Handyman spared death penalty in Yosemite killing

FRESNO, Calif. - Motel handyman Cary Stayner was convicted Wednesday of murdering a Yosemite naturalist in a deal that spares his life but guarantees he will never be free and never be able to tell his story.

Stayner pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to kidnapping, attempting to sexually assault, and killing Joie Armstrong on July 21 last year.

Standing before the judge in a courtroom packed with reporters, investigators who worked on the case and Armstrong's mother, Stayner displayed little emotion during a subdued hearing that lasted 30 minutes.

While answering questions from Judge Anthony W. Ishii, Stayner cast his eyes downward, rarely responding with more than a yes or no. But he occasionally paused long enough to create an uncomfortable silence, prompting the judge to repeat himself.

''It brings back a lot of painful memories for him,'' public defense lawyer Robert Rainwater said afterward, noting that no one had won in the case. ''A young woman died in the prime of her life and a young man will stand the rest of his life in prison. And there are two grieving families.''

In exchange for the plea, Stayner will be sentenced Nov. 30 to life in prison with no chance of parole instead of facing a possible death sentence if he had been convicted at trial.

The agreement that Stayner, his lawyer and prosecutors signed Sept. 6 also requires that he take his story to his grave to spare the victim's family from additional media attention.

''Until his death he will not speak to anyone, write to anyone, or communicate to anyone about the death of Joie Ruth Armstrong,'' the agreement states. The only exception is any testimony or communication with his lawyer regarding his state or federal murder cases.

In order to guarantee that he never profits from his story, he agreed to a $10 million restitution order to go to a fund in Armstrong's name. He also agreed to meet with Armstrong's family if they request a meeting.

Lesli Armstrong might some day want to speak to her daughter's killer, but she said she's still uncertain if that day will ever come.

''As I was listening to all that stuff again, my heart was breaking all over again'' she said outside the courthouse.

The plea bargain is a pivotal - if anticlimactic - stage in a macabre case that has gained worldwide attention, embarrassed the FBI and left federal and state prosecutors quarreling.

At the same time it reaches resolution, it shifts Stayner's fate to state court, where prosecutors have been eagerly awaiting their chance to try him in the slayings of three Yosemite tourists.

Among those attending the hearing were James Maddock, who, as the agent in charge of Sacramento, oversaw the investigation. U.S. Attorney Paul Seave, also present, said afterward that federal authorities could not comment because of the pending state case.

Stayner, 39, could still face the death penalty if convicted in the slayings of Carole Sund, 42, her daughter Juli, 15, and their Argentine friend Silvina Pelosso, 16.

The three women were killed five months before Armstrong, during a sightseeing trip to Yosemite. They had been staying at the Cedar Lodge, a remote and rustic motel outside the park's western gate, where Stayner lived and worked.

It was their disappearance, in mid-February 1999, that prompted one of the most intense FBI manhunts, as scores of agents fanned out across the rugged and rolling terrain of the western Sierra to search for clues.

Stayner was interviewed early in the investigation but ruled out as a suspect. He later helped agents collect evidence from the motel rooms and was in their midst as the case unfolded in one grim twist after another and the investigation went astray.

Based on circumstantial evidence and what was later believed to be a false confession, investigators plunged deep into the Central Valley's methamphetamine underworld and focused on a looseknit group of violent ex-cons.

In fact, a grand jury was actually hearing evidence against this group the day after Armstrong was killed. And the FBI's Maddock maintained he was confident most of the main suspects in the sightseer case were behind bars on other charges, and that the murders were not connected.

It was Stayner, arrested three days after Armstrong's murder, who finally unraveled the mystery, admitting to a top FBI interrogator that he single-handedly killed all four women, according to court documents. He also led investigators to weapons and other physical evidence, and later re-enacted the crimes on videotape, according to law enforcement sources.

Stayner was prosecuted in federal court because Armstrong was killed in a national park.

State prosecutors, who felt they were entitled to proceed with their case first and are still upset they lost their appeal to Attorney General Janet Reno, continue to feud with federal authorities over evidence and other issues.

The Mariposa County District Attorney's office, which has jurisdiction, can go forward with its case against Stayner as soon as he is formally sentenced in Armstrong's murder.

Thomas C. Hastings, a Santa Clara County judge who presided over the high-profile Polly Klaas murder trial, has been assigned to hear the sightseer case. But no hearing dates have been set, no pleas entered, and an attorney has not been appointed or hired to represent Stayner.

---

On the Net:

Plea agreement filed in court: http://www2.caed.uscourts.gov