Naman Shrestha
When Cassie Jo Stoddart was found brutally murdered inside the house of her relatives in Pocatello, Idaho, it rocked the entire community to its core. Upon investigating the crime scene, the authorities found incriminating evidence against the perpetrators, who were not strangers to the 16-year-old victim. The episode titled ‘The Secret in Black Rock Canyon’ of NBC’s ‘Dateline’ chronicles the intricate details surrounding the case and the intense investigation that followed.
Cassie Jo Stoddart Was Found Dead in Her Relatives’ House
Born on December 21, 1989, in Pocatello, Idaho, to Anna Maria Sisneros, Cassie Jo Stoddart was mostly raised by her grandparents, alongside her siblings, including Kristie and Andrew Stoddart. Although she wasn’t the oldest out of the siblings, she was a role model to them. Not only was she known for her stubbornness, but she was also an intelligent individual with a lot of personality. While growing up, Cassie found a passion for drawing and music. A junior at Pocatello High School, she was a bright student who earned good grades and looked forward to going to college and eventually starting her career. She was also in a romantic relationship with a fellow high school boy named Matt Beckham. The 16-year-old girl had a lot going on for her until fate intervened.
On September 22, 2006, she was asked by her relatives to house-sit for them and take care of their pets while they went out for a couple of days. She agreed and even invited Matt over to the property, where they watched movies together. When her relatives returned to their house on the afternoon of September 24, they were taken aback by the horror that awaited them — Cassie Jo Stoddart had been brutally murdered. When the authorities were informed about the killing, they reached the scene of the crime and learned that she was stabbed about 30 times, with nine of them being fatal. Upon searching the scene for any leads or evidence, the detectives could not find a murder weapon or signs of a forced entry. So, they eliminated the chance of it being a robbery gone wrong and launched a homicide investigation right away.
Cassie’s Killers Tampered With the House’s Electricity Before Killing Her
Since Matt Beckham was the last person to see Cassie Jo Stoddart alive, the investigators considered him a person of interest. During the questioning, he claimed that the electricity had been flickering repeatedly around 10 pm while he and Cassie were house-sitting. According to him, the blackout eventually scared the two teens, after which Matt asked his mother if he could stay with Cassie for the night. Although his mother denied his request, she invited Cassie over to their house for the night instead. While Matt reluctantly returned home around 11:15 pm, she declined the invitation and stayed behind because she had to watch over the house and the pets. He even took a polygraph test, which eventually ruled him out as a suspect. Following Matt’s statements, the detectives searched for potential evidence on the property, especially in the basement. They ended up finding some fingerprints that led them to the boyfriend of Cassie Jo Stoddart’s mother.
When questioned, he told them that he had done some electrical work at the house a few months before the murder. This explanation of his was corroborated by the homeowners. During Matt’s interview, he also told the investigators that he and Cassie were joined by a couple of fellow students from the school — Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik. After watching ‘Kill Bill: Volume 2’ together, Brian and Torey allegedly left the house at around 9:30 pm. However, before they left, they had secretly left the back door unlocked to sneak in later. When they were questioned about the night, the two claimed that they had gone to watch a movie at the theatre, which turned out to be a lie. Upon pressing the two for the truth, Brian told the detectives that they had burglarized cars that night. However, before he was about to take a polygraph test, he ended up confessing to the crime but claimed that he had nothing to do with it.
He said that he and Torey wore masks, went to the basement of the house, and turned off the electricity to scare Cassie and Matt. Brian claimed that he was shocked when Torey stabbed the 16-year-old schoolmate multiple times. He even took the authorities to the site where they had hidden the evidence of the crime, including weapons, masks, clothing, and a burned videotape. After managing to salvage the data on the videotape, the authorities found videos of Brian and Torey talking about being inspired by the slasher film ‘Scream.’ According to the video, they targeted Cassie and even created a death list. Meanwhile, Torey blamed Brian for having killed the teenage girl. Eventually, Brian admitted to stabbing her under the instruction of Torey. Five days of intense investigation later, on September 27, 2006, both Brian and Torey were arrested and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
Brian and Torey Are Held Up Behind Bars at Different Idaho Prisons
After a few months, Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik stood trial separately for the brutal killing of Cassie Jo Stoddart. On April 17, 2007, the former was found guilty of the charges against him. Meanwhile, in less than two months, his co-conspirator, Torey, was convicted of first-degree murder on June 8. A couple of months later, on August 21, 2007, both killers were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, in addition to 30 years to life for the charge of conspiracy to commit murder. In the following years, their respective defense attorneys filed various appeals to get their convictions overturned.
In particular, in July 2015, Torey’s hearing for post-conviction relief took place. He claimed that his former defense attorney refused to call character witnesses during the trial, which could have changed the outcome. However, his appeal was denied in March 2016 by the state judge before it was rejected by the Idaho Supreme Court in December 2017. A month later, Torey filed a federal writ of habeas corpus in January 2018, which was denied in November 2019. He then appealed this decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in February 2022, only to have his sentence upheld. As of today, Brian Draper is serving his sentence at Idaho State Correctional Institution (ISCI) in Kuna, Idaho, while Torey Adamcik is incarcerated at Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna, Idaho.
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