Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

- Posted:
- October 24, 2020
- 6:54 pm
During the early morning hours on Friday, September 23, 2006, Brian Draper, 16, (at the time of the attack); and Torey Adamcik, 16, (at the time of the murder), snuck into the house Cassie Jo Stoddart, 16, was watching, and stabbed her to death.
Background
Cassie Jo Stoddart was born on December 21, 1989. In 2006, she was a student at Pocatello High School, in Bannock, Idaho. She was dating Matthew Beckham at the time of her murder. Matthew knew Draper since 7th grade and Adamcik from the previous school year. The four of them were all friends before the murder.
On August 31, 2006, Adamcik called Joe Lucero, a friend, and asked if he would buy him a few knifes, stating that he wanted to start a collection. Adamcik and Draper picked up Lucero and drove to a pawnshop. At the pawnshop, Adamcik picked out one knife; Draper picked out three. These would be the knifes used in the murder.

Night of the Murder
Cassie Stoddart was house sitting for her cousin on September 22, 2006. Matt Beckham, Cassie’s boyfriend, had been keeping her company. According to court documents, the couple invited over their friends, Brian Draper, and Torey Adamcik, to “hang out”. The four teenagers hung out for two hours before Draper and Adamcik headed out. Matt told investigators that the power had gone out in the home while they were watching television. He also said one dog was “’freaking out’ and growling” and was running back and forth in the home.
Matt called his mom, Sherri Beckham, and asked if he could spend the night with Cassie at her cousin’s house. His mom said no, but offered Cassie to spend the night at her home. Matt’s mom recalled Cassie saying, “No, I have to let the animals out real early; I’m just going to stay.” Matt and Adamcik spoke on the phone and Matt told him his mom was picking him up. Matt said that Adamcik was speaking in a whisper and when he asked why, he told him he was at a movie. Sheri picked up Matt around 11:00pm-11:30pm. Matt told Cassie he would call her when he arrived home.

The Murder
While Adamcik and Draper were hanging out, they had unlocked a basement door. They drove down the block, parked, and reentered the home through the unlocked door. The pair then turned the power to lights off throughout the house. Documents show that Draper broke two ashtrays on the stairs to the basement, “in order to scare Cassie and Matt.”
Draper called Matt while he was in the basement and was told that Matt would be leaving Cassie’s home soon. Once Matt left, Adamcik and Draper, now wearing “horror-movie type masks” and armed with knives, went upstairs.
While upstairs, Draper slammed a door, hoping to scare Cassie and drawing her towards the noise. When she did not enter the room they were hiding in, they walked into the living room, where Cassie was. Cassie stated, “Who is that? I’ll kick your ass.” as she approached them, they stabbed her. Cassie was stabbed 30 times, 12 of which had the potential to be fatal.
The pair then drove to a rural area with the intentions of hiding the evidence. They placed the weapons, clothing, and other evidence (listed below), in a bag and set it on fire.


The Following Day
Matt called Cassie at 12:15am but she did not answer her phone. The morning of Saturday, September 23, Matt called Cassie approximately 15 times. Anna Stoddart, Cassie’s mother, had also reached out to her multiple times throughout Saturday, calling and texting her, but Cassie never answered. Matt had spent Saturday evening with Adamcik and his family. Concerned about Cassie, since she was not answering her phone, he asked Adamcik to drive him to the house she was staying in. Adamcik told him he did not have enough gas to get there and back. Matt spent the night with at the Adamcik’s residence.
On Sunday, September 24, 2006, Cassie’s family has been worrying; her mom keeps attempting to contact her. About 1:15pm the Conterras family (Cassie’s cousin) arrived back home from their trip to Wyoming. Allison Conterras told investigators, “the doors were all open/and off the hook, and there was broken glass and stuff at the foot of the stairs.” Her husband, Frank Conterras, went upstairs and came back downstairs screaming, “Call 911, somebody is dead on our floor.” Allison ran upstairs as she called 911. Court documents say she saw Cassie’s body on the floor of the living room, in front of the TV. There was blood behind her head and left leg. Her left pinky was almost fully cut off. The 911 dispatcher instructed Allison to start CPR, records state, “It was obvious to Allison CPR would not work”. The dispatcher then instructed touch the body, and she then definitively determined that Cassie dead.
Allison went outside to tell the rest of her family to wait outside. She saw Anna Stoddart and Cassie’s stepdad, Victor Price, pulling up to the house. Frank met them outside and told them that Cassie had been murdered.


Interviews
The initial investigation led detectives to Adamcik and Draper. Detectives went to Adamcik’s home on September 24, 2006 to interview him regarding the Murder of Cassie. During this interview, his father, Sean Adamcik, was present. Adamcik told detectives that he and Draper went to hang out with Cassie and Matt. After hanging for a bit, they realized there would not be a party, like they had expected, so they left. He stated they went to see a movie but could not recall any details from the movie. He stated that he then slept over Draper’s house.
Detectives went to interview Draper at his home on September 25, 2006. They stated they “were there to investigate Cassie’s murder and the events surrounding it.” Documents revealed that Draper started crying before telling police that they had visited Cassie and Matt but had left once he and Adamcik realized there would not be a party like they had thought. He then stated they had gone to see a movie, “Pulse”. When asked by detectives and his mother, Draper could not describe what happened throughout the movie. The interview was concluded, and Draper wrote a statement about what he and Adamcik did the night of Cassie’s murder.
Second Interview with Draper
Draper was interviewed again on September 26, 2006, this time, it was at the Pocatello Police Department, and his parents were not in the room (they accompanied him to the police department). He was also read his Miranda rights. During this interview, he told detectives up arriving to the Conterras residence, Matt had accompanied the boys and looked through each window of the house. He maintained that he and Adamcik had seen the movie “Pulse” but still could describe nothing that happened in the movie. The detectives told him they did not believe they went to the movies. Draper then had told detectives he was not at the movies but was stealing from cars with Adamcik. He denied going back to the house where Cassie was staying and having any involvement in her death. He left with his parents when the interview concluded.
Search of Draper’s Bedroom
Draper’s parents gave detectives permission after the second interview to search his bedroom. In this search, they found a knife sheath under his bead. Draper stated it belonged to a friend. He also stated he did not know where the knife was, but he believed the same friend had it.
Third Interview
Detectives brought Draper in for a third interview on Wednesday, September 27, 2006. They read him his Miranda rights, and Draper agreed to speak without a lawyer being present. The interview is not available to be viewed, but official documents summarize what Draper revealed in the interview. He admitted they unlocked the door with the intentions of coming back to scare Cassie and her boyfriend. Draper also admitted to breaking the ashtrays on the staircase and to slamming the door to scare Cassie once they were upstairs.
In the interview Draper stated that Adamcik walked in front of him towards Cassie and stabbed her. He thought they were pulling a joke on him, but once he saw his wounds, he no longer believed it was a joke. Draper stated he stood watching, “and wondered what Adamcik was doing because it was supposed to be a joke.” He stated that Adamcik had done all the stabbing with his knife, which was serrated. Draper stated that he did not stab or touch Cassie. He carried a non-serrated, very curved knife the night of the murder.
Draper then told detectives they had tried to dispose of the evidence and agreed to show detectives where they buried it.
















Black Rock Canyon Evidence
Draper accompanied by his father and detectives went to the area where the evidence was buried. The lieutenant on scene dug out the hole that Draper pointed out.
- Stick matches (found outside of the hole)
- Pair of Black boot
- Stick matches.
- A pair of black boots.
- A pair of blue rubber gloves.
- A pair of Athletics Works brand fingerless gloves.
- A melted brown hydrogen peroxide bottle.
- A multi-colored mask.
- A large dagger-type knife with a sheath.
- A silver and black-handled knife with a signature of “Sloan” written on the inside.
- A small dagger-type knife with a sheath.
- A Sony videotape. This is the videotape that was later repaired and straightened in order to make it playable.
- A black-handled serrated folding knife. Later DNA testing revealed that Stoddart’s blood was present on this knife.
- A partly burned piece of paper with writing in pencil.
- A red and white mask. Later DNA testing revealed a partial DNA profile of Adamcik on the mask.
- A single black glove. Later DNA testing revealed a partial DNA profile from an unknown male.
- A pair of partially burned black Puma brand gloves. Later DNA testing revealed that Stoddart’s blood had soaked into these gloves.
- A blue plastic garbage bag.
- A partially burned black long-sleeved Haggar brand dress shirt.
- A Calvin Klein black dress shirt. Later DNA testing revealed that Stoddart’s blood was present on the shirt cuff.
- A white and grey sock.
- A small piece of black cord.
State v. Draper, 261 P.3d 853, 863 (Idaho 2011)
Second Interview with Adamcik
On September 27, 2006, Detectives brought in Adamcik to be interviewed for a second time. Like Draper, this interview also took place at the police department. The detectives had the evidence that Draper leads them to earlier. At the beginning of the interview, Adamcik maintained that he had nothing to do with the murder and insisted that he and Draper were “going through cars”. The detectives disclosed that they in fact had the evidence and knew what had transpired. During the interview, Adamcik’s father asked if what the detectives were saying was true, and he nodded his head yes. The interview ends with the detectives taking Adamcik’s shoes, which he stated he was wearing the night of the murder.
The transcripts to the videotape that was “repaired and straightened out” were released by the courts. The following are the transcriptions of the recordings as well as the words that were found on the partially burnt note.
*Adamcik and Draper are in car, Adamcik is driving and Draper is filming from the passenger seat*
Draper: We’re going for a high death count
Adamcik: Plus, we’re not going not to get caught Bryan, if we’re going for guns, we’re just gonna end it. We’re just gonna grab the guns and get outta there and kill everybody and leave.
Draper: We’re going to make history…. We’re gonna make history.
Adamcik: For all you FBI agents watching this
Draper: *laughing*
Adamcik: Uh … you weren’t quick enough. *laughing*
Draper: You weren’t quick enough, and you weren’t s-s-smart enough. And we’re going over to [Jane Doe 1’s] house, we-we-we’re going to snoop around over there and try to see if she’s home alone or not, and if she’s home alone, SPLAT! … She dead.
Adamcik: Don’t put your humor into this Bryan.
Draper: Uh, I’m not putting any humor into it…. Yep, people will die, and m-m-memories will fade.
Adamcik: Memories will fade…. Hmm, I wonder what movie you got that from Bryan?
Draper: My self!
Adamcik: *laughing*
Draper: That was from myself.
Adamcik: No wonder it was so lame.
Draper:—kay, we’re on our way, and I’m gonna, I’ll let you stay tuned, we’re almost there.
State v. Draper, 261 P.3d 853, 858 (Idaho 2011)
*Adamcik and Draper sitting in car, Draper is filming Adamcik with the camera light on*
Draper: We’re at [Jane Doe 1’s] house. It’s clear out there in the pasture. We’ve already snooped around her house a couple times, Uh, and sh-sh-she’s not at home so we’re gonna go to that church over there and we’re gonna call a girl and a guy named Cassie and Matt [Beckham, Cassie’s boyfriend]. They’re our—our friends but we have to make sacrifices. So um I feel tonight i-i-it is the night and I feel really weird … and stuff. I feel like I want to kill somebody. Uh, I know that’s not normal but what the hell.
Adamcik: I feel we need to break away from normal life.
Draper: How bright is this light? *Draper has turned camera light directly onto Adamcik*
Adamcik: Because … let’s put it this way … parents, along with their parents, along with their parents, and so on—
Draper: Uh-huh
Adamcik:—taught them about God, Jesus, the whole bullshit
Draper: *laughing*
Adamcik:—line. I’m sure you guys believe in God as well. I realized when I was in seventh grade … along, you don’t believe in Santa Claus or
Draper: *laughing*
Adamcik:—vampires, or werewolves, they’re used to metaphor, not let—they teach their kids back in the 1800s, I learned this in English class, about telling their kids that they can’t go outside or a vampire will get you—just to make their kids stay and do what they want to do. God is basically
Draper: That’s what God’s for right?
Adamcik:—the same way
Draper: Yep.
Adamcik:—tryin’ to get people to do good, or else “so-called” *air quoting* you go to hell.
Draper: And we’re obviously going to hell if it’s real, but who gives a shit?
Adamcik: And why would you say it’s real?
Draper: *talking over Adamcik* Yeah, but it’s not real. It’s not real, cuz it’s so blatantly obvious that it’s not real, but *laughing*
Adamcik: People believe it because their parents teach them, and so it’s so hard for them to let go of it because they’ve been taught their whole life.
Draper: Yeah, I know.
Adamcik: But, fuckin
Draper: What?
Adamcik:—the point I’m makin’ is … we are also taught that things like killing people and other things is wrong. The only that it’s wrong about is because it’s breaking the law and the law is only wrong *mumbling searching for words*
Draper: Natural selection, dude. Natural selection, that’s all I’ve gotta say.
Adamcik: There should be no law against killing people. I know it’s a wrong thing, but …
Draper: Natural selection
Adamcik:—Hell, hell, you restrict somebody from it, they’re just gonna want it more.
Draper: Exactly. Goodbye camera.
*Adamcik and Draper are in car, Adamcik is driving and Draper is filming from the passenger seat*
Draper:—home. My friend’s too pussy to go investigate—turn here
Adamcik: Too smart
Draper: Why aren’t you turning there dude?
Adamcik: Cuz it’s faster this way
Draper: Now we’re going to go over to Cassie and Matt’s [Beckham’s] house. If they’re home alone, we’re gonna …
Adamcik: It’s Cassie’s house. Matt [Beckham] is there.
Draper: Matt [Beckham] is there. Sorry. We’re gonna gawe’re gonna knock on the door. We’ll see who is there. We’ll, we’ll see, we’ll see—see if their parents are home or not. If they’re home alone we will leave our way and then we will come back in about ten minutes. We’ll sneak in through the door because chances are they’re probably in Cassie’s room. S–s–s–so we will sneak in the front door, we’ll make a noise outside.
Adamcik: And Matt [Beckham] will come out to investigate.
Draper: We’ll kill him. And we’ll scare the shit out of Cassie … okay?
Adamcik: Sounds like fun.
Draper: Well stay tuned.
*Adamcik and Draper are in car, Adamcik is driving and Draper is filming from the passenger seat*
Draper: We found our victim and sad as it may be she’s our friend but you know what? We all have to make sacrifices. Our first victim is going to be Cassie Stoddart and her friends …
Adamcik: *directed at passing car* God, turn your brights off asshole!
Draper: We’ll let you … *laughs* we’ll find out if she has friends over, if she’s going to be alone in a big dark house out in the middle of nowhere *laughs*. How perfect can you get? I, I mean like holy shit dude.
Adamcik: I’m horny just thinking about it.
Draper: Hell yeah. So we’re gonna fuckin’ kill her and her friends and we’re gonna keep moving on. I heard some news about [Jane Doe 2], she’s gonna be home alone from six to seven so we might kill her and drive over to Cassie’s thing and scare the shit out of them and kill them one by fucking one. Hell yeah.
Adamcik: Why one by one? Why can’t it be a slaughterhouse?
Draper: Two by two and three by three. Cause we’ve got to keep it classy.
Adamcik: Keep it classy.
Draper: So yeah. It’s going to be extra fun.
Adamcik: You’re evil *laughs*.
Draper: Yes, I am. So are you dude. Evil. Evil.
Adamcik: No. Evil is an expression of God. That was another test you failed.
Draper: Evil is not an expression of God.
Adamcik: Yes, it is.
Draper: That is bullshit and you know it.
Adamcik: Evil of origin is a follower of fucking Satan.
Draper: There is no Satan.
Adamcik: Is Satan real? Then shut up.
Draper: Then how are we supposed to express ourselves?
Adamcik: Good and Bad.
Draper: We’re, we’re bad.
Adamcik: We are bad.
Draper: That sounds so shitty.
Adamcik: We’re evil. That sounds even shittier.
Draper: Hey, we’re not, okay. Then we are sick psychopaths who get their pleasure off killing other people.
Adamcik: That sounds good baby.
Draper: We’re gonna go down in history. We’re gonna be just like Scream except real life terms.
Adamcik: That sounds good baby.
Draper: We’re gonna be murderers. Like, let’s see, Ted Bundy, like the Hillside Strangler.
Adamcik: No.
Draper: The Zodiac Killer.
Adamcik: Those people were more amateurs compared to what we are going to be, we’re gonna be more of higher sources of Ed gl …
Draper: Gein
Adamcik: Gein
Draper: *laughs* Well let’s say we’re that sick and that twisted
Adamcik: Oh, you know what Ed Gein’s words were?
Draper: What?
Adamcik: He saw a girl walkin’ down the street, right?
Draper: Yeah.
Adamcik: Two questions came to his head. Hmm, I could take her out and have a nice time with her
Draper:—and then kill her? Skin her alive?
Adamcik:—charm the pants off her. Or, I wonder what her head would look like on a stick? *laughs*
Draper: *laughs* Holy shit!
Adamcik: It’s creepy huh?
Draper: Kick ass.
Adamcik & Draper: *laughing*
Draper: Murder is power, murder is freedom, goodbye.
*Draper walking down school hallway. Draper is talking to someone who appears to be walking with him. He then walks by lockers where Cassie is at her locker.*
Draper: Hey look, it’s Cassie. Hello Cassie.
Cassie: Hello.
Draper: *laughs* I’m getting you on tape. Okay. Say “hi” please.
Cassie: Hi.
*Adamcik and Draper sitting at a table with the camera facing them*
Draper: Alright, cool.
Adamcik: *looking down and writing in notebook* I was planning to kill him.
Draper: September 22, 2006, we’re skipping our fourth hour class. We’re writing our plan right now for tonight. It’s gonna be cool.
Adamcik: We? Torey and Bryan … *writing* … we’re making our death list right now, for when, for actually tonight …
Draper: *whispering* she’s watching us …
Adamcik: *unintelligible*
Draper: She’s still watching us …
Adamcik: *mumbling, unintelligible*
Draper: *loudly* Number 2 is what? *long gap where Adamcik and Draper are both concerned a teacher is going to see them, are whispering various things related to this and trying to make themselves less visible*
Adamcik: *writing again* Then … *unintelligible*
Draper: Yeah, if you’re watching this we’re probably deceased…
Draper: Hopefully this will go smoothly and we can get our first kill done and then keep going.
Adamcik: For you future serial killers watching this tape
Adamcik & Draper: *laughing*
Adamcik: I don’t know what to say.
Draper: It–It’s
Adamcik:—good luck with that.
Draper: Good luck.
Adamcik: Hopefully you don’t have like 8, or 9 failures like we have.
Draper: Yeah, we’ve probably tried maybe 10 times, but they’ve never been home alone so
Adamcik: Or when they have, their parents show up.
Draper: As long as you’re patient you know, and we were patient and now we’re getting paid off, cuz our victim’s home alone, so we got er, our plan all worked out now…. I’m sorry. I’m sorry Cassie’s family, but she had to be the one. We have to stick with the plan … and she’s perfect, so she’s gonna die *laughs*
*Adamcik and Draper sitting at a table with the camera facing them*
Draper: Alright, cool.
Adamcik: *looking down and writing in notebook* I was planning to kill him.
Draper: September 22, 2006, we’re skipping our fourth hour class. We’re writing our plan right now for tonight. It’s gonna be cool.
Adamcik: We? Torey and Bryan … *writing* … we’re making our death list right now, for when, for actually tonight …
Draper: *whispering* she’s watching us …
Adamcik: *unintelligible*
Draper: She’s still watching us …
Adamcik: *mumbling, unintelligible*
Draper: *loudly* Number 2 is what?
*long gap where Adamcik and Draper are both concerned a teacher is going to see them, are whispering various things related to this and trying to make themselves less visible*
Adamcik: *writing again* Then … *unintelligible*
Draper: Yeah, if you’re watching this we’re probably deceased
…
Draper: Hopefully this will go smoothly and we can get our first kill done and then keep going.
Adamcik: For you future serial killers watching this tape
Adamcik & Draper: *laughing*
Adamcik: I don’t know what to say.
Draper: It–It’s
Adamcik:—good luck with that.
Draper: Good luck.
Adamcik: Hopefully you don’t have like 8, or 9 failures like we have.
Draper: Yeah, we’ve probably tried maybe 10 times, but they’ve never been home alone so
Adamcik: Or when they have, their parents show up.
Draper: As long as you’re patient you know, and we were patient and now we’re getting paid off, cuz our victim’s home alone, so we got er, our plan all worked out now…. I’m sorry. I’m sorry Cassie’s family, but she had to be the one. We have to stick with the plan … and she’s perfect, so she’s gonna die *laughs*
*It is dark and Draper and Adamcik are sitting in a car*
Draper: We’re here in his car. The time is 9:50, September 22nd, 2006. Um … unfortunately we have the grueling task ofkilling our two friends and they are right in—in that house just down the street.
Adamcik: We just talked to them. We were there for an hour, but …
Draper: We checked out the whole house. We know there’s lots of doors. There, there’s lots of places to hide. Um, I unlocked the back doors. It’s all unlocked. Now we just got to wait and um … yep, we’re, we’re really nervous right now but, you know, we’re ready.
Adamcik: We’re listening to the greatest rock band ever.
Draper: We’ve waited for this for a long time.
Adamcik: Pink Floyd. Before we commit the ultimate crime of murder.
Draper: We’ve waited for this for a long time.
Adamcik: A long time.
Draper: We—well stay tuned.
*Adamcik and Draper are in a car driving.*
Draper:—just killed Cassie! We just left her house. This is not a fucking joke.
Adamcik: I’m shaking.
Draper: I stabbed her in the throat, and I saw her lifeless body. It just disappeared. Dude, I just killed Cassie!
Adamcik: Oh my God!
Draper: Oh, oh fuck. That felt like it wasn’t even real. I mean it went by so fast.
Adamcik: Shut the fuck up. We gotta get our act straight.
Draper: It’s okay. Okay? We—we’ll just buy movie tickets now.
Adamcik: Okay
Draper: *Unintelligible*
Adamcik: No.
Draper: Okay. Bye.
Is home alone stop
Out the house.
Runs into Torey (Adamcik)
We murder Cassie
E is home alone
…ouse. Brian (Draper) kills h
His (unclear) on the back porch
House… Brian chases her th
Her (unclear) + (unclear)… kill her.
- If Cassie + Matt come ho
A noise (unclear) … Kill Matt + (unclear)
Arrests
On September 27, 2006, Draper was arrested after showing the detectives the hole with the murder weapons and other evidence. He was then interviewed again and tried to maintain that he did not stab or harm Cassie. Documents that he changed his story once a detective asked him “whether he stabbed Cassie in order to Keep Adamcik from turning on him.” Draper nodded yes; he stated he stabbed Cassie four times, though he did not want to. He admitted to stabbing Cassie in the leg and chest area. Draper told detectives that Adamcik kept telling him, “you need to stab her; you need to stab her.” He explained that he did not think he could do it, but stabbed her in the leg. Adamcik told him, “it’s not gonna work, she has to die.” The interview ended after Draper asked if he could see his parents.

Adamcik was arrested after his second interview. He requested to speak to a lawyer. The detectives gave him and his father a few moments to speak in private. Upon entering the room, the informed Adamcik he was being placed under arrest for the murder of Cassie.
Both Adamcik and Draper were charged with 1st degree murder, and conspiracy to commit murder.

Trial
Both defendants moved to sever, which means they want to be tried individually.
Draper’s defense team had filed a motion to suppress his last interview, where he admitted to stabbing Cassie multiple times. The court denied this motion, and the video interview was allowed as evidence.
Draper and Adamcik were both sentenced to serve life without parole.


Recent Updates
On September 13, 2011, Draper filed a motion appealing his sentence. The court denied this request to vacate the murder sentence but agreed to vacate the conviction for conspiracy to commit first degree murder. The court states that this charge will be tried again.
On December 26, 2017, Adamcik filed a motion appealing his sentence for both charges. The court denied this request.
Adamcik is serving life in the Idaho State Correctional Institution Unit 10.
Draper is serving his life sentence in the Idaho State Correctional Institution Unit 16.

