That man, Ervin Edward Murphy, had been recruited by his co-worker at a Yosemite National Park resort, Kenneth Parnell, to kidnap Stayner. First, Cary was the kidnapped kid's brother, then he was the brother of the famous kid whose kidnapping was made into a TV movie. During this time Steven was being horribly abused and raped by Parnell, yet somehow still managed to do well in school when he was there. Instead, he tried to make the best of it. He was is training to become a security officer, had joined the church, and volunteered his time to help others who had gone through similar traumas. [8] Parnell denied in that same interview having been sexually abused himself, although Mike Echols' book I Know My First Name Is Steven states that he was indeed molested at the age of 13 by a boarder in a rooming house that his mother owned in Bakersfield. MERCED, Calif., March 15 (AP)--A second man has been arrested in connection with the 1972 abduction of Steven Stayner. He got on with his life, his sister, Cory Stayner, of Merced, Calif., said in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Mr. Murphy's attorney said that his client was merely ''a nice guy'' duped into helping Mr. Parnell. When Stayner failed to return home from school, his parents contacted authorities immediately. Unfortunately, the driver was actually a middle-aged pedophile named Kenneth Parnell. As reported by The Famous People, Parnell dated a woman named Barbara Mathias for a period of time. Officially, the Red Brigades held him in an apartment in Via Camillo Montalcini in Rome. View the profiles of people named Edward Ervin. After they stopped trying to teach me the fundamentals all over again, it got better. According to a July 1999 article in the SF Gate (then the San Francisco Chronicle), Cary Stayner was voted the "most creative" student of his Merced High School graduating class. She weighed just 87 pounds at the time of her arrest, and her IQ had fallen by 18 points during the time she spent with the SLA. Next, Moro was placed in the trunk of the Renault, covered with a red sheet and shot by Moretti. Life in a hellish maximum security prison? By daybreak the following morning, Parnell had been arrested. Childhood & Early Life. Parnell died in 2008 while incarcerated. According to a missing person file released by the FBIs National Crime Information Center (NCIC), there were a total of 89,637 active missing person records as of December 31, 2020; 34 percent of the records were of juveniles under the age of 18. On September 16, 1989, Steven Stayner was riding his motorcycle home from work when a car suddenly pulled out of a driveway onto the highway. And this final part, youre not going to believe. For the next seven years, Parnell and Steven (who Parnell called Dennis) moved around California while Steven was regularly raped and abused by Parnell. So 16 days after Timmy went missing, Steven bolted with Timmy, and the two hitchhiked 40 miles to a police station in Ukiah, Calif. Ervin Murphy, the man who lured Steven into the car, went on to serve two years of a five-year sentence. We encourage you to research and examine these records to determine their accuracy. As Steven Stayner got older, Kenneth Parnell began planning to kidnap another, younger, boy. Eventually, the Red Brigades grew tired of waiting, and on May 9, 1978, they held a process of the people where Moro was clearly found guilty and executed by a man named Mario Moretti. Although Parnell was a convicted child predator, Murphy was described as "simple-minded," and somewhat naive. It was my do-or-die chance and I also would be coming home for doing something positive.. He was living a more stable life along with his wife and 2 children. Id ask myself, Mom and Dad, where the hell are you? It somehow reinforced the lie that Parnell told me they didnt want me, Stayner told the magazine. At 20, he married and went on to have two children. However, Moros brother, Carlo Alfredo, believes the politician was held in a seaside location. An anonymous letter led authorities to Julie's body by a reservoir. As reported by ABC News, Kenneth Parnell treated Steven Stayner like a son. In 1972, a Young Boy Was Kidnapped and Abused for 7 Years Before Escaping Where Is His Torturer Now? However, Timothy could not remember his address, so Stayner took him to a police station instead. It was time to return to his old habits. All Rights Reserved. And none ended more triumphantly than that of Steven Stayners. Though authorities would later learn that the letter was written by Cary, it was clear at first that he wasn't a suspect. He was given a life sentence without parole. However, he always enrolled the boy in school and often allowed Stayner freedoms that a kidnapper would not traditionally grant a captor. As well as sexually abusing his victims, Castro only fed them once a day and routinely beat them. And if I didnt take care of it now, it would just get worse.". He was well-regarded and did good work, which is why no one minded that, in his spare time, Cary liked to sunbathe nude in spots along the Merced River where locals frequented. On December 4, 1972, Parnell abducted seven-year-old Merced resident Steven Stayner with the help of Edward Ervin Murphy, a co-worker at the Yosemite Lodge, where Parnell worked as a night auditor. Mitchell raped his unfortunate victim on a daily basis. It could be a very long sentence or it could be very short. He was also told he had been adopted and that his name was now Dennis Parnell. Sean Poorman, Stayner's schoolfriend who abetted Parnell in the White kidnapping, was sentenced to a term in a juvenile work camp. To spend 7 years obsessing over their kidnapped son, only to watch his life fall apart after his return, and then for him to die once things were finally going well? Parnell drove to the tiny town of Ukiah, Calif. where he paid a local high school kid to help him find a younger boy. Just like that, he was gone, leaving his parents with little else to do than post photos of their boy, follow dead-end leads and desperately hope. Parnell and . President Jimmy Carter commuted her prison term in 1979, so she served just 22 months. Once Steven was home again, attention was on him from every angle. Mr. Murphy appeared shaken by the verdict. And even if the two cases are similar, its impossible to make clear comparisons, given the differences in circumstances. Despite her defense lawyer claiming she was coerced into the crimes, Hearst was found guilty and sentenced to seven years in prison. Once Parnell was able to get Steven into his car, he told him that his parents no longer wanted him and that Parnell was adopting him. He befriended a co-worker named Ervin Murphy to assist him in the abduction. The child was taken from a Ukiah street and stayed in a cabin that Mr. Parnell, who was then working as a hotel clerk, shared with young Stayner. In addition to assisting in the production of a miniseries based on his experience, Stayner became an advocate for preventing child abduction and helping victims of abuse. Parnell was sentenced to 25 years to life under California's "three strikes" law. Of course, none of these boys were ever abandoned. According to The Famous People, Murphy offered to walk Stayner home, as he wanted to ask his mother for a donation. As he was not wearing a helmet, he suffered massive head trauma, which led to his death less than one hour after the accident occurred. Edward Murphy, Parnell's accomplice from the Stayner kidnapping, was sentenced to five years imprisonment and paroled after two years. While investigators were checking into Parnell's past, the 1951 sodomy conviction came to light, although at the time Stayner insisted that Parnell had not sexually abused him.[11]. Kenneth Parnell is a predator, and his prey is young boys. On February 14, 1980, Parnell abducted five-year-old Timothy White from Ukiah with the help of Sean Poorman, a minor and an acquaintance of Stayner. Prior to his kidnapping of Stayner, The Famous People reports Parnell had at least two criminal convictions, including armed robbery and the sexual abuse of a young boy. He also conscripted Stayner into aiding him in kidnappings, but Stayner had always failed to grab the targeted child to the point Parnell stopped using Stayner as an accomplice, berating him for being an "incompetent". Resides in Fayetteville, NC. Kenneth Eugene Parnell was born in Amarillo, Texas[1][2] to Cecil Frederick and Mary Olive (ne Pollard) Parnell, during the region's dust bowl era during the Great Depression. Hearst was an obvious kidnap target since she came from a wealthy and nationally recognized family. On December 4, 1972, in Merced, California, 7-year-old Steven Stayner was approached by a man who claimed to be collecting money for his church. The nightmare in California began in December 1972, when Stayner, a freckle-faced second-grader, was walking home from school. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. The most tragic entry on the list might be Aldo Moro, former Italian Prime Minister and leader of the Christian Democracy Party, was kidnapped in bloody fashion. And with him, another, younger boy who also had disappeared. Ervin Edward Murphy Remembering Two Famous Kidnap Victims And How Their Story Touched the Hearts Of Many Timothy White. They will be sentenced under California's indeterminate sentencing law, which was in effect at the time the crime was committed. On December 4, 1972, at the age of seven, Steven was approached after school by Edward Ervin Murphy, who claimed he was collecting money for the church. Research in aerospace engineering and reliability engineering. According to Knight, Castro impregnated her five times but the beatings she sustained resulted in miscarriages on all but one occasion where Knight managed to resuscitate the baby. In addition to the molestation, Stayner later claimed that Parnell's attitude altered from severe beatings to sometimes "spoiling" him. Remembering Two Famous Kidnap Victims And How Their Story Touched the Hearts Of Many, Scenes Prove That Plants Are Actually Breathing, Unrecyclable Plastic Used To Make Roads With Impressive Results, Burial Ground Of The Midwife Of Jesus Unveils Treasures, Over A Million Dollars Is Thrown In The Trevi Fountain Each Year, And The Money Is Being Used To Feed The Poor. Parnell plied his new son with alcohol and allowed him to move freely. In the trial, psychiatrists testified that Mr. Parnell had had a disturbed childhood, attempted suicide at least twice and was the victim of a homosexual rape at the age of 13. Seven years for 2 kidnappings, and years of child sexual assault. The young man then attempted suicide in 1991, and developed a drug habit. He was simply following the instructions of Kenneth Parnell. It was a big part of my husbands case, but it shouldnt be that way, she said. Edward Ervin Murphy passed away in St. Louis, Missouri. Mitchell and Barzee held Smart captive for nine months, moving between Utah and California. But it wasnt what has been tagged the Missouri Miracle. It was 1980. His wife, Jody, said he was finally found peace when on September 16, 1989, he was killed when a car collided with the motorcycle. They started to abuse and brainwash Hearst, with the goal of turning her into the poster child for their supposed revolution. Within two months, they released an audiotape of Hearst claiming she joined their fight and she even had a new name. At the time, Stayner had been missing for more than seven years. On August 1, 2013, he was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years. ABC News Elizabeth Smart Tells Court Kidnapper Tried to Snatch Her Cousin Too, Deseret News Elizabeth Smart Describes Rapes, Sex Abuse, Imprisonment, Threats, Biography Elizabeth Smart: A Complete Timeline of Her Kidnapping, Rescue and Aftermath, Crime Museum Ariel Castro Cleveland Kidnappings, CNN Timeline: Three Cleveland Girls Go Missing; No Word Of Them For 10 Years, History Collection Historic Kidnapping Cases that Inspire Nightmares. New York Time Magazine 2 Convicted In 72 Kidnapping Of 7-Year-Old California Boy, Los Angeles Times Who Was Steven? Murphy offered to take the boy home after Steven said his mother would be interested in donating. Ronald is related to Ronald E Murphy and Ryan Edward Murphy as well as 3 additional people. How did he end up on death row? Cary Stayner (top middle) and Steven Stayner (top right) with the rest of the Stayner family in the 1980s. According to The Famous People, the couple eventually had two children, named Ashley and Steven, Jr. Stayner was taken to a cabin in Catheys Valley, which was just a few hundred feet from his grandmothers home. When she failed, he forced Steven to attempt the kidnapping. Although Stayner told the younger boy to go inside by himself and tell the officers he had been kidnapped, White refused to leave Stayner's side. 1947-1952 (USAF) Rank. He also began manipulating the boy into believing his parents did not want him anymore, as they could not afford to financially support him. As reported by The Famous People, the man, who was later identified as Ervin Edward Murphy, said he was a representative of a local church and was seeking donations for his parish. (Years later, in 2004, while in his. Stayner was taken to Catheys Valley. 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