Lenna said police told her family Cary Stayner tried three times to kill them. Include gps location with grave photos where possible. . "Cary started acting wildly inappropriately towards females. But he was unable to develop any sort of interpersonal relationships with any women," said TV reporter Ted Rowlands. Drag images here or select from your computer for Joie Ruth Armstrong memorial. It was the last time the women were seen alive. Stayner surprised them by saying said he would give them closure on what happened to Joie Armstrong and "more," but in exchange, he asked to see child pornography. Lenna said that at the time, Cary Stayner, in his 30s and handsome, appeared "safe" to her, her mother and younger sister. Steven Stayner helped another child escape from a pedophile, after enduring years of abuse and not wanting to see the child experience the same fate. Former FBI Agent Jeff Rinek recalls the moments Cary Stayner approached 26-year-old Joie Armstrong at her cabin in an area of Yosemite National Park in 1999. Lenna, who asked that ABC News withhold her last name, said he also taught the two how to dive. or don't show this again—I am good at figuring things out. Confessions Are Reported In 4 Killings - The New York Times In late March, a taunting letter and a map were sent to an FBI agent in the Modesto, California, office, giving investigators a big clue into where Juli Sund was. He then carried Juli to a vista point near Lake Don Pedro, pledged his love, and then cut her throat as the sun rose. I loved him a lot -- I don't know if he knew how much I did. The email does not appear to be a valid email address. based on information from your browser. By Friday, July 23rd, Stayner, in the meantime, had disappeared from the area, by the time agents came to arrest him. He admitted he kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered Armstrong. The affidavit was made in support of an arrest warrant charging Stayner with the murder of Armstrong, a naturalist and environmental science teacher at the Yosemite Institute. ", Watch "20/20's" full story, "The Black Sheep," TONIGHT at 9 p.m. One of those arrested, and later released, was Cary Stayner, who worked at the Cedar Lodge as the handyman. Though he's admitted to four killings, Stayner has only been charged with last month's beheading death of Yosemite naturalist Joie Ruth Armstrong. It contained a gun, duct tape and a knife. In 1997, Stayner was hired as a handyman at the Cedar Lodge motel in El Portal, California, just outside the Highway 140 entrance to Yosemite National Park. . 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. By mid-April, those who had been arrested were ordered to testify in front of a grand jury in Fresno, California. He grew up, got married and had two kids. Failed to delete memorial. Timothy White, the kidnap victim, was only 35 when he died. "He had a great personality," said Lori Duke, who dated Steven in high school but knew him as Dennis. "I've struggled with that issue for the last 24 hours and continue to do so," he confessed. Both boys were reunited with their families shortly after arriving at the police station. Steven was told his new name was Dennis Parnell and was enrolled in school. During this time, Parnell kidnapped a 5-year-old child in Ukiah, California and held him captive for two weeks before Steven Stayner escaped and took the child to the police. . The FBI also has called Stayner the prime suspect in the murders of three Yosemite sightseers who disappeared in February. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. The two hitchhiked to Ukiah, California. She called the FBI to alert them of Stayner’s location. As he was driving, he said, she fell through the window of the vehicle and started running. During Stayner's interrogation, the agents told Stayner he couldn’t view child pornography in exchange for his confession. In 1999, he confessed to four killings. White’s stepfather, Roger Gitlin, said White died April 1, 2010, of an apparent pulmonary embolism. Cary Stayner was convicted in both state and federal courts. The brilliant, bubbly, strawberry-blond naturalist lived with her boyfriend and a second roommate in a cabin near Yosemite. Rinek said it was important for him to not show judgment or emotion. He had a long criminal record and had been questioned extensively by the FBI. They were looking for the missing red 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix as well as the women. 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. Management found him a hard worker and honest. In the fall of 1997, Stayner, then in his 30s, took refuge in Yosemite, where he landed his job as a handyman at the Cedar Lodge. Please reset your password. Stayner Charged in Yosemite Murders | AP News And he was a coward," said Boles. 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. On July 22nd her body is found. Nobody could have known.". There was Armstrong's solar-heated shower and the garden that she proudly nourished with water that she carried in heavy buckets from a nearby creek. When he was 3-years-old, Cary was diagnosed with trichotillomania and was put on medication, though the condition continued to affect him during his high school years; the consequential bald spots led to him being severely bullied and having to perpetually wear a baseball cap. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Investigators brought a cadaver dog to the area and quickly found Juli Sund’s body. Joie Ruth Armstrong had been working for the Yosemite Institute for the past year and had worked on education programs through a partnership with the National Park Service. It feels like it was so long ago that you forget that it even happened and feels like, almost like a dream or ... a movie that you watched. Stayner's brother, Steven Stayner, was kidnapped in 1972 and held for seven years, during which he was sexually abused. 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. Agents arrived at the scene early on the 19th and upon opening the trunk, investigators found two charred bodies. Justice Story: Twisted trail of 'Yosemite murders' leads to resort handyman Kenneth"Soldier" Stewart, 24, a former cellmate of Dykes who was charged with attempted murder. 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. Stayner eventually brought Rinek and Boles to the places he discussed during his confession and the evidence they would be able to find there. He was there for a couple of hours.". Her friend was murdered by a serial killer in Yosemite in 1999 ... - SFGATE July 23rd Stayner was questioned and released and Stayner fails to show up for work for the first time in a year and a half. Parts of Yosemite Killer's Confession Made Public "Cary Stayner left behind a boatload of evidence, and he knew it. ”How frightened the girls must have been when he cut their clothes off.”. Cary Stayner worked at Cedar Lodge for two years before he killed guests Carole and Juli Sund and Silvina Pelosso. But until today, he had been charged . Cary Stayner became a lost soul. More than seven years later, when Steven Stayner was 14, he and Parnell were living in Manchester along the coast of Northern California. July 26, 1999 Web posted at: 9:17 p.m. EDT (0117 GMT). Stayner, from Merced, California, was the older brother of Steven Stayner, who had been kidnapped at 7 years old in 1972, and forced to live with his captor Kenneth Parnell, who sexually assaulted the young boy over the next seven years. This account has been disabled. I can't. Due to his cartoon contributions to the school newspaper, Stayner was chosen as the "most creative" student in his graduating class at the age of 18 at Merced High School.[6]. When Steven Stayner was 14, Parnell got a local kid to help him kidnap another child, 5-year-old Timmy White. The entire time he was right there! Cary Anthony Stayner remains on death row at San Quentin State Prison twenty miles north of San Francisco . Lesli Armstrong, Armstrong's mother, started crying as she listened to Stayner, and said afterward that she believed his apology was genuine. He was sentenced to seven years in prison but only served five -- less time than he held Steven captive. "He was just our friend," she said. The idyllic setting, a grassy meadow dusted with wildflowers and roaming butterflies, contrasts sharply with the grisly details of her death. After agents detained him, Stayner confessed, according to the affidavit. Mariposa police arrested Stayner that same day for smoking marijuana and questioned him, but somehow due to a clerical error, he was released from custody overnight, Rinek said. He has been questioned about any involvement. Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? "Knowing that he had this kit inside of his backpack when he was around us every time is terrifying to me, and it's almost like a slap in the face to [know] how close it came for us. Stayner did not work there at the time; he had been laid off in January and was rehired in March. She had probably been murdered on the evening of Wednesday, July 21. 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. He usually ate lunch and dinner at the motel restaurant. Lenna said that after Cary Stayner's arrest, her family placed a Beanie Baby peace bear on a little, wicker float down the Merced River to give them peace about everything that happened. "That house had her prints all over it," said family friend Ken Skalitzky of Atlanta, who had known Joie Armstrong since she was a baby. Federal prosecutors are trying Stayner because Armstrong, a 26-year-old Yosemite National Park naturalist, died on federal land in July 1999. The prosecution team was headed by George Williamson and the defense team was headed by Marcia Morrissey. Ham, who has known Armstrong since she was a red-headed baby, remembered her as a vibrant woman who challenged herself daily. "He was just our friend. 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. In February 1980, Parnell decided to kidnap a new victim. Are you sure that you want to delete this photo? 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. Her headless body was found . ", FBI sources claimed that he had already confessed his guilt during the Saturday evening interrogation. And this time I want to hear, 'Tell me what the victim perceived. ... My mom went off the deep end, and um, harbors a lot of guilt. "It seemed as though he had a compulsion with trying to get close to women or be sexual with them. How can one family, contain two completely contrasting children? My sister and I adored him. Its manager had seen a story on television, recognized Stayner's photo as one of his guests, and notified the FBI. Parnell and Murphy were driving towards town when Stephen was lured into their vehicle and abducted. For four weeks, police, family, and volunteers searched the area in and near Yosemite National Park by helicopter, foot, and skis. Police eventually arrested two brothers with criminal records and wrongly accused them of the crimes. You seem like you're feeling better. Well-known Alberta psychologist Dr. Jody Carrington has been reprimanded by her professional college after pleading guilty to several allegations of misconduct. Stayner's next court appearance is scheduled for August 6 in Fresno. Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. I do that when I go home to my wife, and I break down and I start crying and I tell her then.". 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. FBI agents Jeff Rinek and John Boles found Stayner at the Laguna del Sol nudist resort in Wilson, California. I’m so sorry. "I could not believe what I’d just heard," the FBI's Rinek said. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. Through the media, authorities alerted the public to be on the lookout for Stayner. Her slaying was a federal case because her body was found in the national park. "I'd been gone for most of the day off the property. Confessed Yosemite killer sent apology to families, paper says The last victim to be found was Joie Ruth Armstrong- she had been beheaded. By the end of the car ride, Rinek had developed a connection with Cary Stayner. ”All of it’s been bad,” Delbert Stayner said of his family’s life. "My mom was extremely shocked. Lenna, whose daughter is now the age she was when she met Cary Stayner, said she had not returned to Cedar Lodge until last year. What were you feeling? Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. "He said he took the roll of duct tape and the knife and he threw it out there as far as he could," Rinek said. Did their killer escape? ", 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. We’ve updated the security on the site. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. Carole’s 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. Rinek recalled the moment Stayner took them to where he disposed of evidence in both murder cases. There was an error deleting this problem. As manager of this memorial you can add or update the memorial using the Edit button below. Her decapitated body was discovered Thursday near her home in the . You can always change this later in your Account settings. YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, CA On today's episode we are wrapping up the Murder of Joie Armstrong with Part 2 where we will get into more about Cary Stayner and the crimes that he allegedly committed and find out the conclusion to this tragic case where Joie Ruth Armstrong, a 26yo naturalist, was murdered while working in Yosemite National Park. "Joie was phenomenal," she told the Sacramento Bee. Armstrong's body was found nearby. I heard stories about him going out and wishing on a star, that his brother would come home. "He asked me if I thought it was just, and I told him absolutely no," said Rinek, who is the author of "In the Name of the Children," a true-crime account of the cases he has investigated during his career with the FBI, including the Cary Stayner case. On July 21, 1999, 26-year-old Joie Armstrong, a park naturalist, was packing for a trip to join friends. "The only time Steve would kill anything like a fish is because we were gonna eat it. Then Carole's wallet turned up in Modesto, which included money and credit cards. The car described was known to people in the area as Stayner’s car, and the FBI began looking for him as a potential witness to interview about Armstrong’s murder. Now 57, Stayner was sentenced to death in 2002 and has . Because we all, in law enforcement, when we look at somebody who’s killed someone else, we think to ourselves — at least I do — that that face was the last thing our victim saw before they died. [30] He was nevertheless found sane and convicted of three counts of first degree murder with special circumstances and one count of kidnapping by a jury on August 27, 2002. There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. "Who would go into an FBI office and ask two FBI agents to see child pornography? Before he'd driven to the nudist colony, Lenna said, Cary Stayner had gone looking for them but Lenna and her sister were at their grandmother's house. "I've asked myself whether we could have done anything differently that might have prevented the murder of Joie Armstrong," FBI Agent James Maddock said Sunday. They were at the Merced River, she said, when he started removing all of his clothes. Carole and her husband, Jens, 43, owned a realtors business in the Stockton area. Emotionally, Cary Stayner had a tough time during his childhood. She also worked at the Yosemite Institute with Kidd, and though the two weren't friends, they did know each other. The day Armstrong disappeared, Cary Stayner was driving his car to Foresta when he saw the young woman. Speaking to the FBI, Cary Stayner admitted to killing Armstrong and the three women at Cedar Lodge but he also caught agents unaware, telling them about Lenna and her sister and mother. 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.. FRESNO, Calif. — A federal court on Monday unsealed graphic excerpts of motel handyman Cary Stayner's confession to the 1999 murder of a Yosemite National Park naturalist after an appeals court refused to bar their release. Rinek feels the car ride was truly pivotal in terms of bonding with Stayner, as he believes Stayner was searching for intimacy and somehow found it with Rinek during that conversation. She was later killed by Cary Stayner, a worker at Cedar Lodge outside of Yosemite National Park. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again. Stayner told the agents that he wasn't being violent, just trying to subdue Armstrong and she fought back. Please enter your email and password to sign in. And we think that fun means something of a sexual nature that’s not good for the victim," former FBI agent Jeff Rinek told ABC News. In mid-July of 2002, the trial began in Judge Thomas C. Hastings’ courtroom. We have set your language to The car was hidden off a spur road where locals dump old refrigerators, cars, and washing machines. Stayner was interviewed a second time on Thursday, and again denied having been in the Foresta area the previous day, according to the affidavit. Stayner, 37, was to be arraigned later in the day in Sacramento for the slaying of Joie Ruth Armstrong, whose body was found Thursday. [6] When Steven escaped and returned home, he received massive media attention which resulted in the 1989 release of a television miniseries based on his experience, I Know My First Name Is Steven (also known as The Missing Years),[7][8][9] based on the true crime book of the same name, and Stayner once again felt overshadowed by the attention his brother got. This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates. He was right under everyone's nose. He originally was questioned and ruled out as a suspect in those killings. This time, agents detained him and forced him to answer more questions. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. But when they found the decapitated body and head of 26-year-old naturalist Joie Ruth Armstrong, they were led to one man: 37-year-old handyman Cary Stayner. I did murder Carole Sund, Juli Sund, Silvina Pelosso and Joie Armstrong ...None of the women were sexually abused in any way.". '", "In my opinion, Cary Stayner was not a psychopath. [6] Between February and July 1999, he murdered at least two women and two teenagers. But there isn’t. "When you hear these snippets, he’s going to sound clinical and unemotional, but this is what I asked him to do," Rinek said. Once the three of them got back to the field office, Stayner was ready to reveal the naked truth. Unlike the first three murders, where he left virtually no evidence, he knew that he had left a very easy trail for investigators," Rowlands said. That’s when I pulled out the gun and put it to her head. 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. Lenna was 10 or 11 when her mother began dating Cary Stayner, a worker at the Cedar Lodge outside of Yosemite National Park. Cary has a couple of nervous breakdowns. "I've struggled with that issue for the last 24 hours and continue to do so," said Maddock. Try again later. "I want to speak out for my family, who's been affected. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. Cary Stayner, The Yosemite Killer: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know Eventually, investigators found Armstrong's body near a stream in the woods about a half mile away from the cabin. But, to no avail. They said he was cooperative and agreed to talk with them. This memorial has been copied to your clipboard. You have the other brother who's left at home. FBI: Confessed to crime, suspect in three others. Try again. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. [11] He was also arrested in 1997 for possession of marijuana[6] and methamphetamines,[12] although these charges were eventually dropped. Yosemite Suspect Charged - CBS News Thanks for your help! They arrested him and took him to Sacramento for questioning. You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. They began to search for him on Friday after learning that he failed to show up for work at the Cedar Lodge that day. The death-penalty trial of Cary Stayner was moved from Mariposa County to Santa Clara County, CA. For seven years, Steven Stayner lived with Parnell, moving from one city to another, as the man sexually abused him. Shortly after Steven’s death, an uncle with whom Cary Stayner was very close was shot and killed in a home they shared together. During the sentencing hearing, Stayner stunned the courtroom when he suddenly broke down in tears and apologized. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. He was sentenced to death in December 2002 and remains on death row. 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. Now, 26-year-old Joie Ruth Armstrong was missing. Stayner’s father, Delbert Stayner, said his son was deprived of a fair trial by a ”kangaroo court” and a judge who ignored defense arguments. "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. YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, CA On today's episode we are wrapping up the Murder of Joie Armstrong with Part 2 where we will get into more about Cary Stayner and the crimes that he allegedly committed and find out the conclusion to this tragic case where Joie Ruth Armstrong, a 26yo naturalist, was murder… I felt he was in pain and suffering, and I felt that what he was doing by telling these stories was a good thing for him and it was a good thing of course for the victims’ families to know," Rinek said. Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. On July 21, 1999, 26-year-old Joie Armstrong, a park naturalist, was packing for a trip to join friends. ", Steven Stayner and Cary Stayner in the baseball cap in the background. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. In May 2002, Stayner pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1999 murder of Pelosso and the Sunds. "It’s difficult for me to picture what Cary has done and knowing Steve because their personalities are completely opposite," Duke, Steven’s former girlfriend, said. SACRAMENTO, California (CNN) -- Motel handyman Cary Stayner was ordered held on a complaint of murder Monday in connection with the beheading of a naturalist at Yosemite National Park. He exposed himself -- to one of his sister's friends," said magazine writer Sean Flynn. Correspondent Don Knapp contributed to this report, Co-workers say Yosemite suspect not known for violence, FBI arrests motel worker in Yosemite murder, FBI questions man after Yosemite naturalist slain, Slain Yosemite visitors fund offers reward in other death, All 3 missing Yosemite sighteers identified, officials say, Yosemite Online : The Yosemite Association.