Going West: True Crime - The Stayner Brothers // 17

Episode Date: March 25, 2019

In 1972, a 7-year-old boy was abducted while walking home from school in Northern California. 7 years later, he finally broke free of his captor and reunited with his family- but his new life was far from normal. In 1999, 4 women were murdered in Yosemite National Park- and the abducted boy's older brother is the main suspect. This is the case of Steven and Cary Stayner. **GOING WEST DOES NOT OWN ANY OF THE NEWS CLIPS PRESENTED** ABC News 1980: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHaMlS2txsA ABC News 20/20 Extra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBRhaW-Ak6M  Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on to crime fans and happy Monday, I'm your host Heath, and I'm your other host Daphne, and you're listening to Going West. Today we've got a case for you guys that's basically two and one. But before we get into the case, we want to give a couple shout outs. Hello and thank you to Fred from Ohio. And a big thank you to Stacey in Tampa, Florida. And Terry from California. Thank you so much for listening and reviewing. You guys are awesome.

And also a big thank you to our newest patrons over on Patreon, Emily and Emma. Thank you guys for subscribing, it means a lot to us and really helps out the show. Yeah, if you guys want to subscribe to us on Patreon, you get bonus episodes. Yeah, it's just $5 a month and you get two bonus episodes every month and they're ad free. This is episode 17 of Going West. Let's get into it. Steven Stainer disappeared on his way home from school in Merced, California. He was seven years old. Good morning, Steven and Mr. and Mrs. Stainer and Michael Heider.

Nice to have you all with us. Steven, what happened that afternoon? Do you remember when you were walking home from school? I was walking home from school and I was stopped by a man along the street just a few blocks from my house. And he asked me if I wanted to me or my mother wanted to donate something to the church and I had told them that my mother would probably want to and so he offered me right home. They passed the road that I was that I did on and I had told them that that was the road I did on. They said that we'll just call your parents to see if you can stay the night.

The first night they had said they called my parents and said, there's all right to stay the night. The second night they said that they had called them again and said that I could say another night. Then when I went to, went out and came back and said, he went to court and he got in possession. And said that it obviously is. A serial killer in a National Park is a story. But there was more to this story.

Because you had a serial killer. His brother had been a national celebrity 20 years ago. Because he'd been kidnapped and held captive for seven years. You never expect so much terror to happen in such a beautiful place. You have two brothers bonded by blood, but still one deep lingering question. Did somehow those experiences of the younger brother influence the maniacal behavior of the older brother. Stephen Stainer was born on April 18, 1965 in Merced, California. He was the third of five children of parents Delbert and K. Stainer. Stephen's eldest sibling was Carrie Stainer, who is four years his senior. On December 4th, 1972, Stephen Stainer was walking home from school. He was just seven years old at the time and in

second grade. When he was just a few blocks from his home, a car approached him. Two men were in the car and they explained that they were collecting money for a church and asked if he wanted to make a contribution. Steven explained that his mother would likely be willing to make a donation. The men in the car were Kenneth Parnell and Irvin Edward Murphy. Kenneth Parnell had described himself as an aspiring minister and asked Irvin Murphy, who was apparently very naive and simple-minded, to help him abduct a young boy so that Kenneth could raise him in a religious-type deal. So that day, they were looking for a boy to kidnap, not for church donations.

Kenneth asked Stephen where he lived so he could take him home and get the donation from his mom. Stephen explained that he could walk because he only lived a couple blocks away, but the men insisted. Stephen then jumped into the car and gave the men directions on where his house was. When Kenneth drove past his house, Stephen was incredibly confused. He mentioned that they had passed his home, but Kenneth kept driving. Eventually, they arrived to Kenneth Parnell's cabin, which was less than 30-minute drive away.

Interestingly enough, Stevens' grandfather's house was only a few houses down, but they didn't have a relationship so Stephen was unaware of this fact. Stephen asked why they were at his house, and Kenneth explained that his parents said that he was allowed to stay the night. The first night, Kenneth Parnell molested Stephen, and 13 days later, he began raping him. Irvin Murphy was completely aware of the consistent sexual assault, but he did nothing. Over the first week, Stephen would continuously tell Kenneth that he wanted to go home and that he didn't understand why he was there. Just a few nights into the abduction, Kenneth told Stephen that he was his new legal guardian and to start calling him dad. He even said that his parents couldn't afford to care for him anymore and they didn't want him.

So this is how far Kenneth is willing to go in this abduction. He actually claims that he goes down to the courthouse and gets legal documents explaining that Steven is now his son. It's just kind of crazy how far he's willing to go. And it's sad because Steven is only seven years old, so he doesn't know any better. He's not gonna question this fact.

You know, he's not gonna be like, uh, what do you mean you're my new legal guardian? Like, he's just gonna go with it. Yeah, and at this time, I feel like going to be like, uh, what do you mean you're my new legal guardian? Like he's just going to go with it. Yeah. And at this time, I feel like Steven is not going to question an adult because he thinks that he's an authority figure. So it's really unfortunate that this older man is willing to manipulate a little child into this situation.

And this is kind of different from many hostage situations. Kenneth created a new identity for Stephen and even allowed him to have friends and go to school. His new name would become Dennis Gregory Parnell, and this name was used when he was enrolled in different schools. And they actually moved around quite frequently around California, but always staying in northern California. Kenneth Parnell worked so there were many days where he would be out all day

and he would sometimes even travel and leave Stephen at home by himself. Because of this, a lot of people argue that Stephen should have left when he had the chance, but I mean he was seven years old when he was abducted and he explained later that he didn't know how to ask for help or how to flee, even though he technically could have on numerous occasions. Kenneth Parnell had even eventually told him that his father died and his mother moved away, so even if he did escape, he wouldn't know where to go. And it's not like Kenneth is locking Stephen up in a basement or chaining him in a closet or something like that.

Stephen actually has a lot of freedom, but it's everything that's happening behind the scenes that is really so messed up in this situation. And another manipulating tool that Kenneth used was, he actually bought Steven a little terrier dog named Queenie. And Steven actually claimed that the dog was actually one of the most positive things in his life. And Kenneth was a briber.

He would bribe Stephen with toys and different things like that. It's hard for a seven-year-old to understand that something is really going wrong here. At a young age, Stephen began drinking and smoking cigarettes because Kenneth supplied him with them and encouraged him to pick up these habits. Stephen would sometimes bring friends over to the house and introduce Kenneth as his dad. While the boys were over, Kenneth even sexually assaulted some of them as well. By the time Stephen was nine years old, a woman named Barbara Matthews, I think that's how you pronounce your name, Matthews, moved into the house. According to Stephen, Kenneth Parnell and Barbara would rape him together on nine separate

occasions over the course of 18 months. She later stated that she had no idea Stephen had been abducted. However, she had apparently attempted to help Kenneth Parnell lure a young boy into Parnell's car, but it was unsuccessful. And one thing I want to say about this Barbara bitch is that I'm sorry, but she's like oh well I didn't know he was abducted you're still allowing a nine year old boy into the bedroom to have sex with you and your boyfriend you are a piece of shit. Yeah and what was her excuse oh I thought it was his son it's like okay so is that any better you're raping your boyfriend's son. It just is so strange to me that

somehow Kenneth Parnell is able to convince people or manipulate people into these sexual situations with younger kids. Like I don't know how he convinced Irvin to help him pick up a young boy. I don't know if he really needed to convince Barbara to allow Stephen in the bedroom with them or if she had anything against doing that in the first place, I have no idea, but it just seems like he's this master manipulator. As the years went by and Stephen started to grow into a teenager and go through puberty, Kenneth Parnell was no longer interested in him sexually, as if Stephen's getting too old for his

type, which is horrific. Around this time Kenneth had told Stephen that he was interested in abducting another young boy. He even tried to recruit Stephen to help him lure in boys, but none of the attempts were successful. Now this made Kenneth believe that Stephen wasn't very good at it, but it's just because Stephen didn't want to abduct any children. He didn't want anyone to go through what he did, especially if he was there to witness it. And it's highly believed that the reason why they were unsuccessful is because Steven would actually sabotage these missions for Parnell to pick up young kids. So on February 14, 1980, Kenneth Parnell

and a friend of Steven's named Randall Sean Poorman kidnapped a five-year-old boy named Timothy White. Timothy was very clearly upset to be away from his parents and this really got to Steven. At this time, Steven was just shy of 15 years old, and he had finally decided that he was ready to break free of the horror he'd endured for the last seven years. On the night of March 1, 1980, so just a couple weeks after Timothy had been abducted, Kenneth left for his overnight security job. He mentioned that he might be back in case he forgot something, since Stephen had planned on escaping that night, this comment made him incredibly paranoid. What if he was trying to leave and Kenneth came back and found them?

Stephen waited a considerable amount of time after Kenneth left before he and Timothy fled. The boys hitchhiked and got a ride from a stranger, but since Timothy was only five years old, he had no idea where his house was. So they rode 40 miles and Stephen finally decided that Timothy should go into the police station without him and ask for help. When the boys got there, Timothy went inside and then immediately came out, which quickly raised flags for police, especially since it was the middle of the night.

When police came out and found the boys, Steven explained that the boy with him was Timothy White, and he was abducted two weeks earlier. The police originally asked Timothy if Steven was the one who abducted him, but he said, no, he wasn't. Police then asked who Stephen was and he said, I know my first name is Stephen. Then he explained his entire story to police and they realized that he was the stainer boy who went missing seven years prior. Police explained that they would bring him home to his parents and he was incredibly confused because he had been told that his dad was dead and that his mother had moved away. By the next day, Kenneth Parnell was arrested on suspicion of abducting the two boys.

When the police looked into Parnell's history, they found that he'd been convicted of Sodomy in 1951. The following year in 1981, Kenneth Parnell was tried and convicted for kidnapping Stephen and Timothy in two separate trials. He was not charged for rape, however, just for the kidnapping, and he only received seven years, but actually ended up serving five. The reason he wasn't charged for sexual assault is because most of them had occurred outside of the Merced jurisdiction.

The prosecutors didn't even try to convict Parnell of sexual assault and rape because they thought they were protecting Stephen because they didn't want him to be looked at as damaged goods. And this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Not only is this child abductor only getting five years in prison for not only abducting one kid but abducting two kids and then sexually assaulting both, but at the same time they don't want to go after a conviction for sexual abuse because they claim that he would be damaged goods at that point, that's just so messed up.

It's really sad because obviously this man is a danger to society because he's still trying to lure young boys into his house Even when he had a boy Steven he still wanted more So that just goes to show you how horrible this man is and that he should not be out amongst the rest of us It's so ridiculous and if we didn't mention this before when Steven would bring home his friends from school this before, when Stephen would bring home his friends from school, Parnell would try and sexually assault those friends as well, and actually there was a specific friend. He had mentioned to Stephen that, hey, your dad, like, tried to make a pass at me or come on to me, and Stephen felt like this was normal because he didn't know any different. Barbara Mathias was never arrested, and neither was Irvin Edward Murphy.

And Stephen even stated that Murphy was incredibly kind to him during his time there and he believed that Murphy was just as much of a victim as he was because he was also under the influence of Kenneth Parnels' manipulation. Stephen had a lot of trouble adjusting to his new, slash-old life back at the Stainer House. He was used to drinking and smoking at Parns, but this is something that Steven's parents didn't initially allow upon his return, which makes sense, I mean he's 14 years old. Steven was even made fun of by his peers for being molested, and his father wouldn't look at him the same after that, as if it was Steven's fault that he got raped. Steven's father also didn't allow Stephen to seek counseling because he said that he didn't need it. So Stephen remained incredibly messed up

after seven years of captivity and began drinking more and more and he was eventually kicked out of the family house. In 1985 when Stephen was 17 years old he married a girl named Jody Edminson and they had two children together. Things were starting to look up as he got a job at a pizza shop and started He married a girl named Jody Edminson, and they had two children together. Things were starting to look up as he got a job at a pizza shop and started working with child abduction groups and speaking to kids about child safety. At this time, Steven didn't have much of a relationship with his family, not even his older brother Carrie. Carrie Stainer was the first child of the family and was born on August 12, 1961.

When he was just three years old, he was diagnosed with tricotillomania, which is obsessive hair pulling. He was subscribed medicine for this, but he basically just constantly had the urge to yank his hair out. Many people described Carrie as a loner, but also said that he seemed like a nice and normal guy. Others described him as perverted and creepy. Carrie had a far from normal childhood. As we just explained, his younger brother Steven was

kidnapped when Carrie was just 11 years old. After that, naturally, everything revolved around Steven's disappearance. Delbert, his father, became obsessed with finding Steven over those seven years and Carrie was pretty much neglected. The other siblings testified to this, explaining that the kids kind of kept out of their parents' way to avoid upsetting them. They just kept their heads down. Girls often liked Kerry and would even mention going on dates with him, but he never did anything about it, which his friends teased him for. He would admire girls and say if they're nice looking and it'd be nice to get together with them, but he never acted. In his early teen

years, he would spy on his sisters and cousins when they went to the bathroom, and during his sister's sleepovers with friends, he would sometimes expose himself to them. Carrie loved to draw. He loved doodling, reading comics, listening to heavy metal, smoking weed, and even drawing caricatures of people that he knew. He was actually the cartoonist for his high school newspaper where he drew comic strips of the lives of his fellow classmates. His peers often said that they thought he would become a famous cartoonist or graphic artist. Carrie was even voted the most creative student in his graduating class. Carrie never thought much of his drawings at all. JP Miller, the screenwriter of an NBC series on Steven Stainer, once asked Carrie why he

didn't submit his drawings to colleges because he could probably lay into scholarship. Carrie said he didn't think they'd like his work, so he didn't even try. He really didn't think much of himself at all. Because of his neglected childhood, he just never thought he would do anything special. He explained that he was put on the back burner during childhood, especially when Steven came back. Steven was getting all this attention, constant gifts, and endless love, so Carrie was just kind of left to the side. The family even often forgot to set out a dinner plate for him. It's like he wasn't even

there. Carrie was also obsessed with Bigfoot and apparently talked about him all the time. He didn't have a doubt in his mind that Bigfoot existed and kept this obsession and belief for a lot of his life. I was never really exposed to the Bigfoot belief until I moved to Oregon last year. And now I see it, some places, and my dad lives here and he kind of like jokes about Bigfoot and seeing Bigfoot and it's just interesting. No, yeah, your dad calls him the Yete, the Yete.

But no, what's really funny is that your dad's obsessed with Bigfoot, but it was my dad. Your dad's actually obsessed with Bigfoot, but not in a weird way where you're like, okay dude, you're delusional, it's just like he's into Bigfoot. His last birthday party theme was literally Bigfoot. It was Bigfoot themed. What? Yeah, no it was.

Straight up, there was like a cardboard cut out of Bigfoot as Birthday Party. Love our dads, but no, I mean if you're into Bigfoot, that's totally cool. I'm not saying I don't think the guy's real. It's very possible. I'd love to see him. I just haven't seen him yet. Yeah, from what Carrie was explaining in this story, he said that he had actually seen Bigfoot and that he had like walked with Bigfoot. So I don't, you know, that's kind of like where you get to the point where you're like, all right, dude. So like we said, Kerry was really into art, but instead of heading to art school, Kerry abandoned his ambitions and began working for a window repair company in his hometown of Merced, California in 1989.

He lived in a house with his uncle Jerry Stainer who was a truck dispatcher for a hay company that everyone called Uncle Jesse. This would be another devastating year for the family. Steven Stainer, who at this point was 24 years old and, like we said, married with two children, was killed. On September 20, 1989, Steven Stainer was riding his new motorcycle without a helmet in the rain, and he skidded trying to avoid a car pulling out of a driveway and was fatally struck in the head.

Although Carrie and Steven weren't close, Carrie was incredibly upset by this news. And I just feel really terrible for Steven, because not only was he abducted when he was seven years old until he was 14, but things are starting to look up for him when he's 24. You know, he's married, he's got a job, he has two kids, and then he suffers this tragic fatal motorcycle accident. So it's like he really didn't get to live any part of his life, essentially. And so many kids are abducted and they don't have that kind of luck to get out eventually. And even though it took Steven so many years to get out, he still got out and had the opportunity to live his life again.

And not many kids get that opportunity once they're abducted. And then he dies so soon, so it's very sad. Then in 1990, Carrie's roommate, slash Uncle Jesse, was found dead in his bedroom with a shotgun wound to his chest. Carrie was definitely considered a suspect, but after questioning him, they found he had an alibi. He was at work at the time of the shooting. Apparently, an unknown person had been lurking around their house shortly before Jesse was

killed. But this was only according to Carrie, so it's unknown if this was true or not. Regardless, this unknown lurker was never found, and Jesse's murder is still unsolved. But there are some pretty suspicious facts surrounding his death. When Carrie was 11 years old, it was reported that he was molested by his uncle Jesse. Jesse had even been convicted for child molestation prior to this. So it's unclear why Carrie lived with him if he was such a monster, but many people claim that Jesse Stainer was Carrie's first victim in an act of revenge. And we'll get more into Carrie's Dana after the short break.

Hey true crime fans, if you love cold cases, come check out my new podcast Frozen in Time. Every Tuesday, I, Jocelyn Maxwell, release a new cold case episode. I try to get as detailed as possible while advocating for the victim, not the crime. I cover missing people, mysteries, and murders that haven't been solved. You can find me on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Podbean, and Spotify. Also, come on over and say hi at Twitter and Instagram at FrozenInTimePod. Check out my website, regular list of episodes

and other cool links at frozenintimepodcast.com or if you have a cold case idea, email me at frozenintimepodcast at gmail.com. Beyond Contempt True Crime is an independent narrative-based podcast that often discusses cases that will cover it in the True Crime podcasting community. In season one, I'll take on lesser known cases like Amy Bishop, Professor Turn Mass Murderer, Richard Mark

Evidence, the serial killer who hid in plain sight, and the tragic murder of Margaret Anderson, a case that terrified the small community of Green Bay, Wisconsin. If you're looking for something new, search for Beyond Contempt True Crime, wherever you get pie casts. I'm Renee, and thanks for listening. And we're back. The following year when Carrie was 30 years old, he tried to kill himself via carbon monoxide

poisoning, but he failed. After this, when he was still working for the window repair company, a coworker found Carrie in the yard at work, punching a piece of wood, which caused his hand to bleed pretty bad. He told his coworker that he was having a breakdown and was incredibly nervous but didn't know why. He said all he wanted to do was get in his truck, drive into the office, kill everyone inside, and light the place on fire. After this, Carrey's boss took him to a psychiatric center to speak to a therapist about what he was going through. Carrey never went back to his window repair job again. He actually told co-workers that he was hoping to move to Santa Cruz, California, to pursue a career in cartooning.

This never ended up happening. Instead, in 1997, he moved to El Porto, California, which is less than four miles from Yosemite National Park, where he began working as a handyman at Cedar Lodge. For those of you who don't know, you 70 National Park is a vast area of mountain paths, stunning wilderness, redwood forests, and is a major scenic attraction in California. He even lived on property, renting a room above the Cedar Lodge restaurant and lounge. One of the waitresses at the restaurant explained that he was a very cool and well-liked guy. She said he got along with the rest of the staff well and that they would all hang out together after work. During the winter months, Yosemite isn't a very popular spot. Most of the employees in the area are all off for the winter and don't return until spring. But Carrie Stainer stayed on duty during the chilly months so he could fix any issues

that would arise throughout the property. On February 14, 1999, Carrie was in his room at the Cedar Lodge when he saw a bright red Pontiac Grand Prix drive up. 15-year-old Julie son and 16-year-old Sylvina Paloso and Julie's mother Carol got out of the car. Silvina was an exchange student from Argentina and the three were visiting from Yorika, California to see beautiful Yosemite. Carol's son and her husband were both realtors and had taken in Silvina a few weeks prior. She had planned to stay with them for three months and the family had been amazing hosts taking her around the Bay Area,

to Disneyland, and now Yosemite. Mr. Sund couldn't go with them on the trip because he was preparing for a business trip. The three ladies had originally flown to San Francisco, rented the 1999 Pontiac, and drove to Stockton, California, where Julie was in a cheerleading contest at a university. During their two days at Yosemite, they enjoyed ice skating in Yosemite Valley, visiting the Merced River, and exploring other gorgeous natural monuments. The night of February 15, they dined at the Cedar Lodge restaurant, which was just below Carrie's home, before renting some movies from the Lodge's front desk and returning to room 509.

Around 11 p.m. Kerry Stainer walked up to their room, carrying a toolbox with duct tape, a gun, a knife, and rope locked inside. Kerry knocked on the door of room 509 and introduced himself as the motel's handyman to Carol Sund. He explained to her that there was a leak in the room above them, and he needed to go into the bathroom to check if the water was

dripping. Carol Sund is very smart because she was immediately suspicious of this. She said that she didn't see a leak, and then proceeded to close and lock the door. Carrie kept up his act, and said that he would just return with the manager to confirm that there was indeed a leak. Carol finally gave in and opened the door, agreeing to let him have a look. Carrie walked through the room and into the bathroom where he pretended to be fixing something. About two minutes later, he came out of the room with a gun in his hand.

He told Carol, Julie and Selvina, not to to panic and that he just wanted to rob them because he really needed the money. He gagged and bound them all with duct tape before putting Selvina and Julie in the bathroom. Carol was left lying on the bed. When Carrie returned to her, he strangled her with a rope before taking her car keys and dragging her body to the trunk of her rental car. Carrie later explained that it took five minutes to strangle her and that he didn't realize how hard it was to strangle a person.

He then returned to the room and tried to make the girls perform sexual acts on each other, but Selvina kept crying and that made him mad. He grabbed Selvina, put her in the bathtub and strangled her. Not only is this horrifying for Julie and Carol, but poor Sylvina, you know, she's a foreign exchange student. Her trip to the United States is almost over and she ends up getting murdered. I can't imagine what her parents are thinking after they've sent her on this foreign exchange trip and she's killed.

It's just so incredibly sad and unfortunate for Selvina. So after he killed Selvina, he then proceeded to sexually assault Julie in the empty room next door before tying her up while he cleaned up the crime scene to make it look like the girls left willingly and nothing happened. That's when he put Selvina in the trunk next to Carol. And again, Julie was in the room next door, so she was unaware that her friend and mom were dead. Like we said, that area was pretty deserted at the time due to it being winter, so it wasn't very hard to get a body into the trunk that late at night without someone seeing.

Apparently this all took hours because at 4 a.m. Carrie Stainer carried Julie's son out to the car and put her in the front seat. At this point, Julie was still unaware that her friend and mom were dead. While they were driving, Carrie took the duct tape off of Julie's mouth and they started making small talk. He didn't know where he was driving or what he was going to do with them, he just kept going. After about an hour

of driving, and as the sun was starting to rise, Carrie pulled off the road he'd been traveling down and drove into a deserted parking lot near the dawn Pedro Reservoir Outlook. He picked Julie up, who was naked but wrapped in a blanket from the motel, and carried her to the overlook, and once they reach it, he sexually salted her again. He then told her that he loved her and cut her throat. He then brushed her hair and fan it out on the dirt before hiding her body underneath the brush. Carrie drove the car down a logging trail and abandoned it before walking two miles until

he reached a telephone in Sierra Village where he called a cab. The cab driver explained the ride to reporters years later, saying it was a 90-mile trip back to Cedar Lodge, costing $125, which apparently carry stole from Carol's wallet. Carrie asked the taxi driver if she believed in Bigfoot, and when she said no, Carrie said, you should because he's real. A few nights later, Carrie returned to the spot and set the car on fire. I don't know what the relevance of him mentioning Bigfoot is. I don't know if he's trying to claim that he's Bigfoot, but it's kind of strange that he keeps bringing this up. I think he just likes talking about bigfoot. I think he just wants to see what everybody else thinks.

It's just so weird though because he literally just killed three women and now he's just like, oh yeah, bigfoot again. No, but it's interesting because this was probably within like 20 or 30 minutes of killing Julie and then he's just chilling in a cab talking about Bigfoot like it's no big thing. I mean, it just seems like Carious completely lost it because not only did he tell Julie that he loved her before he killed her, but now 20 minutes later everything's fine and he's chatting up Bigfoot with this taxi driver I just don't understand it. He's also like 40 years old and Julia is 15 but we'll get more into his creepy pedophilia later. Yeah definitely there's a lot more concerning Carrie and his creepiness in this story. The morning of February 16th the Cedar Lodge staff cleaned room 509 completely unaware of what

happened in there. Since there was no blood or major sign of struggle, and the keys were left on the desk in the room, the housekeepers had just assumed that they checked out. That evening, the three ladies were supposed to meet Carol's husband and Julie's dad, Gens, at the San Francisco airport, that evening, while he was on his way to Arizona for his business trip. The girls had actually planned on flying there with him him so they could tour the Grand Canyon as well. That night, the girls didn't arrive at the airport and he hadn't heard from them.

This was incredibly out of character for Carol because she was a planner and she was very organized. Regardless, Jen's assumed that the girls had flown ahead to Arizona, but when he got to Phoenix, he couldn't find them there either. He stayed in Phoenix for another day, but his family still hadn't shown up or contacted him. That's when Jen's called the police. He then found out that they hadn't returned their rental car to the airport. Local police and Yosemite security began searching the area for the three girls.

They initially believed they had gotten lost while hiking, but their extensive search efforts of the trails didn't lead to anything over the next four weeks. Since the car was missing, they had begun to assume that they had gotten into an accident and possibly driven off a ledge. Jen's offered a $250,000 reward for any information that would lead to the return of his wife and daughter. He quickly bumped it up to $300,000, but didn't get any real leads. At this time, a March and vigil were held for Carol, Julie, and Selvina. About a month after their disappearance on March 19th, a hiker came across the burned Pontiac and reported it to police.

When police arrived, they found the burned bodies of Carol and Silvina in the trunk, but still have no idea where Julie was. Just after this discovery, a note was sent to police. It included a hand-drawn map explaining where Julie's son's body was. At the top of the note, it said, we had fun with this one. Police immediately searched the area on the map and found Julie's body. It's interesting that Carrie is pretending

to be more than one person. Yeah, that's definitely interesting. And I think that this is because he wants to try and throw police off and make it seem like there was two perpetrators. But one really stupid thing that Carrie does is he actually carves into the hood of the Pontiac and says, we have Sarah.

Thinking that Sarah is Julie. He's such a dumbass. I mean, what a fucking moron, literally. Like, not only he professes his love for Julie, and then he's like, we have Sarah. Like, he didn't even get the name right. Like, what is wrong with you, dude? Well, what did police think when they saw that?

Were they like, who's Sarah? Or what did they think, do you know? They may have assumed that it was just Julie. I know that the two bodies that were in the trunk, it actually took a little bit of time for investigators to realize that it was Carol and Selvina, because they weren't, they had to do DNA test obviously to figure that out. Right. So obviously they were looking for that car so I'm sure they assumed it was them

but then with the Sarah note and not having Julie that was probably like really confusing. Yeah, absolutely. And then on top of all this he writes this note to investigators or this map I should say that's basically chicken scratch and somehow investigators are able to figure this map out and find out where Julie actually is. The crazy part is that Carrie wasn't immediately a suspect. Police knew it was someone familiar with the area since the perpetrator had successfully stashed the bodies in a bright colored vehicle out of the area without anyone seeing.

Detectives first began by interviewing the employees at the Cedar Lodge to see if anyone had seen anything and to clear them all of being a suspect. When they interviewed Kerry, they believed every word he said. He remained very calm and collected throughout his interview and he didn't have a criminal record. Police were also aware that he was the brother of a famous abducted child, so they didn't think someone who had been through that would lead a murderous lifestyle. Police questioned countless people and a number of good suspects, but none of them matched up. Many of their suspects were in prison for other charges, and in June of 1999, police said

they believed that their killer was currently behind bars. Even though they believed that the killer may have been behind bars, they got an interesting lead. It looked as if someone was trying to get into Carol's credit card because they kept calling the credit card number, which kept failing time and time again. When police tracked down this lead, it led them to two men in Modesto, California, who had found Carol's wallet and had rummaged through it, obviously finding her credit cards. When police went to go question these men, they brought them in and had talked to them

about the credit card, and one of the men said, no, I had nothing to do with this, and the other man confessed to these murders. And I don't know if this is just because of inter-reation tactics or what happened there, but he literally confessed to murdering these women. After a short time, police realized that it couldn't have been this man because all the details were wrong, and they also found out that he was abusing drugs like methamphetamine, so they were able to rule these two men out. That is really interesting that he confessed. I think it's really weird when people do that for something that they had nothing to do with. Right, I mean if you look at cases like Brinondassi in the making a murderer case, it's just like,

there are certain ways that interrogators can manipulate people to confess to things that they didn't do, and that may have been either the man was crazy because he was a method or he confessed because he was interrogated for hours on end. Within three weeks of saying that they believed the killer was behind bars, they reopened the case. A fourth victim was found brutally murdered just a few miles from Cedar Lodge. A few miles away from the Cedar Lodge was the Yosemite Institute, which is a nonprofit organization that offers week-long

environmental education programs for schools, families, and even teachers. Joie Armstrong, who we're gonna call Joey because a lot of people called her Joey and Joie is actually a French word. I don't think a lot of people could really say her name, so people called her Joey. Who was 26 years old and a naturalist was definitely one of the most popular staff members. Everyone loved Joey. She was incredibly outgoing and bright and she really enjoyed her job, where she got to teach kids about nature and natural history while taking them hiking through Yosemite's backcountry. She shared her knowledge on different insects, animals, and plants along with the park's history.

Joey had a boyfriend, Michael, who also worked at the Yosemite Institute. They lived a very simple life and lived in a small cabin a few miles from work. On July 21, Joey Armstrong arrived to work at 8 a.m. to work a normal day. When her shift was over, she drove the five or so mile ride home to her empty cabin. Her boyfriend and their roommate were away at the time, which interestingly enough, worried her. She had even told coworkers that she was afraid to stay there alone at night because of the Cedar Lodge murders. Just before dark, Joey was packing up her pickup truck for her trip to visit a friend in Saucelito, California, when a car drove down the dirt road

towards her cabin and stopped. Carrie Stainer got out of the car and said hello to Joey. At this point, of course, Joey had no idea that the man in front of her is the Yosemite Park Killer. Carry had apparently tried to make the conversation casual by asking her if she had seen Bigfoot, again with the Bigfoot. In the area, and mentioning he once spotted him near her cabin, he quickly realized Joey was alone and he pointed a gun at her, forcing her into her cabin. He quickly realized Joey was alone and he pointed a gun at her, forcing her into her cabin. He then gagged her with duct tape and bound her hands. He then ordered her outside

and into the front seat of his car. As they drove down the road, Joey managed to open the car door and jump out. She ran into the brush along a creek in hopes of running toward a cabin where her friends lived. But Carrie quickly caught up to her and slither throat until he decapitated her. He then dumped her body in a drainage ditch and put her severed head 40 feet away. Carrie fled up the road but didn't make it far until his car broke down, miraculously, so he flagged down a park ranger for a ride back to work. The ranger reported later that Carrie had been incredibly calm and normal.

And think about this, this is directly after he decapitated a woman like, oh, yeah, zero emotion. The next morning, the friend Joey had planned to visit in Sosolito the night before had phoned police because they hadn't heard from Joey and she never showed up to her house. Police knew foul play had been involved because her car was all packed up and ready to go, but she was nowhere in sight. When they began searching for her body, they quickly found her mutilated remains. Within two days of killing Joey, Kerry Stainer was in custody on suspicion of her murder,

and the FBI were pretty confident that they had their man. When they searched Carrie's home at Cedar Lodge, they discovered evidence that they thought linked him to all the murders. The next day, Carrie was interviewed by a reporter for a new station and in a relieved tone, Carrie said, I am guilty. I did murder Carol Sund, Julie Sund, and Selvina Paloso, and Joey Armstrong. None of the women were sexually abused in any way, which we now know is a lie.

And in FBI interrogation, he then explained that he had fantasized about killing women for 30 years, and even went into detail about how he murdered the women. At the end, he said, I am sorry their loved ones were where they were when they were. I wish I could have controlled myself and not done what I did. When police asked Carrie why he did it, he said, I watched the Discovery Channel. Yeah, Carrie had murderous thoughts from an early age. When he was just seven years old, he had his first violent fantasy. When he was on a shopping trip with his mom, Kay, he pictured shooting at supermarket clerks and murdering people in the store all at once. So he did have a pretty messed up childhood, but it seems

like he had these thoughts even when he was a little boy. Yeah, like maybe they were just kind of built inside him, even before the situation was Stephen, and everything else that happened. After this, Kerry Stainer was arrested for all of the murders. Kerry pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. His lawyers claimed that the Stainer family had a history of sexual abuse and mental illness. In return for his confession, he actually requested child pornography. In the end, he was found sane and convicted

on four counts of first-degree murder by a jury in 2001. In 2002, he was sentenced to death, but he is still not met as fate. He remains on death row at San Quentin Penitentiary in California. I'm just curious what he thought was going to happen asking for child porn. Like, did he actually think he was going to get that? That is so, so insane. I'm sure that the prison official was like, I don't know what you're thinking bud, but first of all, we don't have that and second of all, you're not getting that. Yeah, first of all, that's illegal and disgusting, you sick fuck. I read that everyone was so pissed by that request.

Everyone was just like, you are a monster. I just feel like this whole story is so... it's just so much to take in. You know, with Steven and then with Carrie, like, I feel so bad for Steven, I feel so bad for Stephen and I feel so bad for the family in general because they had to deal with all of this. And it just sucks that Stephen was, you know, this hero that saved Timothy White and then, you know, he dies early and then Carrie goes on to murder a bunch of people. It's just so crazy to me.

goes on to murder a bunch of people, it's just so crazy to me. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you so much for sticking around through this crazy ride. Make sure you check us out over on Instagram, at Going West Podcast, and over at Twitter, at Going West Pod. Let us know what you think about this episode, and if you want bonus episodes, if you just listen to this one and you need another one right away, check us out on Patreon. Patreon.com slash Going West Podcast. Next week we'll have an all-new case for you guys to check out, so stay tuned, they

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