Casefile True Crime - Case 161: The Yosemite Sightseer Murders (Part 2)

Episode Date: November 7, 2020

[Part 2 of 2] After the decapitated body of 26-year-old naturalist Joie Armstrong is found in Yosemite’s Foresta region, investigators are quick to deny that her murder is linked to that of Carole and Juli Sund and Silvina Pelosso. But when suspicions are cast on a local maintenance worker, the investigation takes a shocking turn. --- Episode narrated by the Anonymous Host Researched by Jessica Forsayeth Written by Elsha McGill  Creative Director: Milly Raso For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-161-the-yosemite-sightseer-murders-part-2

Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. On Thursday, July 22, 1999, 50 FBI agents arrived in Forresta on the western edge of Yosemite National Park. The wintery conditions that had clouded the region months earlier had since dissipated, replaced by warmer weather and greener scenery.

The area where the female human remains were found was relatively unknown to tourists. Its dense woodland and grassy meadows were split by a rushing stream. The granite summits of Yosemite Valley were visible in the distance. Trampled vegetation revealed what had likely taken place there. It appeared the woman had been chased into the woods by an assailant before they got into a struggle. She put up a fight, wounding her wrist in the process, but her attacker overpowered her. The victim was then cleanly and forcefully decapitated with a large, sharp instrument.

Although the victim's head was nowhere to be found, investigators were still able to identify her. Less than 100 yards away was the cabin where missing 26-year-old naturalist Joey Armstrong lived. In the 1990s, the Cedar Lodge in El Portal was owned and operated by a man named Gerald Fisher. Located on Highway 140, the lodge was a popular rest stop for visitors to Yosemite National Park.

Its grounds stretched across 27 acres at the base of a tree-covered hillside, with the Merced River flowing nearby. All up, there were 211 rooms in the hotel, which were divided between several buildings. The lodge had all the amenities one would expect, including a restaurant and a swimming pool. In the summer of 1997, Gerald hired a young man to carry out general maintenance duties and upkeep at the Cedar Lodge. Like other employees, the newcomer lived on-site in a studio apartment above the restaurant.

Friendly, dependable, and seemingly normal, he established a good rapport with his boss and co-workers. He was an unremarkable, average Joe type of guy who mostly kept to himself. Yet, he did have one noteworthy feature – his surname. In February 1999, Carol Sand, her teenage daughter Julie, and Sylvina Paloso, an exchange student staying with the pair, were murdered in proximity of Yosemite. The trio had been visiting the region for a brief holiday, but disappeared from the Cedar Lodge after a two-night stay.

The hotel's employees were questioned, and although several raised suspicions, the facility's maintenance man did not. His reputation as an unassuming boy next door, coupled with an unblemished police record, kept him off investigators' radars. He remained calm and collected when answering questions, and was ruled out after providing an alibi. Carol and Sylvina's bodies were discovered in the charred remains of their rental car a few hours drive northwest.

The killer then taunted police by sending them a map that led to Julie's son's body, 30 miles from where her mother was found. The triple homicide came to be known as the Yosemite sightseer murders. Investigators returned to the Cedar Lodge on the lookout for the source of dark pink fibers found on Julie's body. The hotel's maintenance man escorted detectives across the grounds, using his set of master keys to let them in to each room. He happily chatted about his life and family, specifically his younger brother, Stephen.

It was a peculiar and intriguing topic, but the interaction didn't raise any red flags. The man's willingness to help was appreciated, and the detectives left. The son Paloso Case inevitably hit a roadblock. The trio's killer remained a mystery, though investigators were certain that a group of local men, all of whom had a history of violence, were responsible. By the time they were spotlighted as suspects, the men were in police custody for a litany of reasons, none of which related to Carol, Julie or Sylvina's murders. Five months later, Joey Armstrong was killed in Farrasta.

The crime scene was about a 30-minute drive from the Cedar Lodge along a route that branched off to where Carol, Julie and Sylvina were found. The FBI were quick to establish there was no connection between the crimes. They told the public there was no reason to believe there was a continuing threat in the area, or that a killer or killers planned to act again. The evening before Joey Armstrong's remains were found in the forest behind her home, a US park service firefighter was visiting the area. As he drove along Farrasta Road, he noticed a familiar car parked on the edge of the woods.

It was a blue and white 1972 international scout SUV, an off-road vehicle akin to a jeep. It just so happened that the firefighter knew who owned the distinctive car. After learning about this sighting, FBI agents returned to the Cedar Lodge. They ascended the stairs leading to the floor above the restaurant and arrived at the apartment belonging to the hotel's maintenance worker. Knox to the front door went unanswered. The man wasn't home. A search of the grounds also failed to locate him.

The agents continued looking. They crossed the highway at the lodger's entrance and headed towards the Merced River on the other side. Something moving about in the river caught their attention. It was a man swimming naked. The act was a public offense, so the agents summoned him out of the water. He turned out to be the very person they were looking for. Cary Steiner had been working as the Cedar Lodge's maintenance man for the past two years.

As a formality, he'd been questioned about the Yosemite sightseer murders. Steiner wasn't technically a lodge employee at the time of the triple homicide. His job was seasonal and he'd been laid off a month earlier due to lack of work. He remained living at the hotel and found himself with an abundance of free time. This gave the avid outdoorsman plenty of opportunities to explore the woods around his home. By late March, the spring tourist season was kicking off. Steiner was rehired one month after the murders. He was never suspected for the crime.

And even when his blue and white international scout SUV was sighted near Joey Armstrong's cabin on the afternoon she was killed, it still didn't raise concerns. It was thought he might have seen something significant while in the area. That's all. Cary Steiner emerged naked from the Merced River. He dressed and gathered up his backpack, then accompanied the waiting FBI agents to his apartment. Steiner remained calm when questioned in relation to Joey Armstrong's murder.

He denied involvement and allowed his SUV to be searched. Nothing of importance was found. Yet, Steiner was far more evasive when it came to his backpack. When detectives requested to inspect it, he refused. They seized the item and obtained a search warrant. Inside the bag, they found a camera, a beer bottle, sunflower seeds, tanning lotion, a harmonica, and a fictional crime novel titled Black Lightning. The book featured graphic descriptions of women being slaughtered with knives and power

saws. Steiner's backpack also contained duct tape, a .22 caliber revolver, and a knife. Although troubling, these items were legal. They were also everyday tools for a handyman who lived in the woods. As they didn't directly implicate Steiner in Joey's murder, he was let go. The following day of Friday, July 23, Cary Steiner didn't show up for work. He'd never taken a day off before, so his colleagues checked his apartment. He wasn't home.

When the county sheriff was informed that Steiner was missing, there was little doubt that he had fled after coming under scrutiny for Joey Armstrong's murder. As he was known to be armed, tracking him down became a top priority. News across the state were ordered to be on the lookout for the 37-year-old, who was tall and lean with tanned skin and cropped, graying dark hair. Local media were informed, and soon the Steiner name was making news across the state once again. Joey Armstrong's cabin and the encompassing woodland was still crawling with FBI agents

and local law enforcement. That evening, a park ranger stood by the stream near where Joey's body had been found. They headed downstream, and after 40 or so feet, spotted something floating in the shallows. It was Joey's head. 150 miles away in Sacramento County, Janet DeMand was preparing for a typical weekend night of drinking and darts. Janet was a resident of Laguna de Sol, a clothing optional resort on the outskirts of Sacramento City.

Shortly after 11pm, Janet ventured to the resort lounge where she noticed a familiar face sitting at the bar. The man had visited the resort a few times before, and as recently as March that year. Janet remembered that visit well. He had worn a t-shirt featuring the word Yosemite and a cap embroidered with the Cedar Lodge logo. His outfit prompted Janet to ask him about the Yosemite sightseer murders. It was the talk of the town, as the three victims had only just been discovered.

The man explained that he had gotten out of Yosemite because there were cops everywhere. When Janet spotted the same man at the Laguna de Sol lounge nearly four months later, she approached him again. He was focused on a television screen above that displayed the news, so their conversation was brief. She asked how he was doing. He said that he had packed up his truck and was planning to head into state to somewhere like Oregon or Utah.

The next day, Janet woke early and happened to catch the morning television news. An FBI agent appeared on screen, urging viewers to contact the bureau if they came across Carrie Stainer, wanted for questioning in relation to the murder of Joey Armstrong. Janet recognized the fugitive as the man she had spoken to at Laguna de Sol on several occasions, including the night before at the bar. She rushed to the telephone. After calling the FBI, Janet alerted the manager of Laguna de Sol that a wanted man was residing on site.

Groundskeepers were immediately dispatched to the area where Carrie Stainer had pitched his tent the day before. They began pruning nearby shrubs to subtly keep an eye on him until police arrived. Eventually, Stainer emerged. He was scheduled to check out the next morning of Sunday, July 25, yet he started packing up and preparing his vehicle as though he were planning to leave that very moment. Resort staff feared he knew something was awry and was making a hasty escape. Stainer checked the daily paper and conveniently his getaway hadn't yet made headlines.

This seemingly gave him a false sense of security. Instead of fleeing the resort, he put on a cap and went to grab a bite to eat. At 9am, half a dozen FBI agents and local police officers arrived at Laguna de Sol. They were directed to the on-site restaurant where several guests were eating breakfast, many of them naked. Sitting alone at a corner booth with his back to the door was a man who immediately drew their attention. Unlike the people around him, he was wearing clothes, jeans, a t-shirt with Yosemite on

the front and a camouflage-patterned hat. It was Cary Stainer. As soon as Stainer noticed the man moving towards him, he stood and raised his hands. He remained calm as he was handcuffed and informed that he was under arrest. It was a two-hour drive to the FBI field office in Sacramento. Throughout the journey, Stainer engaged his escorts in light-hearted chit-chat, unfazed by his predicament. At one point, the conversation steered towards another member of the Stainer family.

Cary was the oldest of five children. He had three sisters and a brother, Stephen. The Stainer siblings were close, but Cary was particularly protective of Stephen, who was four years his junior. The pair had a strong bond. They spent their early years playing together in the wilderness around their home and enjoyed frequent family trips to Yosemite National Park. When Cary was 11, his brother vanished without a trace.

Stephen Stainer's story is covered in episode 154 of Case File. During Stephen's absence, Cary would often retreat outdoors for respite from his grieving family. At night, he'd look up at the stars and wish for Stephen's safe return. Years passed, and Cary found joy in art. He was voted most creative in his graduating class, and many believed he would go on to have a career in graphic design. Yet, Cary's youth was overshadowed by Stephen's disappearance.

He felt abandoned and neglected. Seven years after his little brother vanished, Cary's wish came true. Stephen returned home alive at age 14. He had been abducted by a pedophile and held in captivity for seven years. Cary and Stephen shared a room together from then on, but their relationship was fraught, and they argued constantly. Cary blew off steam by taking solo trips to Yosemite, where he ran through the woods, swam naked, and smoked cannabis.

As Cary recited these experiences to his arresting officers in 1999, he became emotional. Mainly over the inadequate sentencing his brother's kidnapper had received. By the time Stena was placed in an interview room at the FBI's field office, he was once again upbeat, but his cooperation thereafter came at a disturbing cost. I'd like to see pictures, he requested, of little girls. Although he was unwilling to say it explicitly, Stena was asking to view child exploitation material in exchange for a statement. The urge to see such imagery, Stena said, had been gnawing away at him his entire life.

The FBI had no intention of giving Stena what he wanted. Instead, they pretended to procure the illicit content to buy time and keep him rambling on. In the meantime, detectives offered him pizza in an effort to get him to open up about the reason he was arrested, the murder of Joey Armstrong. Stena took a bite and remarked, this will be my last meal as a free man. He then looked at the detectives directly and said, I can give you closure, I can help answer questions about Joey and more.

Nearly two decades earlier, in 1982, Cary Stena was driving along a back road that connected Cedar Lodge to Forresta. Daylight was fading, so he flicked on his headlights. As they swept across the frame of an old dilapidated barn, Stena caught sight of something sheltering within. It was a large, hairy and muscular beast. Stena believed it was Bigfoot, an ape-like creature of North American folklore. The beast leapt up and ran into the surrounding woods while emitting a shriek that sounded

like a woman screaming through a bullhorn. Deciding sparked an obsession. Stena often returned to Forresta in the hopes of seeing Bigfoot again. One such visit occurred on Wednesday, July 21, 1999. Stena parked his car on the edge of the woods and ventured inward. He came across a stream and began tossing rocks into it when he glimpsed a young woman through the trees. She was moving back and forth between a cabin and her car, packing it with items.

No one else appeared. Stena assumed she was alone. As he spied on her, he felt a disturbing and familiar urge brewing inside him. Cary Stena first thought about killing women when he was just seven years old. This predated his brother's abduction so the thoughts were unrelated to Stephen's ordeal. He would stand in front of shop windows while fantasizing about the female clerks inside dying. His visions became increasingly sadistic and by age eight, Stena was imagining trapping

a neighborhood girl in a bunker and forcing her to undress. In his teens, he molested his sister's 14-year-old friend and confronted her while naked. On another occasion, he exposed himself to her. His sister also witnessed this incident, but Stena acted as though it were only a joke. After his parents' separation in the mid-1980s, Stena moved to Merced to live with his uncle Jerry. Years later, Jerry was killed after interrupting a home invasion. He had sustained a single gunshot to the chest administered by his own shotgun.

Cary Stena was questioned in relation to the slaying but was not considered a suspect after providing an alibi. Stena later alleged that he had been sexually abused by his uncle. Stena left Merced soon after and in 1997 took the maintenance job at the Cedar Lodge. Throughout this time, he expressed interest in women but rarely pursued them and barely spoke about dating. In 1998, Stena began casually dating a waitress who worked at the Cedar Lodge restaurant. She had two daughters, aged 10 and 7.

Stena supervised the girls while their mother worked and they enjoyed hanging out with him. Over time, Stena began fantasizing about killing his girlfriend, then raping and murdering her daughters before setting their house on fire. Whenever he went to carry out the attack, he would lose his nerve. Then one night, he finally decided to go through with it. On the night of Monday, February 15, 1999, Stena went to his girlfriend's house with the intention of making his violent fantasy a reality. When a male visitor happened to stop by the house, Stena was forced to abandon his plans.

Surging on adrenaline, he returned to the Cedar Lodge and climbed into the hot tub to calm down. He was soon joined by two teenage sisters who were staying at the hotel. Neither girl was alarmed nor felt there was anything off about the older man sharing the tub. They were completely oblivious to the fact that he was considering killing them. Stena was quietly plotting his plan B murder scenario, in which he would rape and kill the two teens before him instead.

Once again, his plans fell through after he realized the pair were in the company of their father. Frustrated, Stena got out of the tub and spent the rest of the evening wandering aimlessly around the hotel grounds. He eventually meandered towards the remote block of rooms on the edge of the woods. The area was near deserted, aside from a red Pontiac parked out the front of room 509, which was emitting a warm glow from within. Stena wandered past and glanced through the room's window.

He noticed three female guests inside. Carol, Julie and Sylvina were exhausted after a long day exploring Yosemite National Park. The trio had retreated to their hotel room at the Cedar Lodge to settle in for their final night's stay. Carol rested on her bed with a book, while Julie and Sylvina watched television together. The adjacent hotel rooms were empty. They had the area all to themselves. At 11pm, the women were startled by a knock at the door.

Carol moved to the window and saw a man standing outside, dressed in camouflage pants and a black shirt. He introduced himself as the hotel's maintenance man and spoke of a lake upstairs. He wanted to see if it had impacted their room, but Carol refused to let him in. The man told her that he would retrieve the hotel manager. Carol let her guard down and opened the door. Carrie Stena entered room 509 carrying his backpack. It contained its usual stockpile, rope, duct tape, a knife and his revolver.

He moved into the bathroom and pretended to look for the non-existent leak. After a little while, he re-entered the room, pulled out his gun and told the women that nobody would get hurt if they kept quiet. He took their money and car keys before ordering them to lie face down on the beds. Using the duct tape, he bound their hands behind their backs. Stena shut Julie and Sylvina inside the bathroom. He then returned to Carol, gagged her and strangled her to death. With Carol's limp body in his arms, Stena emerged from the hotel room out into the

parking area. He moved towards the Pontiac, popped the trunk and lowered Carol's body in. He then separated the teenagers. Julie was left in a neighboring vacant room while Stena took Sylvina into 509's bathroom and strangled her in the bathtub. Her body was placed alongside Carol's. She asked Stena if he was going to kill her. He answered no, before forcing her into the Pontiac's passenger seat.

She was concealed by a pink blanket taken from the hotel room. Prior to leaving Cedar Lodge, Stena went about concealing his crimes. He cleaned room 509 thoroughly and left some wet towels on the bathroom floor to imply that the guests had checked out after showering. It was after 5 o'clock the following morning of Tuesday, February 16, when Stena drove the Pontiac away from the lodge. The following 90 minutes were spent driving around aimlessly. Eventually, he pulled into a paved viewpoint at the Dom Pedro Reservoir.

It was an area Stena was familiar with, having camped and fished there with his family throughout his childhood. Stena carried the still-bound Julie up a hiking trail and to a secluded spot out of view of the parking area. Julie was lowered onto the pink blanket. Stena told her that he loved her and that he wanted to keep her, but he couldn't bear to look at her as he slit her throat, turning her face away so he didn't have to witness his own callous brutality.

He hid Julie's body under a poison oak bush, gathered up the pink blanket, and headed back down the rise towards the Pontiac. Before he left the reservoir, Stena stopped to admire the sunrise. Stena then drove to nearby Tuolumne County and pulled onto an old dirt logging road. He drove deep into the forest until the car jolted and stopped. A tree stump had embedded into the Pontiac's undercarriage, preventing it from moving any further. By now, daylight was pouring through the trees.

Fearing he might be seen, Stena ditched the car and walked to a nearby payphone to order a taxi. Not long after, Jenny Paul pulled up in her cab. Her passenger was a casually dressed, decent-looking man carrying a backpack. He looked tired, as though he hadn't slept at all the night before. His friends had ditched him, he explained, and he needed a ride back to a hotel near the Yosemite National Park. Jenny obliged.

The man quickly fell asleep and only stirred when nearing his destination. He engaged Jenny in small talk, which primarily centered around the topic of Bigfoot. Stena paid the $125 taxi fare using cash from Carol Sun's wallet and made his own way back to the Cedar Lodge. The next day, he was back into Wallamy County. He drove down the old logging road and pulled his SUV to a stop near the Pontiac. At first, Stena had opted to leave the car as is, thinking it wouldn't be linked back to him.

But doubts had since crept into his mind, and he decided to torch it just to be safe. Stena then carried out a series of crafty and sophisticated cover-up techniques that he had learned from watching true crime shows. He drove to the city of Modesto and tossed Carol's wallet onto a busy street to throw off search efforts once they inevitably commenced. He re-entered Room 509 and changed the bedding. Later, he penned the anonymous letter directing authorities to Julie Sun's body, purposely writing we had fun with this one, to imply that multiple perpetrators were involved.

Knowing the note would be analysed, he placed a page on top of it and scrawled random names that left behind imprints that would further confuse investigators. He also paid a kid he met at a fast-food restaurant to lick the letter's envelope and stamp for him. Although he skipped town to Laguna de Sol when the bodies were found, he opted to return to Yosemite. A permanent departure in the height of a murder investigation would only raise suspicions. It was smarter for Stena to stay put.

His efforts paid off. Stena was completely overlooked as a suspect in the Yosemite sightseer murders. Staff for Cary Stena carried on as per usual. Four months later, Stena was standing in the Forrester Woods partaking in his ongoing search for Bigfoot. There was no sign of the beast, but something else had caught his eye. Come by a familiar impulse, he returned to his car and retrieved his backpack. Joey Armstrong was watering plants on her front porch when Stena approached.

He complimented her on how nicely she had done up the cabin and asked if she'd ever seen Bigfoot. Joey hadn't, but said that one of her roommates might have. Stena asked if they were home. And Joey responded, no, before turning to face the front door. Behind her, Stena pulled out his gun and held it to her head. He forced Joey into her bedroom and onto the bed. She fought hard, but Stena managed to restrain her hands behind her back and gag her.

He then dragged her outside and put her into the back of his SUV. As he drove off, Joey leapt out of the car window. She gained her footing and sprinted into the woods. Stena pumped the brakes and scrambled out the car before giving chase. It took him a while to catch up, but when he did, the pair fell to the ground in a heap near a stream. Mid-fire, Stena took the knife from his back pocket and slit Joey's throat. The forceful cut resulted in decapitation.

Stena considered keeping Joey's head as a trophy, but ultimately decided against it. Harry Stena intended to kill many more women, including three Finnish tourists who stayed at the Cedar Lodge in 1998. Armed with a metal pipe and duct tape, he tried accessing the trio's room using his master key. He inadvertently woke the women up in the process, causing one to yell out in panic. Stena then fled the scene. No one had any idea he was behind the thwarted break-in.

In fact, he was tasked with checking the locks to the room and reassuring the women they were safe. Weeks later, Stena was compelled to kill several women he saw at the Merced River, but he lost his nerve when a man appeared. Then there were the young daughters of his current girlfriend and the teens from the Cedar Lodge hot tub. Stena told detectives, If you hadn't got me, there would have been more.

Stena's crimes came as a shock to those who knew him. Though he was a quiet loner, he also came across as a regular guy who joked around with colleagues. Friends described him as trustworthy and gentle. He had enacted strangely when Carol, Julie and Sylvina disappeared, nor had he discussed the case with others. As such, many struggled to believe he was guilty, including his family. After all the tragedy the Stenas had endured with Stephen, they couldn't comprehend how

their eldest son could be a serial killer. By now, evidence of Stena's presence had been found throughout the Feresto crime scene. His fingerprints were in Joey Armstrong's bedroom, and his footprints and the tire tracks from his SUV were pressed into the sand driveway alongside her cabin. Stena remained silent and stoic when indicted for Joey's murder. As in relation to the Yosemite sightseer murders were also on the horizon, investigators were still searching for evidence that directly implicated Stena in the triple homicide. On July 24, Stena agreed to take detectives on a guided tour of his crime scenes.

In the Feresto woods, he retrieved the knife he'd used to kill Joey Armstrong. His bloody fingerprints were still on the handle. He also disclosed where the knife he used to kill Julie Sund could be found. The weapon was recovered, along with duct tape that matched the tape stuck to the 15 year old's ankle. Stena pleaded not guilty when charged with the first degree murders of Carol Sund, Julie Sund and Sylvina Paloso, as well as burglary, robbery, and kidnapping. Although he had withheld this from his initial confession, Stena eventually admitted that

his crimes were sexually motivated. He had murdered Sylvina Paloso because she was too distraught to follow orders. Julie Sund was kept alive as she was willing to do what she was told. He had intended to kidnap and rape Joey Armstrong, but killed her when she resisted. As such, he also faced charges related to attempted sexual assault and rape. Stena insisted that the murders were opportunistic and that he'd acted alone. The FBI faced backlash over this revelation. They were accused of having tunnel vision for trying to link local criminals to the crimes,

which allowed Carrie Stena to slip through the cracks. Although some evidence was tenuously linked to their initial suspects, the connections relied mostly on hearsay, unreliable confessions, and criminal histories. Investigators also focused too heavily on the calls from the person who tried to access Carol Sund's bank account, who to this day has never been identified. Another blow came in the form of Jenny Paul, the taxi driver who had picked Stena up the night he killed Carol, Julie, and Sylvina. Jenny came forward only after learning of Stena's arrest.

The FBI had never made inquiries with local cab companies during their investigation, even though it was standard practice for them to do so following a major crime. Special Agent James Maddock, who fronted the Yosemite's sightseer murders investigation, was placed on administrative leave over his handling of the case. Even though FBI officials supported his conduct, morale at the Sacramento Field Office was low due to the negative press coverage. Maddock was devastated to think that Joey Armstrong could still be alive had he not incorrectly assured the public that the Yosemite murderer was in jail.

In a highly divisive move, prosecutors sought the death penalty against Stena in relation to Joey Armstrong's murder, describing his crimes as especially cruel, heinous, and depraved. As he didn't want to die, Stena's survival instinct kicked in and he pleaded not guilty, despite having already confessed to the crime. In exchange for the prosecution dropping the death penalty, in September 2000, Stena changed his plea to guilty. Joey's mother Leslie agreed to the deal, saying that watching Stena die wouldn't bring her daughter back. The plea stipulated that Stena would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility

of parole, pardon, or any other kind of release for the length of his natural life. Stena maintained he's not guilty plea for the Yosemite sightseer murders. During a preliminary hearing in June 2001, an employee of the Cedar Lodge revealed that Stena had disappeared for a brief period on the day Carol, Julie, and Sylvina vanished and couldn't be tracked down by staff. On day three of the hearing, Stena's six-hour-long murder confession was played to the court. At one point, a smile crept over Stena's face. Sylvina Palosso's father noticed and flew into a rage. He called Stena a son of a bitch before storming out of the courtroom.

For the remainder of the audio presentation, Stena kept his head bowed and his fingers plugged into his ears. It was ruled that there was enough evidence for Stena to stand trial for the crimes. In May the following year, Stena changed his plea from not guilty to innocent by reasons of insanity. His defense team were now claiming that he suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, and unspecified psychosis. If found guilty but insane, Stena would face the possibility of a life in a mental health facility. If found guilty but sane, there was still a chance he would be executed. During his trial in July, the defense claimed that their client's problems predated his birth. Mental illness ran in the Stena family. Furthermore, Carey's mother fell

over whilst pregnant with him, which might have damaged his brain. From the age of two onwards, Stena exhibited obsessive compulsive behaviors, beginning with the chronic habit of pulling out hair. This evolved into full-blown psychosis. Stena spoke of having visions of floating heads and hearing voices coming from the TV telling him to kill and that the world was coming to an end. A court-appointed forensic psychiatrist spent more than 21 hours interviewing Stena and reviewed over 400 reports. He testified that Stena showed signs of depression, narcissism, and schizophrenia and was socially dysfunctional. He diagnosed Stena with several sexual disorders, including pedophilia, sexual sadism, and erectile dysfunction. A neuropsychologist appearing on behalf of the

defense said a scan of Stena's brain showed abnormalities in the parts that controlled emotional impulses. However, a medical expert for the prosecution disagreed. He believed the scans looked normal. After two days' deliberation, Carey Stena was found guilty on all charges. He was also found to be of sound mind, with the jury citing the methodical and elaborate efforts he went to to cover up his crimes. They said this showed a consciousness of guilt that indicated Stena knew what he was doing was wrong. Their recommendation was unanimous. Carey Stena should receive capital punishment. On December 12, 2002, Stena was formally sentenced to death by lethal injection. Stena was sent to San Quentin State Prison, the only facility in California that

still performed executions. Since the death penalty was reinstated in California in 1978, only 13 inmates have been executed. The last execution took place in 2006. The backlog is due to the lengthy appeals process, which can take many years before death row inmates have exhausted all their options. Holding inmates on death row costs $150 million more annually than if they were serving life without the possibility of parole. In March 2019, the death penalty was suspended in California by Governor Gavin Newsom, who labelled it a costly failure unfairly applied to people of color and the mentally disabled. However, the moratorium is only in place during Governor Newsom's tenure, and the next Governor

of California may seek to have the death penalty reinstated. Carey Stena remains on death row in San Quentin. He is still fighting appeals. Room 509 at the Cedar Lodge is no longer available to the public and is now being used as a storage space. The Carroll-Sund Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation is no longer in operation, having closed in 2009. Over the decade it was running, the foundation paid 47 rewards, totalling $250,000. In the wake of her murder, friends and family established the Joey Armstrong Memorial Fund, which offered trips to national parks for underprivileged children. The fund received so many donations that the Yosemite National Institute was able to establish the

Armstrong Scholars Program. It gave teenage girls the opportunity to spend 10 days in the Yosemite wilderness, where they would be taught to hike, cook, climb, and sleep outdoors. One of Joey's former students applied for the scholarship, writing on her application. Joey became the red-headed free spirit in my life that kept encouraging me to ignore my fears, experience everything, and live a life to the fullest. No one person has affected me more. Carey Stena worked to sell the rights to his story for an autobiographical film adaptation of his crimes. When a reporter saw an exclusive interview with the killer, Stena demanded in return, Get hold of producers in L.A. I want a bit in war. Criminologist Michael Rustigan

stated Stena was driven by the desire for fame, possibly the same that his brother received after surviving his ordeal. To guarantee he wouldn't profit from his story, Carey Stena was required to sign a $10 million restitution order to go to the Joey Armstrong Memorial Fund. To spare her family any further distress, he was forbidden from ever speaking, writing, or communicating with anyone about her death. The Sun and Palosso families both filed wrongful death suits against the Cedar Lodge and Carey Stena. It questioned why Carol, Julie, and Sylvina were put in a remote room with few other guests nearby, why Stena was allowed to wonder the grounds unsupervised with a master key and whether there was an adequate lock system on the hotel room door.

It also argued that the Cedar Lodge conducted inadequate background checks on its employees. If they had, they would have learned that Stena had made threats to kill a previous employer and torched their workplace. The families were clear that the suit was more about accountability than money. They wanted to send a message to the community that accommodation providers needed to be held to the highest standards of care in order to protect their guests. Yen's son settled for $1 million. The Paloso family rejected their settlement offer as it didn't even cover their legal fees. In May the following year, a judge threw out the Paloso's case, saying the Cedar Lodge managers couldn't have foreseen Carey Stena's actions. Shortly after confessing to his crimes,

Carey Stena took the advice of detectives and penned letters to his victims. Although they weren't around to read them, the letters would provide Stena the opportunity to speak candidly and personally about what he had done, offering further insight into his mind. In a letter to Julie Sund, he wrote, My weakness to control my evil desire has led us both to this crossroad. You, on one hand, have crossed over to a place of which now I can only dream of going, and I am going someplace far worse.