Inside Steven Stayner Kidnapping Story -Why Did Kenneth Parnell Abduct Him
On his walk home from school on December 4, 1972, Steven Stayner was contacted by a guy called Ervin Edward Murphy, who had met convicted child rapist Kenneth Parnell while they both worked at a lodge in Yosemite National Park.
Ervin, who was regarded as a trusting, naive, and simple-minded man by many who knew him, had been lured by Kenneth to assist him in abducting a young kid so that Kenneth could “raise him in a religious-type thing,” as Ervin subsequently recounted.
Steven readily stepped into the car with Ervin after agreeing to ride home with him in a white Buick driven by Kenneth.
Instead, Kenneth drove a befuddled Steven to his cottage in neighboring Catheys Valley. Steven had no idea that Kenneth’s cabin was only a few hundred feet away from his maternal grandfather’s house.
A woman called Barbara Mathias stayed with Kenneth and Steven for eighteen months. Barbara and Kenneth, according to Steven, raped him nine times when he was nine years old.
On Kenneth’s orders, Barbara tried to get another young child who was a Santa Rosa Boys’ Club member with Stayner into Parnell’s automobile in 1975. The endeavor was a failure.
