter with the law was for marijuana use in 1997. Her body was next to a stream and head within the water that she and her friends used for drinking water. The Cedar Lodge hired him as a handyman in 1997 and gave him the use of a small apartment on the top floor. 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.. Cary always wore a hat because he was compulsively pulling his hair out. The interview was conducted off camera and reported Monday on the late news. I guess I was jealous. In 1999, Carole Sund, 42, her daughter Juli Sund, 15, and Juli's friend, Silvina Pelosso, 16, went missing while visiting Yosemite Park. Angelia Dale, who testified before the federal grand jury. Stevens death, along with the death of his uncle soon afterward, reportedly had a serious impact on Cary Stayners mental health and well-being. Cary Stayner went from being the brother of child abductee Steven Stayer to a full-blown serial killer. | And in 1999, the Stayner family was back in the news but this time, for a less than positive reason. "And I did that almost every clear night from then on until Steve finally came back home. Billy Joe Strange, 39, an El Portal parolee who worked at the Cedar Lodge lounge and restaurant, where the murdered women were last seen. WebThe story of Steven and Cary Stayner will leave you in absolute disbelief. I wish I could have controlled myself and not done what I did. At that time, Steven had been forced to endure sexual abuse by his kidnapper, whom he finally turned in to the police. I went to ask if Cary wanted to talk, reporter Ted Rowlands said. | "He was spunky. Decades later, Stevens older brother, Cary Stayner, made headlines when he was arrested and convicted of the serial slayings of four females. 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. "Its difficult for me to picture what Cary has done and knowing Steve because their personalities are completely opposite," Duke, Stevens former girlfriend, said. 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. The 1999 murders of four women near Yosemite National Park were already a big story before Cary Stayner confessed in an FBI interview. 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. But why doesnt my dad hug me anymore? Stayner said to investigators I want you to get a hold of some producers in Los Angeles. The California Highway Patrol verified the car's license plate as the Sunds rented vehicle and immediately notified the FBI. Something was clearly very, very wrong. 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. He wanted the world to take note.. He also struggled in high school where he was bullied for the abuse he had endured. You know what I mean? Then Carole's wallet turned up in Modesto, which included money and credit cards. Kenneth"Soldier" Stewart, 24, a former cellmate of Dykes who was charged with attempted murder. Very seldom did he get into trouble. It was badly decomposed and her throat had been cut. 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 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. But, says Delbert, puberty-aged Cary endured some emotional hardships because of that incident. It was not animated or digitally created; a stunt driver put the truck into a full controlled jackknife in front of the camera. The FBI also seized clothing stained with blood from her body. Although the Merced police department launched a full-fledged investigation at the time of Stevens disappearance, they werent able to find any significant leads. 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 ", Stayner's apartment was searched later in the day and the authorities discovered evidence that linked him to Armstrong's murder. On days off he would escape to Laguna Del Sol, a nudist colony in Sacramento County. A woman named Lenna learned in 1999 that her mother, her sister and her had nearly been murdered by Cary Stayner. 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. He has been questioned about any involvement. Chief James Maddock said he himself questioned whether the Bureau could have done anything to prevent Armstrong's killing. So while Parnell was at work, Steven ran away with Timothy, and the two hitchhiked to a police station in Ukiah, California. Initially, the police didn't have any solid leads as to who killed them. Maria Ledbetter, 24, of Modesto, an admitted methamphetamine addict and former girlfriend of Dykes, about whom she was questioned extensively. Knives were used in the slayings and the weapon suspected in Ms. Armstrong's death was recovered.". Arrested on an unrelated drug charge, he has been questioned about the Yosemite case. 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. ", Steven Stayner and Cary Stayner in the baseball cap in the background. "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. During the session, an unexpected event occurred. While he attended his meeting, the women were to tour the Grand Canyon. Cary Stayner, the serial killer convicted in the grisly murders of four women near Yosemite National Park, is born on August 13, 1961. 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. All of its been bad, Delbert Stayner said of his familys life. He befriended a co-worker named Ervin Murphy to assist him in the abduction. He is currently in his 60s and still on death row while incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. 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. The FBI Laboratory has also found possible bodily fluid stains on a bed sheet taken from her residence. There, they got a room with a plan to stay for a few days. By this point, Cary Stayner had a couple of nervous breakdowns. He had a long criminal record and had been questioned extensively by the FBI. 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. 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. They then headed out for Cedar Lodge in El Portal on February 14, which is located on Yosemite's western slope. 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. 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. Then on March 25, Juli Sunds body was discovered near Lake Pedro in Tuolumme County. In the end, Stayner confessed without the promise of child pornography or reward money for his parents. For four weeks, police, family, and volunteers searched the area in and near Yosemite National Park by helicopter, foot, and skis. Items included in the Television News search service. where Stayner was employed as a handyman. Steven was a national hero. 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. . She had probably been murdered on the evening of Wednesday, July 21. 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. 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. One of those arrested, and later released, was Cary Stayner, who worked at the Cedar Lodge as the handyman. Four men were considered the main murder suspects in the initial inquiries. He had given the FBI details "only the killer would know in such specificity that agents were able to recover evidence confirming his confession. They finally caught up with him at the Laguna Del Sol nudist colony, which he frequently visited. For years, Parnell traveled around California with Steven. 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. Check-out had apparently been done in advance and the keys were left on the room desk. She also happens to have a front row seat to two true crime narratives in her own family. It was dark when they arrived and Timmy could remember where he lived so they went to the police station. WebCary Stayner was convicted of the 1999 Cedar Lodge Killings near Yosemite National Park. Tragically, Steven Stayner was killed in a 1989 motorcycle accident at the age of 24. 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. Had no interest in girls, had no interest in people, he was just a creepy loner. 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. Latent fingerprints were also been lifted from the interior of Joie Armstrong's truck, which Stayner admits to touching during his encounter with her. He was a good student, a After graduation from Merced (California) High School, Stayner worked as a window installer at a glass company. 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 remains on He loved his brother. In order to prevent Steven from escaping, Parnell was constantly moving the two of them from town to town in California. 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.". 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. 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. By mid-April, those who had been arrested were ordered to testify in front of a grand jury in Fresno, California. In a jailhouse interview with a television reporter, he said he did not rape any of the women. 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 police reckoned that the killer of the three women was someone familiar with the county given the location of the Pontiac. The hire car company confirmed that Carole had never returned the rented Pontiac, nor told them that they were extending their agreement. Previously, the defense had maintained that the FBI had coerced the confession. "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. It was the last time the women were seen alive. Upon examination by the FBI Laboratory, some items have yielded trace evidence. 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. '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.'". In a voice that seemed relieved to be unburdened from its depth a long-kept secret, Stayner blurted, "I am guilty. 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. 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. ", Steven Stayner with his kidnapper Kenneth Parnell. You know, hung out with him, played with him.. "I've struggled with that issue for the last 24 hours and continue to do so," he confessed. The other Sund children believed their mother and sister Juli would be returned. Jeffrey Wayne Keeney, 32, of Modesto. On Monday, July 22, the court heard Stayners taped confession, which he had given to FBI agents. In 2002, Cary Stayner was convicted of first-degree murder on four counts and sentenced to death. 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 After the fourth murder, the FBI went looking for Cary Stayner to interview him, but initially as a witness. "I'm confident we've done everything that could be reasonably done.".