Flynn said Satyner had "a couple of nervous breakdowns," one of which was "fairly violent. He's never caused any problems," Houtz, 32, said. See photo gallery . 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. Steven was a different person when he returned to his home in Merced, California. "Merced was the lead police department, and so they really mounted a large effort to search. Eight years later, Cary Stayner took a job as a handyman at Cedar Lodge, a motel just outside the El Portal entrance to Yosemite National Park. Steven Stayner and his parents, Kay Stayner and Delbert Stayner, reunited after seven years of losing their son in abduction. Because Stayner is on death row, he likely lives in a 48-square-foot single cell with only five hours of exercise allowed outside. Although he was quiet and kept to himself, he was an avid cartoonist who spent time in his class for gifted students doodling and drawing caricatures of people. He was a good student, a good artist, and he was very loving. She let go of all the values instilled in her as a child and cried while begging them to spare Carys life. He was held in captivity for seven years. After Steven had been abducted, Cary and a cousin spent a night with their uncle, who showed them nude photos of underage girls. 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 knew both of them. Stayner was lured into the vehicle and abducted. "He was just very well grounded, for a person that had gone through what he had gone through.". 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. He was perverted," Flores, 35, said. ", Thus began a seven-year ordeal in which Parnell held and sexually molested Stayner, forcing the boy to call him. Very seldom did he get into trouble. As per her testimony during Carys 2002 trial, she was raised to keep her emotions to herself by her father, who insisted that she would otherwise seem crazy like her mother. In 1997, Stayner got a job as a handyman at the Cedar Lodge, seven miles from the gate of the national park. Losing perspective? Panda's thread on parents of murderers reminded me of the Steven Stayner case and his parents. Cary Stayner's Parents are Kay Stayner and Delbert Stayner. But according to court testimony, the girls weren't safe. Stayner considered doing it on three different occasions. And I go, "Well, OK,' and so I got in the car. The FBI provided a number in case anyone saw him, which Damant called, per Esquire. 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. On Monday, Cary Stayner was to be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Sacramento for the murder of Joie Armstrong, a Yosemite Institute naturalist. "He was kind of a quiet guy. [4], When Steven escaped Parnell and returned home in 1980, he received massive media attention. Authorities said he strangled Carole. Steven Stayner was kidnapped when Cary Stayner was 11, Rinek wrote. She told him to stop, and he left only to reappear nude at the doorway. The following year, Cary's uncle, Jesse, with whom he was living at the time, was murdered. They then slept in the same bed, and Cary awoke to his uncle attempting to molest him, according to SFGate. Cary was arrested the following year and was convicted of all four women's murders and put to death in the trials that followed. The Stayners' family history of pedophilia had long been a problem, one that may have lasted for three generations, according to SFGate. Cary Stayner is an American serial killer and the oldest brother of Steven Stayner. Im so sorry. Cary Anthony Stayner claimed that he'd dreamed about women being gang-raped and murdered since he was about 7 years old, long before his brother was kidnapped or thought to be in danger, as time went on. 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. Cary Stayner in his arrest photo taken by the FBI./Cary Stayner in 2019. They were staying at Cedar Lodge at the edge of Yosemite National Park. "There wasnt really much time for us to speculate on whether this was related, I mean it quickly became related," said Des Kidd, former medical director at Yosemite who participated in search and rescue. The contrast between the two brothers is "surreal," Flynn said. [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. On 4 December 1972, Steven Stayner was kidnapped by Kenneth Parnell and his accomplice Ervin Murphy. Even if I confess, they are going to give me death.. Steven Stayner testifies about his abduction in 1972 by Kenneth Parnell and his seven years in captivity in this 1981 photo. One of those employees was Stayner, but he was not considered a suspect at that point because he had no criminal history and remained calm during the police interview.[8]. Inside was Kenneth Parnell and his friend Ervin Murphy. Emotionally, Cary Stayner had a tough time during his childhood.". "I'm just shocked that he would be involved in something like this.". His mental health issues predated his brother's abduction. 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. Cary Stayner is the oldest of five children in the Stayner family and was born in Merced, CA, in 1961. He is preceded in death by his parents, his brother, Jerry Stayner and. Click to reveal Steven Stayner is reunited with his parents Kay and Delbert Stayner on 2 March 1980 after escaping from a seven-year captivity (Courtesy of Hulu) America met Steven Stayner twice. 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. He wanted the world to take note. "He paid a local kid to ride with him to the little town of Ukiah, California, puts this high school kid out on the street to go find him a boy, and he finds 5-year-old Timothy White walking home from school," Flynn said. ", 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Hulu. In the little time I worked with him, he just seemed like a regular person.". During the sentencing hearing, Stayner stunned the courtroom when he suddenly broke down in tears and apologized. 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. While Steven was grappling with life after his escape, his brother was out of high school with his own troubles. She and her family have been the subject of more news stories and profiled in more books than some politicians and celebrities. He is still on death row in San Quentin State Prison at the age of 60. 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. I know theyre going to give me the death penalty. "Its dark and Timmy can't remember where he lives. He was a good student, a good artist, and he was very loving. Stayner's parents fear losing another son. [5] The bodies were burned beyond recognition and were identified using dental records. Cary at 6, watching television from the couch. At that time, Steven had been forced to endure sexual abuse by his kidnapper, whom he finally turned in to the police. He read comics and listened to metal, according to SFGate. Her mother was a waitress at the California lodge in 1998 and Stayner lived in an apartment above the restaurant. It happens to all families, I guess." White, who was a pallbearer at Stayner's funeral, died in 2010 at age 35 due to a pulmonary embolism. Still, Stayner wanted to help his parents and asked that a $250,000 reward for information go to his family, Rinek . 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. [4] Between February and July 1999, he murdered two women and two teenagers: 42-year-old Carole Sund; her daughter, 15-year-old Juli Sund; Juli's friend, 16-year-old Argentine exchange student Silvina Pelosso; and Yosemite Institute employee Joie Ruth Armstrong, a 26-year-old naturalist.[5]. When he returned home, he was a promiscuous teenager with an alcohol problem and later died in a motorcycle crash. But Stayner made some around him feel uncomfortable, particularly girls his age. While both of them are fairly well-known, its for entirely different reasons. Cary's mother, Kay Stayner, had also been molested by her own father, per SFGate. When Steven Stayner returned home, the whole family's focus was on him, she said. It was common for the couple to load the kids in the car and take off in search of a new tip that could lead them to Steven. California Department of CorrectionsCary Stayners prison record. '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. Stayner is now 60 years old and is currently being held in San Quentin State prison, per California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Parnell was convicted on kidnapping and false imprisonment charges. The naive child believed the pedophile and thereafter began a new and dark life with Parnell as his abusive father figure. He died at the age of 79, and the reason for his death has not been publicly disclosed as far as we can ascertain. Joie Ruth Armstrong, a naturalist at Yosemite National Park, was brutally murdered by Cary Stayner, a motel handyman at the Cedar Lodge in El Portal, Calif. (The . Meanwhile, investigators began to suspect Stayner and released his name to the public. He was found smoking marijuana and brought in for questioning. When Steven was abducted, Cary had wished upon a star every night that Steven would return, per SFGate. Stayner left a substantial amount of evidence in and around Armstrongs cottage, but police initially started searching for him because his vehicle had been seen near her place and they thought he would be a "natural witness to interview," Rinek said. Refocus, and listen as we honor the memory of Steven Stayner, a boy kidnapped in his youth, only to tragically die shortly after escaping captivity. Unlike his brother, Cary Stayner wasn't abducted, but that hardly meant his home was safe. 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 Sund and Silvina Pelosso in. 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. What happened to Gary Hilton? Stayner was tried in federal court for Armstrong's murder since it occurred on federal land. The two brothers of the Stayner family are both famous, both tied to the wonder of Yosemite National Park, and both knew unspeakable horror. At a press conference outside the Stayner house, "everyone was smiling, there was a lot of jubilation, but if you look in the background, there's something worth noting, and it's Cary in his baseball cap, and he's not smiling at all," according to Flynn. His father, Delbert Stayner, admitted that he became so obsessed about finding Steven at the cost of his relationship with his other children, according to SFGate. The head turned up, 27 feet away. Steven Stayner was a child who was abducted in Merced, California, in 1972, at the age of seven. The case sparked national . He had to wear a hat to school to cover up the bald spots, which led to bullying. "I knew he was kinda weird, but I never knew he would get to that level of actually murdering anyone.". But Cary Stayner also exhibited some behaviors that made others uncomfortable, including, as he later admitted, exposing himself to his sister's friend. His abductor kept and sexually abused Steven for seven years. Presently, he remains incarcerated at the San Quentin State Prison. By then police had charged two other men for Stayner's initial murders two brothers who had a criminal record, per ABC News. Lesli Armstrong, Armstrong's mother, started crying as she listened to Stayner, and said afterward that she believed his apology was genuine. When the FBI arrived at the restaurant, Stayner was eating breakfast. After all, the latter helped a 5-year-old child escape a pedophile as a teenager after enduring years of abuse. Shortly after Stevens death, an uncle with whom Cary Stayner was very close was shot and killed in a home they shared together. Steven Stayner's incredible story features in the captivating Hulu crime drama Captive Audience. His mother, Kay, flipped through the photographs Thursday from a witness stand in Santa Clara County Superior Court. 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. When a tip was called in about Stayner's car, which had been parked near the crime scene, investigators only thought of him as a potential witness, per ABC News. "Steven could have grown up normal happy and healthy and Cary still wouldve been a serial killer. Cary Stayner had been sexually abused by his uncle, while his sisters were abused by their father, Delbert Stayner. In 1986, Delbert was court-ordered to therapy after abuse allegations. His mother, Kay, had been late to pick him up at school, and instead of walking . A third brother, Cary Stayner, is seen in a ball cap in the background between his brothers Steven and Delbert. According to the psychiatrists report, Stayners father, Delbert Stayner, was ordered into therapy for molesting his own daughters. 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. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. A month later, Juli's body was found 40 miles away. What happened to Cary Stayner, and where is he now? He started chatting with one of the bar's regulars, Janet Damant. "I yelled at him a lot.". [] Stayner's parents, who apologized to the families of the victims, advocated against the death penalty. Join us for the details!#TrueCrime pic.twitter.com/9NbnXrqoiv, TrueCrimeAllTheTime (@TCAllTheTime) June 16, 2017. Cary Stayner is the oldest of five children in the Stayner family and was born in Merced, CA, in 1961. It was nominated for four Emmys and a Golden Globe, according to theIndependent. That year Parnell recently kidnapped another young boy to replace the aging Stayner, 5-year-old Timothy White. When his sister had a sleepover, he crawled under the bed of one of her friends in order to touch her breasts. Powered by. The Stayner family, made up of the two brothers, their three sisters and parents Kay and Delbert, lived in the secluded farming town of Merced, California, surrounded by almond groves and peach orchards, in the shadow of Yosemite National Park. Today, the idea of a 7-year old walking home from school alone is almost unheard of. But after he and a fellow victim escaped in . As for where Delbert and Kay Stayner are now, the pair had made it evident that they wanted to lead quiet lives after the events of the early 2000s. "He was spunky. However, during Cary's murder trial, his attorneys argued that he never wanted fame or attention, calling him a "shrinking violet," per the Independent. 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. "His idea of serenity was to maybe smoke a little pot and to sunbathe naked.". You know what I mean? "If his dying would bring these people back, I'd say do it," she said. Prosecutors say he is among the worst criminals in California and should be put to death. For two weeks, Steven watched Timothy suffer the separation from his family. Detectives traced this vehicle to Stayner, which led to him becoming the prime suspect in the case. Delbert served as a mechanic at a peach can factory at that point in time, whereas Kay was a wife and mother whom many characterized as cold and distant. The brothers, four years apart in age, shared a room, but didnt get along, according to Rowlands. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - The Florida Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Gary Michael Hilton,Read More There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Stayner is on death row, serving time with a man convicted in another high-profile murder case, Scott Peterson. Only 13 were executed, according to KMPH News. Stayner was sentenced to death for the four murders, and is still on death row at San Quentin Penitentiary in California. Watch "20/20's" full story, "The Black Sheep," TONIGHT at 9 p.m. When the decapitated body of Joie Ruth Armstrong was found, eyewitnesses said they saw a blue 1972 International Scout parked outside the cabin where she was staying. 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. Aged seven, Stayner, a California native, was abducted by child molester Kenneth Parnell. Stayner's defense attorneys positioned Stayner as a victim of mental illness and trauma, stemming from his brother's abduction and having been molested as a child, according to SFGate. Five months after killing the trio, he decapitated Joie Armstrong, a 26- year-old Yosemite naturalist. Still, Stayner wanted to help his parents, so he asked as a condition of his confession that a $250,000 reward offered by his victims family members go to his own family, Rinek wrote. There was out and out fury over the sentence," Flynn said. An FBI agent believed they would've been Stayner's next victims had he not been caught,per ABC News. On December 4, 1972, seven-year-old Stayner was abducted in Merced, California, by child molester Kenneth Parnell.He was held by his abductor 38 miles (61 km) away in Mariposa County, California, and later in Mendocino County, California, until he was aged 14, when he managed to escape with . 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. "I didn't socialize with him," he said. 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