Stayner Is Charged in Yosemite Death

A motel handyman who sources say has confessed to killing four women around Yosemite National Park was indicted Thursday in one of the crimes, the beheading of a 26-year-old naturalist.

Cary Stayner, 37, was formally charged with murder after a federal grand jury in Fresno returned an indictment against him in the July 21 death of Joie Ruth Armstrong, U.S. Atty. Paul Seave said.

“This crime has horrified the community and the nation. There can be no real solace for the victim’s family members, but there will be justice,” Seave said.

Stayner is scheduled to be arraigned here today, and could face a sentence of death or life in prison without the possibility of parole if he is convicted.

Armstrong, an environmental educator who worked at the nonprofit Yosemite Institute, was found decapitated near her home on the park grounds.

Stayner was captured at a Sacramento-area nudist resort July 24 and confessed to the murder, according to an affidavit filed by the FBI.

Sources close to the case say Stayner has also confessed to the February killings of Carole Sund, 42, her 15-year-old daughter Juliana and visiting Argentine student Silvina Pelosso, 16.

The three tourists vanished while staying at the lodge where Stayner worked, and their slayings stumped authorities for months, although investigators had earlier assured the public that they believed those responsible for the crime were already behind bars on unrelated charges.