The penalty phase is scheduled to resume today, and closing arguments are planned for Monday. "I knew both of them. In the car, Stayner started rambling about seeing Bigfoot in the woods. Moreover, according to his testimony in 2002, when Steven went missing, he became fixated with finding him and neglected his four other children in the process, particularly Cary. Parnell was convicted on kidnapping and false imprisonment charges. What was worse, Kay Stayner said, was that family members never talked about their feelings -- because in the Stayner home emotions were taboo. What happened to Gary Hilton? In 2021, it was penalized around $400,000 for safety violations that resulted in a COVID-19 outbreak and 28 inmate deaths, per CNN. For years, Parnell traveled around California with Steven. And now this. Years later, his brother Cary Stayner would go on to murder four people. In 1989, Steven tragically died in a motorcycle accident at 24 years old, per A&E. Nearly 20 years later, Stayner is still on death row, his prison record shows. After Stayner's first murder spree, he hired a cab driver to take him away from the area. Stayner's father, Delbert Stayner, was accused of sexually abusing his daughters, and Rinek wrote sexual abuse in the family went back at least five generations. Stayner told his high school girlfriend that he was determined to save White from Parnell, according to ABC News. [5] The bodies were burned beyond recognition and were identified using dental records. During the sentencing hearing, Stayner stunned the courtroom when he suddenly broke down in tears and apologized. 42-year-old Carole Sund, 15-year-old Juli Sund, 16-year-old Silvina Pelosso, and 26-year-old Joie Ruth . This includes a 9-year kidnapping and a serial killing pic.twitter.com/WgWQCdDk7h, may queen (@syanarchy) February 19, 2020. FBI/California Department of Corrections Seven years later, after escaping his captor, he returned home. Her head, which had been removed, was found several feet away in the water. And for a brief moment, a wave of good memories appeared to wash over her face. Panda's thread on parents of murderers reminded me of the Steven Stayner case and his parents. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. His abductor kept and sexually abused Steven for seven years. During his interrogation, Stayner shocked the agents when he confessed not only to Armstrong's decapitation but to the murders of Pelosso and the Sunds and the sending of the map for finding Juli Sund's body. Cary's mother, Kay Stayner, had also been molested by her own father, per SFGate. His high school girlfriend said he later told her what happened. And if I didnt take care of it now, it would just get worse,'" Duke said. The trial was so emotionally charged that Judge Thomas C. Hastings had to leave the room to gather himself, and when he returned, he appeared as if he had cried. But there isnt. Purdy said Cary Stayner always wore a hat. Steven was told his new name was Dennis Parnell and was enrolled in school. He sure led a rough life, California Highway Patrol Sgt. In 2002 Cary Stayner was convicted of first degree murder on four counts. On December 4, 1972, seven-year-old Steven Stayner was on his way home from school when Ervin Edward Murphy approached him, pretending to be a dude from the church handing out gospel tracts, as. ", "The first year was kinda hectic," Steven said on GMA in 1983. One son was abducted when he was 7-years-old. In December 1972, when Stayner was seven, he was approached . Cos Ive not until about an hour ago and its definitely one for the books. You could see that he wanted to play and be with kids and be normal.". Tragically, Steven Stayner was killed in a 1989 motorcycle accident at age 24. Still, Stayner wanted to help his parents and asked that a $250,000 reward for information go to his family, Rinek . On top of that, cameras were constantly following Stayner. Stayner and White left while Parnell was at work and took refuge at a police station, where they informed authorities of their abduction. He'd also told one of his coworkers that he'd been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, but that he was able to cope by smoking a joint. 1201), Attempted aggravated sexual abuse resulting in death (18 U.S.C. "Parnell wanted another kid that he could sexually assault.". Losing perspective? Stayner's father, Delbert, admitted that he thinks son Cary may have suffered a trauma at age 11, when younger brother Steven, then seven, was abducted in 1972, disappearing for eight years. In December 1990, Jesse "Jerry" Stayner, 42, Cary and Steven's uncle, was shot to death in his Merced home. Shawn, who was missing since Oct. 2002, was. Originally published January 20, 2007 at 12:00 am. According to local reporter Ted Rowlands, Stayner wanted to connect sexually with girls but struggled to have normal relationships with them (via ABC News). Hulu. "He literally said, 'I was not going to let that child go through what I had already been through. Carole and Pelosso's bodies were found burned and in the trunk of Carole's rental car. Cary Stayner is not just a convicted killer and rapist, but hes also the older brother of kidnapping victim Steven Stayner. Stayner had been at Cedar Lodge for two years when Carole Sund, her teenage daughter Juli Sund and her friend Silvina Pelosso came to stay one night in February 1999. Steven Stayner with his parents In their four years together, they welcomed daughter Ashley, followed by son Steven Jr. But he received it nevertheless, and he is in prison. He was discovered by police and gave this statement: "My . [15] Stayner remains on death row as of May 2022[update][16][1] though there have been no executions in California since a 2006 court ruling over flaws in the administration of capital punishment in the state. In February 1980, Parnell decided to capture a new, younger boy. The world is a crazy place, full of unknown dangers. He was easy to spot because he was the only person wearing clothes, per ABC News. Not only was Steven able to explain to police what happened to him and Timothy, he was also able to tell them his real name was Steven, not Dennis. One of her daughters, Lenna, was interviewed by ABC's 20/20 in 2019 and said she and her sister were excited whenever Stayner visited. Emotionally, Cary Stayner had a tough time during his childhood.". The Stayners' neighbors told SFGate that Cary felt disregarded by Steven's fame and wanted that same attention and publicity. Cary's uncle had been formerly convicted of child molestation, but he was still allowed to spend time alone with him. If being the mother of one of California's most notorious killers isn't tragic enough, Kay Stayner is also the mother of one of its most high-profile victims. After several weeks, the bodies of all three women were discovered. [] Kay Stayner said that although her father molested her as a child, she allowed him to live in the Stayner home but kept him away from her daughters. "I yelled at him a lot.". His abductor kept and sexually abused Steven for seven years. Nearly 20 years later, Stayner is still on death row, his prison record shows.California Department of CorrectionsCary Stayner's prison record. The other grew up to become a serial killer who terrorized the Yosemite forest. She started at the Chronicle as a general assignment reporter, covering breaking news, catastrophes, crime, criminal and civil trials. Kay and Delbert Stayner testified as character witnesses in the penalty phase of their son's murder trial. When Steven Stayner made his heroic return home, he became famous and his story engrossed the nation. In 2002, he was convicted of all four murders and sentenced to death row, per A&E True Crime.At the time of this writing, Stayner, now 60, remains locked up at San Quentin State Prison in California, alongside another high-profile convicted killer, Scott Peterson.That seems unlikely to change anytime soon. As a kid, Cary Stayner became famous for all the bad things that happened to his family. He loved his brother. At first, Cary was concerned for his brother's safety, but later on, he started feeling neglected by his parents, and only found comfort in crime. Currently, she is a business reporter, covering the food and wine industries, agriculture and tourism. "He and Ervin Murphy got into Ken's big, white Buick and drove into Merced.". "Steven didn't understand the rules that he was now expected to live by. This time, in July, Stayner told Damant that he intended to move to Oregon or Utah. Along Bette Street, neighbors searched for clues from Cary Stayner's childhood that he was capable of the gruesome crime. Kay Stayner, left, and her son's attorney, Marcia Morrissey, right, leave the Santa Clara Superior Court during a break in the penalty phase of her son's murder trial Thursday, Oct. 3, 2002. Courtesy of Hulu The relentless attention was difficult. Stayner told another psychiatrist, Park Dietz, who was hired by the prosecution to evaluate whether he was sane at the time he committed the Yosemite murders, that as a child he worried that the obsessive thoughts he had about holding the neighbor girl against her will somehow caused Steven to be kidnapped. Now Steven Stayner's brother, Cary, 37, was the prime suspect in the decapitation killing of a young naturalist, and the FBI suggested he had a role in the murder of three Yosemite tourists in February - Carole Sund, her daughter, Juli, and family friend Silvina Pelosso. His story was turned into a television miniseries. Stayner's brother, Cary, is in San Quentin State Prison awaiting execution for killing four women in Yosemite National Park in 1999. "We got Steve back, not Stevie," said Kay Stayner, who spent a lot of time telling the jury about the toll her youngest son's disappearance took on the family and how it affected Cary. Stayner's parents fear losing another son. No executions have been made in California, since the year 2006 when a court . Prosecutors say he is among the worst criminals in California and should be put to death. Steven Stayner was the middle child of a family from Merced, California. The two hitchhiked to Ukiah, California. Born on April 18, 1965, Steven Stayner was the third of 5 children born in the Stayner family in Merced, California. "His idea of serenity was to maybe smoke a little pot and to sunbathe naked.". The results showed that his mental issues were aligned with schizophrenia and other mental disorders. Linda Shertz, stepmother of Lynnea, said Cary Stayner was traumatized by his brother's abduction. Stayner had a traumatic childhood involving sexual abuse, the kidnapping of his younger brother by a pedophile, and feelings of guilt that he could not protect his brother, Rinek wrote in his book. 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.[10]. As he was walking home from school on December 4th 1972, he was approached by a man named Ervin Murphy claiming to be a representative of the church who was looking for donations. And I said, "Well, it's just a little ways, I can walk.' Some. Is Cary Stayner still on death row in California? "He seemed like a nice guy. Only 13 were executed, according to KMPH News. [5] FBI agents John Boles and Jeff Rinek found Stayner staying at the Laguna del Sol nudist resort in Wilton, where he was arrested and taken to Sacramento for questioning. "For seven years I have been supposedly an only child. While his brother was outgoing and popular at Merced High, Cary Stayner was known as more of an introvert. "Whatever demons were clamoring around in his head, by being naked, by smoking pot, he could find the peace that he so desperately needed," LaLama said. By this point, Cary Stayner was suffering. What happened to Steven's older brother, Cary? Publicity would prove to be the least of their worries. After her friends reported her missing, police found signs of a struggle at her cabin and half a mile away, they found her body. I know theyre going to give me the death penalty. Perhaps confident in his evasion, he sent FBI investigators a letter with a map, detailing where he had left Juli's body and hinting that he had sexually assaulted the body. He had visited the resort before in March after his first murder spree, and he lived there in a tent beside a lake. "I was just talking to someone about this. The tale of his abduction and escape was adapted into a book and novel, both titled "I Know My Name First Name Is Steven." He's never caused any problems," Houtz, 32, said. Their remarkably dark and tragic lives are told in Hulu's recent documentary "Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story." Stayners case was granted additional attention because of his brother, Steven Stayner, who had been kidnapped and was missing for seven years. His seven-year-old brother, Steven Stayner, was kidnapped by child molester Kenneth Parnell in 1972, when Cary was 11, and held captive for more than seven years before escaping and being reunited with his family. "It seemed as though he had a compulsion with trying to get close to women or be sexual with them," Rowlands said. He was perverted," Flores, 35, said. He had been a young patrol officer in 1972 when Cary Stayner's younger brother, Steven Stayner, was snatched off a Merced street in the county's most infamous kidnapping. Cary with his little brother, Steven. "They call [Merced] the gateway to Yosemite," said Ted Rowlands, a former reporter who covered Cary Stayners story at KNTV for the San Francisco Bay area. At the end of his murder trial in 2002, Cary Stayner was sentenced to death for the murders of Carole and Juli Sund and Silvina Pelosso. The brothers, Cary and Steven Stayner, were dual opposites; although Cary didn't experience the same abduction ordeal as his younger brother, Steven, he dealt with his own demons and ultimately succumbed to them through rape and murder. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. The case remains unsolved. With caring parents, three sisters, and an elder brother, Steven seemed to have a normal childhood, but all that changed on the afternoon of December 4, 1972. When was 7, he imagined himself killing female cashiers at a grocery store, per SFGate. "I heard stories about him going out and wishing on a star, that his brother would come home.". In the 1970s, they constituted Cary and Steven, their three sisters, and their parents, Kay and Delbert Stayner. He was found smoking marijuana and brought in for questioning. In the 1970s, they constituted Cary and Steven, their three sisters, and their parents, Kay and Delbert Stayner. I want a movie-of-the-week made about my story,'" Rowlands said. By the time Steven was 14, he had been abused and manipulated by Parnell for seven years. However, during Cary's murder trial, his attorneys argued that he never wanted fame or attention, calling him a "shrinking violet," per the Independent. Stayner is on death row, serving time with a man convicted in another high-profile murder case, Scott Peterson. Steven Stayner and Timmy White at a police press conference in 1980. But Cary Stayner also exhibited some behaviors that made others uncomfortable, including, as he later admitted, exposing himself to his sister's friend. Seven-year-old, Steven Stayner lived with his parents, Kay and Delbert and his three sisters and an older brother in the small Californian city of Merced. 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. His family came to national attention in the early 1970s when his younger brother, Steven, became the center of a nationally followed child abduction case after being kidnapped at age 7 and held captive for seven years. Growing up, brothers Cary and Steven Stayner shared a home with their parents and three sisters in Merced, California a small farming town near Yosemite National Park according to the. He died at the age of 79, and the reason for his death has not been publicly disclosed as far as we can ascertain. Stayner is reported to have attempted suicide in 1991,[6] and was arrested in 1997 for possession of marijuana[4] and methamphetamine,[7] although these charges were eventually dropped. Lynnea Shertz, who grew up two doors down from the Stayners, remembered Cary Stayner as a scrawny teenager who liked to draw figures. White, who was a pallbearer at Stayner's funeral, died in 2010 at age 35 due to a pulmonary embolism. Very seldom did he get into trouble. In the Name of the Children: An FBI Agents Relentless Pursuit of the Nations Worst Predators, Steven Stayner Death: How Carys Stayners Brother Died. His father worked for the Shoe Corporation of America, founded by his father-in-law, Robert Schiff and later was chairperson of Shoe Corporation of Canada and Clark International Corp. The film was a two-part mini series that debuted in 1989, per TCM. And on July 21, Stayner killed again. Born on August 13, 1961, Cary was raised in Merced, California along with his younger brother, Steven Stayner, who was kidnapped by child molester Kenneth Parnell in 1972, when Cary was barely 11. When Steven Stayner returned home, the whole family's focus was on him, she said. A third brother, Cary Stayner, is seen in a ball cap in the background between his brothers Steven and Delbert. "They said they wanted to get away and wash away some bad memories.". Cary at 6, watching television from the couch. 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 ABC News. He had begun working as a handyman at a motel in El Portal in the 1990s. Investigators went to the location depicted on the map and found the remains of Juli, whose throat had been cut. He finally ran away and turned himself over to a nearby police department. Steven Stayner, then 24, had married and had two children. He said, 'I want you to get a hold of some producers in Los Angeles. He told Hartman that his parents "didnt change that much," but his brother and sisters, "they changed a lot. Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). When 800,000 children disappear every year worldwide - 460,000 of these from the United States . Jesse Houtz, co-owner of Cedar Lodge Restaurants, said Cary Stayner would hang out at the bar, but often kept to himself. "Merced was the lead police department, and so they really mounted a large effort to search. [4] The serial killer is still alive due to the abolition of capital punishment in the state of California. Although an almost four-year age gap separated the two brothers, with Cary being the eldest of all five siblings, they seemed incredibly close. The driver was taken aback by his strange behavior but did nothing about it since the FBI had publicly announced that the killer was likely in custody, according to ABC News. The abductor abused Steven and planned to use the boy to abduct more victims. Steven's father, Delbert Stayner, died on April 9, 2013 at his home in Winton, California. 'Zero visibility' conditions: All roads to Tahoe are closed, One of the largest movie theaters in SF to close permanently, Report: Matthew McConaughey has a massive Salesforce paycheck, 'Really cool sight': Rare waterspout forms in Northern California, A different horse': Bay Area will likely continue to see rain, My meal at this landmark SF spot was too expensive to be so bad, Man shot dead near San Francisco Ferry Building, 'Lady in the fridge' murder victim ID'd as Bay Area mother of 3, Buster Posey has weak answer on Giants owner's politics, These East Bay gems are a haven for music lovers, Snow shuts down over 70 miles of I-80 in Northern California, 'Life threatening': Tahoe braces for massive blizzard, 10 beach essentials to pack for a spring break vacation, You can still overpack the smaller Monos check-in suitcase. Stayners father, Delbert Stayner, was accused of sexually abusing his daughters, and Rinek wrote sexual abuse in the family went back at least five generations. Shortly after Stevens death, an uncle with whom Cary Stayner was very close was shot and killed in a home they shared together. Stayner was sentenced to death for the four murders, and is still on death row at San Quentin Penitentiary in California. Im not sure there is any direct cause and effect," Flynn said. [1], Cary Stayner was born and raised in Merced, California. In high school, he served as the cartoonist for the student paper and was voted "most creative" by his classmates, per ABC News. Stayner was questioned several times by law enforcement and eventually confessed to the 1999 murders of 42-year-old Carole Sund, her 15-year-old daughter Juli, their 16-year-old family friend Silvina Pelosso and Joie Armstrong, a 26-year-old Yosemite naturalist, according to History. Those who knew him assumed he would go on to become a graphic artist or a professional cartoonist. He is also the prime suspect in the Sund-Pelosso case. Lesli Armstrong, Armstrong's mother, started crying as she listened to Stayner, and said afterward that she believed his apology was genuine. You have the other brother who's left at home. Steven was kidnapped at 7 years old (12/4/72) by a child molester who he lived with for 7 years. He also revealed a disturbing truth: he originally intended to kill his girlfriend and her daughters before he went on to target Carole Sund, Juli Sund, and Silvina Pelosso on February 15, 1999. At that time, Steven had been forced to endure sexual abuse by his kidnapper, whom he finally turned in to the police. That night, he talked his way into their room under the guise of fixing a leak, and then sexually assaulted both girls and brutally murdered all three. "Cary was very upset," childhood friend Mike Marchese told ABC News in a 1999 interview. Cary Stayner, who had been working as a handyman at Cedar Lodge for less than two years, was responsible for the murders. Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). The case sparked national . See photo gallery . Stayner, 41, faces the death penalty for the killings of Carole Sund, 42, her daughter, Juli, 15, and their Argentine friend Silvina Pelosso, 16, while they were staying at the motel where he. He smoked cigarettes. Our days would be-- just get on our bikes in the morning and go to the park. ". I wouldnt think that he would think of himself as one, but he is a hero.". The first two victims, Carole Sund and Pelosso, were found in the trunk of the charred remains of Sund's Pontiac rental car. When Cary Stayner was just 11, his younger brother, Steven, 7, was snatched from a Merced street on his way home from school. The murders occurred in Mariposa County, California near Yosemite National Park. To avoid a possible death sentence, he pleaded guilty to premeditated first-degree murder, felony first-degree murder, kidnapping resulting in death, and attempted aggravated sexual abuse resulting in death. "The only time Steve would kill anything like a fish is because we were gonna eat it. ", 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. The fact that Stayners brother was kidnapped by a pedophile and abused for seven years adds an almost unfathomable dimension to the tragedy that enveloped this family. On 4 December 1972, Steven Stayner was kidnapped by Kenneth Parnell and his accomplice Ervin Murphy. San Quentin is a notoriously tough place to live with a checkered human rights history. "At some point, Parnell and Steven together realized that Steven was growing up and that he was no longer going to be controlled by Parnell," Lunney said. Cary Stayner, shown in this March 2, 1980 photo, is hugged by his mother Kay Stayner outside the Stayner home in Merced County, Calif., on the day Stayner's brother Steven was reunited with his family after being kidnapped for 7 years. With the palm of his hands, Cary Stayner wiped away his own tears. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Presently, he remains incarcerated at the San Quentin State Prison. The defendant's father, Delbert Stayner, testified that after Steven went missing, he became obsessed with finding his boy and neglected his other four children -- especially Cary. Rinek wrote that even though the abuse likely poured fuel on a fire for Stayner to eventually commit murder, it was a fire that had already begun to smolder before he was sexually abused and before his brother was kidnapped. Getty. Cary Stayner, Steven's older brother, was a handyman at the Cedar Lodge just outside the park where the women were staying, according to the Modesto Bee. There was out and out fury over the sentence," Flynn said. Parnell changed Stayner's name to Dennis Parnell and enrolled him in a new school, 300 miles away from where his real siblings attended. He had two brothers: Richard S. Lee and Jonathan O. Lee. In 1972, when he was eleven, his seven-year-old brother, Steven Stayner, was abducted by a pedophile, Kenneth Parnell, and didn't escape until eight years later. Cary Stayner was Steven's older brother, born on August 13, 1961. [5] The top of the note read, "We had fun with this one." I'd play basketball with them, hang out with them," said Tim Tatum. Now we only had four children to clothe," she told the court. Detectives traced this vehicle to Stayner, which led to him becoming the prime suspect in the case. The panel has rejected his insanity defense and found him guilty of killing Carole Sund, 42, her daughter, Juli, 15, and their 16- year-old Argentine friend, Silvina Pelosso. Because Stayner is on death row, he likely lives in a 48-square-foot single cell with only five hours of exercise allowed outside. Delbert Stayner, left, and his wife Kay, 2nd from left, talk with their son's attorney, Marcia Morrissey, second from right, and an unidentified member of the defense team, outside of Santa Clara Superior Court during the penalty phase of Cary Stayner's murder trial on Thursday, October 3, 2002. Cary Stayner was convicted in the 1999 murders of 42-year-old Carole Sund, . In 1999 - years after Steven returned home - Cary murdered four people near Yosemite National Park. An FBI agent said that Stayner recounted his crimes "as if he was reading a soup label," (via ABC News). "I don't think he should be executed because he's sick.". "I think Cary after high school seemed a little lost, like he didnt know where he was going," Bungart said. He wanted the world to take note. "He said, "OK,' and gave me these booklets and he asked me if I wanted a ride home.