See photo gallery . California Department of CorrectionsCary Stayners prison record. Cary Stayner is not just a convicted killer and rapist, but hes also the older brother of kidnapping victim Steven Stayner. 11 min read. Cary's mother, Kay Stayner, had also been molested by her own father, per SFGate. Nearly 20 years after that, Steven's older brother Cary would murder four women near Yosemite National Park. Cary Stayner will forever be known for marring Yosemite's reputation as a peaceful retreat with the brutal murders of four innocent women. She had to tell him to leave a second time, per SFGate. "There was a movie made about Steven Stayner. Steven Stayner was kidnapped when Cary Stayner was 11, Rinek wrote. Authorities had already interviewed him once before about the other three murders, but at the time he hadnt raised any red flags. Tragically, Steven Stayner was killed in a 1989 motorcycle accident at age 24. "I heard stories about him going out and wishing on a star, that his brother would come home.". Stayner had trouble developing relationships with girls, despite some interest from them. He was a good student, a good artist, and he was very loving. Parnell changed Stayner's name to Dennis Parnell and enrolled him in a new school, 300 miles away from where his real siblings attended. Stayner is now 60 years old and is currently being held in San Quentin State prison, per California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "I knew he was kinda weird, but I never knew he would get to that level of actually murdering anyone.". But Rinek recalled Stayner saying he would die with a clear conscience. But he received it nevertheless, and he is in prison. His story was turned into a television miniseries. Stayner's parents fear losing another son. 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. Cary Stayner, who had been working as a handyman at Cedar Lodge for less than two years, was responsible for the murders. When Steven returned home on March 2, 1980, the cameras were there to capture the moment he hugged his parents, Kay and Delbert Stayner. "I knew both of them. [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]. Then he took matters into his own hands. Being a mother, we assume Kay continues to miss her sons, but likes to keep it private, as made clear on her Facebook account. "For seven years I have been supposedly an only child. He. He had told her then that he left because the police presence was overwhelming. Steven Stayner testifies about his abduction in 1972 by Kenneth Parnell and his seven years in captivity in this 1981 photo. Cary was the ideal son, Kay Stayner revealed to the jury during her elder sons trial for murder. Detectives began interviewing employees of the Cedar Lodge motel where the first three victims had been staying just before their deaths. Would love your thoughts, please comment. In 1989, Steven tragically died in a motorcycle accident at 24 years old, per A&E. This is a carousel. You could see that he wanted to play and be with kids and be normal.". "But he was unable to develop any sort of interpersonal relationships with any women.". Carole and Pelosso's bodies were found burned and in the trunk of Carole's rental car. The boy was asked if he wanted to donate something to a church. Detectives traced this vehicle to Stayner, which led to him becoming the prime suspect in the case. 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. You have the other brother who's left at home. "But executing him is not going to bring them back.". The tale of his abduction and escape was adapted into a book and novel, both titled "I Know My Name First Name Is Steven." Cary at 6, watching television from the couch. Cary Stayner is now better known as 'The Yosemite Park Killer' after being convicted of the serial murders of four women in the grounds of the national park. After Stayner's first murder spree, he hired a cab driver to take him away from the area. Her head, which had been removed, was found several feet away in the water. The film was a two-part mini series that debuted in 1989, per TCM. Last year, he became famous for the bad things that happened to four women in Yosemite National Park. What happened to Gary Hilton? Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? "Its dark and Timmy can't remember where he lives. On 4 December 1972, Steven Stayner was kidnapped by Kenneth Parnell and his accomplice Ervin Murphy. He smoked cigarettes. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. His brother Steven was held captive for more than seven years before escaping and reuniting with his family. In addition to his fraught life at home and at school, Steven, still just a teenager by this point, also had to face Parnell in court. Sadly, even though she kept her father away from her daughters while he stayed with them, they were still unsafe as Delbert reportedly carried on the cycle of parental molestation. "Kenneth Parnell stops the car and goes to a payphone, he comes back and tells Steven, 'Your parents, I just spoke to them. The two hitchhiked to Ukiah, California. 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. He goes, "OK. Don't worry. It was Dec. 4, 1972. When was 7, he imagined himself killing female cashiers at a grocery store, per SFGate. California Department of CorrectionsCary Stayner's prison record. The contrast between the two brothers is "surreal," Flynn said. In December 1990, Jesse "Jerry" Stayner, 42, Cary and Steven's uncle, was shot to death in his Merced home. [5] The top of the note read, "We had fun with this one." His high school girlfriend said he later told her what happened. "Steven could have grown up normal happy and healthy and Cary still wouldve been a serial killer. [4] "He was spunky. Seven years later, after escaping his captor, he returned home. [2] 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. For years, Parnell traveled around California with Steven. have yall heard of Steven and Cary Stayner? There was out and out fury over the sentence," Flynn said. He was seven years older and no longer the little brother Cary had once bonded with. 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. Steven Gregory Stayner (April 18, 1965 - September 16, 1989) was an American kidnapping victim. A child abductee's journey back. In addition to her fathers unwanted advances, one of Stayners sisters said that Cary started peeping on her and inappropriately touching her when she was ten. He often carried a backpack that she later found out contained his murder weapons. Stayner had been arrested the same day Joie Armstrong's body was found but for a different crime. Within days, he's on 'Good Morning America,'" Flynn said. On trial for his life, Stayner sat just a few feet away. Cary's brother, Steven . "Dad" and saying his parents no longer wanted him. Thomas H. Lee is the son of Herbert C. Lee and Mildred "Micki" Schiff Lee. But Kay knew that child molestation, something she went through, was out of the question. Stayner saved White from his captor after he was kidnapped. Join us for the details!#TrueCrime pic.twitter.com/9NbnXrqoiv, TrueCrimeAllTheTime (@TCAllTheTime) June 16, 2017. Their remarkably dark and tragic lives are told in Hulu's recent documentary "Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story." He loved country music and animals. Five months passed without another killing, and the community surrounding Yosemite was lulled into a sense of calm especially when the FBI announced that those they believed responsible for the murders were in custody. Stayner's case was granted additional attention because of his brother, Steven Stayner, who had been kidnapped and was missing for seven years. Kay and Delbert had already lost Steven to a motorcycle accident in 1989, so they dreaded losing their other son. 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. 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. [] 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. His mother, Kay, flipped through the photographs Thursday from a witness stand in Santa Clara County Superior Court. 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. 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. The brothers, four years apart in age, shared a room, but didnt get along, according to Rowlands. Jeff Rinek, at the time an FBI agent handling Cary Stayners case, said the search for the women was the "largest ever mounted in Yosemite at any time." He had already been given a life sentence without parole for the murder of Joie Armstrong in an earlier trial. Its senseless." According to local reporter Ted Rowlands, Stayner wanted to connect sexually with girls but struggled to have normal relationships with them (via ABC News). Stayner was lured into the vehicle and abducted. Steven Stayner spent seven years as the captive of a pedophile. 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. "I don't think he did it. Cary Stayner is the oldest of five children in the Stayner family and was born in Merced, CA, in 1961. He grew up, got married and had two kids. "I think Cary after high school seemed a little lost, like he didnt know where he was going," Bungart said. He is preceded in death by his parents, his brother, Jerry Stayner and. He is now 59 years old. And then Kay Stayner, who was raised to keep her emotions to herself, cried. Along Bette Street, neighbors searched for clues from Cary Stayner's childhood that he was capable of the gruesome crime. Cary Stayner is an American serial killer and the oldest brother of Steven Stayner. What happened to Steven's older brother, Cary? Stayner later told investigators that he had bound Armstrong and forced her into his car, and she heroically escaped before he caught up to her, according to ABC News. Stayner pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the other murders in state court. But according to court testimony, the girls weren't safe. When Cary Stayner was just 11, his younger brother, Steven, 7, was snatched from a Merced street on his way home from school. He was held captive by his abductor, Kenneth Parnell, for over seven years, during which time Parnell sexually abused him and forced him to live as his son. "Steven was a national hero. Death row inmates are also allowed showers every other day, but they shower alone and not in groups per KALW News. So, of course, we can not help but wonder more about their family, particularly their parents. According to Cinemaholic, in the 1970s, their family consisted of Cary and Steven Stayner, their three sisters, and their parents, Kay and Delbert Stayner. The head turned up, 27 feet away. In 1972, a seven-year-old was abducted 200 in Mendocino County, 200 miles away. In the shadow of the Yosemite National Park in California, in the secluded farming town of Merced, the Stayner family resided in a lower-middle-class area classified as Betty Street. [13] 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. And there was just nothing there," said Pat Lunney, an investigator assigned to Steven Stayners case. In December 1990, Jesse "Jerry" Stayner, 42, Cary and Steven's uncle, was shot to death in his Merced home. It happens to all families, I guess." Delbert even referred to Steven as his real son and pushed the other away. He was interviewed on TV before he was able to reunite with his parents and even their reunion was on display. "Cary was the ideal son," Kay Stayner told the jury. 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. His next victim was 26-year-old park naturalist Joie Armstrong, who had been staying in a cabin at the park. "Cary was pretty much a loner. "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. But instead of seeking mental health treatment, Stayner "ended up taking refuge" in Yosemite, Rowlands said. Both Kay and her husband confessed that they were not the best parents even when Steven returned feelings were still never discussed. 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. "I wish I could take it back, but I cant," he said. While Steven was grappling with life after his escape, his brother was out of high school with his own troubles. "He's a nice guy. And if I didnt take care of it now, it would just get worse,'" Duke said. 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. The case remains unsolved. He finally ran away and turned himself over to a nearby police department. Panda's thread on parents of murderers reminded me of the Steven Stayner case and his parents. Steven was famous, and now Cary was living in his shadow. "I went to ask if Cary wanted to talk. I'll just give you a ride home.' They then slept in the same bed, and Cary awoke to his uncle attempting to molest him, according to SFGate. When he returned home, he was a promiscuous teenager with an alcohol problem and later died in a motorcycle crash. FBI Special Agent Jeffrey Rinek wrote in his book, In the Name of the Children: An FBI Agents Relentless Pursuit of the Nations Worst Predators, that Stayner believed when he was giving his confession that he would be sentenced to death. His death dealt another blow to the family - but not its last. He loved his brother. Two weeks later, fellow kidnap victim Steven Stayner . "He said we should be glad that Steven was gone. Investigators initially didn't suspect Cary Stayner as a suspect, despite spending much of his time in the area. What happened to Cary Stayner, and where is he now? Stayner's brother, Cary, is in San Quentin State Prison awaiting execution for killing four women in Yosemite National Park in 1999. Very seldom did he get into trouble. 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. "He knew everyone and talked to everyone, but I can't say anyone was his best friend or not.". Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. He died at the age of 79, and the reason for his death has not been publicly disclosed as far as we can ascertain. He was always nearby and on hand, opening rooms at the Cedar Lodge for investigators to search for evidence. [14], After being sentenced to death for the brutal killings, Stayner has been housed at the Adjustment Center on death row at San Quentin State Prison in California since 2002. During the sentencing hearing, Stayner stunned the courtroom when he suddenly broke down in tears and apologized. Merced, California, U.S. Cary Anthony Stayner (born August 13, 1961) is an American serial killer and the older brother of kidnapping victim Steven Stayner. You know what I mean? Steven Stayner tragically died in a motorcycle accident in 1989. "I wish I could tell you why I did such a thing, but I dont even know myself. He is also the prime suspect in the Sund-Pelosso case. Although an almost four-year age gap separated the two brothers, with Cary being the eldest of all five siblings, they seemed incredibly close. He was discovered by police and gave this statement: "My . Steven Stayners fame was short-lived. Cary Stayner Today: Where Is He Now in 2021? Meanwhile, investigators began to suspect Stayner and released his name to the public. The older brother of Steven, Cary. Stayner considered doing it on three different occasions. Carole Sund, her daughter Juli Sund and friend Silvina Pelosso were missing for a month before their bodies were found. 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. 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