Episode 63: Yosemite National Park Serial Killer (Case - Steven & Cary Stayner)
Why do so many people go missing in National Parks? Alien conspiracy theory? Government experiments? Or just lost in nature?
In this case - it’s none of the above. It’s a serial killer that leaves a trail of bloodshed and a decapitated head bobbing in a stream in Yosemite.
Once they catch the killer that’s when the real mystery begins - wasn’t his little brother a national hero? Didn’t they make TV shows about this family?
How did one brother become America’s sweetheart and the other America’s heartless serial killer?
Source notes:
Book - “I Know My First Name is Steven: The True Story of the Steven Stayner Abduction Case” - by Mike Echols
Book - “In the Name of the Children: An FBI Agent’s Relentless Pursuit of the Nation’s Worst Predators” - by Jeffrey Rinek
Book - “Cary Stayner: The True Story of the Yosemite Park Killer: Historical Serial Killers and Murderers) - by Jack Rosewood
Docuseries - “Evil In Eden” - ABC 20/20
https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/3d/119/392.html
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a1872/voice-dark-killings-0100/
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,28816-2,00.html
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Overshadowed-All-His-Life-Low-key-Cary-Stayner-2915936.php#photo-2249277
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHaMlS2txsA&t=2s
https://www.newspapers.com/image/191956346/?terms=kenneth%2Bparnell
https://www.newspapers.com/image/192563015/?terms=kenneth%2Bparnell
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/us/11white.html
DISCLAIMER: Some links are listed in the source material but the material may never be discussed in the podcast (I just wanted to list them because they gave me a deeper picture of the case in full). If there are un-verifiable sources (ie Reddit) - they are typically referred to as un-verified sources, opinions, and or theories in the podcast and not treated as fact.