Parolee says he didn't kill Yosemite sightseers
Story-Date: 01:22 a.m. PST Monday   , June 28, 1999

Parolee says he didn't kill Yosemite sightseers


By Christine Hanley
Associated Press Writer


TRACY, Calif. (AP) -- A convicted felon who is being questioned in the
February slayings of the three Yosemite sightseers denies he killed any of
the women.

"I didn't kill anybody," Eugene "Rufus" Dykes told The Associated Press in
his first jailhouse interview. "If I was involved, it wasn't through my
knowledge."

Dykes, speaking from behind a glass booth at Deuel Vocational Institution,
would not elaborate on what that role was or how he could not have known
that he was involved.

The Modesto man, who is serving a year on an unrelated parole violation,
also refused to discuss any information he has provided to the FBI task
force trying to unravel the murders of Carole Sund, her daughter Juli, and
family friend Silvina Pelosso.

FBI agent Nick Rossi said Sunday he would not discuss statements made by
any individuals interviewed or questioned by the task force.

Mrs. Sund, whose Eureka family has made millions in real estate, was taking
her 15-year-old daughter and 16-year-old Argentine friend on a trip through
the Sierra foothills to Yosemite National Park when they were killed.

The three were last seen alive Feb. 15 at a lodge on the western fringe of
the park. The bodies of Mrs. Sund, 42, and Ms. Pelosso were found about a
month later and far to the north, burnt beyond recognition in the trunk of
their torched rental car.

Juli's body was found a week later and miles away, hidden in a thicket off
a lightly traveled mountain highway.

No one has been charged in the case but investigators have said they are
confident that most of those responsible for the crime are already behind
bars on unrelated charges. They will not identify suspects or say how many
there are.

Law enforcement sources have said that Dykes, his half brother, Michael
"Mick" Larwick, and other members of a looseknit band of
methamphetamine-using ex-cons are the focus of the FBI task force and
federal grand jury proceedings in Fresno.

Dykes and Larwick were arrested a week apart in March after standoffs with
Modesto police. Dykes later was charged with being a convicted felon in
possession of drugs and a gun. Larwick has pleaded innocent to shooting and
injuring a cop during his standoff and is awaiting trial.

Larwick, 42, has declared his innocence in the Yosemite case. Dykes has
admitted to being involved, law enforcement sources have said -- although
none have disclosed exactly what his role was.

Dykes, 32, who has a record of meth possession, unlawful sex and weapons
convictions, currently is being held in solitary confinement at Deuel.

Wearing a mustard-colored jumpsuit and his head shaved, he was escorted in
leg shackles to a bank of glass booths at the back of the main visiting
room for Sunday's interview with the AP.

Dykes initially was nervous about talking with a reporter because, he said,
he had no prior experience with the media. But eventually he loosened up
and grew quite animated as the hour-long interview proceeded, even though
he deflected many questions.

"I can't talk about it," he said repeatedly, occasionally dropping the
booth's phone to shrug or wave his tattooed forearms, and frequently
finishing off his answers with: "Ya know what I mean?"


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