Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper were both sixteen when they decided they wanted to kill someone and they chose a friend, Cassie Jo Stoddart. The two young teen killers decided to wait until Cassie Jo was alone and they sneaked into her home and brutally stabbed the teenager to death. Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper alibi fell through and soon the two teens would be standing trial where they were convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
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Torey Adamcik – Current Facility – IDAHO STATE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION UNIT 9
Brian Draper – Current Facility – IDAHO STATE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION UNIT 16
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On September 22, 2006, Stoddart was spending the night at her cousin’s house, the Whispering Cliffs residence, performing house-sitting duties. Matt Beckham (Beckham), Stoddart’s boyfriend, stated that he and Stoddart had invited Torey Adamcik to the Whispering Cliffs residence that evening to “hang out.” Adamcik and Brian Draper arrived at the Whispering Cliffs residence at approximately 6:30 or 7:00 PM. After spending approximately two hours at the Whispering Cliffs residence, Draper informed Stoddart and Beckham that he needed to leave and shortly thereafter Draper and Adamcik departed.
Approximately fifteen minutes after Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper departed, the power at the Whispering Cliffs residence went out. Beckham called his mother to ask for permission to stay the night, but such permission was denied. After speaking with his mother, Beckham phoned Adamcik to inform him that Beckham would be going home for the night. Beckham later said that during their conversation Adamcik spoke in a whisper and claimed to be at a movie. Beckham and Adamcik spent the following day together. Beckham tried repeatedly to call Stoddart throughout the day but was unable to get an answer.
On September 24, 2006, it was discovered that Stoddart had been killed at the Whispering Cliffs residence. Police officer Hatch responded to the scene and noted large amounts of blood on the victim’s body, as well as deep lacerations and stab wounds. Shortly after responding, police and paramedics confirmed that Stoddart was dead. Detectives conducting the preliminary investigation determined that Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper had been among the last people to see Stoddart alive.
Detectives Thomas and Ganske went to the Adamcik home and interviewed Torey Adamcik on September 24, 2006. Adamcik’s father, Sean Adamcik (Sean), was present. This interview was the first of two interviews that detectives Thomas and Ganske conducted with Adamcik. During the course of the first interview, Adamcik informed the detectives that he and Draper had gone to the Whispering Cliffs residence at approximately 8:30 PM on September 22, 2006, for a party. Adamcik stated that when it became apparent that a party was not going to take place, he and Draper decided to go and see a movie in Pocatello. When the detectives questioned Adamcik regarding the movie he had reportedly seen, Adamcik was unable to describe what the movie had been about. Adamcik told detectives that following the movie he and Brian Draper had gone to spend the night at Adamcik’s home.
On September 27, 2006, after Adamcik’s first interview, but before the second, Brian Draper led law enforcement agents to a stash of evidence buried in the Black Rock Canyon area (BRC site). The evidence uncovered by law enforcement at the BRC site included:
1. Two dagger-style knives with sheaths.
2. A silver-and-black-handled knife with a smooth and non-serrated blade.
3. A folding knife with a silver blade and black handle, which is similar to a survival knife. The portion of the blade nearest to the hilt is serrated.
4. A homemade Sony videotape (BRC tape).
5. A box of stick matches.
6. A melted brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide.
7. Partially burned notebook paper.
8. A partially melted multi-colored mask.
9. A red and white mask.
10. A pair of black boots.
11. A single black glove.
12. A pair of black “Puma” gloves.
13. A pair of blue latex gloves.
14. A pair of fingerless black “Athletic Works” gloves.
15. A black “Calvin Klein” dress shirt.
16. A black “Hagger” shirt.
Torey Adamcik conceded that his handwriting was present on the notebook paper found along with the other evidence at the BRC site. The BRC tape contained footage of Adamcik and Draper planning Stoddart’s murder, and later reacting to having killed Stoddart. The BRC tape skips around and is not recorded in chronological order. The following relevant portions of the BRC tape have been rearranged according to the time and date stamps that appear on the BRC tape.
1. September 21, 2006, at 8:05:23 PM [Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper are in a 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 to get caught Brian, 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 Brian.
Draper: Uh, I’m not putting any humor into it. ․ Yep, people will die, and m-m-memories will fade.
Adamcik: Memories will fade. ․ I, hmm, I wonder what movie you got that from Brian?
Draper: Myself!
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.
2. September 21, 2006, at 8:08:12 PM [Adamcik and Draper are in a 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. 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 the 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 thing that is 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.
3. September 21, 2006, at 8:15:39 PM [Adamcik and Draper are in a 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 house. If they’re home alone, we’re gonna ․
Adamcik: It’s Cassie’s house. Matt is there.
Draper: Matt is there. Sorry. We’re gonna ga—we’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 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.
4. September 21, 2006, at 8:36:46 PM [Adamcik and Draper are in a 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.
Adamcik: Umm—
5. September 22, 2006, at 12:10:58 PM [Adamcik and Draper are sitting at a table with the camera facing them]
Draper: Alright, cool.
Adamcik: [looking down and writing in a 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 Brian ․ [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 Torey Adamcik and Brian 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)
․
6. September 22, 2006, at 9:53:20 PM [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 of killing 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.
7. September 22, 2006, at 11:31:56 PM [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.
On September 27, 2006, after the BRC site evidence was found, detectives Ganske and Thomas conducted a second interview with Torey Adamcik at the Pocatello Police Department in the presence of Adamcik’s parents. Detective Ganske read Adamcik his Miranda rights at the beginning of the interview and Adamcik signed a waiver-of-rights form. During the course of the interview, Adamcik informed detectives Ganske and Thomas that he and Draper had arrived at the Whispering Cliffs residence at 8:00 or 8:30, got a tour of the home, watched a portion of the film Kill Bill Vol. 2, departed from the Whispering Cliffs residence at approximately 10:00 PM, and began attempting to break into cars. Torey Adamcik stated that during the course of their attempted burglaries he made multiple calls to Beckham and during the final call Beckham informed Adamcik that his mother was coming to get him from the Whispering Cliffs residence.
Adamcik stated that he and Brian Draper returned to Adamcik’s house at around 11:30 PM and did not leave for the remainder of the night. However, when Ganske informed Adamcik that witnesses had seen him at the convenience store, Common Cents, Adamcik stated that he and Draper had gone to the store so that Draper could buy matches for Draper’s cigarettes. Adamcik eventually admitted that he and Draper had gone to Black Rock Canyon. At the close of Adamcik’s second interview, the detectives informed Adamcik of the evidence that they had discovered at the BRC site and pressured Adamcik to tell the truth. Adamcik responded by asking “Can I talk to an attorney?” The detectives stopped questioning Adamcik immediately, and exited the room, allowing Adamcik and his father, Sean, to converse in private in a different room. Following this private meeting, Adamcik, Sean and the detectives reconvened in the interview room where detectives proceeded to tell Adamcik that he was going to be arrested and informed Adamcik of the evidence they had gathered. In response to intervening questions from Sean, Adamcik made both verbal and nonverbal replies.
At trial, the jury heard extensive forensic testimony documenting and analyzing Stoddart’s wounds. The medical examiner, Dr. Steve Skoumal, performed the autopsy on Stoddart on September 25, 2006. Dr. Skoumal determined that the cause of Stoddart’s death was stab wounds to the trunk. In all, Dr. Skoumal documented thirty knife-related wounds on Stoddart’s body, twelve of which were potentially fatal. The State also had forensic pathologist Dr. Charles Garrison examine Stoddart’s body. Dr. Garrison testified “It’s my opinion that there were at least two knives used, one of which was a non-serrated blade, and one of which was a serrated blade.” In general, the majority of the potentially fatal wounds that Dr. Skoumal listed were inflicted with the serrated blade, however, wound number 1, which struck the right ventricle of Stoddart’s heart, was inflicted by a non-serrated blade—consistent with Dr. Garrison’s testimony—and was potentially fatal.
On June 8, 2007, the jury found Torey Adamcik guilty of both conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and first-degree murder.
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Supreme Court Upholds Torey Adamcik Sentence
The Idaho Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a man who was sentenced to life in prison for a murder he committed in his teens, and in doing so, released a series of audio transcripts between the killer and his accomplice.
The transcripts between convicted murderers Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper shed light on the grisly nature and premeditation of the Sept. 22, 2006, killing of fellow classmate, Cassie Jo Stoddart, and were included in the opinion issued by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Adamcik had initially sought post-conviction relief in the district court in September 2013 on several claims including ineffective assistance of counsel. Adamcik also claimed his sentence was cruel and unusual punishment.
After the district court denied all their client’s claims, Adamcik’s lawyers appealed. In its opinion, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled in favor of the district court’s decision, noting that Adamcik had failed to demonstrate his counsel provided ineffective assistance.
The Idaho Supreme Court also determined that the court had appropriately considered Adamcik’s age in his sentencing and found that his life sentence did not violate his Eighth Amendment rights.
Included in the opinion is a list of evidence uncovered by law enforcement agencies that was buried by Adamcik and Draper in Black Rock Canyon near Pocatello. In addition to several articles of black clothing, law enforcement officials found three knives, two masks and a homemade Sony videotape.
On the tape were segments of video that showed Adamcik and Draper planning and discussing the murder the day before, the day of and immediately after they killed Stoddart.
Before the murder, Adamcik told Draper, “we’re not going to get caught,” to which Draper replied by saying, “we’re going to make history,” according to the transcript in the Supreme Court’s opinion.
The transcript includes conversation between Adamcik and Draper referencing horror-slasher films like “Scream” and comparing themselves to serial killers like Ted Bundy, the Hillside Strangler and the Zodiac Killer.
“Those people were mere amateurs compared to what we are going to be,” Adamcik said.
In another segment of the transcript, Draper says “I feel like I want to kill somebody. Uh, I know that’s not normal, but what the hell.”
Adamcik replied, “I feel we need to break away from normal life.”
Several parenthetical citations throughout the transcript indicate Adamcik and Draper were laughing while the camera was rolling, and during one segment, Draper said the two had tried, unsuccessfully, to kill on eight or nine previous occasions.
“But they’ve never been home alone,” Draper said.
And Adamick replied by saying, “Or when they have, their parents show up.”
The night of the murder Stoddart was house-sitting at a relative’s home on Whispering Cliffs Drive in Pocatello. Adamcik and Draper came to “hang out” with Stoddart and another mutual friend, Matt Beckham.
Stoddart, Beckham, Adamcik and Draper were all juniors at Pocatello High School in 2006.
According to the transcript, Draper said he and Adamcik identified Stoddart as their victim the day before the murder, despite claiming she was their friend.
“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. How perfect can you get?” Draper said.
“I’m horny just thinking about it,” Adamcik replied.
After spending approximately two hours at the Whispering Cliffs residence, Draper informed Stoddart and Beckham that he needed to leave and shortly thereafter Draper and Adamcik departed.
After his mother denied his request to stay overnight, Beckham phoned Adamcik to inform him that he would be going home for the night. Beckham later said that during their conversation Adamcik spoke in a whisper and claimed to be at a movie. Beckham and Adamcik spent the following day together, according to the Supreme Court opinion.
Two days after the murder, Stoddart’s body was discovered and detectives interviewed Adamcik the same day. During the interview, Adamcik claimed he and Draper left the Whispering Cliffs residence to watch a movie, but could not recall what the movie was about.
The transcript ends with a segment at approximately 11:30 p.m. the night of the murder. Draper took credit for killing Stoddart, saying, they “just killed Cassie. We just left her house. This is not a (expletive) joke.”
Adamcik said, “I’m shaking.”
Draper then said, “It’s OK. … We’ll just buy movie tickets now.”
Draper was convicted of first-degree murder on April 17, 2007, and sentenced to life in prison. He remains incarcerated at the Idaho State Correctional Institution in Boise.
On June 8, 2007, a jury found Adamcik guilty of both conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and first-degree murder. Adamcik was sentenced to 30 years fixed and an indeterminate life sentence for the conspiracy conviction, and a fixed life sentence for the first-degree murder conviction. He also remains incarcerated at the Idaho State Correctional Institution in Boise.
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An Idaho man sentenced to life in prison as a teenager for his role in the stabbing death of another teenager as part of a quest to become a famous serial killer will remain behind bars.
A U.S. District Court on Monday rejected Torey Adamcik’s request that his first-degree murder conviction be vacated and that he receive a new sentence.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy Dale ruled that the evidence supports Adamcik’s murder conviction and that the Idaho Supreme Court in December 2017 did not err in affirming Adamcik’s life sentence without parole.
RELATED: Supreme Court case: Hope for Idaho teens sentenced to life?
Torey Adamcik was 16 on September 2006 when he and then 16-year-old Brian Draper killed their friend and classmate Cassie Jo Stoddart, 17, in a house north of Pocatello.
Torey Adamcik remains an inmate at the Idaho State Correctional Institution, a medium-security men’s prison in Kuna in southwestern Idaho.
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The second and final day of testimony in the evidentiary hearing for convicted murderer Torey Adamcik opened with retired Bannock County Prosecutor Mark Heideman taking the stand and closed with Adamcik maintaining his innocence and apologizing to the victim’s family.
Adamcik was convicted of first-degree murder for the 2006 stabbing death of his friend and classmate, Cassie Jo Stoddart, and conspiracy to commit murder. His co-defendant, Brian Draper, was also convicted of first-degree murder in a separate trial. Draper’s post-conviction relief hearing was dismissed Feb. 26, 2013.
Draper and Adamcik were just 16 when convicted, and both were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Adamcik was the last witness called to testify by his attorney Dennis Benjamin of Boise.
Benjamin maintained that Adamcik’s defense team during the 2007 murder trial, Aaron Thompson, Greg May and Bron Rammell, failed to provide evidence in the case that could have had an impact on the outcome of the trial.
While his former teachers and family members described Adamcik as immature and lacking in critical thinking skills, the 25-year-old was articulate and very much involved in his ongoing defense.
Adamcik also maintained that he had no hand in the stabbing death of Stoddart.
Stoddart was stabbed 29 times while house sitting for a relative in a rural area north of Tyhee Road.
“I thought we were going to scare (Stoddart),” Adamcik said.
He and Draper waited in the basement and at one point, Draper cut the power.
“We were trying to lure them downstairs,” Adamcik said. “I think I turned on the power so the house phone would work and I called them.”
He told the young man that he was at a movie theater and about 30 minutes later, the boy’s mother picked him up.
Adamcik said he argued with Draper, who cut the power again and headed upstairs. Draper was armed with what was referred to in the murder trial as the “Sloan blade,” a dagger-type weapon, and Adamcik wielded a hunting-style knife referred to as the “Rambo knife.”
“(Draper) told me to go into the living room and I said, ‘No,’” Adamcik said. “He went around me and stepped into the living room. Cassie said something to him and then screamed. I thought this is not going according to plan.”
Draper told him to go into the living room and Adamcik said he could hear Stoddart.
“It sounded like she was snoring,” he said. “I knelt down beside her. I might have dropped my knife and I left the room.”
Draper told him to turn the lights back on and he did. Then Adamcik said he went out the back door, removed a mask, his shirt and one glove and put them in the trunk of his car.
“I thought (Draper) was behind me. I waited a couple of minutes,” Adamcik said. “I was extremely anxious, I don’t know how to describe it.”
He doesn’t remember when the video recorder was turned on, but on it Draper said, “I just killed Cassie, I saw her lifeless body.”
Adamcik said he pretended to be high on the video.
Stoddart’s mother, Anna Stoddart, cried quietly as Adamcik gave his account of the events of that evening.
Bannock County Deputy Prosecutor Ian Service noted that it was Adamcik who appears on the video telling Draper that they “had to get their act together,” and Adamcik said he knew they were in trouble.
“I just didn’t know how much trouble,” Adamcik said.
They returned to the Adamcik home and he noticed that Draper had blood on his forearm and hand.
“My thought at that time was ‘how could I ever tell anyone?’” Adamcik said.
According to Adamcik, Draper said they had to get rid of the evidence and they drove to Blackrock where Adamcik dug a hole and buried a video recorded the night of the killing, the knives, masks, gloves and clothing.
Draper later led investigators to the buried items.
“I never wanted it to happen, and I want to apologize to Cassie’s family,” Adamcik said.
Anna Stoddart, Cassie Jo’s mother, said the hearing shattered what little closure the family has attained.
“It’s just ridiculous, the parents need to get over their denial, realize that (Adamcik) did it and he’s going to spend the rest of his life in jail and he should,” Anna said. “They still have their son. I have to visit my daughter in the cemetery. I didn’t get to see her graduate or get married or have babies.”
Anna said the only contact that she has had with the Adamciks since Cassie was murdered was a call from Dr. Phil McGraw asking if she would be interested in appearing on his daytime show with Shannon Adamcik. Anna declined to appear.
Much of Wednesday’s testimony focused on whether or not a plea agreement had been presented to Adamcik and when the deal was offered.
Heideman was the first witness called to the stand Wednesday and he said he had taken a plea deal to Aaron Thompson 60 to 90 days prior to trial and the agreement was offered to Adamcik and Draper.
Under the settlement agreement, the state would have dismissed the conspiracy to commit murder charge and recommended a sentence of life in prison with 30 years fixed in exchange for a guilty plea to first degree murder.
Heideman said the deal was turned down.
Retired Sixth District Judge Peter McDermott testified Wednesday that he was not aware of the plea deal and he said he wouldn’t have gone along with it if he had known.
“Given the crime and all that transpired in the courtroom, I feel the sentence was appropriate,” McDermott said.
Rammell testified Wednesday that Adamcik was not interested in plea deals — they were seeking an acquittal in the case.
Another hiccup in the 2007 murder trial came when forensic expert Rudolf Riet conducted tests using a knife identical to the “Sloan blade” and almost identical to the “Rambo knife,” and a pig belly.
Riet stabbed the pig skin with the knives and compared the results to autopsy photos.
Wednesday, Riet said it was unusual to not test the actual murder weapon, but he said the defense team in 2007 told him they could not access the knives.
When Rammell argued that they could not obtain the weapons from prosecutors, Heideman said he reacted.
“I got a little hot under the collar and I called him a liar. I was out of line and I should have maintained my composure until the jury was gone,” Heideman said. “I had an open door policy and the defense had access to all the evidence. But we weren’t going to just let them go in and take the knives. There had to be an established chain of custody.”
McDermott dismissed the jury following Heideman’s outburst.
The judge also excluded testimony from Riet in the 2007 murder trial.
Benjamin did secure the murder weapons earlier this month and Riet conducted the tests using those knives two weeks ago.
Riet testified Wednesday that the tests indicated that the “Sloan blade” and the “Rambo knife” made similar wounds when the Rambo blade was inserted halfway.
Heideman was also questioned about images downloaded from a computer in the Adamcik home. The content included child pornography and violent images.
Thompson testified Tuesday that the prosecutor told him that unless they withdrew their character defense he would release the disc and to avoid having the jury see the images, they opted not to call character witnesses in the case.
Heideman acknowledged that he told the defense team he would use the contents of the computer to rebut the character witnesses.
Rammell said motions were not filed to suppress or exclude the images because if the judge did approve the motions, the action would have still been argued in front of the jury.
Sixth District Magistrate Mitchell W. Brown will rule on the matter after reviewing briefs from the state and the defense.
Service said the defense must show that not only was legal counsel deficient, but that the deficiency impacted the outcome of the trial.
“I think judge McDermott’s testimony was a turning point in the hearing,” Service said. “He was pretty clear.”
Benjamin said he thought the defense had proven everything it needed to prove and he said public interest complicated the case.
Benjamin has known Adamcik for several years and said it was a privilege to represent him
