Cary Stayner

Case identification

Cary A. Stayner (born August 13, 1961) was an American serial killer.

Status

Stayner was on death row at San Quentin Penitentiary in California and was housed in the Adjustment Center on death row. He was sentenced to death on December 12, 2002. An appeal was pending.

Timeline

• August 13, 1961 — Cary Stayner was born.
• 1972 — Steven Stayner was kidnapped at age 7 in Merced, California, held by Kenneth Parnell for more than seven years and later escaped.
• 1980 — Steven Stayner escaped captivity.
• 1989 — Steven Stayner died in a motorcycle accident.
• 1990 — Cary Stayner’s uncle (the one he had been living with at the time) was murdered.
• 1991 — Stayner attempted suicide.
• 1997 — Stayner was arrested for possession of marijuana and methamphetamine; the charges were eventually dropped.
• 1997 — Cary Stayner was hired as a handyman at the Cedar Lodge motel in El Portal, just outside the Highway 140 Arch Rock entrance to Yosemite National Park.
• February 15, 1999 — Stayner murdered Carole Sund and Silvina Pelosso at Cedar Lodge.
• February 16, 1999 — Stayner killed Juli Sund.
• March 18, 1999 — A burned-out red 1999 Pontiac rental car was found off Highway 108 in the Stanislaus Forest region in Tuolumne County; charred bodies were in the trunk.
• March 19, 1999 — Investigators arrived at the scene early and identified two charred bodies as Carole Sund and Silvina Pelosso.
• March 25, 1999 — Juli Sund’s body was found near the reservoir with the help of a map Stayner admitted sending anonymously to the FBI.
• July 21, 1999 — Joie Ruth Armstrong was murdered.
• July 22, 1999 — Rangers found Armstrong’s mutilated body on the morning; she was decapitated.
• July 23, 1999 — Stayner confessed to the beheading of Armstrong.
• July 23, 1999 — Stayner was arrested at the Laguna del Sol nudist colony in Wilton, California.
• July 24, 1999 — Stayner was arrested as a witness at the Laguna del Sol nudist camp; he confessed.
• December 2000 — Stayner was formally sentenced to life in prison for the federal Armstrong murder charges.
• June 14, 2001 — Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Thomas Hastings ordered Stayner to stand trial for the murders of the three women.
• 2001 — A jury convicted Stayner of four counts of first degree murder.
• July 2002 — The death-penalty trial began in Judge Thomas C. Hastings’ courtroom.
• December 12, 2002 — Stayner was sentenced to death.
• August 30, 1999 — An affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Marcee Robinson supported a search warrant for blood, hair, and saliva samples from Stayner.
• May 2002 to December 2002 — The death-penalty trial was moved from Mariposa County to Santa Clara County.

Background

Cary Stayner was born and raised in Merced, California.

Stayner’s younger brother, Steven, was kidnapped by child molester Kenneth Parnell in 1972 and held captive for more than seven years before escaping and being reunited with his family.

Stayner later said he felt neglected as his parents grieved over the loss of Steven. He also later claimed that, when he was 11, he was molested by an uncle.

Steven escaped from Parnell and returned home in 1980 and received massive media attention; a true crime book and TV movie, both titled “I Know My First Name is Steven,” were made about the ordeal. Steven died in a motorcycle accident in 1989.

In the year after Steven died, Stayner’s uncle, with whom Stayner was living at the time, was murdered.

Stayner attempted suicide in 1991.

In 1997, Stayner was arrested for possession of marijuana and methamphetamine, although the charges were eventually dropped.

Stayner claimed after his arrest that he had fantasized about murdering women since he was seven years old, long before the abduction of his brother.

People and relationships

• Cary A. Stayner — defendant; serial killer.
• Steven Stayner — younger brother; kidnapped by Kenneth Parnell; died in a motorcycle accident in 1989.
• Kenneth Parnell — kidnapper and child molester who held Steven Stayner captive.
• Cary Stayner’s uncle — the uncle who, as Stayner later claimed, molested him when he was 11; also later murdered.
• Jens Sund — husband of Carole Sund; 43.
• Francis and Carole Carrington — parents of Carole Sund who appeared on “Good Morning, America” to entreat prayers and help.
• Gina Sund — read a poem in Modesto; 13.

The offence

Stayner murdered four women in 1999: Carole Sund, her daughter Juli Sund, their travel companion Silvina Pelosso, and Yosemite National Institute employee Joie Armstrong.

Carole Sund, Juli Sund, and Silvina Pelosso

The first two victims, Carole Sund and Silvina Pelosso, were found in the trunk of the charred remains of Carole’s Pontiac rental car. Both bodies were burned beyond recognition, but were identified using dental records.

A note was sent to police with a hand-drawn map indicating the location of the third victim, Juli Sund. The top of the note read: “we had fun with this one.”

Investigators went to the location depicted on the map and found the remains of Juli Sund, whose throat had been cut.

Joie Armstrong

When the decapitated body of the fourth victim Joie Armstrong was found, eyewitnesses said they saw a blue 1979 International Scout parked outside the cabin where Armstrong was staying.

Later details stated that Armstrong was decapitated and that she was murdered on the evening of Wednesday, July 21; her body was found the morning of July 22.

Investigation

Stayner was first questioned while investigators were interviewing employees of the Cedar Lodge motel, where the first three victims had been staying just prior to their deaths. One of those employees was Cary Stayner, but he was not considered a suspect at that point because he had no criminal history and remained calm during the police interview.

When Joie Armstrong’s decapitated body was found, detectives traced the blue 1979 International Scout seen outside Armstrong’s cabin to its owner, who turned out to be Cary Stayner, which caused Stayner to become the prime suspect.

The case search included multiple phases:

• A widespread search began after Carole Sund and her companions failed to show up in San Francisco for a flight home to Eureka.
• A task force comprised of FBI agents and law enforcers from four surrounding counties worked to round up suspects and arrested several known sex offenders, drug users, and ex-convicts with a record of violence within a 75-square-mile area between Modesto and Sonoma.
• By early spring the authorities stated to the public that they probably had the potential killers in custody.
• The case was later reopened after a fourth victim was brutally slain.

Arrest

FBI Agents John Boles and Jeff Rinek found Stayner staying at Laguna del Sol nudist resort in Wilton, where he was arrested.

His vehicle yielded evidence linking him to the victim of Joie Armstrong.

During interrogation, Stayner confessed to the four murders as well as sending the map for finding Juli Sund’s body.

Stayner also made statements during interviews:

• In an off-camera jailhouse interview, he told San Francisco’s KBWB-TV that he had dreamed of killing women for 30 years, and he added: “none of the women were sexually abused in any way.”
• During a KNTV reporter session, Stayner stated: “I am guilty. I did murder Carole Sund, Juli Sund, Silvina Pelosso and Joie Armstrong ...None of the women were sexually abused in any way.”

Confessions and details

In a taped confession made in the Sacramento FBI office soon after he was detained on July 24, 1999, Stayner described planning to rape and kill his girlfriend and her 8- and 11-year-old daughters a year before he settled upon the Sunds and Silvina.

Stayner told investigators how he entered the motel room and used a firearm:

• He told investigators he entered their motel room where the mother was reading a book and the two teenage girls were “Jerry Maguire,” saying he had to fix the fan in the bathroom.
• He pulled a .22-caliber pistol, told them he was “desperate,” and ordered Carole Sund, 42, her daughter Juli, 15, and Silvina Pelosso, 16, to lie face down on their beds.
• He bound their hands with duct tape and gagged them, took the two girls into the bathroom, and strangled Sund with a 3-foot piece of rope, described as taking five minutes.
• He said: “I didn’t realize how hard it is to strangle a person,” and “It’s not easy. I had very little feeling. It was like performing a task.”

Stayner described transporting and assaulting Juli Sund:

• After placing Sund’s body in the trunk of her rented Pontiac Grand Prix, he ripped and cut the clothes off the two girls.
• He tried to get them to perform sex acts on each other.
• He led Silvina into the bathroom and strangled her as she knelt in the bathtub.
• He sexually assaulted Juli in the family’s motel room and in the room next door.
• He said he took her to use the bathroom and did not want her to see Silvina’s body.
• Finally, he left Juli on a bed, tied up and watching TV, and cleaned up the crime scene and dumped Silvina in the car trunk with Sund, and arranged the room so it appeared that the women had checked out and left.
• He said: “It felt like I was in control for the first time in my life,” and that he even wiped his hairs off the bedsheet.
• An FBI agent asked why, and he replied: “I watch the Discovery Channel.”

Stayner described carrying Juli away and cutting her throat:

• He said: “I didn’t know where I was going or what I was doing,” and “I just kept driving and driving.”
• He stated he came to like Juli, who told Stayner her name was Sarah, adding: “She was a very likable girl,” “She was very calm.”
• As dawn approached, he carried Juli up a worn dirt path to a small clearing overlooking the water at Lake Don Pedro.
• He told her: “I wished I could keep her.”
• He sexually assaulted her again.
• He said: “I told her I loved her,” cut her throat, and Juli made a hand gesture interpreted as asking him to finish her off.
• He said: “I didn’t want her to suffer the way the other two did.”

Stayner described hiding bodies and burning the car:

• He hid Juli’s body in the thicket, drove with the bodies of Carole Sund and Silvina Pelosso in the trunk, and drove the car into the forest.
• He returned by cab to Yosemite Valley, paying with $150 he had stolen from Mrs. Sund’s purse.
• Two days later he returned to the car with a can of gasoline.
• He scratched “We have Sarah” on the hood with a pocket knife and lit the car on fire.
• He then drove two hours west and dumped Mrs. Sund’s billfold insert on a Modesto street corner.

Stayner also described the Armstrong killing:

• The confession and details included that he confessed to the beheading of naturalist Joie Ruth Armstrong.

Trial

Insanity plea and verdict

Stayner pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. His lawyers claimed that the Stayner family had a history of sexual abuse and mental illness, manifesting itself not only in the murders but also in Stayner’s request for child pornography (in return for his confession) and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Despite those claims, he was found sane and convicted of four counts of first degree murder by a jury in 2001.

Sentencing

During the penalty phase of his trial, in 2002, Stayner was sentenced to death.

Stayner’s sentencing was stated as occurring on December 12, 2002.

Appeals

An appeal was pending.

Other court-related statements and proceedings

Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Thomas Hastings ordered Stayner to stand trial for the murders of the three women, setting the arraignment date for July 16.

It was stated that if found guilty of the array of murder and sex charges, Stayner could face execution.

In May 2002, Stayner pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1999 murder of three tourists in Yosemite National Park.

The death-penalty trial was moved from Mariposa County to Santa Clara County, California.

Aftermath

Wrongful-death litigation and settlement

A wrongful-death lawsuit was being prepared holding Cary Stayner and the Cedar Lodge in El Portal responsible for the Argentine teen-ager’s death (Silvina Pelosso). The statement attributed to Steven Fabbro of San Francisco said: “Hotel security is the basic issue.” and “Hotels and motels have an obligation to provide security for their guests from either their employees or strangers.”

Days later, the Sund family accepted a $1M wrongful death settlement from Cedar Lodge.

Media and television

The investigation and arrest of Cary Stayner were featured in an episode of “FBI: Criminal Pursuit,” entitled “Trail of Terror,” airing on the Investigation Discovery channel.

A true crime book and TV movie titled “I Know My First Name is Steven” were made about Steven Stayner’s abduction ordeal.

A film titled “Murder Among the Sequoias” was included in the material.

Other details

Victims and their ages

• Carole Sund — 42.
• Juli Sund — 15.
• Silvina Pelosso — 16.
• Joie Armstrong — 26.
• Armstrong was described as a Yosemite National Institute employee and as a naturalist.

Note, maps, and statements

The note sent to police with the hand-drawn map had the top line: “we had fun with this one.”

Evidence-related assertions

An affidavit filed August 30, 1999, by FBI Special Agent Marcee Robinson supported a search warrant for blood, hair, and saliva samples from Cary Stayner and included details that Stayner sexually assaulted Juli Sund and Silvina Pelosso.

The affidavit stated:

• “According to SA Hopkins, both the (FBI's) Evidence Response Team and the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office collected items of potential evidence from Room 509 at the Cedar Lodge Motel, the room in which Stayner claims to have sexually assaulted Juli Sund and Silvina Pelosso and murdered both Carole Sund and Silvina Pelosso,” reads a passage.
• “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. Upon examination by the FBI Laboratory, some items have yielded trace evidence. 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.”
• About Armstrong’s homicide, the affidavit included: “Vacuum sweepings taken from inside Armstrong's house, where Stayner claims to have bound her with duct tape, have yielded hair evidence. The FBI Laboratory has also found possible bodily fluid stains on a bed sheet taken from Armstrong's residence. The FBI also seized clothing stained with blood from Joie Armsttrong's body. Although most of the stains are likely to include Armstrong's blood, Stayner was observed to have a laceration on his hand during his interrogation, and therefore may have been cut and bled during the attack. Latent fingerprints have also been lifted from the interior of Joie Armstrong's truck, which Stayner admits to touching during his encounter with her.”

The material stated that knives Stayner claimed to have used and pieces of duct tape from Armstrong’s house were being examined, along with two vials of Stayner’s blood and samples of Stayner’s head and pubic hair, saliva, and fingerprints for testing.

People questioned as suspects (not named as charged or convicted)

Several other named individuals were discussed as being arrested or questioned in connection with suspects during the investigation, including:

• Michael “Mick” Larwick, 42, of Modesto, part of a vagabond group centered in the Modesto area; he was jailed March 16 after he allegedly shot a Modesto police officer and was questioned extensively by the FBI; he denied any role in the Yosemite slayings.
• Eugene “Rufus” Dykes, 32, of Modesto and half-brother of Larwick; he was serving a year at Deuel Institute for an unrelated parole violation and had a long criminal record including sex and weapons convictions; he denied any involvement in the murders.
• Billy Joe Strange, 39, an El Portal parolee who worked at the Cedar Lodge lounge and restaurant; he was arrested March 5 after he allegedly reported to his parole officer with liquor on his breath; he denied any part in the murders.
• Darrell Gray Stephens, 55, Strange’s roommate; convicted in 1978 for rape and robbery; jailed March 14 for failing to register as a sex offender; he told the Bee he was innocent.
• Rachel Lou Campbell, 36, charged in April with stealing checks and credit cards and converting them into cash and merchandise worth $365,000; she pleaded innocent; she was described as a key witness.
• Larry Duane Utley, 41; he was arrested in May on an unrelated crime charge and soon released.
• Teresa Kay Gray, 36, of Modesto; the FBI issued a federal warrant for her arrest after she failed to appear in Stanislaus County drug court in June.
• Kenneth “Soldier” Stewart, 24, a former cellmate of Dykes charged with attempted murder; he had been questioned about any involvement.
• Angelia Dale; she testified before the federal grand jury; she was subpoenaed as a friend of Dykes and Larwick.
• Maria Ledbetter, 24, of Modesto; an admitted methamphetamine addict and former girlfriend of Dykes; she was questioned extensively.
• Jeffrey Wayne Keeney, 32, of Modesto; arrested on an unrelated drug charge; he had been questioned about the Yosemite case.

The material also stated that by the end of June the FBI stated it felt those responsible for killing the three women at Yosemite were already behind bars, while no one had yet been charged.

Claimed plea arrangement for federal charges

It was stated that Stayner struck a plea bargain in September 2000 to receive life in prison for the federal Armstrong murder charges, and he was formally sentenced to life in prison for the Armstrong murder on December.

Stayner begged forgiveness from the family of Armstrong before sentence was passed, including a statement: “I wish I didn”t do this terrible thing,” and “I gave into terrible dark dreams that I tried to subdue.”

Speaking directly to the naturalist family, Stayner said: “I’m sorry. I wish I could tell you why... I don’t even know myself. I wish Joie was here, but she isn’t. I am so sorry.”

Other stated claims and disputes in the material

The material included claims that Stayner asked for a “good sized stack” of child pornography as a condition of his confession.

The material also discussed that Stayner was initially questioned after the triple killings and released, then arrested after the Armstrong killing, with an account attributed to a witness and to agent statements that there was “specific information linking Stayner (also) to the Sund-Pelosso murders,” though the exact nature of that information was not made known in the material.