True Crime Collection

Steven Stayner

Steven Stayner was born 18th April 1965 in Merced, California. He was the 3rd of 5 children born to Delbert and Kay Stayner. He had 3 sisters and 1 older brother, Cary. In 2002, Cary was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1999 murders of 4 women.

On the afternoon of 4th December, 1972, Steven was approached on his way home from school by a man named Ervin Edward Murphy, who had become acquainted with convicted child rapist Kenneth Parnell as they both worked at a resort in Yosemite National Park. Ervin, described by those who knew him as a trusting, naive, and simple minded man, had been enlisted by Kenneth (who had passed himself off to Ervin as an aspiring minister) into helping him abduct a young boy so that Kenneth could "raise him in a religious type deal," as Ervin later stated.

Acting on instructions from Kenneth, Ervin passed out gospel tracts to boys walking hime from school that day and, after spotting Steven, claimed to be a church representative seeking donations. Steven later claimed that Ervin asked him if his mother would be willing to donate any items to the church. When the boy replied that she would, Ervin then asked Steven where he lived and if he would be willing to take Ervin to his home. 

After Steven agreed, a white Buick driven by Kenneth pulled up, and Steven willingly climbed into the car with Ervin. Kenneth then drove a confused Steven to his cabin in nearby Catheys Valley instead. Unbeknownst to Steven, Kenneth's cabin was located only several hundred feet from his maternal grandfather's residence. 

Kenneth molested Steven the first night at the cabin. Kenneth began raping Steven 13 days later, on 17th December, 1972. After telling Kenneth that he wanted to go home many times during that first week, Kenneth told Steven that he had been granted legal custody of the boy because his parents could not afford so many children and that they did not want him anymore. 

Kenneth began calling the boy Dennis Gregory Parnell, retaining Steven's real middle name and his real birth date when enrolling him in various school over the next several years. Kenneth passed himself off as Steven's father, and the 2 moved frequently around California, living in locations including Santa Rosa and Comptche. Kenneth allowed Steven to begin drinking at a young age and to come and go virtually as he pleased. Kenneth had also bounced from one menial job to another, some of his work requiring travel and leaving Steven unguarded, causing an adult Steven to remark he could have easily used these absences as opportunities to flee, but was unaware how to summon help.

One of the few positive aspects of Steve's life was Kenneth was the dog he had received as a gift from him, a Manchester Terrier that he named Queenie. This dog had been given to Kenneth by his mother, who was not aware of Steven's existence during the period when he was living with Kenneth.

For a period of 18 months, a woman named Barbara Mathias lived with Kenneth and Steven. According to Steven, Barbara, along with Kenneth, raped him on 9 separate occasions at the age of 9. In 1975, on Kenneth's instruction, Barbara tried to lure another young boy, who was in the Santa Rosa Boys' Club with Steven, into Kenneth's car. The attempt was unsuccessful. Barbara later claimed to have been completely unaware that "Dennis" had, in fact, been kidnapped.

As Steven entered puberty, Kenneth began to look for a younger child to kidnap. Kenneth had used Steven to attempt to kidnap children on prior occasions. However, all the kidnapping attempt were unsuccessful. This caused Kenneth to believe Steven lacked the means to be an accomplice; Steven later revealed he intentionally sabotaged these failed kidnappings. On 14th February, 1980, Kenneth and a teenage friend of Steven named Randall Sean Poorman kidnapped 5 year old Timothy White in Ukiah. Motivated in part by the young boy's distress, Steven decided to return the boy to his parents. 

On 1st March, 1980, while Kenneth was away at his night security job, Steven left with Timothy and hitchhiked into Ukiah. Unable to locate Timothy's home address, he decided to have Timothy walk into the police station to ask for help, without him. Police officers spotted and detained both of them. Steven immediately identified Timothy and then revealed his own true identity and story.

On 2nd March, 1980, Kenneth was arrested on suspicion of abducting both boys. When the police checked into his background they found a previous sodomy conviction from 1951. Both children were reunited with their families that day. In 1981, Kenneth was tried and convicted of kidnapping Timothy and Steven in 2 separate trials. He was sentenced to 7 years but was paroled after serving 5.

Kenneth was not charged with the numerous sexual assaults on Steven and other boys because most of them occurred outside the jurisdiction of the Merced County prosecutor or were by then outside the statue of limitations. The Mendocino County prosecutors, acting almost entirely alone, decided not to prosecute Kenneth for the sexual assaults that occurred in their jurisdiction. 

Ervin and Randall, who had helped abduct Timothy, were convicted of lesser charges. Both claimed they knew nothing of the sexual assaults on Steven. Barbara was never arrested. Steven remembered the kindness "Uncle" Ervin had shown him in his first week of captivity while they were both under the influence of Kenneth's manipulation, and he believed that Ervin was as much Kenneth's victim as he and Timothy were. Steven's kidnapping and its aftermath prompted California lawmakers to change state laws "to allow consecutive prison terms in similar abduction cases." 

After returning to his family, Steven had trouble adjusting to a more structured household as he had been allowed to smoke, drink and do as he pleased when he lived with Kenneth. In an interview with Newsweek shortly after his escape, Steven said, "I returned almost a grown man and yet my parents saw me at first as their 7 year old. After they stopped trying to teach me the fundamentals all over again, it got better. But why doesn't my dad hug me anymore? Everything has changed. Sometimes I blame myself. I don't know sometimes if I should have come home. Would I have been better off if I didn't?"

Steven underwent brief counselling but never sought additional treatment. He also refused to disclose all the details of sexual abuse he endured from Kenneth. In a 2007 interview, Steven's sister said that her brother did not seek counselling because their father said Steven "didn't need any". She added, "He got on with his life but he was pretty messed up." He was bullied by other children at school for being molested and eventually dropped out. Steven began to drink frequently, and was eventually kicked out of the family home. His relationship with his father remained strained. 

In 1985, Steven married 17 year old Jody Edmondson, with whom he had 2 children. He also worked with child abduction groups, spoke to children about personal safety, and gave interviews about his kidnapping. He joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just before his death. At the time of his death, Steven was living in Merced and working at a pizza shop. 

On 16th September, 1989, Steven sustained fatal head injuries while on his way home from work when his motorcycle collided with a car. 500 people attended his funeral, at which 14 year old Timothy White was a pallbearer. 

10 years after Steven's death, the city of Merced asked its residents to propose names for city parks honouring Merced's notable citizens. Steven's parents proposed that one be named "Stayner Park". This idea was eventually rejected and the honour was instead given to another Merced resident, because Steven's brother Cary confessed to, and was charged with,  killing 4 women in Yosemite in 1999; Merced city officials feared that the name "Stayner Park" would be associated with Cary rather than Steven.

In 2004, Kenneth, then 72 years old, was convicted of trying the previous year to persuade his nurse to procure for him a young boy for $500. The nurse, aware of Kenneth's past, reported this to local police. Timothy White, then a grown man, was subpoenaed to testify in Kenneth's criminal trial. Although Steven was dead, his testimony at Kenneth's earlier trial was read to jurors as evidence in Kenneth's 2004 trial. Kenneth died of natural causes on 21st January, 2008, at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, California, while serving a sentence of 25 years to life. 

Timothy later became a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Deputy. He died on 1st April, 2010, at age 35 from pulmonary embolism. Timothy was survived by his wife, Dena, and 2 young children, as well as by his mother, father, stepfather and sister. Nearly 5 months later, on 28th August, 2010, a statue of Steven and Timothy was dedicated in Applegate Park in Merced. Residents in Ukiah, Timothy's hometown, carved a statue showing a teenage Steven with young Timothy in hand while escaping their captivity. Fundraisers for the statue have stated that it is meant to honour Steven Stayner and give families of missing and kidnapped children hope that they are still alive.