Mrs Stayner

It was brought out at Cary's trial. His father was ordered into state-mandated therapy in 1986 for molesting the daughters (I wouldn't be surprised if he victimized his sons as well) - this was revealed via court records. I have found articles that state that when he testified in the penalty phase of Cary's trial, Delbert admitted to molesting his daughters. Kay admitted to letting her father live with the family, even though he had molested her as a child, but tried to convey the idea that she was able to keep an eye on him 24/7. She also admitted to not protecting her children from abuse. Cary told the FBI that his uncle molested him and showed him CP. The uncle in question, Jesse Jerrold "Jerry" Stayner, was murdered in 1990, the case is unsolved. All of the other adults knew this uncle was a predator (he was convicted of sexual abuse of a minor at some point), and yet Delbert and Kay frequently sent Cary to stay with this uncle, which means that they were complicit in his sexual abuse. Domestic violence was common as well and both parents stated that they raised their children not to show emotion or affection. The fact that Cary was diagnosed with Trichotillomania at age 3 is a huge red flag that something was wrong in that household. Not only was he not shown affection, even as a baby, but when he cried his father would, by his own admission, scream at the baby to "shut up". (After the trial, Delbert and Kay snapped back into their denial mode). Cary's brain was damaged in the womb, but his parents were not about to get their kids therapy, because they couldn't take the risk of the family secrets being exposed. Nothing was done for Cary, other than the basic necessities, and there were times when his parents seemed to forget that he existed. His father also blamed him for Steven's abduction. Just horrible. The director of the docuseries stated in an interview that she made a point of not addressing the family history and not asking the family members who were interviewed about it.

There's something else that should be mentioned - Cary isn't a serial killer. The only murder that he's guilty of is of the fourth victim, Joie Armstrong, and his mental illness likely came into play on that one. He did not kill Carole Sund, Juli Sund, and Silvina Pelosso - and law enforcement knows it. There is no physical evidence connecting him to those murders at all - no DNA, nothing. The only "evidence" against him was his confession, which was full of holes and discrepancies. The men who were initially arrested were the actual killers - Cary was a low-level member of their group (they used him primarily because he had access to all the rooms at the Cedar Lodge) and that was how he knew certain details. The FBI bungled the case and doesn't want to admit it; the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office is corrupt and had ties to those creeps via the local drug trade, among other things, and those men were protected. Cary took the fall, he was railroaded, and that trial was a complete farce and should never have happened. Even the victims' family members had doubts about the extent of his involvement and people who knew Cary said that he was not mentally capable of overpowering three people at once, much less killing them and not leaving any traces behind. Whenever his defense attorneys tried to introduce reasonable doubt into the trial (including the videotaped confession of one of the real killers) the judge denied all of their motions. The jurors had made up their minds from the start and it was decided ahead of time that there was only going to be one trial, and only one person was going to pay for this crime, regardless if they were guilty or not - and Cary Stayner was that person. He was an easy scapegoat and he never had a chance, and that seems to be the pattern of his life. The private investigator who was interviewed for the third part of the docuseries also knows that Cary is not responsible for the murders - and he's done interviews about it. Cary was so accustomed to the role of the scapegoat that he set himself up to be that later in life. All of the psychiatrists who examined him concluded that he is not a psychopath. The way he has been portrayed in the media is inaccurate.

There's also a possibility that there was more to Steven's abduction. The first place Kenneth Parnell took him to was a cabin in Cathy's Valley, and Steven's predator maternal grandfather was 200 feet away in a trailer park. That's too much of a coincidence if you ask me. (Kay stated during her testimony at Cary's trial that her father told her she should be glad Steven was gone because now they "only had four children to clothe"). Sorry to make this post so long, but there is so much about this case that is downplayed, completely omitted, or deliberately concealed. Those rural California counties are . . . . strange.