The Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart
Cassie Jo Stoddart was born on December 21, 1989. She had two siblings; a sister Kristie who was 6 years older, and a brother Andrew- 18 months younger. In an interview 10 years after Cassie’s death, Andrew says that his sister was your typical teenager, and they had a lot in common and did everything together. Cassie was just a grade above Andrew in school, and he says that though she was not his oldest sibling, he looked up to her the most. Cassie was a straight-A student, had lots of friends, and never got into trouble. They both enjoyed drawing and music and Andrew describes Cassie as “very artistic.” He says that their mother still has some of her drawings hanging up in her house.
Pocatello, Idaho is located in southeastern Idaho with a largely Mormon population. It is the fifth largest city in Idaho and is the home of Idaho State University (go Spuds!). The residents in Pocatello never expected anything like the events of September 22, 2006 to happen in their town.
Because Cassie was friends with her killers, they were aware of her plans for the weekend that she was murdered and were able to make all the pieces fall perfectly into place for their horrific plot. On the night of September 22, Cassie was house sitting for her Aunt and Uncle- Frank and Allison Contreras. They were going to be out of town. Cassie took this opportunity to invite her boyfriend Matt Beckham over to her uncle’s house- something any 16 year old would take advantage of. A big house all to themselves, maybe watch a movie, make out… perfect setting for a horror movie
Home Video Transcript
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 [Left name out to protect the individual], 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.
Adamcik: Umm —
============
Matt invited his two friends over to watch a movie that night- Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik, both also 16 years old and attending Pocatello High School. The boys hung out with Matt and Cassie for a bit, but then told Matt and Cassie that they were going to go the movie theater to see a movie instead.
About 15 minutes after the two left for the movies (according to Matt), the power went out in the house. Matt went to look around, and could not find the source of the power outage. He called his mother to ask permission to stay the night- Cassie was pretty freaked out- but his mother said no.
Matt’s mother came to pick him up shortly after he called her to ask to stay the night. Matt then called Torey to let him know he was going home, so they wouldn’t be able to hang out any more that night.
At approximately 10:30PM, once the two learned that Matt had gone home, they re-entered the home through the back door which they’d unlocked when they were at the home the first time. Once inside, Brian cut the lights at the circuit breaker, making the house pitch black inside. Torey and Brian hid in the basement hoping she’d come downstairs to turn the power back on, but she never came down.
In white masks, dark clothes and armed with knives, they walked up the basement stairs into the dark house.
Cassie was stabbed 29 times, with 9-12 wounds being fatal.
The audio cuts off, but just after Adamcik says they have to get their act straight Draper says “ok we’ll just go buy the movie tickets now.”
On Sunday, September 24, the Contreras family returned from their trip. Their 13-year old daughter found Cassie lying on the living room floor, covered in blood and obviously deceased when they returned home.
I haven’t found any reports of where her parents were during this time- her brother did say in his interview that their grandparents raised them for a big part of their childhoods, but I do wonder why nobody else tried to find out where Cassie was or what she was doing for 2 entire days without hearing from her… the Contreras family was shocked to find her dead in their home when they returned.
Matt had tried calling her several times Saturday but was unable to get in touch with her. I’m sure it makes Matt sick to his stomach to think of this now, but he spent the next day with Torey Adamcik, not knowing Torey had murdered his girlfriend.
After interrogating Matt Beckham, the police learned that Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper had been in the home the night of the murder. Once brought in for questioning, the two confessed but blamed each other- each saying he had nothing to do with the murder.
Draper claimed he was in the same room with Adamcik when Stoddart was killed but denied stabbing her. He later admitted stabbing her allegedly under commands from Adamcik.
Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper were arrested on September 27, 2006. Brian agreed to show officers where the two had buried items used during the murder- Black Rock Canyon. Upon digging, investigators found:
Evidence Recovered in the Case
- 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 and transcribed as above.
- 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.
The Sony Videotape was the duo’s undoing and removed any of the “he made me do it” or finger pointing. The two were clearly both on tape bragging about the murder, discussing the planning of the murder, and both actively participating in the events that lead to the murder and both say that they took part in the murder itself.
There was also a partially burned note buried which read in part:
… is home alone stop out the house runs into Torey We murder Cassie e is home alone ouse…. Brian chases her th her (unclear) + (unclear) … kill her. c. If Cassie + Matt come ho A noise (unclear) … kill Matt + (unclear) …
There has been some speculation that Matt was somehow involved in the murder plot- that he may have invited the two over knowing what was going to happen or that he left so that the two could carry out their plan… but this note reveals that plan B was to kill Matt if he was there trying to protect Cassie when the murder was taking place.
I don’t think he had anything to do with the murder. I think he carries a lot of guilt knowing that his friends murdered his girlfriend in cold blood and had planned to do so with or without him there. But they never would have been welcomed in the house (or likely not) had Matt not been there with her that night.
Home Video Transcript
12:10PM
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)
The videos they recorded clearly show that this was a premeditated murder that would be the beginning of a trend for the two if they were successful.
Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper were charged with first-degree murder. They were tried separately in 2007.
At the trial, the prosecution revealed that Draper had said he was inspired by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who committed the Columbine High School massacre. Later Adamcik was said to have been inspired by the Scream horror film franchise.
Brian Draper was found guilty of 1st degree murder on April 17, 2007.
Torey Adamcik was found guilty on June 8, 2007.
On August 21, 2007 they each received a mandatory life sentence without possibility of parole and 30 years-life for conspiracy to commit murder.
Both filed appeals; Brian Draper filed an appeal to be eligible for parole after 30 years which was denied. Adamcik filed post-conviction relief appeals stating that his attorney did not call character witnesses which could have changed the outcome of his sentencing. This was also denied.
According to the case post in Wikipedia, in 2012 the US Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for minors to be given mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole, even in cases of murder, and in 2016 the Supreme Court ruled that this had to be applied to cases retroactively and directed a review of all such cases, potentially 1200 to 1500 nationwide. Given juveniles’ brain immaturity, the Supreme Court ruled that there had to be an opportunity to consider mitigating factors, as well as for later review of the sentences of such inmates, with possible relief for persons who had reformed. It said that “children who commit even heinous crimes are capable of change.” Draper and Adamcik are among the cases that the state courts will review under this ruling.
Cassie’s family has been greatly impacted by her murder. The Contreras family never returned to the home in which she was murdered and have tried multiple times to sell the house unsuccessfully.
Their daughter who found Cassie’s body has struggled with mental breakdowns and has attempted to commit suicide.
All Andrew and his family want is to move forward with their lives. They have their closure and deal with it every day.
In an interview with the Idaho State Journal, he says “I know how to handle it now, It’s still a huge part of me. For me, every month of September is one I struggle to get through. It comes in waves honestly. There’s days when I’m fine and others I’ll just crumble. We love her. It’s always going to be a part of us. It’s not like it’s ever going to go away. It’s always on the back of our minds, but we focus on keeping our family strong instead of focusing on the bad. We focus on the good and when she was around still. Nobody should ever have to go through this.”
We can only hope that the appeals will be exhausted and these two (now) men will never be granted parole.
