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Brian Stoddart Biography & Facts

On September 22, 2006, Cassie Jo Stoddart, a high school student, was murdered by her classmates Brian Lee Draper (born March 21, 1990) and Torey Michael Adamcik (born June 14, 1990) in her aunt and uncle's house in Pocatello, Idaho, United States. Stoddart's body was discovered two days later, when her relatives returned home from their trip. The perpetrators claimed that they were inspired to murder Stoddart by the slasher film Scream, which led to them being nicknamed "The Scream Killers". Adamcik and Draper recorded documentary-style videos about how they were horror movie fans, especially Scream, and wanted to reenact a similar murder in real life. They started a "Death List" of other potential victims the day of Stoddart's murder, following their initial plan. Both perpetrators received sentences of life imprisonment without parole on August 31, 2007. Background Cassie Jo Stoddart was a 16-year-old student at Pocatello High School. She, along with Draper and Adamcik, were 11th graders at the school. Brian Draper spent most of his childhood in Utah, before he moved with his family to Pocatello, Idaho. He met Torey Adamcik when they were both students at Pocatello High School. Both boys were interested in films and started recording on their own. 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. The Contreras family was 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 aged 16 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 that he and Adamcik could re-enter the house undetected. Some time after leaving the house on Whispering Cliffs, Draper and Adamcik returned to the neighborhood, parked down the street, got out of their car, and put on costumes consisting of dark clothing, gloves, and white, painted masks. The boys quietly entered the house through the basement door while the other couple was watching television in the living room. They intentionally made 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 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 and waited, hoping Stoddart would come downstairs to turn the lights back on; she did not. Eventually, the boys went upstairs. Draper was armed with a dagger-type weapon and Adamcik had a hunting knife, the weapons having been purchased at a pawn shop. 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 thirty times; twelve wounds were potentially fatal. During the investigation of the murder, police found that Draper and Adamcik had recorded their plan to murder Stoddart in advance on videotape while they were at school. 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. During the interrogations, each teen blamed the other. Draper claimed he was in the same room with Adamcik when Stoddart was killed but denied stabbing her, then later admitted to stabbing her under alleged commands from Adamcik. He led investigators to Black Rock Canyon, where the teens had partially burned and then buried the clothing, masks, and weapons they used for the murder. This is where police recovered a partially burned Sony VHS Tape, which after restoration, showed video footage of their plans to kill Stoddart. Trial and sentencing At 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. Draper was convicted on April 17, 2007; Adamcik 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 imprisonment without the possibility of parole, and thirty years-to-life for being convicted of conspiracy to commit murder. Adamcik and Draper are both serving their time at Idaho State Correctional Institution, located in unincorporated Ada County, Idaho, near Kuna. In November 2019, Adamcik's sentence was upheld after his appeal was denied by the Idaho Supreme Court. Appeals The convicted men's attorneys filed separate appeals at the Idaho Supreme Court, in September 2010 for Adamcik 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 thirty years. 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 witho.... Discover the Brian Stoddart popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Brian Stoddart books.