Death penalty only issue in Yosemite killer's trial

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- It was one of the most infamous crimes in California history: Three women were kidnapped while visiting Yosemite National Park and savagely killed. Months later, the handyman at their hotel was caught after beheading a female nature guide and gave the FBI a detailed confession to all four murders.

Now, three years later, Cary Stayner is finally going on trial for killing the tourists.

Stayner already is serving life without parole in federal prison after pleading guilty to killing the park guide, Joie Armstrong.

But state prosecutors want to execute him.

Stayner, 40, who once said he would prefer the death penalty to life in prison, has pleaded innocent by reason of insanity.

Executing him will require a trial, scheduled to start Monday, that is expected to last almost three months and cost taxpayers $3 million.

Stayner is charged with murder, kidnapping and special circumstances that could bring the death penalty -- including sexual assault and attempted rape -- in the killings of Carole Sund, 42, her daughter Juliana, 15, of Eureka, and Silvina Pelosso, a 16-year-old friend from Cordoba, Argentina.