Murder at Yosemite

by Carlton Smith

Amidst the breathtaking natural beauty of Yosemite National Park, four terrifying killings took place. For months, law enforcement officials were stumped by the deaths of three tourists: Carole Sund, her teenaged daughter Juli, and a family friend, Silvina Pelosso. But when they found the decapitated body and head of 26-year-old naturalist Joie Ruth Armstrong, they were led to one man: 37-year-old handyman Cary Stayner.

Stayner was arrested at a California nudist colony and soon admitted to all four killings, claiming he'd had urges to kill women for thirty years. And Cary's twisted impulses were not the only tragedy of the Stayner family. At the age of seven, his younger brother Steven was abducted by a pedophile and forced to live with the man for seven years, until he escaped. His story was told in a TV movie called "I Know My First Name is Steven." Steven would ultimately die in a motorcycle crash at twenty-four.

What are the odds of one family suffering such astounding tragedies? What would compel a seemingly pleasant, clean-cut man to brutally attack and gruesomely kill four innocent women? Did he act alone? Or was his a false confession? Bestselling true crime author Carlton Smith searches for the shocking answers in Murder at Yosemite, this fascinating account of murder and madness.

Genres: True Crime, Crime, Nonfiction, Death

239 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1999

Reviews

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

(More like two and a half stars.) This book about the crimes of Cary Stayner begins with the tragic tale of his younger brother Steven. That intro and the final twenty pages are quite informative, but unfortunately much of the book dwells on people and events that turn out to have no connection to the case. If you're not familiar with the Stayner saga, I recommend that you read THE YOSEMITE MURDERS by Dennis McDougal and I KNOW MY FIRST NAME IS STEVEN (updated edition) by Eric Echols.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first 15% of the book focuses on Steven Stayner which is totally relevant. The last 5% was the wrap up of the arrest of Cary Stayner, warning signs and how Steven’s kidnapping affected Cary. The rest of the book was how the FBI was focusing on certain suspects and the media. I was really hoping more of the book was actually about Cary and the victims.

[Tammy Lynn Doyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had its moments but was not as intriguing as I expected. Author went off on tangents, understandably proving research, but it took away from the original story at hand.

[Melanie Falconer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a true crime fan and this was a pretty good true crime book about the murder of three women in Yosemite National Park. The mother, daughter, and friend were tourists who disappeared at the end of their trip to the park. Eventually Cary Stayner is arrested for the crime, but only after the body of another young woman is found. Cary was the older brother of Stephen Stayner who had been abducted as a young boy. The book was an interesting read about a case I knew little about.

[Bill Millar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book.

[Lady ♥ Belleza · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book starts with the abduction of Steven Stayner from Merced, CA which is very close to Yosemite National Park, on December 4, 1972. He was a prisoner of a pedophile for seven years. The murders covered in this book began in February 1999. The man arrested for these murders was Steven’s older brother Cary Stayner.

After covering the abduction and briefly touching on what life with his ‘false’ dad was like, the effect his abduction and return had on his family in general, we get to the murders. The is rather detailed in describing the investigation, into what would turn out to be the wrong suspects, this leads to questions about the lead FBI investigators and speculation that had the FBI not focused their investigation in the wrong direction, the fourth victim would still be alive. This is just speculation of course, there was no reason for Stayner to be suspected. He had legitimate reason to be at the hotel where the victims were staying.

Unfortunately the book was published before Stayner went to trial, I found the results of the trial at Crime Library. I have also listed them below. Some friend of mine thought the book was boring. I don’t agree with them, but if you like trial details and investigation details as opposed to historical details you might not like this book.

Since the fourth murder was in the park, Stayner was tried in Federal court.
On 2/11/2000 the Feds declared their intention to seek the death penalty.
July 12,2000 a federal judge ruled that the government could seek the death penalty.
September 15, 2000 Stayner plead guilty and confessed to the murder of Joie Armstrong thus saving his life.

In the trial for the other three murders:
August 26, 2002: Stayner was found guilty.
September 16, 2002: Stayner was declared sane.
October 9, 2002: Jury recommended death. Appeal is automatic.

That is all the information that was on that site. Considering how long the appeal process is for death-penalty cases, I wouldn’t be surprised if Cary Stayner is still on death row. Also, some of the details in the Crime Library account and this book are different. Not hugely different however.

[Joanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is like, the worst book I have ever read the whole way through. The writing is absolutely horrible. Almost the entire first quarter is taken up with the story of the kidnapping of the killer's brother, which I already read about in I Know My First Name Is Steven. WHHYYY. All other parts were either really slow moving and boring (entire chapters focus on people who have absolutely nothing to do with the case except for being suspects due to being shifty people on parole) or was about things that seemed like they would be interesting but completely glossed over (it seems like a grand total of 5 pages at most were dedicated to the final murder of a Yosemite employee). Dull! Can learn more reading a few newspaper articles. And whenever the author attempted to draw more universal conclusion it was totally half-assed. Like, is Smith really trying to blame the mother in this? Seriously? I don't think so. Written to grab a quick buck... this was published even before the trial concluded.

[Marianne Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subject of this book was really interesting. However, the writing was extremely poor.

My favorite true crime writer is Greg Olsen. He tells a story and doesn't miss a beat. The writing was so unbelievably choppy and out of sync. I had to GO BACK and figure out how they found the bodies in the trunk because it wasn't clear.....

I loved the story.....hated the writing.

[Laurie Tanner · Rating 4 out of 5]

True crime book about the killer, Cary Stayner. He is the brother of Steven Stayner, the kidnapped, abused boy who is "I know my first name is Steven."

[Fishface · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring. Boring. Boring.

[Barb Kozaczuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book was very interesting due to being a true story. Giving it 3 stars because I think of it more of a story to be told on what happened vs a fiction book that would carry more creativity. Kept me reading though. It's a quick read. I would still recommend it.