Stayner Explains Murder

Yosemite killer Cary Stayner said he didn´t have murder on his mind the day he decapitated his fourth and final victim by a stream in the park. In a taped confession played for jurors today, Stayner said he was out looking for bigfoot.

Stayner said he didn´t spot the hairy beast he saw years before, but a 26-year-old nature guide caught his eye across a meadow in a forest area. Stayner told agent Jeffrey Rinek, “That´s when it clicked.”

He described in detail how he made small talk with Joie Armstrong then held a gun to her head and bound and gagged her. He told agents she fought for her life, even jumping out a window of his truck before he finally slashed her neck and cut off her head.

Prosecutors are presenting the case to persuade jurors to sentence Stayner to death for murdering three Yosemite National Park tourists.