Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

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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 house Cassie Stoddart was watching

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.  

Part of the basement
Electrical Panel

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.

Autospy Photo of Cassie
Autospy Photo of Cassie

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.

Mask evidence
Mask evidence 2
knife
knife 3
knife 2
tape
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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.

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.

Adamick and Draper

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.

Cassie's Family

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