Lawsuit against Pocatello School District by the victim's family
The murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart was a thrill killing that occurred in Pocatello, Idaho, on September 22, 2006.[1] Stoddart, a 16-year-old high school student, was stabbed and murdered by her classmates Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik, both 16, in her aunt and uncle's house. Stoddart's body was discovered two days later, when her relatives returned home from their trip.[1]
The perpetrators claimed that they were inspired to murder Stoddart by the slasher film Scream, which led to them being nicknamed "The Scream Killers". Adamcik and Draper recorded documentary-style videos about how they were horror movie fans, especially Scream, and wanted to reenact a similar murder in real life. They started a "Death List" of other potential victims the day of Stoddart's murder, following their initial plan.[2]
Both perpetrators received sentences of life imprisonment without parole on August 31, 2007.[3]
Perpetrators
Mugshot of the two perpetrators, Adamcik (left) and Draper (right)
Brian Lee Draper (born March 21, 1990) and Torey Michael Adamcik (born June 14, 1990)[4] were American high school juniors who are currently serving life sentences for murdering their classmate Cassie Jo Stoddart on September 22, 2006.[5]
Background
Draper was born in Sandy, Utah, while Adamcik was born and raised in Pocatello, Idaho. Draper's family eventually settled in Idaho. Draper met Adamcik when they were both sophomores at Pocatello High School. Both boys were interested in films and started recording films of their own.[6]
Looking for fame and pleasure, the two wanted to go on a killing spree hoping to outdo Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre. Much like the Columbine shooters, Draper and Adamcik would make tapes detailing their plan and motive. They would mention Harris and Klebold in their homemade videos, and were reportedly planning a "Columbine-like" shooting.[7] Draper and Adamcik would choose their two friends Matt Beckham and Cassie Jo Stoddart as their first victims.[8]
Acquiring weaponry
One of Adamcik's friends, Joe Lucero, testified that he bought four knives for Adamcik and Draper. Lucero would say that he used $45 to pay for the knives, $40 from Draper and $5 from Adamcik. Lucero identified four of the State's exhibits as the knives he bought. Out of the four, one of the knives had a serrated blade and the other three knives were non-serrated. Lucero would testify that Draper made a huge point to claim ownership of the serrated knife.[9]
On the night of September 22, 2006, Stoddart was house sitting for her aunt and uncle, Allison and Frank Contreras, on Whispering Cliffs Drive in northeast Bannock County. The Contreras family was out of town and had hired Stoddart to house sit their pets for the weekend. Stoddart was visited that evening by her boyfriend, Matt Beckham, who arrived around 6:00 p.m. Later, classmates Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik, who were both aged 16 at the time, came over to the house to "hang out." Stoddart gave the friends a tour of the house, including the basement. The four teens went into the living room to watch the film Kill Bill, Volume II, but Adamcik and Draper ended up leaving before the film ended, saying they wanted to watch another movie at the movie theater instead.[10]
Stoddart was unaware that before the boys left, Draper had unlocked the basement door so that he and Adamcik could re-enter the house undetected. Sometime after leaving the house on Whispering Cliffs, Draper and Adamcik returned to the neighborhood, parked down the street, got out of their car, and put on costumes consisting of dark clothing, gloves, and white, painted masks. The boys quietly entered the house through the basement door while the other couple was watching television in the living room. They intentionally made loud noises in an unsuccessful attempt to lure Beckham and Stoddart downstairs "so they could scare them." Next, they found the circuit breaker and turned off the power in the house, hoping the pair would come downstairs to check the breaker. When Beckham and Stoddart did not come downstairs, the boys turned some of the lights back on.
Stoddart became uneasy after the temporary power outage, and Beckham noticed that one of the Contreras' dogs kept staring down the basement stairs, periodically barking or growling. Seeing that Stoddart felt scared, Beckham called his mother to ask if he could stay the night at the house with her to ease her mind, but she denied his request – instead she offered to let Stoddart come home with Beckham and stay at their house for the night, and she would bring Stoddart back to the Whispering Cliffs house the next morning. However, Stoddart felt it was her responsibility to stay at the house as she was hired to do and care for the animals, and declined the offer from Beckham's mother.
At approximately 10:30 pm, Beckham's mother picked him up, leaving Stoddart at the house alone. Beckham called Adamcik's cell phone to see where he and Draper were, possibly to meet up with them later. Beckham said he could barely hear Adamcik, who was whispering on the phone, and assumed the boys were in the movie theater.
From the basement, Draper and Adamcik heard Beckham leave. The teens turned the lights out again at the circuit breaker and waited, hoping Stoddart would come downstairs to turn the lights back on; she did not. Eventually, the boys went upstairs. Draper was armed with a dagger-type weapon and Adamcik had a hunting knife, the weapons having been purchased at a pawn shop.[11] Draper opened and slammed a closet door at the top of the stairs to scare Stoddart, who was lying on the couch in the living room. The boys then attacked her, stabbing her approximately thirty times; twelve wounds were potentially fatal.
During the investigation of the murder, police found that Draper and Adamcik had made video-tapes detailing their plan to murder Stoddart and other classmates.[3] This video footage was shown at their trials.
Investigation
The boyfriend of Stoddart's mother was initially considered a person of interest after his fingerprints were found on the circuit breaker door in the basement, where the lights had been tampered with in the lead–up to the murder. However, he provided a reasonable explanation for this discovery, as he had done electrical work at the Contreras residence a few months prior to the murder, which was corroborated by the Contreras family.
The attention turned to Stoddart's boyfriend, Matt Beckham, who had been the last known person to see Stoddart alive. Beckham confirmed to police that the lights had been flickering on and off while he was present at the home. His mother explained to police that she heard Stoddart's voice from the house as Beckham came out the door. After he was cleared by a polygraph test and consistent alibi, detectives brought in Draper and Adamcik for further questioning.
Draper and Adamcik told police that after they left the Contreras residence, they went downtown to watch the movie Pulse. The teens couldn't recount any details from the movie, leading detectives to press harder to determine their whereabouts. They then claimed that they had instead "gone through cars" in the area and had not been to the movie theater. Draper eventually confessed to police, but downplayed his role in the crime.[12]
Arrest and interrogations
Draper and Adamcik were arrested on September 27, 2006, and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.[13] Across multiple interrogations, each teen blamed the other. Draper claimed he was in the same room with Adamcik when Stoddart was killed but denied stabbing her; in later interrogation he admitted to stabbing her at the behest of Adamcik, who told him to "Make sure she is dead". He led investigators to Black Rock Canyon, where the teens had partially burned and then buried the clothing, masks, and weapons they used for the murder. Police recovered a partially burned VHS Tape from the location, which after restoration, showed video footage of their plans to kill Stoddart.[14][15][16]
Trial and sentencing
At trial, the prosecution revealed that the two teens were inspired byEric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who committed the Columbine High School massacre, as well as the Scream horror film franchise. Both teens were convicted of first-degree murder, with Draper convicted on April 17, 2007 and Adamcik on June 8, 2007. On August 21, 2007, each received a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, plus thirty years-to-life for being convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.[3]
Adamcik and Draper were called to testify in the 2024 trial for the murder of Nori Jones. The defense argued that there were other suspects who were not investigated by authorities. Neither of them testified, and the defendant was later found guilty.[18]
Aftermath
The funeral of Stoddart was held on October 1, 2006 and was attended by 500 people.
Appeals
The convicted men's attorneys filed separate appeals at the Idaho Supreme Court, in September 2010 for Adamcik[19] and in April 2011 for Draper. Draper was seeking to have his conviction vacated or to be given a limited life sentence that would allow for his release on parole (if approved) after thirty years.[13][20][21] The first appeal for both Adamcik and Draper was denied in a 3–2 decision. The high court vacated Draper's conviction on conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, saying that jurors were given erroneous instructions on that charge, but they affirmed his conviction for first-degree murder and life sentence without parole.[22]
In July 2015, a hearing for post-conviction relief for Adamcik was held before state Sixth District Magistrate Judge Mitchell W. Brown. The claim was that testimony from character witnesses could have changed the outcome of the sentencing, but that his former attorney, against his parents' wishes, chose not to call upon these witnesses. Adamcik said that his attorney believed that the prosecution would have submitted even more damaging evidence.[23] In March 2016, Judge Brown denied the request.[24] Adamcik's counsel appealed Judge Brown's decision to the Idaho Supreme Court, which rejected the appeal and upheld the district court decision in December 2017.[25][26]
Following the Idaho Supreme Court's decision, Adamcik's counsel filed a federal writ of habeas corpus in January 2018, in which it was argued that the court denied his first appeal based on a theory that was not presented to the jury. Counsel also argued that he should be entitled to a new sentencing hearing in light of the Miller and Montgomery decisions. Federal magistrate judge Candy W. Dale denied the writ in November 2019.[27][28]
Judge Dale's decision was appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in February 2022. The court upheld the sentence in March 2022.[29]
Civil suit by Stoddart family
In 2010, the Stoddart family filed a civil lawsuit against the Pocatello School District, claiming that school authorities were negligent and should have known that Draper and Adamcik posed a threat to others. Both the civil court and the Idaho Supreme Court dismissed the case, saying the actions of the killers were not foreseeable.[30][31]
Media
In January 2013, Shannon Adamcik, Torey's mother, self-published the book The Guilty Innocent.[32]
In September 2015, Pamela Lillian Valemont published the book Mormon Sons - Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik.[33]
On February 16, 2023, the tape recordings that Draper and Adamcik made, along with a complete transcript of the tape recordings, were obtained from the Bannock County, Idaho court system through the Idaho Public Records Act.[34]
This case has been featured in several different television shows and programs including a February 18, 2024, episode of the popular true crime series Dateline with correspondent Keith Morrison.[16]
Draper and Adamcik were featured in Lost for Life (2013), a documentary about juveniles who are serving life in prison without parole and their victims' families.[35]
Bannock County is a county in the southeastern part of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 87,018, making it the sixth-most populous county in Idaho. The county seat and largest city is Pocatello. The county was established in 1893 and named after the local Bannock tribe. It is one of the counties with territories included in the Fort Hall Indian Reservation of the federally recognized Shoshone-Bannock Tribes.
Pocatello is the county seat and largest city of Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, containing the city's airport. It is the principal city of the Pocatello metropolitan area, which encompasses all of Bannock County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho.
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↑ O'Donnell, Michael. "Book explores murder". Idaho State Journal. Adams Publishing Group. Archived from the original on 31 August 2024. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
↑ Rofé, Joshua. "Lost for Life". Apple TV+. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
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