But a few quotes Cary had previously told media in the midst of his brother's fame led some to wonder if he was a disgruntled, jealous brother. Child predator Kenneth Parnell, convicted of kidnapping Steven Stayner and paroled to Berkeley, was sentenced 25 years to life in 2004 for trying to buy a 4-year-old boy for $500. "I remember seeing it in the truck. Cary was arrested the same year, and in the trials that followed he was convicted of all four women's murders and sentenced to death. Heroism, tragedy and cold-blooded murder: The Stayner brothers. Months later, a fourth woman was murdered and decapitated in the park, leading authorities to believe they had a serial killer on their hands. Carole Sund, 42, was Cary Stayner's first victim at the Cedar Lodge. The acting in the film is top-notch, with impressive performances by Corin Nemec and Luke Edwards, who play Steven Stayner at different stages of his life. Before the Stayners became one of the most recognizable names in the true crime genre, they were a modest family based out of Merced, Calif. At the helm were Delbert and Kay Stayner, with three daughters and two sons in tow. Steven Stayner, celebrity savior of a young boy, was dead at 24. My platonic queer soulmate friend of the last decade, who taught me how to backpack in my early twenties, was lucky enough to go on this trip when she was fifteen. The Autostraddle Insider Issue 103: April 2023. I believe he was supposed to have been with his brother. (AP Photo/The Modesto Bee, Ted Benson), The Cedar Lodge in El Portal, Calif., just outside Yosemite's western boundary, is shown in July 1999. The case remains unsolved. and promptly dropped off the radar of friends and family. "A lot of attention went to Steven we all got a little jealous," says one of the Stayner sisters in Hulu's upcoming docuseries Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story. He bound and duct-taped her before strangling her. Cary Stayner, now 57, was convicted of the murders of Armstrong, the Sunds and Pelosso, and sentenced to death for all except Armstrong's. "I know that Steven was really happy about the way that it turned out," Jody says, adding that his press interviews tied to the movie helped him finally open up about the abuse he faced as a child. Then, investigators made a connection: Cary Stayner, Steven's older brother, worked at the lodge where three of the victims had stayed, and was soon deemed the sole suspect in the murders. They shouldn't bother. By 19, he had wed Jody Edmondson a girl whom he met at the butcher shop where he worked and started a family. Assistant Sheriff Strength said Stayner was on the waiting list for a job as a county jail guard. Cary spent the '90s bouncing from one handyman job to another. Soon, the couple had two children: Ashley and Steven Jr., both of whom weigh in throughout the docuseries. Fascinating story! On Sept. 20, 1989, Steven Stayner was riding his new Kawasaki motorcycle without a helmet in the rain. He exposed himself -- to one of his sister's friends," said magazine writer Sean Flynn. But from that moment on, Steven would never escape the spotlight. Is the Stanley Quencher tumbler worth its TikTok hype? But adding children to the equation seemed to only make their relationship worse. A witness had also identified Cary Stayner's vehicle as being on the road where Armstrong lived around the time of the murder, so authorities went searching for him. "When Steven came home, Cary was kind of put on the back shelf. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. "I want to speak out for my family, who's been affected. He came upon cabin where he met a 26-year-old naturalist named Joie Armstrong and brought up the topic of Bigfoot in conversation. Rape and molestation victims were seen as damaged goods, Horowitz recalled. leatherloom Mens Leather Jackets Bomber LeatherJacket, It can, of course, be prepared as a shot, or you can double it for a few shots, make a. "He was right under everyone's nose. The window was open, the curtain was open, and I can see inside that there was two young women and the mother and no man," Cary Stayner said in his 1999 taped confession, obtained by ABC News. Before joining the SFGate team, he worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette. Neighbors who remember Steven Stayner's return to his family's home on quiet Bette Street in Merced were astonished that his brother was now a suspect in one, or more, grisly killings. When she was murdered, her family and the park created the Yosemite Armstrong Scholars to keep Joies dreams and actions alive. Her other son, Robert, was in jail for drug, firearm and oral copulation charges. I Know My First Name Is Steven is a heart-wrenching and emotionally charged true crime story that follows the life of Steven Stayner, who was kidnapped at the age of seven and held captive for seven years. Parnell re-named Steven Dennis Gregory Parnell, and they moved around California, from Santa Rosa to Willits to Fort Bragg. He was eventually apprehended at a nudist colony two hours north of Yosemite. In March 1980, The San Francisco Examiner published a piece called Twisted Love: A Portrait of Kenneth Parnell which attested that Parnell had been disturbed all his life, beginning with trying to pull out his own teeth as a child, then moving on to theft and arson. "I wish I could have controlled myself and not done what I did," he said in a 1999 jailhouse interview. "They got him to a mental health center, but he left. Is the Stanley Quencher tumbler worth its TikTok hype? Stayner talked to her about Bigfoot, which he claimed to have seen in the area years before. Even as a kid, Parnell allowed Steven to drink and smoke and drive, but Steven also feared Parnell, whod brainwashed him out of attempting an escape. And they do this ritual in particular to honor and acknowledge Joie. But he was unable to develop any sort of interpersonal relationships with any women," said TV reporter Ted Rowlands. "My mom still struggles every day. And while "Captive Audience" focuses mostly on the Stayner family and how Steven's brother Cary grew up to be a serial killer, White's life and story was changed forever by his ordeal. Maybe the text could be edited? Much like Steven's, their disappearance shocked the nation and dominated headlines as investigators frantically searched for them. "Cary was pretty much a loner. "He loved Yosemite and in some way, it's sad. Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story rehashes the series of horrific events spanning the '70s, '80s and '90s that captivated a nation and destroyed a family. He was reportedly troubled by Timmy's distress and unwilling to watch an innocent young boy undergo the same abuse he suffered. Between February and July of 1999 he brutally murdered three tourists and a naturalist in Yosemite National Park: Carole Sund, 42; Juli Sund, 15; Silvina Pelosso, 16; and Joie Ruth Armstrong, 26. Steven Stayner was the third of five children born to Delbert and Kay Stayner in Merced, California. "Cary was very upset. On July 21, 1999, 26-year-old Joie Armstrong, a park naturalist, was packing for a trip to join friends. Parnell was convicted on kidnapping and false imprisonment charges. Its so wild how formative these two events were for me. According to The Famous People, the couple eventually had two children, named Ashley and Steven, Jr. The family learned from the FBI that Cary Stayner had tried to kill them on three separate occasions including after he'd killed Armstrong. "That's what was making people start talking about it with Steven, all his interviews and this movie. Lenna, who asked that ABC News withhold her last name, said he also taught the two how to dive. SF tourists go in droves to In-N-Out. That's when our lives were flipped upside-down. It meant putting the victim through hell for a very modest increase in the sentence. Lenna said she'd told no one this for 20 years. Kay reveals that she thought her son needed therapy so he would have a place to privately process his traumatic experiences, but the idea was shut down by her husband. I leave my blog address below. Reportedly, Parnell also abused some of Stevens friends who came over, and as soon as an outraged parent was onto him, they moved again, this time to Manchester. Mike Echols's book about the kidnapping of Steven Stayner, "I Know My First Name is Steven," was considered by the Parnell family to be "pornographic," dwelling in lurid details. Steven was older now, and Parnell began craving a younger son. In February 1980, he enlisted a local boy to help him kidnap five-year-old Timmy White off the street in Ukiah. He had joined the Mormon Church. They remember Parnell as creepy and uptight. Kidnapping and Trauma. It was very, very close.". In 1999, three tourists vanished in Yosemite National Park. Parnell was convicted for both kidnappings and served five years of his seven year prison sentence. Now shes an astronomer because of how she fell in love with the stars. You can also watch it in multiple parts on YouTube. Courts, lawyers, and investigators seemed especially sensitive to the shame that seemed to surround such crimes.. Murphy, his accomplice, got five years and was paroled after two. Steven Stayner was the middle child of a family from Merced, California. The direction and cinematography also add to the overall impact of the film. Steven Stayner testifies about his abduction in 1972 by Kenneth Parnell and his seven years in captivity in this 1981 AP file photo. Friends, they did not give him a ride home! With glassy eyes, Ashley recounts the daily news coverage of Cary's crimes at the time, and how it was hard watching her father's legacy as a hero become overshadowed by something dark. I loved Cary. When he was 24, he died in a hit-and-run motorcycle accident. Cary Stayner's high school 1979 yearbook photo. He covers news, politics, science, sports, outdoors and Bay Area history. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation and thanks for stopping by! Ive never heard about this sad case :( Thank you so much for covering it here! I Know My First Name is Steven was a massive hit, and inspired a new bout of press attention to the Stayners. In March of 1973, the local paper called the search for Steven one of the longest and widest missing persons investigations ever made by the local police department. They had no leads, but his family never stopped holding out hope. Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Lenna told "20/20" she had kept this story hidden for 20 years, never sharing it with anyone. Some of the older children, including Cary Stayner, had moved out by then. Others say he seemed quiet but otherwise normal. I dont think excited is the right word, but Im now very interested in checking this series out. "Knowing that he had this kit inside of his backpack when he was around us every time is terrifying to me, and it's almost like a slap in the face to [know] how close it came for us. One December afternoon in 1972, 7-year-old Steven . "It always seems like when something happens in our family, the media is there.". That's fantastic. At night while Parnell was at work, the two boys ran out into the rainy night, eventually hitching a ride to Ukiah, where they found the police department. She told journalists that Steven was always a nice boy and he called me Mother like my own kids did.. Anyone who owned a television in the '80s will recognize the name Steven Stayner. If you haven't listened to episode 138 yet, make sure you do that before you jump In 1999, he confessed to four killings. One night, he and Timmy snuck out while their abductor was working and they hitchhiked to Ukiah. From that point on, Cary lived Steven's shadow. Kay says. On Dec. 4, 1972, the Stayner family's low profile permanently changed when 7-year-old Steven Stayner, the middle child, was abducted walking home from school. "As I walked, there was a red car in the 500 building all by itself. By 1981, Mathaiss son, Lloyd (whod allegedly also been abused by Parnell), had been murdered by his stepfather. He remains on death row at San Quentin Penitentiary in California. "He came home.". "You can't make a movie about something like this happening," Kay says in the first episode. But this was something, totally different," says Jody. Bafflingly, she was given a reunion with Steven, apparently became friends with Stevens Mom, testified against Parnell and claimed she had no idea he wasnt Stevens own kid.