Case 6 Cary Stayner, the Yosemite Park Signature Killer

Case 6 Cary Stayner, the Yosemite Park Signature Killer

Case 6 Cary Stayner, the Yosemite Park Signature Killer

Cary Stayner could have easily been a model gracing the pages of GQ magazine. Tall, dark, and striking, he was rated high on the “attractiveness” scale by many women. Due to his artistic gifts, Cary was voted “most creative” by his graduating class and was expected to become a famous cartoonist. I had the opportunity to examine several drawings done by Mr. Stayner around 1995. These drawings depicted scenes of death and destruction, with heads of victims on the ground. The backdrop was Yosemite National Park. Those who knew him describe him as amiable, easy going, and quiet. He was described as a naturalist, with a penchant for nudity, frequenting secluded lake areas to sunbathe unencumbered. His acquaintances were shocked at his confessions of multiple murders and even more so by the macabre means by which he killed.

First born of five children, Cary was eldest brother to Steven Stayner, who in 1972 was kidnapped and held prisoner by a child molester for almost 8 years. Steven escaped, bringing with him a 5-year-old child who had also been abducted. Making national headlines, Steven became the hero, his notoriety pushing his sibling into obscurity. Disgusted by the book written about his brother and the made-for-TV movie, Cary’s resentment grew.

At Merced High School, Cary was considered a good student and was thought of positively. But his home life was deteriorating with the separation of his parents. He moved in with his uncle, Jesse Stayner, until 1990, when tragedy struck and an intruder shot Jesse to death. Cary was never considered a suspect and was believed to have been at work. His employers considered him a diligent worker and a proven employee, always showing up on time and never the object of customer complaints.

Between 1996 and 1997, Cary moved to El Portal in Yosemite National Park, where he worked as a handyman at several hotels. Those who knew him described him as likeable, but he was also a loner who never dated and was not inclined to close friendships. Though he occasionally smoked marijuana, he was not disposed to drinking, even when generous tourists at the hotel offered to indulge everyone with a “round.” But such benign behavior only masked the brooding predator within. Rarely does evil not masquerade. For many years, Cary Stayner had fantasized about killing women.

In the winter of 1999, Eureka, California, resident Carol Sund, 42, her daughter Julie Sund, 16, and an Argentine friend, Silvina Pelosso, 16, were visitors to Yosemite National Park in California. On February 14, they checked in at Cedar Lodge, where Stayner worked and lived. They were last seen alive February 15. One month later, Carol and Silvina’s charred bodies were found in the trunk of their burned-out rental car. On March 25, Julie’s decomposed body was found several miles away. Her throat was cut so severely she was almost decapitated. Stayner was not considered a suspect. Almost 5 months later, Yosemite naturalist Joie Armstrong’s body was found in a creek near her home after she was reported missing by her friends. She was decapitated. A similar vehicle to Stayner’s had been seen in the vicinity of Armstrong’s home.

Three hours after the body was found, Stayner told authorities he had nothing to do with her death. When he didn’t show up for work the next day, authorities began searching for him and found him at a nudist colony in Wilton. He has confessed to all four slayings. The FBI had originally arrested other suspects and kept reassuring the public they had the right people in custody, only to suddenly retract those statements when Stayner gave them specific incriminating information that was privy only to law enforcement officials. Stayner has since pled guilty to the Joie Armstrong murder. He was convicted for the other murders and given the death penalty.