Watch "20/20's" full story, "The Black Sheep," TONIGHT at 9 p.m. The results showed that his mental issues were aligned with schizophrenia and other mental disorders. He. The two hitchhiked to Ukiah, California. Parnell proceeded to sexually abuse Stayner for the next seven years. I dont think he should be executed because hes sick. But Cary still got the death penalty. "It was a sleety, wintery day," Sean Flynn, a journalist who wrote about both Stayner brothers for Esquire, said. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? [3] Cary later said that he felt neglected while his parents grieved over the loss of Steven. This included a positron emission tomography (PET) scan, an imaging test that can detect brain diseases and disorders, per MedlinePlus. Cary Stayner is led into a van by a U.S. "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. After his arrest, the FBI later informed her mother of Stayner's original intentions, which involved killing them all and raping Lenna and her sister. Prosecutors say he is among the worst criminals in California and should be put to death. Your IP: TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - The Florida Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Gary Michael Hilton,Read More She appears content to be beside her family and friends. 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. Cary Anthony Stayner, a.k.a. She and her family have been the subject of more news stories and profiled in more books than some politicians and celebrities. His story was turned into a television miniseries. "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. He wanted the world to take note. They. Cary was the ideal son, Kay Stayner revealed to the jury during her elder sons trial for murder. "He had a great personality," said Lori Duke, who dated Steven in high school but knew him as Dennis. Against the odds, he flourished there. His abductor kept and sexually abused Steven for seven years. Jesse Houtz, co-owner of Cedar Lodge Restaurants, said Cary Stayner would hang out at the bar, but often kept to himself. Cary Stayner will forever be known for marring Yosemite's reputation as a peaceful retreat with the brutal murders of four innocent women. Years later, his brother Cary Stayner would go on to murder four people. [5] The top of the note read, "We had fun with this one." Powered by WordPress.com VIP. 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. I never recognized either one of them.". But Rinek recalled Stayner saying he would die with a clear conscience. The few years after Steven's abduction, their parents had been well preoccupied with trying to find their son. He was sentenced to death in 2002 and remains on death row. "As far as I know, hes never talked to anyone about the effect Steven might have had on his crimes. "I wish I could take it back, but I cant," he said. Docuseries To Explore Tale Of The Stayner Brothers: One A Hero Kidnapping Survivor And The Other A Serial Killer. The abductor abused Steven and planned to use the boy to abduct more victims. They no longer want you,'" investigative journalist Pat LaLama said. Purdy said Cary Stayner always wore a hat. Originally published January 20, 2007 at 12:00 am. Stayner saved White from his captor after he was kidnapped. [] Im so sorry. Kay and Delbert had already lost Steven to a motorcycle accident in 1989, so they dreaded losing their other son. What happened to Steven Stayner? Because Stayner is on death row, he likely lives in a 48-square-foot single cell with only five hours of exercise allowed outside. "I yelled at him a lot.". Before leaving for the nudist colony and after murdering his last victim Stayner went looking for Lenna and her family, but luckily they were gone visiting their grandmother. [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. In December 1990, Jesse "Jerry" Stayner, 42, Cary and Steven's uncle, was shot to death in his Merced home. Linda Shertz, stepmother of Lynnea, said Cary Stayner was traumatized by his brother's abduction. In 2002 Cary Stayner was convicted of first degree murder on four counts. 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. You know what I mean? Stayner's attorneys request that the location of his trial be moved away from the area surrounding Yosemite in order to guarantee him a fair trial was granted, per The Los Angeles Times. "I knew both of them. On the day of those murders, Stayner spent most of his time with his girlfriend and her family, per ABC News. At that time, Steven had been forced to endure sexual abuse by his kidnapper, whom he finally turned in to the police. And they searched. While his brother was outgoing and popular at Merced High, Cary Stayner was known as more of an introvert. Aged seven, Stayner, a California native, was abducted by child molester Kenneth Parnell. 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. "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. FBI/California Department of Corrections have yall heard of Steven and Cary Stayner? Is Cary Stayner still on death row in California? "I don't think he should be executed because he's sick.". Although an almost four-year age gap separated the two brothers, with Cary being the eldest of all five siblings, they seemed incredibly close. 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 knew everyone and talked to everyone, but I can't say anyone was his best friend or not.". Its a story of a happy ending turned rathertwisted. He said, 'I want you to get a hold of some producers in Los Angeles. 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. Detectives began interviewing employees of the Cedar Lodge motel where the first three victims had been staying just before their deaths. And for a brief moment, a wave of good memories appeared to wash over her face. Steven Stayner and his parents reunited after his abduction. The penalty phase is scheduled to resume today, and closing arguments are planned for Monday. He graduated from Merced High School, and worked as a window installer for a glass company in nearby Atwater. Steven Stayners fame was short-lived. Cary Stayner is the oldest of five children in the Stayner family and was born in Merced, CA, in 1961. "I didn't socialize with him," he said. What happened to Gary Hilton? Stayner's captor, Kenneth Parnell, convinced co-worker Ervin Murphy to lure seven-year-old Steven into their van on 4 December 1972, telling the boy: "Your parents, I just spoke to them. What happened to Cary Stayner, and where is he now? What was worse, Kay Stayner said, was that family members never talked about their feelings -- because in the Stayner home emotions were taboo. Surrounded by TV cameras, Steven Stayner, right foreground, and and his brother Delbert Stayner are shown walking toward their Merced County, Calif., home, March 2, 1980, as Steven was reunited with his family following a 7-year kidnap ordeal. Stayner was born on August 13, 1961. Steven Gregory Stayner (April 18, 1965 - September 16, 1989) was an American kidnapping victim. The film was a two-part mini series that debuted in 1989, per TCM. Inside was Kenneth Parnell and his friend Ervin Murphy. "Cary was the ideal son," Kay Stayner told the jury. Steven was told his new name was Dennis Parnell and was enrolled in school. Carole Sund, her daughter Juli Sund and friend Silvina Pelosso were missing for a month before their bodies were found. "Steven was a national hero. 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. By Gina Tron. In 1999, Steven's older brother, Cary, was convicted of killing four women at Yosemite National Park where he worked. Cary Stayner Today: Where Is He Now in 2021? In California, 900 people were sentenced to death between the years 1978 and 2019. But he received it nevertheless, and he is in prison. He found someone else to help him find another boy, only this time he was caught and he was sent to prison again -- where he died in 2008.". Now I had to compete with a brother and three sisters. 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. 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. His family came to national attention in the early 1970s when his younger brother,. "I knew he was kinda weird, but I never knew he would get to that level of actually murdering anyone.". 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. A true crime book and TV movie, both titled I Know My First Name Is Steven, were made about the ordeal. Had no interest in girls, had no interest in people. Stayner himself played the part of a police officer in the second part of the series. He was seven years older and no longer the little brother Cary had once bonded with. They then slept in the same bed, and Cary awoke to his uncle attempting to molest him, according to SFGate. 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 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. This time, in July, Stayner told Damant that he intended to move to Oregon or Utah. Cary Stayner's Parents are Kay Stayner and Delbert Stayner. "One time Cindy (Stayner) and I were outside at night and he exposed himself to us. He loved his brother. He returns to Merced triumphant. By this point, Cary Stayner was suffering. Two weeks later, fellow kidnap victim Steven Stayner . Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. Steven Stayner and Timmy White at a police press conference in 1980. Stayner's resolve to rescue White made him a national hero. He was easy to spot because he was the only person wearing clothes, per ABC News. In 1986, Delbert was court-ordered to therapy after abuse allegations. 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. 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. According to his evaluation, Stayner's murder of a mother, her teen daughter, and her daughter's friend at Yosemite came as a result of these violent thoughts. Cary Stayner "was a very, very good cartoonist," and was voted "most creative" at school, according to Purdy. Flynn said his sexuality was "constantly under attack.". 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. "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. When he was an adolescent, he began having dark, sexual fantasies involving rape. On February 15, 1999, Yosemite tourists Carole Sund, 42, her daughter Juli Sund, 15, and exchange student Silvina Pelosso, 16, went missing, per SFGate. Kay and her husband Delbert Stayner testified as character witnesses in the penalty phase of their son's murder trial. "I wish I could tell you why I did such a thing, but I dont even know myself. 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. The couple became estranged albeit, they were actively trying to fix things. 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. MERCED, Calif. (AP) _ Steven Stayner, kidnapped at the age of 7 and forced to live as the sexually abused foster son of his abductor until he escaped seven years later, has been killed in a hit-and-run traffic accident. 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. He had two brothers: Richard S. Lee and Jonathan O. Lee. Cary Stayner's death sentence was automatically appealed a long process that, at the time, could have meant more than a decade of waiting, per SFGate. 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. I want a movie-of-the-week made about my story,'" Rowlands said. 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. When his sister had a sleepover, he crawled under the bed of one of her friends in order to touch her breasts. From the time Cary was a small boy, the Stayner family vacationed together in Yosemite and the surrounding high countrypiling into the family van and driving 60 miles east to camp, fish, and . Today, the idea of a 7-year old walking home from school alone is almost unheard of. His parents testified at his trial that they felt they had. Meet Kay Stayner, Steven Stayner Mother. While Steven was grappling with life after his escape, his brother was out of high school with his own troubles. Both Kay and her husband confessed that they were not the best parents even when Steven returned feelings were still never discussed. Cary Stayner, also known as The Yosemite Killer, was convicted nearly 20 years ago in the murders of four people in 1999 while he was working as a hotel handyman in California. "He was spunky. 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. Those who knew him assumed he would go on to become a graphic artist or a professional cartoonist. Stayner considered doing it on three different occasions. [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]. I'll just give you a ride home.' He sure led a rough life, California Highway Patrol Sgt. 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. However, she remembers feeling uncomfortable with him when he once stripped completely bare in front of them at the Merced River. In the little time I worked with him, he just seemed like a regular person.". "Then finally, things were getting to be normal and things were getting good, that's when Steven gets killed," she said. It was nominated for four Emmys and a Golden Globe, according to theIndependent. Nearly 20 years later, Stayner is still on death row, his prison record shows. He smoked cigarettes. World's Most Evil Killers (2017) An in-depth look at the lives and crimes of some of the World's most evil killers including Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Ramirez, Cary Stayner, Leonard Lake, Dorothea. We were talking about the Kennedy family, and all the bad things that have happened to them," Strength said. Then-7-year-old Steven Stayner was walking home from school on Highway 140 when Parnell and Murphy were driving towards town. Peterson had been condemned to death row, but his sentence was overturned and he is awaiting a new trial in the death of his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn son, Conner. After Stayner's first murder spree, he hired a cab driver to take him away from the area. 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