Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Dateline NBC looks into high school student Cassie Jo Stoddart’s 2006 murder by classmates Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper. The killers, who were also teenagers back then, were reportedly inspired by the Scream movie. This coming episode titled “The Secret in Black Rock Canyon” will premiere on Sunday, February 18, 2024, at 10 p.m. ET.
An official synopsis for the upcoming episode reads, “When police retrace the final hours of 16-year-old Cassie Jo Stoddart, they uncover evidence including a homemade horror film that points to her killers. Keith Morrison reports.”
On September 22, 2006, Cassie Stoddart, 16, was house-sitting for her relatives when her classmates from Pocatello High School stabbed her to death. The relatives returned home two days later, on September 24, and found the crime scene. She had been stabbed at least 29 times, per AP News.
During the subsequent investigation, detectives learned of Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper’s involvement in the crime. Draper would ultimately confess to the crime and lead authorities to buried evidence, including a videotape with details of their plan. The duo reportedly wanted to imitate the Scream movie and create their real-life version, reported Oxygen.
Both Adamcik and Draper stood in separate trials and were tried as adults, which resulted in convictions. The convicted murderers received life in prison without the possibility of parole.
According to the Idaho Department of Corrections, Adamcik is now serving time in the Saguaro Correctional Center in Arizona. Meanwhile, Draper remains incarcerated in the Idaho State Correctional Institution.
How were Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper linked to Cassie Jo Stoddart’s murder?
Oxygen reported that on the night of the murder, Cassie Jo Stoddart’s boyfriend Matt Beckham as well as Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik had been to the house. Draper and Adamcik, both 16, had stopped by the house sometime around 8:20 p.m. to hang out. The boys watched Kill Bill: Volume 2 and left by 9:30 p.m.
Detectives initially suspected Beckham, who was the last person to have seen Stoddart alive. But, he passed a polygraph test and told the police about Draper and Adamcik also being there. Both boys told authorities that they had gone for a movie.
However, Draper and Adamcik’s alibi fell apart when a movie theater employee denied seeing them there. Moreover, neither could talk about the movie they claimed they watched. Idaho State Police Capt. John Ganske previously told Dateline, “They were lying to us. Now, we have to figure out why they were lying to us.”
Once confronted with the lie, Draper claimed that he and Adamcik were breaking into cars. He further alleged that they only lied to avoid getting into trouble. Investigators refused to believe the story and decided to make him take a polygraph test. Shortly before the procedure, Draper admitted to the crime.
Were Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper convicted of Cassie Jo Stoddart’s murder?
Casetext stated that Brian Draper recounted the events leading up to Cassie Jo Stoddart’s murder. Draper claimed that he and Adamcik returned to the house that night to scare the victim. They first cut off the power and wore masks to disguise their identity. Things escalated when Adamcik began stabbing Stoddart. After confessing, Draper then led law enforcement officers to a stash of evidence they had buried in the Black Rock Canyon area.
The stash of evidence included multiple knives, a videotape, a partially burned book, gloves, a few clothes, and other things. The videotape had footage of Adamcik and Draper planning the murder and also reacting to the murder afterward.
Per Oxygen, they both committed the crime after getting inspired by the movie Scream. They wanted to create their real-life version and targeted Cassie Jo Stoddart because she was house-sitting alone. In the footage, one of them said, “We’re sick psychopaths who get pleasure out of killing other people. We want to be just like ‘Scream.'”
Both Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper were tried as adults and convicted in separate trials the following year in 2007. Their convictions were followed by respective life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Dateline NBC’s episode on Cassie Jo Stoddart’s murder will air on Sunday, February 18.
