When he was picked up,. The 38-year-old then proceeded to confess to not only Joie Armstrongs murder, but the murders of Carole, Juli, and Silvina. They then headed out for Cedar Lodge in El Portal on February 14, which is located on Yosemite's western slope. Joie Ruth Armstrong, 26, a German native who grew up in California, was found Thursday near a stream running by the housing area where she lived near Crane Flat in the west end of Yosemite National Park. They found no sign of the missing woman but did discover footprints, broken saplings, and the trampled evidence of what appeared to be a recent chase through the woods. Stayner, clad in a red jail jumpsuit, bowed his head but showed no emotion as Judge Hastings sentenced him to death three times, once for each murder, after returning to the courtroom. He couldnt believe it. He usually ate lunch and dinner at the motel restaurant. Joie Ruth Armstrong. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Steven got married and had two kids, but sadly died in a motorcycle crash sometime later. "I'd been gone for most of the day off the property. When Armstrong's friends went to her cabin, which was in an area of the park called Foresta, they found signs of a struggle. "My wife Lori and I, were at our best when were helping people, and we dont necessarily decide who were going to help and who were not going to help.". Cops investigate Stayner in several unsolved slayings He was arrested on March 5 when he allegedly reported to his parole officer with liquor on his breath. Cary later got into a job repairing glass and moved in with his uncle Jerry. There is a problem with your email/password. A week later, the FBI received an anonymous tip that led to Julis corpse. Ive never seen anything thats so close to black and white and evil and good as Stayner and our children, said Francis Carrington, the father of Carole Sund and grandfather of Juli. Six Lives Remembered / Joie Armstrong - SFGATE ", 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Management found him a hard worker and honest. Still, people were suspicious. Rinek believes that was an attempt by Stayner to control what the agents were thinking of him. Latent fingerprints were also been lifted from the interior of Joie Armstrong's truck, which Stayner admits to touching during his encounter with her. Something was clearly very, very wrong. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. One colorful sign decorated with red hearts read "Let Foresta Heal." He was arrested on Saturday and has provided details about the killing of Armstrong, 26, that only police knew about, the affidavit said. "I'm confident we've done everything that could be reasonably done.". "We're not used to this stuff around here. "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. And this time I want to hear, 'Tell me what the victim perceived. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [emailprotected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. On the way to his police interview he confessed to a detective in the car to murdering Joie Armstrong, describing the brutal killing "as if he was reading a soup label," said John Boles, another FBI agent on the case. It seemed as though he had a compulsion with trying to get close to women or be sexual with them, but he was unable to develop any sort of interpersonal relationships with any women. A few months later, Yosemite Institute naturalist Joie Ruth Armstrong was also found murdered. Cary always wore a hat because he was compulsively pulling his hair out. 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. Stayners father, Delbert Stayner, said his son was deprived of a fair trial by a kangaroo court and a judge who ignored defense arguments. July 21stJoie Ruth Armstrong is decapitated after Cary ties her up and rapes her. Are you sure that you want to delete this flower? cemeteries found in Sebastopol, Sonoma County, California, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates. Her decapitated body was found near a wilderness stream the next day. Teresa Kay Gray, 36, of Modesto. Many of the mourners who passed through Armstrong's home Tuesday declined interviews, and someone hung handmade cardboard signs on nearby pine trees that requested. The large cabin that Armstrong shared with a friend and a boyfriend is located in Foresta, a tiny town just inside Yosemite park gates on Old Coulterville Road, 4 miles from El Portal. "When you hear these snippets, hes going to sound clinical and unemotional, but this is what I asked him to do," Rinek said. Stayner was already serving a life sentence for the murder of Joie Ruth Armstrong. Kidd had been dispatched to this scene to help park rangers find a missing girl. Parnell and Murphy were driving towards town when Stephen was lured into their vehicle and abducted. 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 the water several feet away, they discovered her head, which officials said had been removed from her body. 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. In the Bureau's mind, this time it had the right man. Witnesses reported seeing a blue car parked outside the cabin where the Yosemite Institute naturalist had. I guess I was jealous. Where Is Cary Stayner Now? Here's What Happened to the "Captive - Yahoo Failed to delete memorial. A large search turned up nothing. It proved to be a great place for him to get his head on straight. What did she see?' Out of respect for his family and the victim's family, we don't want to say anymore." But unbeknownst to them, the real killer, Cary Stayner, was still working at Cedar Lodge, living on the premises and was an active member of the community. The dramatic story was told in the 1989 television movie, I Know My First Name Is Steven.. By mid-April, those who had been arrested were ordered to testify in front of a grand jury in Fresno, California. Listen to Yosemite serial killer's never-before-broadcast confession tapes, "It seemed like she was alone. View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro. As manager of this memorial you can add or update the memorial using the Edit button below. He had talked his way into the room under the guise of fixing a leak, and then sexually assaulted both girls and brutally murdered Carole Lund and Silvina Pelosso in the room. The Yosemite Institute is a nonprofit group that runs education programs through a partnership with the park service. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. But where was Juli? Please try again later. He then carried Juli to a vista point near Lake Don Pedro, pledged his love, and then cut her throat as the sun rose. YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK - Joie Armstrong's grieving family and friends returned to her cabin here for the first time since she was brutally slain and beheaded. FBI investigators had compared tire tracks at the crime scene with photographs of Stayners treads and found that it was a perfect match. No one at the institute or at the park service would comment Friday morning. Thats when I pulled out the gun and put it to her head. Then Carole's wallet turned up in Modesto, which included money and credit cards. On July 22ndher body is found. Those sources say it is difficult for some investigators to believe Stayner could have gotten the jump on all three women without any help, let alone dispose of their bodies.". He, along with his three sisters and younger brother Steven, were the children of hard-working, middle-class parents. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. "And in order to do that, part of doing that is to not be judgmental, not respond when he says things that repulse me, not to show the emotion thats coursing through me. Some who knew Cary were shocked at his arrest. "The girl I was seeing and her daughters were my original intended targets.". After Hiker Goes Missing Police Discover Bigfoot-Obsessed Culprit Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. 6. Stayner also is a suspect in the killings of Carole Sund, 42, her 15-year old daughter Julie, and Silvina Pelosso, a 16-year old exchange student from Argentina. Most experts believe that it would be unlikely for Stayner to have targeted three victims for his first killing, so he probably killed before that. "The only time Steve would kill anything like a fish is because we were gonna eat it. More than a thousand leads, they confessed, produced nothing. Things to do in Napa Valley during Bottlerock, plus hotels, Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). Marshal from the Fresno County Jail in Fresno, Calif., Aug. 6, 1999 on his way to an arraignment in federal court. "I remember going out one night after Steve disappeared and wishing on a star that my brother would come back home," Cary reportedly told Mike Echols, author of the book I Know My First Name Is Steven. Former FBI agent Jeff Rinek, who used his refined interrogation technique, recalls what he learned from Cary Stayner's confession to killing park naturalist Joie Armstrong in 1999. Unofficially, Jens Sund offered a $250,000 reward for information that would lead to the return of the missing women. Include gps location with grave photos where possible. 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. To use this feature, use a newer browser. "He stated that he felt like jumping in a truck, driving it through the shop and killing the boss and killing everybody in the office, and then torching the place," friend Mark Marchese said in 1999. FBI agent Nick Rossi said on February 26, "At this point, we have not yet uncovered evidence to allow us to determine conclusively whether this was a tragic accident or a criminal act. Two weeks later, FBI agent James Maddock, now placed in charge of the investigation, told the press, "We feel almost certain that the women were victims of a violent crime.". Armstrong, a graduate of California State University at Chico, had worked for the institute for two years. Slain Naturalist's Relative in Same Jail as Stayner Brady Schwartz, 18, is accused of. That confidence evaporated on July 22, with the disappearance of another woman Joie Ruth Armstrong, 26, a pretty redhead who worked for the Yosemite Institute teaching children about. His attorney said Monday she feared the documents' release will make it tougher for Stayner to get a fair trial. But by the middle of March, their hopes faded. Stayner was arrested at a California nudist colony and soon admitted to all four killings, claiming he'd had urges to kill women for thirty years. "We needed [him] to be very calm and very thoughtful and to just give us an accounting of everything that happened.". Creepy Stories & Legends About Yosemite - Ranker The next day, a tip was called into park rangers about a car spotted near Armstrongs cabin. She was last seen alive Wednesday afternoon, when she left her office at the Yosemite Institute in Yosemite Valley, park spokesman. Her mother had been dating him and he had decided to kill them on Valentines Day. FBI agents have wondered whether they could have prevented Armstrong's murder by linking Stayner to the three earlier killings. Sorry! The Bureau relocated its headquarters from Yosemite to Modesto at this point and, on February 28, twelve days after the women's disappearance, hinted that was is no longer treating the Sund incident as a missing persons case, but as murder. Except for the Bigfoot thing, the likable, handsome man seemed perfectly ordinary. The next day, in the same place, the police found twenty-six-year-old Joie Armstrong's headless body half underwater in a creek. No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments. For months, law enforcement officials were stumped by the deaths of three tourists: Carole Sund, her teenaged daughter Juli, and a family friend, Silvina Pelosso. He was charged with attempting to purchase a child and attempted child molestation in 2004, that he was sentenced to 25 years to life. It was badly decomposed and her throat had been cut. All of its been bad, Delbert Stayner said of his familys life. or don't show this againI am good at figuring things out. Learn more about merges. There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. Please reset your password. The next day, a tip was called into park rangers about a car spotted near Armstrong's cabin. Search above to list available cemeteries. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Steven was told his new name was Dennis Parnell and was enrolled in school. Two days later, they took him into custody while he was eating at a clothing optional resort near Sacramento. It was 100 miles from the Cedar Lodge. Her body was next to a stream and head within the water that she and her friends used for drinking water. Its manager had seen a story on television, recognized Stayner's photo as one of his guests, and notified the FBI. All photos uploaded successfully, click on the Done button to see the photos in the gallery. Rinek testified at Stayners trial and was there for his sentencing. On March 1, 1980, Steven waited until Parnell was at work and then fled the house with Timothy. The Stayners put up billboards, passed out leaflets, and even consulted psychics to find him to no avail. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. "The manager comes out and said, 'Yeah, he's inside sitting in a corner booth, and you'll be able to find him because he's the only one wearing clothes,'" Boles told ABC News. "That was followed by him saying, 'Okay, lets do it,'" said Rinek. He recalled the abducted tourists case in sharp detail. The California Highway Patrol verified the car's license plate as the Sunds rented vehicle and immediately notified the FBI. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. I never did tell anybody about it, but I remember wishing on a star that my little brother would come back home. The man took a hit off the joint he had been smoking and explained to the ranger and accompanying police officer that his name was Cary Stayner. "I could not believe what I'd just heard. Parnell was convicted on kidnapping and false imprisonment charges. He was known to take refuge in nearby Yosemite, where hed drive up and get lost in nature. Joie Ruth Armstrong, 26, was found Thursday near a stream. By this point, Cary Stayner had a couple of nervous breakdowns. They finally caught up with him at the Laguna Del Sol nudist colony, which he frequently visited. He was sentenced to seven years in prison but only served five, less time than he held Steven captive. . Learn about how to make the most of a memorial. She also had been a field instructor for the institute's sister organization, the Headlands Institute, in Marin County. 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. The boys were still in elementary school when on December 4, 1972, a man named Kenneth Parnell took seven-year-old Stephen, whilst walking home from school on Highway 140. Shortly after Stevens death, an uncle with whom Cary Stayner was very close was shot and killed in a home they shared together. I left as quickly as I could, got back to my car, and drove home. Over the next few weeks, a task force including FBI agents and law enforcers from four surrounding counties, arrested several known sex offenders, drug users, and ex-convicts with a record of violence from within a 75-square-mile area between Modesto and Sonoma. The Stayner family was made up of two brothers, three sisters, and parents Kay and Delbert. Upon release, the FBI warned him not to leave El Portal. The motel is in El Portal, California, at the western edge of Yosemite. At that time, the Bureau stated that, while no one had yet been charged, it felt that those responsible for killing the three women at Yosemite were already behind bars. Rangers found her body at about 1 p.m. Thursday near the living quarters she shared with a man and a woman at employee housing units just west of the Crane Flat campground. The search team split up into five groups, searching nearby and far afield. 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. See also. Joie was the fourth woman murdered in the Sierras in five months. Although most of the stains were 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. On July 21, 1999, 26-year-old Joie Armstrong, a park naturalist, was packing for a trip to join friends. Convicted in 1978 for rape and robbery, he was jailed on March 14 for failing to register as a sex offender. Im just horrified when I think of what happened in that room, what my daughter felt when she realized she was in serious trouble, said Carole Carrington as she asked the judge to sentence Stayner to death. Parnell, along with Murphy, took Steven to a cabin in Catheys Valley, where he was brainwashed to believe his parents no longer wanted him. The initial suspicion was that they may have wandered off the main hiking paths and got lost in the park. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. Their bodies were found about five weeks later. Please enter your email and password to sign in. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. Joies head sat nearby. Steven Stayner testifies about his abduction in 1972 by Kenneth Parnell and his seven years in captivity in this 1981 photo. This time, agents detained him and forced him to answer more questions. "Everybody thought it was over with the other case," said a cashier at Cedar Lodge, the El Portal motel-restaurant where Carole Sund, her daughter Juli, and family friend Silvina Pelosso from Argentina were last seen alive in February. Joie Ruth Armstrong's decapitated body was found in July 1999 close to Yosemite. She was reported missing by a friend in Sausalito about 3 a.m. Thursday when she failed to show up there for a planned visit. SACRAMENTO, California (CNN) -- Motel handyman Cary Stayner has confessed to the beheading of a naturalist at Yosemite National Park, the FBI said in an affidavit filed Monday in a federal court in Sacramento. This is a carousel with slides. Soon after, he confessed to murdering Carole Sund, Juli Sund, and Silvina Pelosso once in custody. Jens couldn't accompany them on this trip because he needed to prepare for an upcoming business trip. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. Perhaps it allowed him to escape from the mundaneness of his own life. He denied any role in the Yosemite slayings. Armstrong's body was found nearby. She was full of laughter and love, creativity and spunk; she gifted the world with her glowing smile and warm heart. Hastings rejected new defense claims that juror misconduct prevented a fair trial. The killer had carried her away from the car and cut her throat. Her body was found 27 feet away from her head in a drainage ditch. They had stayed at the motel where Stayner worked. You have the other brother who's left at home. Her decapitated body was discovered Thursday near her home in the. Yosemite Murder Suspect Pleads Guilty - ABC News Parnell worked at the Yosemite Lodge, located about two hours away from the Stayner home. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. At that point, Rinek said he feared Stayner would refuse to continue to confess. Neither of these things seemed to interest the cops at the time. Sandy Cox, whose husband owned the window company where Stayner worked for in Atwater, says, "We've known Cary since he was a little boyIt just doesn't match up. By the end of June, the FBI had reviewed the testimonies and the evidence linked to the suspects in custody. 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. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Try again later. After a couple of weeks, he upped the sum to $300,000. Try again later. July 26, 1999. Rinek said his wife Lori has been his rock and feels that without the support of his family he wouldnt have been able to deal with this and the other cases he's investigated. Try again later. The issue of whether his confession was coerced seemed to be resolved when on July 24, the court heard the recorded demands that Stayner made to the FBI agents that he wanted to be satisfied before he would give them his confession. Because of the discovery of Sund's wallet in suburban Modesto, police, and FBI searched "the logical routes in and out of that spot, interviewing homeowners and business owners and others who may have seen them." Cary Stayner was jealous of his brothers fame and their relationship soured after that, as did his relationship with his Steven-obsessed parents. He was arrested in May on an unrelated crime charge but was soon released. The deranged woman-hating lunatic responsible turned out to be Cedar Lodge's handyman Cary Stayner. In the following months, the FBI announced that they believed the people responsible for the murders were in custody. Stayner, 39, was sentenced in November to life without parole for Armstrong's July 21, 1999, beheading. I do that when I go home to my wife, and I break down and I start crying and I tell her then.". Joies white pickup truck was still parked in the driveway when park rangers and police arrived. This memorial has been copied to your clipboard. I never recognized either one of them.". And now so had Joie Armstrong. They began searching the area. Ham and Skalitzky described Joie Armstrong as an adventurous environmentalist. Things to do in Napa Valley during Bottlerock, plus hotels, Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). On Monday, July 22, the court heard Stayners taped confession, which he had given to FBI agents. 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. "It says, 'We had fun with this one.' Stayner spent his downtime by the rivers, getting high and skinny dipping, police said. Looking into his past, the FBI soon discovered that Staynors own family tragedy had transformed him into a violent predator. Add to your scrapbook. Thats not your everyday request, and he said not just a couple, three to four images," said Boles. It was around this time that Carl Stayner first began to talk about Bigfoot. The Cedar Lodge hired him as a handyman in 1997 and gave him the use of a small apartment on the top floor. based on information from your browser. You know, hung out with him, played with him.. We dont know much about Cary Stayner right now other than that he is a self-confessed murderer and an unabashed believer in Bigfoot. One brother was subjected to just unspeakable horror for years, but by all appearances, he was a happy-go-lucky, jovial kid with a girlfriend. She and I were neighbors and co-workers at the Headlands Institute in Marin. ", Finally, Rinek says hell ask them to write a letter of apology to the victim. Suddenly, Kidd spotted a key ring glinting in the sun. ", Steven Stayner with his kidnapper Kenneth Parnell. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. Carole Sund, her daughter Juli Sund and friend Silvina Pelosso were missing for a month before their bodies were found. Ham and Skalitzky described Joie Armstrong as an adventurous environmentalist. Acting on a tip from a caller who was worried about the whereabouts of his friend, Joie Ruth Armstrong, 26, park rangers found her decapitated body on the morning of July 22, 1999. Stayner was arrested Saturday at a nudist colony near Wilton, California, after someone there heard news reports about the wanted man and called authorities. The car was hidden off a spur road where locals dump old refrigerators, cars, and washing machines. Thanks for your help! Try again. Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager. The prosecution team was headed by George Williamson and the defense team was headed by Marcia Morrissey. Then Carole, Juli, and Silvana arrived and he went off the deep-end. < Dubs fans picking apart video of possible Poole-Draymond incident, Destructive landslide closes historic California institution, Bay Area mom influencer found guilty of lying about kidnapping, More rain, 'unseasonably chilly' temperatures coming to Bay Area, Horoscope for Monday, 5/01/23 by Christopher Renstrom, Bay Area preschool teacher suspected of dumping body along road, 49ers out in full force at Warriors-Kings Game 7, Shock, fear as 2 killings in 3 days rock quiet Davis, Sold-out Berkeley crowd gets rowdy at country star's concert, Steph Curry killed off the Kings with a smile, Draymond Green rips Domantas Sabonis: 'Lost a lot of respect', Klay Thompson calls Warriors-Lakers series 'a dream come true'. FRESNO The half-brother of slain Yosemite naturalist Joie Ruth Armstrong is being held at the same jail where his sister's confessed killer is in custody. "Now, we had been going through, not details, but the emotional impact this had on him. You seem like you're feeling better. Once the three of them got back to the field office, Stayner was ready to reveal the naked truth. The death-penalty trial of Cary Stayner was moved from Mariposa County to Santa Clara County, CA. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. The hire car company confirmed that Carole had never returned the rented Pontiac, nor told them that they were extending their agreement. They decided to take him in again after learning on Friday that he had failed to show up to work at the Cedar Lodge. Armstrong spent months with her grandmother as she underwent chemotherapy, Ham said. At the time of the murders of Carole Sund, Juli Sund and Silvina Pelosso, investigators didnt see him as a suspect, and he even opened rooms at the motel for the FBI to gather evidence. Best of 2022 Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Top 250 TV Shows Most Popular TV Shows Most Popular Video Games Most Popular Music Videos Most Popular Podcasts. Her luggage for her trip was packed in the back as if she had been ready to leave. Parnell was convicted on kidnapping and false imprisonment charges. Why did you do that?'"
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