The murder that linked three victims in Yosemite (Part 2/2) | Forensic Files

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notes for this episode on your app or on our website [Music] on thursday july 22 1999
50 fbi agents arrived in feresta 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 of 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 [Music] 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 peloso 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 fibres found on julie's body
the hotel's maintenance man escorted detectives across the grounds using his set of master keys to let them
into 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 sunned peloso 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 ferrasta 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 u.s park service firefighter was visiting the area as he drove along forester 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 knocks 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 lodge'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 offence so the
agent summoned him out of the water he turned out to be the very person they were looking for
kerry stayner 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
stayner 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
kerry steiner emerged naked from the merced river he dressed and gathered up his backpack
then accompanied the waiting fbi agents to his apartment stayner 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 of 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 stayner'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 stana in joey's murder he was let go the following day of friday july 23
kerry 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 stayna 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 police 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
stainer name was making news across the state once again joey armstrong's cabin into 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 11 pm 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 interstate 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 steiner 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 seoul 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 sole that a wanted man was residing on site
groundskeepers were immediately dispatched to the area where kerry stayner had pitched his tent
the day before they began pruning nearby shrubs to subtly keep an eye on him until police arrived eventually
steiner 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 wait at 9 00 a.m half a dozen fbi agents and local police officers arrived at laguna
de seoul 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 kerry stayner as soon as stana 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 stayner engaged
his escorts in light-hearted chit-chat unfazed by his predicament at one point the conversation steered
towards another member of the stayna family carey was the eldest of five children
he had three sisters and a brother stephen the stainer siblings were close but carey 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 kerry was 11 his brother vanished without a trace steven steiner's story is covered in
episode 154 of case file during stephen's absence kerry would often retreat outdoors for
respite from his grieving family at night he'd look up at the stars and wish for steven's safe return
years passed and kerry found a 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 carey's youth was overshadowed by
steven's disappearance he felt abandoned and neglected seven years after his little brother
vanished carey's wish came true stephen returned home alive at age fourteen he had been abducted
by a pedophile and held in captivity for seven years carrie and stephen shared a room
together from then on but their relationship was fraught and they argued constantly carey blew off steam by
taking solo trips to yosemite where he ran through the woods swam naked and smoked cannabis
as kerry 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 stayner was placed in an
interview room at the fbi's field office he was once again upbeat but his cooperation thereafter came had
a disturbing cost i'd like to see pictures he requested of little girls although he was unwilling to say it
explicitly stana 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 stayner what he wanted instead they pretended to procure the
illicit content to buy the 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 stayner 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 kerry steiner was driving along a back
road that connected cedar lodge to farasta daylight was fading so he flicked on his headlights
as they swept across the frame of an old dilapidated barn steiner caught sight of something
sheltering within it was a large hairy and muscular beast stayner 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 the sighting sparked
an obsession stana often returned to faresta in the hopes of seeing bigfoot again
one such visit occurred on wednesday july 21 1999. stayner parked his car on the edge
of the woods and a ventured inward he came across a stream and began tossing rocks into it when he
glimpsed the 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 steiner assumed she was alone as he spied on her he felt a disturbing
and familiar urge brewing inside him [Music] kerry steiner 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 steiner was imagining
trapping a neighborhood girl in a bunker and forcing her to undress in his teens he molested his sister's
fourteen-year-old friend and confronted her while naked on another occasion he exposed himself
to her his sister also witnessed to this incident but steiner acted as though but were
only a joke after his parents separation in the mid 1980s stayner moved to message 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 kerry stayner was questioned in relation to the slaying
but was not considered a suspect after providing an alibi steiner later alleged that he had been
sexually abused by his uncle stayna 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 steiner began casually dating a waitress who worked at the cedar lodge restaurant
she had two daughters aged 10 and a seven stina supervised the girls while their
mother worked and they enjoyed hanging out with him over time steiner 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 steiner 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
steiner 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 steiner 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 realised the pair were in the company of their
father frustrated stayner 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 steiner 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 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 11 pm 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 leak upstairs
he wanted to see if it had impacted their room but carol refused to let him in the men told her that he would retrieve
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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 stayner shot 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
steiner 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 whilst dana took sylvina into 509's bathroom and strangled her in the bathtub
her body was placed alongside carols julie asked steiner 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 steiner 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 five o'clock the following morning of tuesday february 16
when stayner drove the pontiac away from the lodge the following 90 minutes was spent
driving around aimlessly eventually he pulled into a paved viewpoint at the don pedro reservoir
it was an area stana was familiar with having camped and fished there with his family throughout
his childhood stayna 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 steiner 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 stainer stopped to admire the sunrise [Music] 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 stana ditched the car and walked to a nearby pay phone to
order a taxi [Music] 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 [Music] stana paid the 125 taxi fare using cash from carol's son'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
stayner 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
stayner then carried out a series of crafty and sophisticated cover-up techniques
that he had learnt 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
[Music] he re-entered room 509 and changed the bedding later he penned the anonymous letter
directing authorities to julie's son's body purposely writing we had fun with this
one to imply that multiple perpetrators were involved knowing the note would be analyzed 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 seoul 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 steiner to stay poored his efforts paid off steiner was
completely overlooked as a suspect in the yosemite sightseer murders life for kerry steiner carried on as per
usual [Music] four months later stayner was standing in the farasta woods partaking in his ongoing search for
bigfoot there was no sign of the beast but something else had caught his eye overcome by a familiar impulse he
returned to his car and retrieved his backpack joey armstrong was watering plants on
her front porch when stayner 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
stayner asked if they were home joey responded no before turning to face the front door
behind her stayner pulled out his gun and held it to her head he forced the joey into her bedroom and
onto the bed she fought hard but steiner managed to restrain her hands behind her back
and to 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 stayner 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-fight stayner took the knife from his back pocket and
slit joey's throat the forceful cut resulted in decapitation stina considered keeping joey's head as
a trophy but ultimately decided against it kerry steiner 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 steiner then fled the scene no one had any idea he was behind the
thwarted break-in in fact he was tasked with the checking the locks to the room and reassuring the women they were safe
weeks later steiner was compelled to kill several women he saw at the masada 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 stainer told detectives
if you hadn't got me there would have been more stana'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 stainers had endured with stephen
they couldn't comprehend how their eldest son could be a serial killer by now evidence of stayner's presence
had been found throughout the feresto crime scene his fingerprints were in joey armstrong's bedroom
and his footprints and the tyre tracks from his suv were pressed into the sand driveway
alongside her cabin steiner remained silent and stoic when indicted for joey's murder
charges in relation to the yosemite sightseer murders were also on the horizon investigators were still
searching for evidence that directly implicated steiner in the triple homicide on july 24 steiner agreed to take
detectives on a guided tour of his crime scenes in the farasta 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's sonde could be found the weapon was recovered
along with the duct tape that matched the tape stuck to the fifteen-year-old's ankle
steiner pleaded not guilty when charged with the first-degree murders of carol sund julie sonde and sylvina peloso
as well as burglary robbery and kidnapping although he had withheld this from his
initial confession stayner eventually admitted that his crimes were sexually motivated
he had murdered sylvina peloso 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 stayner 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 kerry stayner 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's son'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 steiner up the night he killed carol julie and sylvina jenny came forward
only after learning of stayner'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 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 matic 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 steiner
in relation to joey armstrong's murder describing his crimes as especially cruel
heinous and depraved as he didn't want to die stayner'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 stayner changed his plea to guilty joey's mother leslie agreed to the deal
saying that watching stana die wouldn't bring her daughter back the police stipulated that stina 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 stana maintained his not guilty plea for the yosemite sightseer murders
during a preliminary hearing in june 2001 an employee of the cedar lodge revealed
that steiner 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 stayner's
six-hour long murder confession was played to the court at one point a smile crept over stana's
face sylvina peloso's father noticed and flew into a rage he called steiner a son of a [ __ ] before storming out of
the courtroom for the remainder of the audio presentation stainer kept his head bowed and his
fingers plugged into his ears it was ruled that there was enough evidence for stayna to stand
trial for the crimes in may the following year stayner 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 stayner 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 stainer family furthermore kerry's mother fell over
whilst pregnant with him which might have damaged his brain from the age of two onwards stayner
exhibited obsessive compulsive behaviours beginning with the chronic habit of pulling out hair
this evolved into full-blown psychosis stana 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 steiner
and reviewed over 400 reports he testified that stayner showed signs of depression
narcissism and schizophrenia and was socially dysfunctional he diagnosed steiner with several sexual
disorders including pedophilia sexual sadism and erectile dysfunction a neuropsychologist appearing on behalf
of the defense said a scan of stayner'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 kerry steiner was found guilty on all charges
he was also found to be of sound to 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 stana knew what he was doing was wrong their recommendation was unanimous kerry
stayner should receive capital punishment on december 12 2002 steiner was formally sentenced
to death by lethal injection steiner 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 dollars 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 labeled it a costly failure
unfairly applied to people of color and the mentally disabled however the moratorium is only in place during
governor newsome's tenure and the next governor of california may seek to have the death penalty
reinstated kerry stayner 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 carol 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 totaling 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 [Music] joey became the red-headed free spirit
in my life that kept encouraging me to ignore my fears experience everything and to live a life
to the fullest no one person has affected me more kerry steiner 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 stayner demanded in return get hold of producers in la i want a
bidding war criminologist michael rustigan stated steiner 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 steiner was required to sign a 10 million dollar 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 peloso families both filed
wrongful death suits against the cedar lodge and kerry stayner it questioned why carol julie and
sylvina were put in a remote room with few other guests nearby why stayner was allowed to wander
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 learnt that steiner 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 sons settled for one million dollars
the peloso family rejected their settlement offer as it didn't even cover their legal fees
in may the following year a judge threw out the peloso's case saying the cedar lodge managers couldn't
have foreseen carrie steiner's actions [Music] shortly after confessing to his crimes
kerry steiner took the advice of detectives and panned letters to his victims although they weren't around to read
them the letters would provide stayner 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
[Music] [Music] you

Case 161: The Yosemite Sightseer Murders (Part 2)

[Part 2 of 2] In the summer of 1997, Cedar Lodge owner Gerald Fisher hired a young man to carry out general maintenance duties and upkeep...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research – Jessica Forsayeth Writing – Elsha McGill Creative direction – Milly Raso Production, scoring – Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-161-the-yosemite-sightseer-murders-part-2

Brief Summary

Kerry Stayner's chilling murders in Yosemite reveal a history of violence and missed warnings by law enforcement.

Key points

The Discovery of Remains. FBI agents find human remains in Yosemite, leading to a chilling investigation.
Kerry Stayner's Arrest. The maintenance man at Cedar Lodge is arrested after being spotted by FBI agents.
A Disturbing Request. Stayner makes a shocking request during his interrogation, revealing his dark desires.
Steiner's Deception. Kerry Steiner enters room 509 pretending to be a maintenance man, leading to a horrific crime.
The Shocking Confession. Steiner admits to his crimes were sexually motivated, revealing a darker side.
Kerry Stayner's Trial. Stayner changes his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity, facing severe consequences.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Small steps make big progress.

A reminder that progress is a journey.

0:52WatchNov 7, 2020

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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