August 5, 1999
Web posted at: 10:15 a.m. EDT (1415 GMT)

FRESNO, California (CNN) -- A federal grand jury considering the decapitation killing of naturalist Joie Ruth Armstrong in Yosemite National Park could hand down an indictment Thursday against motel handyman Cary Stayner.

U.S. Attorney Carl Faller told CNN an indictment could be handed down in the afternoon. A federal court appearance was scheduled for Stayner on Friday.

Stayner, who was jailed July 26, has said he is responsible for the death of Armstrong, 26, whose body was found July 22. He also told a television reporter that he killed three women sightseers who were abducted and slain near El Portal, California, in February.

Stayner said he killed Carole Sund, 42; her daughter Juli, 15; and Silvina Pelosso, 16, an exchange student from Argentina, on February 15.

Authorities said they are continuing to investigate that case, because of inconsistencies in Stayner's account of the killings in which he said he acted alone.

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