It was dark when they arrived and Timmy could remember where he lived so they went to the police station. The prosecution team was headed by George Williamson and the defense team was headed by Marcia Morrissey. To the dismay of the Stayner family, the case went cold. Items included in the Television News search service. I wouldnt think that he would think of himself as one, but he is a hero.". 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.". 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 not animated or digitally created; a stunt driver put the truck into a full controlled jackknife in front of the camera. Ken Parnell went back to what he had been doing for years. During the session, an unexpected event occurred. They no longer want you.. He grew up, got married and had two kids. "Her mother, sisters, and a family friend had been missing for a month by the time Gina Sund read her poem in front of a thousand or so people who gathered in Modesto," writes Time. Cary always wore a hat because he was compulsively pulling his hair out. 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. Steven told the police what happened to him and Timothy and he was also able to tell them his real name was Steven, not Dennis. Previously, the defense had maintained that the FBI had coerced the confession. On March 1, 1980, Steven waited until Parnell was at work and then fled the house with Timothy. Steven Stayner was just seven-years-old when he was abducted a few blocks from his home in Merced, By mid-April, those who had been arrested were ordered to testify in front of a grand jury in Fresno, California. 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. "I'm confident we've done everything that could be reasonably done.". You know, hung out with him, played with him.. Then there was another murder. The FBI also seized clothing stained with blood from her body. ", Steven Stayner with his kidnapper Kenneth Parnell. Crazy Credits Michael "Mick" Larwick, 42, of Modesto, part of a vagabond group of methamphetamine drug users and friends centered in the Modesto area. '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.'". One of those arrested, and later released, was Cary Stayner, who worked at the Cedar Lodge as the handyman. In February 1980, Parnell decided to kidnap a new victim. There, they got a room with a plan to stay for a few days. Her mother had been dating him and he had decided to kill them on Valentines Day. Despite this, he never appeared to behave lewdly nor perversely in public. I never recognized either one of them.". A relatively quiet, but friendly, a motel handyman called Cary Stayners only passions seemed to be nude sunbathing and hiking. 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. 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. 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. And in 1999, the Stayner family was back in the news but this time, for a less than positive reason. 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. 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. According to Special Agent Christopher Hopkins , both the FBI's Evidence Response Team and the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office collected items of potential interest from Room 509 at the Cedar Lodge Motel, the room in which Stayner sexually assaulted Juli Sund and Silvina Pelosso and murdered both Carole Sund and Silvina. In May 2002, Stayner pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1999 murder of Pelosso and the Sunds. Among other things, the FBI Laboratory has found hairs in vacuum sweepings taken from Room 509 and possibly body fluid stains on a blanket (and) a latent palm print from the window sill. 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. Stayner was already serving a life sentence for the murder of Joie Ruth Armstrong. 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. On Good Morning America in March 1980, Steven shared with host David Hartman that it felt "great" to be home. You could see that he wanted to play and be with kids and be normal. Check-out had apparently been done in advance and the keys were left on the room desk. 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. He had no criminal record and his only encounter with the law was for marijuana use in 1997. "He was spunky. Knives were used in the slayings and the weapon suspected in Ms. Armstrong's death was recovered.". 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. Cary was the ideal son, Kay Stayner revealed to the jury during her elder sons trial for murder. On Monday, July 22, the court heard Stayners taped confession, which he had given to FBI agents. Billy Joe Strange, 39, an El Portal parolee who worked at the Cedar Lodge lounge and restaurant, where the murdered women were last seen. Darrell Gray Stephens, 55, Strange's roommate. Ive never seen anything thats so close to black and white and evil and good as Stayner and our children, said Francis Carrington, the father of Carole Sund and grandfather of Juli. At that time, Steven had been forced to endure sexual abuse by his kidnapper, whom he finally turned in to the police. Eugene "Rufus" Dykes, 32, also of Modesto and Larwick's half-brother was arrested in March. Alternate Versions They then headed out for Cedar Lodge in El Portal on February 14, which is located on Yosemite's western slope. In 1972, Stayners 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 was discovered beyond a campground adjacent to her living quarters in the Foresta community, a group of 30 cabins for use by park workers. Still, the Bureau intensified its search, recruiting the use of more high-tech equipment and air support. Then Carole's wallet turned up in Modesto, which included money and credit cards. 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. She also happens to have a front row seat to two true crime narratives in her own family. After the fourth murder, the FBI went looking for Cary Stayner to interview him, but initially as a witness. After the fourth murder, the FBI went looking for Cary Stayner to interview him, but initially as a witness. 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 never did tell anybody about it, but I remember wishing on a star that my little brother would come back home. Parnell worked at the Yosemite Lodge, located about two hours away from the Stayner home. He did feel, however, that the FBI spared nothing to investigate the earlier killings. Because of the discovery of Sund's wallet in suburban Modesto, police, and FBI searched "the logical routes in and out of that spot, interviewing homeowners and business owners and others who may have seen them." The revelation came in a six Part of TV News Archive. WebCary Stayner was convicted of the 1999 Cedar Lodge Killings near Yosemite National Park. Specifically, the media scrutiny seemed to affect his older brother Cary, who clashed with his brother after his return. | On February 15, the ladies hiked into Yosemite National Park on one of the many trails. Or certainly, nothing noticed by his colleagues at the motel. According to court documents filed Monday, Cary Stayner told the FBI he assaulted Silvina Pelosso and Juli Sund before killing them. They lived in the farming town of Merced, California, the Gateway to Yosemite. However, there were warning signs during his younger years. The two hitchhiked to Ukiah, California. Im so proud of the way Carole and Juli lived, and Im so ashamed of Stayner.. Agents arrived at the scene early on the 19th and upon opening the trunk, investigators found two charred bodies. Soon after, he confessed to murdering Carole Sund, Juli Sund, and Silvina Pelosso once in custody. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. 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 remains on 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 Connecticut Serial Killer William Devin Howell Describes The Shockin 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. The police reckoned that the killer of the three women was someone familiar with the county given the location of the Pontiac. 51K views 3 years ago 20/20 Extra: For the first time, 20 years after the Yosemite murders, Lenna speaks out exclusively on what she learned about Cary The interview was conducted off camera and reported Monday on the late news. He was buried Thursday in the town of Newhall, where he had worked as a Los Angeles County sheriffs deputy. 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. In mid-July of 2002, the trial began in Judge Thomas C. Hastings courtroom. Out of respect for his family and the victim's family, we don't want to say anymore." Convicted in 1978 for rape and robbery, he was jailed on March 14 for failing to register as a sex offender. The boys were still in elementary school when on December 4, 1972, a man named Kenneth Parnell took seven-year-old Stephen, whilst walking home from school on Highway 140. Maria Ledbetter, 24, of Modesto, an admitted methamphetamine addict and former girlfriend of Dykes, about whom she was questioned extensively. She was subpoenaed because she is a friend of Dykes and Larwick. Kenneth"Soldier" Stewart, 24, a former cellmate of Dykes who was charged with attempted murder. 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. 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. He is currently in his 60s and still on death row while incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. | Cary Stayner was sentenced Thursday to die for committing three murders near Yosemite National Park in 1999. When Steven didnt return from school that afternoon, his parents sounded the alarm. He was a good student, a Stevens death, along with the death of his uncle soon afterward, reportedly had a serious impact on Cary Stayners mental health and well-being. Woman recalls moment family learned they were target of 1999 In a 2003 jailhouse interview with The Chronicle, Parnell admitted that he had tried to buy the boy to experience the "love and respect" that a son has for a father. 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.