(Infamous) Cary Stayner
Cary Stayner (b. August 13, 1961) is an American serial killer currently on death row for the 1999 murders of four women in Yosemite, California. Stayner's victims were Carole Sund, her daughter Julie, Argentine exchange student Silvina Pelosso and park employee Joie Armstrong.
Contents
- Biography
- Bigfoot Connection
- Further Reading
Biography
Stayner claimed after his arrest that he had fantasized about murdering women since the age of seven. Stayner's family life was traumatic; his younger brother, Steven, was kidnapped by child molester Kenneth Parnell in 1972 and held captive for more than seven years before escaping and being reunited with his family. Stayner would later say he felt neglected as his parents grieved over the loss of Steven.
When Steven escaped and returned home in 1980, he received massive media attention (a true crime novel and TV movie were made about the ordeal), further embittering his older brother. Steven died in a motorcycle accident in 1989. The following year, Cary Stayner's uncle, with whom he was living at the time, was murdered. Cary attempted suicide in 1991 and was arrested in 1997 for possession of marijuana and methamphetamine, although the charges were eventually dropped.
In 1997, he was hired as a handyman at Cedar Lodge in Yosemite, where, between February and July 1999, he murdered four women. He was initially questioned when his first three victims were found, but he was not seriously considered as a suspect. When the fourth body was found in July, however, he was questioned again and arrested by FBI Agent Jeff Rinek at a nudist resort in Wilton. His truck yielded evidence linking him to the victim. He eventually confessed to all four murders.
Bigfoot Connection
One of the bizarre details that came out during interviews with the cab driver who transported Stayner, the psychological examiners, and law enforcement personnel is how Stayner used Bigfoot to trick his fourth victim into talking to him. According to Stayner, he has seen Bigfoot in Yosemite, and told the ranger he was searching for Bigfoot. Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman writes of these odd turn of events in his book Bigfoot!: The True Story of Apes in America, and has since had communications from Stayner from San Quentin.
Stayner pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, his lawyers citing a family history of sexual abuse and mental illness, manifesting itself not only in the murders but also in Stayner's admitted pedophilia (he at one point requested child pornography in return for his confession) and obsessive-compulsive disorder. He was nevertheless found sane and convicted of four counts of first degree murder by a jury in 2001. In 2002, during the penalty phase of his trial, he was sentenced to death. An appeal is pending.
Amid the nationwide publicity the case received, the FBI was heavily criticized for not arresting Stayner before he murdered his fourth victim. There is also speculation among some law enforcement officials and forensic science specialists that Stayner did not commit the murders by himself. To date, no one else has been charged in connection with Stayner's crimes.
Further Reading
