Cary Stayner was a serial killer who began committing his evil deeds in February 1999 and was apprehended in July of the same year. During his trials, no real reason behind his actions was found other than the fact that he always dreamed of harming women. Although he confessed to all murder charges, he also pleaded insanity. However, his plea was ignored and he was sentenced to death.
He is one of many cases of the American Plague: Serial Killing. Serial killings have long been a part of American history. Like most serial killers, Cary carefully chose his victims, all of whom were female and were killed by either strangulation or a neck cut. Let’s take a deeper look into the life and crimes of Cary Stayner, keep reading!
Biography of Cary Stayner
Cary Stayner was born Carry Anthony Stayner on August 13, 1961, to Kay and Delbert Stayner in the Merced district of California (USA). He had a younger brother named Steven. Not much is known about Cary Stayner’s education, as no schools have been listed.
However, when it comes to his childhood, he is known to have spent most of his time alone due to his rejection. This is because her parents gave her less attention after the kidnapping of Steven, her younger brother. Steven, Cary’s younger brother, was abducted on December 4, 1972 by two men, Kenneth Parnell and his colleague, Edward Ervin Murphy. No trace of a ransom was demanded by the kidnappers, but one of them adopted Stephen. Parnell told Steven his parents couldn’t take care of him anymore, so they gave him to Parnell, his new guardian.
While Stephen was kidnapped, he was only kept one hundred feet from his grandmother’s house, and he was oblivious to it. Stephen lived with Parnell for 7 years as his son. His name was Dennis and he had been sexually abused by his new father on several occasions. In February 1980, Parnell took on a new recruit named Timothy White. Timothy was only five years old when he was abducted and Steven could no longer bear the same fate as the young boy. So he planned and escaped with Timothy. After his successful escape, he and Timothy went to report to the police, who reunited the two boys with their parents.
Despite reuniting with his parents, Steven died in a motorcycle accident in 1989. While in captivity, Cary was away at his uncle’s house. His uncle, Jesse, was unfortunately a pedophile and allegedly harassed his nephew several times. But he too would become the Stayner family’s second death after he was murdered a year after his youngest nephew died in 1990.
The life and crimes of the American serial killer
Prior to the serial murders, Cary Stayner had no criminal records. He had previously been charged with possession of illegal and harsh substances in 1997, but the charges were later dropped. With such cleanliness, when the murders took place, the police did not pay so much attention to him. He began the killings in February 1999, two years after he found a job as a handyman at the Cedar Lodge Motel in El Portal, located near the Arch Rock Highway 140 entrance in Yosemite National Park. His first crime of murder was a three-in-one case. Carole Sund, her daughter Julie and her friend Silvina Pelosso were his first three victims. Carole was a 42-year-old woman who stayed at the motel with her daughter and her friend.
Stayner claimed to be part of the maintenance crew and gained access to their room, holding all occupants at gunpoint. He tied the women to two beds and gagged them so they could not ask for help. He first killed Carole by strangulation and put her in the trunk of his car. He later entered the bedroom and, according to him, sexually abused the damsels before killing Silvinia and placing her body next to Carole.
If you call Cary Stayner sick and demented, you wouldn’t be far from the truth. With Julie, he did not hastily kill her, but assaulted her again before taking her near Don Pedro Lake, where he slit her throat and hid her body nearby. After that, he burned Carole’s car and left a hand-drawn map of how to find Julie’s body with the message “We had fun with this one.”
Soon the police were everywhere, asking questions and carrying out investigations. At that time, their efforts were in vain. The attacker, Cary Stayner, was also questioned but was not considered a suspect or questioned due to his clean criminal record.
However, Stayner wasn’t so lucky on his second strike. His next victim was Joie Ruth Armstrong, a naturalist at the Yosemite Institute. She was 26 when he committed suicide. Her decapitated body was found at the hotel where she was staying. Eyewitnesses testified that a blue 1979 International Scout car was seen parked outside his cabin around the time of his death. The car was traced to Cary, it was searched and incriminating evidence was found. This justified the arrest of Cary Stayner in July 1999.
After grueling interrogation, Cary confessed to all four murders. He was later tried in U.S. District Court in Fresno, California, for pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. However, his request was denied and he was sentenced to death for four counts of first degree murder. He became the 617th death row inmate in California.
Other Facts About Cary Stayner
1. Cary Stayner had a murder and rape kit that included a rope, a serrated knife, a camera, a gun and a roll of duct tape.
2. At the age of seven, Cary begins to fantasize about murdering and torturing women.
3. A year before starting his killing spree, he intended to kill his girlfriend and two daughters.
4. Rather than insanity, he was diagnosed with mild autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and paraphilia.
5. As of January 2019, he was still incarcerated at San Quentin Penitentiary in California.