10: Cary Stayner: The Yosemite Sightseer Killer — “I Was Doing God’s Work”

🎙️ Episode Title:

Cary Stayner: The Yosemite Sightseer Killer — “I Was Doing God’s Work”

📌 Episode Summary:

In this gripping episode of Heinous Beliefs, your host Ria unpacks one of the most disturbing serial killer cases to ever unfold inside a U.S. national park. Cary Stayner, a seemingly quiet handyman at a Yosemite-area motel, turned out to be a cold-blooded killer with a god complex.

But this isn’t just about the crimes—it’s about what drove them. Cary believed he was “doing God’s work.” He said his victims were “sinful” and needed to be “cleansed.” He wrote about it in letters. He confessed to it. He even stuck to that story two decades later in a death row interview.

We go deep into his childhood, how his brother’s infamous kidnapping left him isolated and invisible, and how he spiraled into delusions, fantasies, and violence. From the Cedar Lodge triple homicide to the decapitation of park ranger Joie Armstrong, this case is brutal, twisted, and loaded with religious distortion.

You’ll hear how belief—whether real, feigned, or delusional—became Cary Stayner’s justification for murder. And how the justice system ultimately brought him down.

⛓️ What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

• The trauma-filled childhood of Cary Stayner and his complex relationship with his kidnapped brother, Steven Stayner
  
  
• Red flags ignored for years, from naked forest walks to violent fantasies
  
  
• The brutal murders of Carole Sund, Juli Sund, Silvina Pelosso, and Joie Ruth Armstrong
  
  
• How Stayner used religion and “divine purpose” as an excuse for killing
  
  
• Quotes from his chilling confessions and post-conviction interviews
  
  
• His federal and state trials, the death sentence, and where he is now
  
  
• A deep dive into how belief—especially religious delusion—can be manipulated into violence
  
  

⚠️ Trigger Warning:

This episode contains discussions of murder, sexual assault, childhood trauma, mental illness, and religiously motivated violence. Please listen with care.

⏱️ Episode Breakdown:

• 00:00 – Welcome + Content warning
  
  
• 02:00 – The Stayner family: trauma, abuse, and neglect
  
  
• 08:30 – Steven Stayner’s kidnapping & media attention
  
  
• 12:00 – Cary’s spiral into delusion and violence
  
  
• 16:45 – The Cedar Lodge Murders: Carole, Juli, and Silvina
  
  
• 26:00 – The murder of Joie Ruth Armstrong
  
  
• 30:45 – FBI confession + twisted spiritual justification
  
  
• 36:20 – Trial, conviction, and California’s death row
  
  
• 44:10 – Ria’s final thoughts: belief vs delusion
  
  

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