Ultimate Prey

by Stephen M. Sanzeri

Cary Stayner was found guilty for the Yosemite Sightseer Murders, but most people closely associated with the investigation believe that Stayner did not act alone. Law enforcement had the right guys from the beginning, so what in the hell happened?

The stories of the murdered women - Carole and Juli Sund, Silvina Pelosso, and Joie Armstrong – did not end with their horrifying murders in 1999.

For five years, Stephen Sanzeri, former police officer, private investigator, and bounty hunter, has investigated their tragic deaths. What he found includes: drug trafficking, child porn, white supremacy, sexual molestation, rape, and extreme violence originating in Central Valley California and stretching into the Foothills.

Connections to the “Modesto Cranksters” and documented law enforcement corruption (Read “The Last Circle by Cheri Seymour”) have led Sanzeri to some startling conclusions. Even the recent 2012 arrest of Phinas “Orb” Hatton - a retired Narcotics Officer and an important character in the story – complicates the picture.

The Yosemite Sightseer Murders contain unfortunate and disturbing parallels to Calaveras County Murderers Charles Ng and Leonard Lake, as well as to the grisly Speed Freak Killers Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog. These psychotic killers did not act alone.

After reading Ultimate Prey, you will be convinced that Cary Stayner did not act alone either.

Now, for the first time, the real story is finally being told.

Genres: True Crime

225 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 31, 2012

Reviews

[Otis Hanby]

This book was given to me by a friend. I didn't know what was relevant about it when I received it, but I read it and was shocked at the amount of cover-up from the local level to the FBI concerning multiple murders. It makes me wonder who or what was being covered up and why. This was a good read and kept my interest. But ultimately it left me wanting answers.

[Raven · Rating 4 out of 5]

What made this book so frightening was not a graphic account of happened to these women (and the author is very respectful and does not get graphic), but the blatant disregard for evidence presented to prove reasonable doubt. The corruption of the local sheriff's and the politics of which allowed multiple killers to continue to be part of everyday society is frightening.

I love Yosemite and go there every year. I often comment on how nice it would be to stay on the back entrance side of the park called El Portal at the very lodge were these crimes took place. I will never consider that again.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been on my shelf for years , I downloaded it after reading Cheri Seymour The Ninth Circle , besides listening to a podcast that mentioned this book & Seymour’s book, so finally read it
The book was a page turner, couldn’t put it down. It’s a classic bounty hunter/ PI real life drama.
I lived in Oregon during the events in the book & remember reading about it. I’ve only been to Yosemite 3-4 times, during the 70s , then my brother & I went in October 2022 because he’d never been there.
He took care of booking the hotel & when he told me where we were staying, Cedar Lodge,, I got a weird feeling,, like where have I heard of Cedar Lodge before & just shrugged it off. It wasn’t until we arrived, that my memory kicked in. As we drove into the parking lot, my brother asked me what was wrong. I asked him if he knew what this place was , if he remembered the Yosemite Killings over 20 yrs ago ? Well, he didn’t because he just got married & had his first child, so of course he didn’t remember
So that kinda put a shadow on an otherwise happy memory & experience.
Sometimes having a good memory is a bad thing. More & more memories about what I read were coming out & I verbalized them to my brother as we went in to check in, which he didn’t appreciate.
What are you telling me this for?
After we checked in , we went to our room & found out they gave us the wrong key card. We went back & they gave us another room. When we went to that room, it was still being cleaned. So we dumped our stuff & went to get something to eat .
The dining room was closed until 5pm
We walked into the smoke filled tavern next door , & everyone stopped talking, stopped playing pool & looked up & starred at us. My brother & I had the same instincts , let’s get outta here. The place was full of tweakers. The place hadn’t changed in 20 yrs!
We spent the next day at Yosemite, then drove back home.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen Sanzeri should be commended for his work on this case, and the fact that law enforcement not only doesn't want the truth about their corruption and incompetence to come out but also continues to promote a false narrative is infuriating. Oddly, this is also one of my issues with this book. The lack of outrage that the wrong man was convicted and sentenced to death and the actual killers were never held accountable is noticeable. Sanzeri refuses to humanize Cary Stayner at all and acts as if he somehow deserves to be on death row. There was very much a mob mentality at work here and Stayner was deprived of a fair trial. Even the victims' family members, who earlier stated and have privately stated that they know the actual killers escaped justice, many of them jumped on the death penalty bandwagon during the trial (Sanzeri does not address this). The only murder that Stayner is guilty of is that of the fourth victim, Joie Armstrong, and his mental illness played a role in that.

In later interviews, Sanzeri has stated that Stayner most likely had no involvement in the Sund-Pelosso murders, which explains the lack of physical evidence against him. Yet nothing has been done to correct this injustice. Sanzeri also doesn't address the fact that Cary Stayner was a victim of severe abuse and neglect in childhood, and his mental illness went untreated as a result. His parents were not the long-suffering victims the media portrayed them to be.

The victims - Carole Sund, Juli Sund, and Silvina Pelosso - never got any justice, the real killers got away with it, and Cary Stayner paid the price. That is horrifically unfair and the truth needs to come out.

[Catherine Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently learned of this book, but knew of the story. It is very well written and provides information that was not released in the news media. This is a very good book, and I highly recommend it if you follow true crime.

[carol gerke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

This is an eye opener into what really happened with the Yosemite murders and how one man would not give up on the finding out the truth.