Yosemite Murder Suspect Pleads Guilty

Sept. 13 -- A motel handyman avoided the federal death penalty today by pleading guilty in the decapitation of a naturalist at Yosemite National Park. But he could still face the death penalty if convicted on state charges of killing three sightseers.

Attorneys for Cary Stayner, 39, submitted a written guilty plea to charges of murder, kidnapping and attempted sexual assault in the July 21,1999, death of Joie Armstrong. Armstrong led nature tours in Yosemite National Park. Her slaying was a federal case because her body was found in the national park.

Federal prosecutors’ decision to agree to a plea deal was based partly on the wishes of Armstrong’s family. The victim’s mother, Lesli Armstrong, had said publicly that she could not bear to hear grisly details of her daughter’s death in a trial.

U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii in Fresno, Calif., approved the plea bargain. Instead of the death penalty, Stayner faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. His formal sentencing will take place November 30.

Taking His Story to the GraveThe plea agreement, which Stayner, his lawyer and prosecutors signedSept. 6, also requires that he take his story to his grave and not profit from Armstrong’s death in any way. Stayner had told local newspapers and news stations he wanted to see his story told in a made-for-TV movie. But his plea agreement thwarts that desire.

“After the entry of judgment in this case until his death hewill not speak to anyone, write to anyone, or communicate to anyoneabout the death of Joie Ruth Armstrong,” the agreement states. Theonly exception is any testimony or communication with his lawyerregarding his state or federal murder cases.

In order to guarantee that he never profits from his story, heagreed to a $10 million restitution order to go to a fund inArmstrong’s name.

State Continues Death Pursuit

The plea bargain in Armstrong’s case does not affect state prosecutors’ plan to seek thedeath penalty against Stayner in the slayings of Carole Sund, 42,her daughter Juli, 15, and family friend Silvina Pelosso, 16, ofCordoba, Argentina.