SAN JOSE, Santa Clara County: No doubt about it; Cary Stayner was legally sane when he murdered 3 Yosemite tourists. That opinion from prosecutor George Williamson. Williamson dismissed Stayner’s legal insanity claim as a “contrived defense” unsupported by facts & evidence.
Among Williamson’s questions for the jurors to ponder: Why did Stayner clean the crime scene at the Cedar Lodge Motel? Why remove the bodies to neighboring Tuolumne County? Why scattered evidence & leave authorities a cryptic note if he were sane?
Stayner’s defense argues that their client was psychotic when he killed in February, 1999. Defense attorney Marcia Morrissey argued that her client was a man long tortured by voices & visions, stunted by an abnormal brain, haunted by a sexual molestation at age 11, flooded with uncontrollable, violent thoughts & crippled by psychiatric illness-plagued genes.
The jury must decide between sane or insane. If found sane, Stayner would then face the final penalty phase of the trial. Jurors would then decide between a life long prison sentence or the death penalty.
THE ABOVE STORY UPDATES AN EARLIER STORY. DETAILS OF THAT COURT ACTION ARE BELOW.
Monday, August 26, 2002
SAN JOSE, Santa Clara County: Cary Stayner was convicted today of the murder of 3 Yosemite National Park tourists. The now 41 year old former motel handyman faces the death penalty after being convicted of 3 first-degree murder counts & additional felonies.
Stayner’s court appointed attorneys never argued that their client did not do the killings… but they maintained he was insane. They asked jurors to convicted Stayner of 2nd degree murder which would have spared him the death penalty.
Stayner confessed to the killings and, indeed, he will have another round in court as his attorneys present an insanity defense in hopes of sparing his life. In this upcoming sanity phase, the defense will attempt to show that Stayner didn’t know what he was doing…that he didn’t know right from wrong.
Should the jurors not buy the insanity defense, the trial will automatically move to a final phase: that phase to determine if Stayner should be sent to death row.
THE ABOVE STORY UPDATES AN EARLIER STORY. DETAILS OF THAT COURT ACTION ARE BELOW.
Thursday, July 18, 2002
SAN JOSE, Santa Clara County: Prosecutors played a tape of accused multiple murderer Cary Stayner’s confession today. The playing of the tape brought a chill to spectators in the courtroom…crowded with the family of the 3 victims, media & the public.
This was the 4th day of the death penalty trial. Prosecutors plan to play about 3 hours of Stayner’s confession, recorded the day he was arrested on July 24, 1999. About half of it was heard Thursday. The remainder is expected to be played Monday when the trial resumes.
Wednesday, July 17, 2002
SAN JOSE, Santa Clara County: As proceedings continue in the case of accused multiple murderer Cary Stayner, a Long Barn, Tuolumne County man testifed he stumbled across the torched rental car of the 3 missing Yosemite sightseers. James Powers was driving through a heavily forested area when he found the red Pontiac Grand Prix that authorities had been looking for. The badly burned bodies of Carole Sund & Argentine exchange student Silvina Pelosso were found inside.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Powers received a $50,000 reward for locating the car.
THE ABOVE STORY UPDATES AN EARLIER STORY. DETAILS OF THAT COURT ACTION ARE BELOW.
Wednesday, May 22, 2002
SAN JOSE, Santa Clara County: Almost a year and a half after pleading innocent of the killing of 3 Yosemite tourists in 1999, Cary Stayner has switched his plea from innocent to innocent by reason of insanity. The attorneys for the former motel handyman are hoping that the insanity plea may save their client’s life…who may then face life in a mental institution rather than execution.
Stayner’s attorneys told Superior Court Judge Thomas Hastings that Stayner, already serving a life term in federal prison for beheading Yosemite naturalist Joie Armstrong, suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression & an “unspecified psychosis.”
The 40-year old Stayner is now facing state charges in the killings of Carole Sund, her daughter Juli & family friend Silvina Pelosso of Argentina. The 3 had allegedly been killed by Stayner while staying at an El Portal motel in Mariposa County where the handyman worked…just outside the Yosemite park boundary. Their bodies were later found in neighboring Tuolumne County.
Stayner’s attorneys say their list of potential trial witnesses consists only of 7 psychological experts… including one who will cite brain scans as proof that Stayner suffers from mental illness. The prosecution objects to such testimony countering that so-called PET scans are not widely accepted in the diagnosis of mental disease. Judge Hastings says he wants to hear more from medical experts before deciding whether he’ll admit such PET scan testimony. The issue is expected to be taken up again at a hearing after jury selection begins June 10.
THE ABOVE STORY UPDATES AN EARLIER STORY ON A CHANGE OF VENUE FROM MARIPOSA TO SANTA CLARA COUNTY. DETAILS OF THAT COURT ACTION ARE BELOW.
Tuesday, January 22, 2002
MARIPOSA, Mariposa County: The Stayner Trial is moving to San Jose. Judge Thomas Hastings today ruled that convicted killer Cary Stayner will be tried in Santa Clara Superior Court. Hastings made the decision after eliminating Los Angeles & Sacramento as potential trial locations.
Hastings agreed last October to move the trial out of Mariposa County because extensive publicity would make it difficult for Stayner to get a fair trial in the area where he lived & worked…and where the crimes were allegedly committed.
The judge admitted that pretrial publicity will continue where ever the trial is held. He said he chose Santa Clara, his home court, because it was the only court considered that didn’t express reservations. Hastings did not, however, rule out the possibility that the location could move again should it be difficult to empanel a jury there.
THE ABOVE STORY UPDATES AN EARLIER STORY ON STAYNER’S PRELIMINARY HEARING. DETAILS OF THAT COURT ACTION ARE BELOW.
Judge OKs Stayner Change of Venue
Monday, October 29, 2001
MARIPOSA, Mariposa County: Judge Thomas Hastings today granted convicted killer Cary Stayner a new venue for his murder trial outside of Mariposa County. The prosecution suggested Sacramento, Santa Clara or Colulsa Counties as possible venues. The defense suggested larger jury pools available in Los Angeles or San Francisco Counties.
Judge Hastings will send those 5 choices to the state’s Administrative Office of the Courts where officials will check on the availability of courts in those locations.
Stayner’s Attorney Marcia Morrissey had argued that a fair trial for her client would be impossible in rural Mariposa County because of the extensive local publicity. The change of venue motion was not opposed by the prosecution.
THE ABOVE STORY UPDATES AN EARLIER STORY ON STAYNER’S PRELIMINARY HEARING. DETAILS OF THAT COURT ACTION ARE BELOW.
Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty
Monday, July 16, 2001
MARIPOSA, Mariposa County: Prosecutors say they’ll seek the death penalty against Cary Stayner if he’s convicted of killing 3 Yosemite tourists.
A trial date was set for February 25, 2002 in Mariposa. Stayner faces murder charges and various special circumstance allegations. He’s pleaded innocent to those charges.
The announcement to seek the death penalty was anticipated after Mariposa County D.A. Christine Johnson brought in George Williamson, a Solano County attorney who specializes in capital punishment cases.
The defense is expected to seek a change of venue.
THE ABOVE STORY UPDATES AN EARLIER STORY ON STAYNER’S PRELIMINARY HEARING. DETAILS OF THAT COURT ACTION ARE BELOW.
Wednesday, June 14, 2001
MARIPOSA, Mariposa County: The preliminary hearing for Cary Stayner, the former hotel handman charged in the 1999 murders of 3 Yosemite tourists, is over. Judge Thomas C. Hastings has ordered Stayner to stand trial.
The 39 year old Stayner is officially charged in the murders of 42 year old Carole Sund, 16 year old daughter Juli Sund and an Argentine family friend, 15 year old Silvina Pelosso. Stayner is already serving life in prison for the murder of Yosemite park naturalist Joie Armstrong (see related story below). Besides the 3 murder charges, Stayner faces 5 special circumstances that would allow the prosecution to seek the death penalty: multiple murders, burglary, robbery, forced oral copulation and attempted rape. Prosecutors have yet to announce if they’ll seek that death penalty.
Judge Hastings set an arraignment date for July 16. At that time, a trial date should be set.
On this day, the Mariposa County Courthouse was the scene of the most emotional testimony to date with the prosecution playing a purported tape confession of Stayner admitting to the killing of the 3 Yosemite visitors.
On that tape, Stayner had just described strangling Carole and Silvina and sexually molesting Juli when, from the courtroom audience, Silvina’s father Jose Pelosso stood up, threw his hands in the air and stormed out of the courthouse. Stayner, at the time, was looking down with chin on his chest & his hands over his ears.
Stayner, indicated on that tape, he gained access to the trio’s room by knocking on their door and telling them he was there to take care of a maintenance problem…a faulty fan. Once inside, he pulled a gun and then the assaults began. Stayner gave a graphic description of slashing Juli’s throat and leaving her body on a hillside near Lake Don Pedro, then stashing the rental car with the bodies of Carole & Silvina in the trunk in the Stanislaus National Forest and finally returning days later to torch the vehicle.
Click Here to see a map locating where the bodies of the 3 victims were found and their distance from El Portal, the location of the Cedar Lodge hotel.
A total of 19 witnesses testified during Monday & Tuesday’s proceedings. Tuesday we heard testimony from, among others, a cab driver, a Mariposa County deputy and a hotel front desk clerk.
Taxi driver Jenny Horvath testified that she picked Stayner up near Long Barn (where the bodies of 2 of the victims were later found) and drove him to Yosemite…about a 2 hour ride. Horvath described the trip as “uneventful” although she said she became “anxious” when Stayner had an argument with a park ranger regarding the entrance fee. She also acknowledged Stayner’s discussion about seeing Bigfoot seemed strange.
Deputy Ann Means said she went to the tourists’ Cedar Lodge hotel room February 18, 1999 after they were reported missing. She described the room as rumbled but reported no visible signs of a struggle.
Cedar Lodge front desk operator Jennifer Simmons confirmed that someone changed victim Carole Sund’s name to “Smith” on the hotel registration. There was no explanation as to who would have altered the record or why it was done.
Monday we heard the testimony of Jens Sund, husband & father of 2 of the 3 slain Yosemite tourists. Sund recounted events leading up to a trip to Yosemite that ended tragically for wife Carole, daughter Juli & Silvina Pelosso, the Argentine family friend, in February, 1999.
Sund, who did not go on that illfated Yosemite trip, testified that he became worried and reported the trio missing to authorities February 17, 1999 when he was unable to reach his wife or locate her via an itinerary. It would be another month before authorities were to locate the bodies of Silvina & Caroline in their burned out rental car in neighboring Tuolumne County near the small community of Long Barn. Juli’s body was found shortly thereafter near Lake Don Pedro, also in Tuolumne County. Stayner was eventually arrested with authorities contending he has since confessed to all 3 murders and of a fourth murder…that of the park naturalist Joie Armstrong.
In Monday afternoon’s testimony, 2 guests at the Cedar Lodge placed Stayner at the hotel in the days before the Sund mother & daughter & Silvina disappeared. Stayner worked at the hotel as a handyman & the Sund/Pelosso party had been staying there before their disappearance. Erin Murphy, then 13, said she was with her sister & 2 friends with Stayner in a hot tub; hotel guest Elizabeth Carlson testified she saw Stayner that same February 14th evening near a Cedar Lodge pay phone.
Carole & Francis Carrington, parents of Carole & grandparents of Juli were among those in attendance at this week’s hearing. Silvina’s parents, Raquel & Jose Pelosso, who had flown in from Argentina were also present each day as were Delbert Stayner and wife Kay…parents of the accused Cary Stayner.
The 1854 courthouse is the oldest operating in California. The second floor courtroom, complete with pot-bellied stove, had room for only 80 people. It was full all 3 days.
This hearing was to determine whether there was enough evidence to proceed with a trial. Retired Santa Clara County Judge Hastings, who presided over the Polly Klaas kidnapping & murder case and an earlier March hearing for Stayner, decided today there was indeed enough evidence. Stayner’s next date in this Mariposa County Courthouse is July 16. At that time we should learn 2 important details: the starting date of the trial & whether the prosecution will seek the death penalty.
(editor’s note: The victims’ parents/grandparents have remained in touch via e-mail and through the Carole Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation…a Modesto-based organization responsible for the recovery of several missing children and the arrest of several alleged murderers & child molesters.)
THE ABOVE STORY UPDATES AN EARLIER MARIPOSA COUNTY COURTHOUSE DATE OF YET ANOTHER ALLEGED VICTIM OF STAYNER’S RAGE. DETAILS OF THAT COURT ACTION ARE BELOW:
Wednesday, December 6, 2000
MARIPOSA: Confessed killer Cary Stayner pleaded not guilty to the 1999 murders of three Yosemite sightseers. The proceeding lasted barely ten minutes in the Mariposa County Courtroom of Judge Thomas C. Hastings.
This morning’s state of California arraignment comes just six days after the 39 year old hotel handyman was sentenced in Fresno federal court to life in prison without the possibility of parole for a separate Yosemite murder incident: the July 1999 killing of Yosemite naturalist Joie Armstrong.
Stayner sat motionless as Judge Hastings read the three counts of murder and five special allegations. Stayner replied: “I’m not guilty.” That not guilty plea is in connection with the multiple murders of 42 year old Carole Sund, her 16 year old daughter Juli and 15 year old family friend Silvina Pelosso. The trio were last seen alive at the Cedar Lodge in El Portal, part of a Yosemite vacation in February, 1999.
A preliminary hearing has been slated for March 5 in the same Mariposa County Court House. It’s expected to last about five days.
Other developments: Judge Hastings ruled that Marcia Morrissey, who defended Stayner during the federal proceedings in Fresno, will continue in that same role in these state proceedings. In a brief session with reporters after today’s arraignment, Morrissey did not rule out a possible change of venue motion. In her words: “That will certainly be something we’ll look at but it’s too early to say anything for sure.”
Among those in the courtroom this morning was Jens Sund, husband of Carole and father of Juli. He said he was “repulsed” at seeing Stayner. “I have no sympathy for Cary Stayner. I know all the details and it’s terrible.”
The earlier guilty plea from Stayner in the death of Joie Armstrong was part of a deal struck between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Stayner’s lawyer that meant life in prison without parole but no death penalty. This new trial carries no such guarantee for Stayner. While the prosecution has made no official comment, it is believed by many that the state of California will seek the death penalty for the murder of Carole, Juli and Silvina.