Carringtons remain strong while male killer awaits his fate
Lapis Lazuli Long
trial.
Fresno Bee/Tomas Ovalle
Steadfast vigilance
Carringtons remain strong while a killer awaits his fate
By Cynthia Hubert -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Sunday, October 6, 2002
SAN JOSE -- At times, as she sits just a few steps from the man who
slaughtered three people she loved, Carole Carrington wants to bolt
from the courtroom.
But Carrington and her husband of 50 years stay. They have been here,
outwardly calm and poised, for every moment of wrenching testimony in
the months-long trial of Cary Anthony Stayner.
They have endured all of the details of Stayner's brutal murders of
their daughter, Carole Sund, granddaughter Juli Sund, and Silvina
Pelosso, the daughter of close friends, near Yosemite National Park
more than three years ago. They have learned more than they want to
know of Stayner's bizarre sexual fantasies about women and girls. They
have listened to psychiatrists describe Stayner's difficult childhood
and mental problems. They have heard Stayner's friends describe him as
kind and helpful, and listened to family members plead for his life.
Sometimes the Carringtons squirm in their seats in the courtroom's
front row. They wring their hands and gently shake their heads. They
look down at the floor.
But they never leave. "We feel we owe it to Carole and the girls to be
here, every step of the way," said Francis Carrington, the patriarch
of a wealthy real estate family in Eureka. "This is all we can do for
them now."
Very soon, the couple's strange and harrowing journey through the
legal system finally will be over.
Stayner, already serving a life sentence for murdering Yosemite
naturalist Joie Armstrong, was convicted in August of killing Carole
Sund, 42, Juli Sund, 15, and Pelosso, 16, during the trio's
sightseeing trip to the park in February 1999. The same jury found him
legally sane when he committed the crimes. Within days, jurors are
expected to begin deliberating whether Stayner should receive another
life sentence for the triple murder, or face the death penalty.
"Then we will be able to go home," Francis Carrington said. There,
they will try to reclaim a life, once quiet and idyllic, that turned
to chaos in the winter of 1999.
"It will never be the same, of course," said Carole Carrington, a
petite, gracious woman of 68 who, just a few weeks ago, accepted a hug
from one of Stayner's aunts. "But we have to go on. We have a lot of
catching up to do.
"We have grandchildren who we have not been able to see for awhile. We
have a lot of pruning and gardening to do. We have house stuff.
Business stuff."
Francis Carrington, who recently lost his beloved Rottweiler mix,
Jessie, to old age and illness, wants to get a dog. "We were able to
get into a routine here, get through this," Carole Carrington said.
"But now we're ready for another way of life."
The couple, who met in high school in Santa Rosa and have been
together ever since, said they were living the "American dream" until
February 1999, when their daughter, granddaughter and Argentinian
friend disappeared without a trace during a visit to Yosemite. Since
then, life has been more like a nightmare.
More than a month after they vanished, police discovered Carole Sund's
and Pelosso's strangled remains in the trunk of their badly burned
rental car outside the Tuolumne County town of Sierra Village. Later,
they found Juli Sund's slashed body near New Don Pedro Reservoir.
Stayner, 41, who lived and worked at a lodge near Yosemite, was
arrested only after police questioned him about Armstrong's death and
decapitation in late July. He confessed to all four murders.
As the case played out, the Carringtons, whose home is an isolated
Humboldt County ranch 45 minutes from the nearest grocery store, found
themselves the subject of international media attention.
"We had never been public speakers," said Francis Carrington, a
striking, silvery-haired man who looks far younger than his 70 years.
"We were very private people. The family was our life. We weren't sure
how to handle this."
The couple stayed away from the cameras at first, but later started to
view the media as an ally.
"In the beginning I would get in a corner and listen to those news
conferences," Francis Carrington said. "The reporters would be asking
the FBI, 'Where is Carole Sund's red Pontiac? Did you check the canal?
Did you check the chop shops?' I started to realize that the media was
on our side. These reporters were asking the questions that I wanted
answered. They were bringing attention to the cases of people who were
missing. I wanted to do everything I could to help."
So the Carringtons became reluctant media celebrities, arranging their
days and nights around public appearances, candlelight vigils,
interviews with national newspapers, Larry King, the "Today" show and
CNN. They offered $250,000 to anyone who could provide information
leading to the safe return of their loved ones. After the terrible
news of their deaths, they launched the Carole Sund Carrington
Memorial Reward Foundation, which offers funds, usually $5,000 to
$10,000, for people unable to afford to post money for information to
help police locate missing family members. Already, the Carringtons
said, the foundation has helped solve 18 violent crimes around the
country.
Even through the fog of their own pain, the Eureka couple have
traveled to distant places on behalf of the organization to comfort
and advise people whose relatives have gone missing.
"The first inclination is to feel sorry for yourself," Francis
Carrington said. "You want to just go in the bedroom and pull the
covers over your head and cry. But our message to people is you have
to get the word out. You have to fight for your children. You have to
find that inner strength."
Beyond running the foundation, the couple's biggest job for the past
three years has been to follow Stayner's case to conclusion and help
prosecutors "bring him to justice," he said.
Early this summer, the Carringtons moved from their rural home to an
apartment in Sunnyvale, a short drive to the bustling downtown San
Jose courthouse. They have left the area only once since then.
"I'm sick of the same clothes," Carole Carrington said with a smile.
For months, she and her husband have been spending their days on the
fourth floor of Santa Clara County's Hall of Justice, in a courtroom
occupied by Judge Thomas Hastings. For the first two phases of the
trial, Silvina Pelosso's parents, Raquel and Pepe, joined them. For
the final phase, they have gone it alone.
They eat most of their meals in cafeterias and restaurants. They take
walks during breaks. When court recesses, they often accommodate the
television cameras posted outside the courthouse, then drive back to
Sunnyvale. Most nights, they fall into bed exhausted, but do not sleep
well.
"We couldn't understand it at first," said Francis Carrington. "We
really weren't doing anything, yet we were so tired. But being here,
listening to this, is very draining."
Facing Stayner every day, they said, may be the hardest part of their
daily ritual. The defendant is an imposing presence, tall and bulky in
his street clothes, flanked by the lawyers determined to spare his
life. He doodles cartoon images on legal pads and smiles at jurors as
they file in and out of the courtroom.
"Most of the time we try to just blank him out," said Carole
Carrington. "We pretend he's not there."
While they are away from home, the Carringtons maintain close contact
with the Pelossos and with their own extended family, including Jens
Sund, Carole's husband at the time of her death, and their three
children. Jens Sund recently remarried.
Life since the murders has been difficult for all of the couple's
eight surviving grandchildren, ages 6 through 16, the Carringtons
said. Most have needed professional counseling. One can no longer
sleep in the dark. Birthday parties are subdued, and a certain sadness
infuses family vacations. Carole Sund's annual Christmas Eve family
celebration is no more. "We used to have an Easter egg hunt at the
ranch, but we don't do that anymore, either," Carole Carrington said.
Yet the family has endured. "We are getting through this because we
had a strong foundation," said Francis Carrington, tears filling his
eyes. "Our strength comes from each other, and the family that we
have."
Now, they await the final verdict. To the Carringtons, justice for
Cary Stayner means the death penalty. "This guy is a cold, calculated
killer," Francis Carrington said. "It's not about revenge or hate. As
funny as it might sound, I have never felt hate toward him. Only
revulsion. We feel he is an evil person. This seems like the
appropriate sentence for someone who violates and hurts our children."
But the couple said they will accept whatever decision the jury
reaches. More than anything, they just want it to be over.
"All of it has been devastating," Francis Carrington said. "It's been
devastating to our entire family. Maybe, in a couple of weeks, we can
get back to some kind of a normal life."