Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

The murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart was carried out by high school classmates, Brian Lee Draper (born March 21, 1990) and Torey Michael Adamcik (born June 14, 1990),^[1] on September 22, 2006. They received mandatory sentences of life imprisonment without parole on August 21, 2007.^[2]

Background[]

After spending most of his childhood in Utah, Brian Draper moved with his family to Pocatello, Idaho. He met Torey Adamcik when they were both students at Pocatello High School. They were both interested in films and started recording on their own. The victim Cassie Jo Stoddart (December 21, 1989 – September 22, 2006) also attended the same school; she and both boys were juniors.

The murder[]

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.^[3] The Contreras family were out of town and had hired Stoddart to come take care of their three cats and two dogs 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 16 years old 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 a movie at their local movie theater instead.' Stoddart and Beckham stayed behind.

Stoddart was unaware that before the boys left, Draper had unlocked the basement door so 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 the car, and put on costumes consisting of dark clothing, gloves, and white masks. They quietly entered the house through the basement door while the couple were watching TV in the living room. They intentionally made some 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 Beckham assumed the boys were in a movie theater.

From the basement, Draper and Adamcik heard Beckham leave. The teens turned the lights out again at the circuit breaker in the basement and waited, hoping Stoddart would come downstairs to turn the lights back on, but she did not. Eventually, the boys went upstairs. Draper was armed with a dagger-type weapon and Adamcik had a hunting-style knife. ^[4] 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 brutally attacked her, stabbing her approximately 30 times; 12 wounds were potentially fatal.

The murder weapons were purchased at a pawn shop with the help of 18-year-old Joe Lucero.

During the investigation of the murder, police found that Draper and Adamcik had recorded their plan to murder Stoddart in advance on video tape while they were at school.^[5] This video footage was shown at their trials.

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.^[6] During the interrogations, each teen blamed the other. Draper claimed he was in the same room with Adamcik when Cassie was killed but denied stabbing her. He later admitted stabbing her allegedly under commands from Adamcik. He led the investigators to Black Rock Canyon where the youths had disposed of the clothing, masks, and knives they used for the murder.^[7][8]

Trial and sentencing[]

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. On April 17, 2007, Draper was found guilty. Adamcik's trial started on May 31, 2007; he was convicted on June 8, 2007. On August 21, 2007, based on being convicted of first-degree murder, each received a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility for parole, and 30 years-to-life for being convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.^[5] Adamcik and Draper are both serving their time at Idaho State Correctional Institution. It is located in unincorporated Ada County, Idaho, near Kuna.^[9] In November 2019, Adamcik’s sentence was upheld after his appeal was denied by the Idaho Supreme Court.

Appeals[]

Their attorneys filed separate appeals at the State Supreme Court in September 2010 for Adamcik^[10] 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 30 years.^[6][11][12] 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.^[13]

In July 2015, Adamcik gained a hearing for post-conviction relief with state Sixth District Magistrate Judge Mitchell W. Brown. He claimed that testimony from character witnesses could have changed the outcome of the sentencing, but that his former attorney, against Adamcik's 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.^[14] In March 2016, Judge Brown denied his request for post-conviction relief.^[15] Adamcik appealed Judge Brown's decision to the Idaho Supreme Court. A hearing was held on November 9, 2017, and on December 26, 2017, the Idaho Supreme Court rejected Adamcik's appeal for post-conviction relief, upholding the district court decision.^[16][17]

Following the Idaho Supreme Court's decision, Adamcik filed a federal writ of habeas corpus in January 2018, in which he argued that the Idaho Supreme Court denied his first appeal based on a theory that was not presented to the jury. Adamcik also argues that he should be entitled to a new sentencing hearing in light of the Miller and Montgomery decisions (see section US Supreme Court and mandatory life sentences below). Federal magistrate judge Candy W. Dale presided over Adamcik's writ and on November 25, 2019, she denied the writ.^[18][19] Adamcik is currently appealing Judge Dale's decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Civil suit by Stoddart family[]

In 2010, the Stoddart family filed a civil lawsuit against the Idaho School District. They claimed that the school was negligent and should have known that Draper and Adamcik posed a threat to others. Both the civil court and the State Supreme Court dismissed the case, saying the actions of the killers were not foreseeable.^[20]

U.S. Supreme Court and mandatory life sentences[]

In Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012), the United States Supreme Court ruled that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole are unconstitutional for juvenile offenders, even in cases of murder, ruling that the youth of the convict had to be considered.^[21]

In 2016, the Supreme Court ruled in Montgomery v. Louisiana that this doctrine 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."^[22] Draper and Adamcik are among the cases that the state courts will review under this ruling. Some 1100 cases are found in the states of Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and Michigan, where state courts had ruled that the Supreme Court's Miller v. Alabama (2012) decision overturning mandatory life sentences for juveniles was not retroactive.^[22]

On October 16, 2019, the Supreme Court held oral arguments in Mathena v. Malvo, another juvenile life without parole case that could have had an effect on Adamcik's and Draper's sentences. The Supreme Court dismissed the Malvo case, but heard oral arguments in Jones v. Mississippi, another case relating to juvenile life without parole sentences, on November 3, 2020. On April 22, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in Jones that a finding of permanent incorrigibility isn't required when sentencing a juvenile.

References[]