Latest / Minor Mischief Podcast / The Scream Killers: The Crime Against Cassie Jo Stoddart

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The Scream Killers: The Crime Against Cassie Jo Stoddart · Minor Mischief Podcast

• riverside edit 03 recording minor mischief feed: What happens when two teenage boys watch one too many horror movies and decide that being the villain is more exciting than being in the audience? This is the Minor Mischief Podcast and this is the Scream Killers, the crime against Cassie Joe Stoddart. Doesn't actually never mind. I don't really care. I was about to say, I hope I don't annoy y'all when I do that at the beginning of every episode, but I'm like, I wouldn't be me if I didn't. But welcome back to another episode of the Minor Mischief Podcast, a true crime podcast where we unpack the crimes of young people. I'm your host and home girl for the time being, Mrs. Kiana Amir, and thanks for hanging out with me. Today's episode was sent to me by one of our friends in the group chat. Her name is Kaya. I don't know why, like. I saw her name and I'm just like, that's gonna be my Kaya Papaya. Don't hate me. I just love nicknames. So I'm sorry if you hate that name. But like as I was typing this, I'm like, my little Kaya Papaya. Even my car has a name. I kid you not. Her name is LaVita Alize Jenkins Robinson. But huge shout out to you, Kaya. Your email really made my day. And today we're gonna unpack one of your stories. Now, y'all know I love a good horror movie. Give me a mask killer, a creepy house. Dark and terrifying woods, the dread of feeling alone, suspenseful music, and a protagonist that got just a little bit of common sense. And I am sad, honey. I'm trying to think of what my favorite horror movie is. It might be 13 Ghosts or 2003's Texas Chainsaw Massacre. What's y'all favorite horror movie? The Conjuring 2, huge contender. It scared the crap out of me so bad. But then as I like research the original story. And realized that that really wasn't what happened, I could watch it just fine now. But to me, that movie was so well done. So it's definitely in the running. But the difference between watching a good horror movie and living through one is that when the credits roll, everybody gets to go home. And that's what's important, making it home safely. So grab your snacks, a warm blanket, buckle up, and drive the speed limit. Because today we're heading to Pocatello, Idaho. And I don't know why, even as I was typing out like my script for this case, I keep saying Ohio. So please, if I say Ohio, that is not the right place. This story takes place in Idaho. I duh-ho. Is not Ohio. I don't know why I keep getting confused. I I duh-ho. Idaho. Who the ho? Not me. Pocatello is a city in southeastern Idaho, surrounded by mountains and known for its college town atmosphere, outdoor recreation, and family oriented neighborhoods. It's described as the kind of place where kids can be kids and parents feel comfortable allowing their kids to roam freely without worry because everybody knows everybody. So if you see my kid in trouble, I know you'll help, and vice versa. I read a quote somewhere from one of the Pocatello residents that said that we are each other's like, I am my brother's keeper. So that's really the sense of community that they have. Like it's one of those places, or at least this is how they made it seem. So if you're from Pocatello and it's not right, let me know. But they made it seem like it's a real, like, I got your back, you got my back type of town to live in. Pocatello, Idaho, aka the Gateway to the Northwest was named after Chief Pocatello, a Shoshone tribal leader who granted the railroad passing through the area. It's home to the Museum of Clean. I'm interested to know more about that. It's home to Zoo Idaho and the Fort Hall Replica. It's also home to some geothermal hot springs. Pocatello also hosts Idaho State University, Go Bengals, and it hosts about 58,000 residents. It sits right between Montana and California or Nevada, depending on which way you're going. In Pocatello, Idaho, we meet Brian Draper and Tori Adamchick, who are our mischief makers, and the one and only Cassie Joe Stoddart, who is the star of our show, but also unfortunately our victim. Cassie Joe Starter was born on December 21st, 1989, to her parents Anna Maria Cisneros and Ronald J. Stoddart. I did not see a lot of information about her dad, and all of like the articles I read kept referencing her mom, so I'm not quite sure what her relationship with her dad was. She has one older sister, Christy, and a younger brother, Andrew, making her the prized middle child. It appears that Anna. may have divorced early in Cassie's life and later began dating a man by the name of Victor, whom she later married. And Victor, from what I could see, was the father figure in Cassie's life at the time of our story. She was super close to her siblings and their family was extremely tight knit. And I I love a good family unit. It just warms my heart. I kid you not. According to her family and friends, Cassie was responsible. Like they said it over and over and over and over like Cassie was a responsible teenager. She was responsible. She's responsible. She's responsible. She is practical and responsible. And she babysat. She helped her family members. She was saving money towards purchasing her own car. And I loved that for her because I believe my child is waiting on me, but not Cassie. She was gonna make her own way. She probably already got her dream car picked out, her insurance payments calculated. Probably no idea how expensive car maintenance is, but that's the beauty of being a teenager. Mom and dad usually got it, right? But Cassie was willing to work for what she wanted. She had a fairly active social life, which included spending time with her boyfriend, Matt. Like many teenage couples, Cassie and Matt, they enjoyed spending time together. Their relationship was fairly new at the time of our story, but they enjoyed hanging out with each other and they enjoyed hanging out with their friends. They enjoyed watching movies and doing regular teenage stuff. Like they would hang out on Fridays and eat popcorn and talk and hang out. And they, you know, from what I read from their classmates, they didn't necessarily fit together, but they worked. Like they worked. And I I'm sure we all know we all know a couple who was just like, I would not have painted y'all to be together, but I like y'all together. And that was the consensus. This was In the early 2000s, and maybe I'm a bit biased because Cassie's my age. I too was born in 1989. But being a teenager in the early 2000s was such a peak experience. And I almost feel bad that we can't just go back and enjoy that life, you know? Like I mentioned earlier, unlike me, Cassie was a responsible teenager. She stayed out of trouble. She wasn't involved in anything crazy. She didn't do drugs. She wasn't stealing from the mall. She wasn't hurting anyone. And again, she was responsible. She had a really good head on her shoulders. She got good grades. She made friends quickly. She didn't give her parents any trouble. She was a teenage girl who trusted people she knew because she had no reason not to. Cassie loved art. She drew and she loved to laugh. My girl, like she loved to laugh. And she would just enjoy making the people around her laugh and tell little jokes. And a like I said, a girl after my own heart, because I cannot be serious. I do love to laugh. So I understand why my line of work may be confusing to some. Because why would I have a true crime podcast, right? But I still love to laugh. Everyone loved her because she had a way of making people feel special and seen. And it probably didn't hurt that Cassie was incredibly beautiful. Like sis was a like she's a dime piece. She's beautiful. She has great hair, looks like she had great skin. She had a beautiful smile. Like, very pretty girl. Around 2003 and 2004, she started high school at Pocatello High School, Go Thunder. Fun fact. At the time of the story, Pocatello High School mascot was the Indians. For obvious reason, they retired that mascot back in 2021, and they are now the Thunder. And their mascot is Thunder the Bison. While attending Pocatello High School, Cassie befriends Brian Draper and Tori Adam Chick. Brian Lee Draper was born on March 21st, 1990, to his mother Pam and his father Carrie Draper. He has at least one sister who is three years younger than him. And Brian is actually from Utah. He spent his childhood in Utah and then his family packed up and moved to Pocatello, Idaho. I'm not sure if the move was related, but I do know that his father, Carrie, traveled a lot for work. He mentioned providing well for his family, but felt like because he was traveling and because he was working all the time, he felt like he was not there for his family physically and emotionally. Like many teenagers who relocate during their school years, Brian found himself adjusting to a new environment. meeting new people and really trying to get him where he fit in. Unfortunately for Brian and because kids really suck sometimes, he was bullied. Brian had a stutter and the other kids would pick on him and they were overall unkind to him. He wasn't a loner though. Like he had a couple of friends, but it just wasn't enough. He began feeling like a loser. He began feeling like his life didn't matter. He just felt like the walls were closing in around him and it's just like, why can't people be nice to me, right? But that was not his home life. His family by all accounts was loving and supportive. They spent time together. They're a close family as well. And so they made sure that Brian always felt loved and supported and cherished. But it's like, yeah, mom and dad, that's what you're supposed to say because you're my mom and dad, but why are my peers not agreeing in your sentiments, you know? Which is something that I do hear a lot from like preteens and teens. It's like you can have all the love you want to at home. But if the kids at school are mean to you, it does kind of overshadow the love at home. And I toiled with that because I'm like, but you're still loved at home, but also you're at school way more than you're at home. You're at school literally five days a week most weeks. So I get that. I you know, I could understand feeling like this feeling will never go away. Brian. Felt like an outsider and he did not really verbalize to his family what he was really going through. His family would talk to him and relay their love for him, but without getting that love from his peers, he felt like it wasn't enough. This led him to spend more time online and befriend people online. And he eventually stumbles into a chat room with other teens who were obsessed with high school shootings and he began talking to them. So he's in this chat room, he's going back and forth. talking to people about different school shootings, about the Columbine shooting, about how much, you know, they loved, they idolized the Columbine shooters. I can't remember their names. Brian something, I think. But in this chat room they're talking about like mass shootings and how they would feel to be behind the trigger. And, you know, this is really pumping Brian up because he's like, finally I have people that are listening to me, albeit the wrong crowd. But finally I'm beginning to share ideas with people who I feel seen by. And I'm gonna let y'all know this right now. The people on the internet are not real. They're not real. They do not act like that in real life. Do not let them sit here and and hype you up to do some foolishness because they're not gonna be behind you when the, you know, when the shit hits the fan. It's just the truth. But you would think there would be flags for this type of content, but you know, freedom of speech and all that. Eventually, Brian befriended another student at Pocatello High School named Tori Michael Adamchick. And Tori was born on June 14th, 1990, to his parents Sean and Shannon Adamchick. Not much is published about his childhood, but what we do know is that Tori and Brian were both 16 years old at the time of this story in 2006. They bonded over their love of scary stories, and eventually Brian opened up about his school shooter fantasy. And Tori was just like, you know what? I like Grizzly Crime too. I love the movie Scream. Like I love horror movies. I love slashers. I like blood. Like, and so they bonded over this, which I'm just like, y'all, y'all couldn't have bonded over bowling, food, perhaps, you know. They're just other things to bond over personally. Cause me, you know, I love a good scary movie, like I said. But if somebody comes to me and is just like, I just love violence, I'd be like, You wanna bond over anything else? And are you okay? But apparently not them. They were just like, Yes, like this is this works for us. So the two developed a friendship around a shared interest, filmmaking, particularly horror movies. But Tori and Brian weren't satisfied with merely watching fictional violence. They became fascinated with the idea of creating their own violent production. They filmed themselves frequently discussing elaborate murder fantasies and talked about making history. They Almost remind me of Robert and Michael Bever from last week because it was the same premise. Like one was super interested in school shootings and the other one was like, Yeah, I like violence too. And it just being that it was just them in this little bubble, there was no voice of reason. You know, you would think the voice of reason would stand inside one of the two, but apparently it did not. So they're talking and they're bonding over their shared interest, and they're just like, my gosh. They're just obsessed with like the Columbine craze. They're obsessed with Scream. And most of us have seen Scream. We know the premise. There have been so many. Like there have been so many Screams and they're all about the same thing. I'm really still trying to figure out why they're making Scream movies, but don't let my best friend hear me say that because he loves the Scream franchise. But it's basically about a masked killer who is a guy who is obsessed with scary movies. And so he acts out things that he sees in the scary movies. in his killings is what Scream is about. And Brian and Tori were obsessed with that. They thought like that was the perfect plot, but they seem to miss a very important distinction. Ghostface is a fictional character. The murders depicted in the Scream movie are totally fake. And when someone gets stabbed on a movie set, there's an entire production crew standing around to make sure that nobody actually gets hurt. For them, the thrill of committing the murder though, however, outweighed the depths of what they were actually getting themselves into. So it's now August 2012 Six, blues clues just signed off the air forever. Pluto was voted to reclassify from an actual planet in our solar system to a dwarf planet. It was the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans was still very much rebuilding and in shambles. President Bush admitted that the war on Iraq was bad for our mental health. And London Bridge by Fergie, promiscuous by Nelly Furtado, and sexy back by Justin Timberlake were duking it out on the charts. And we find Tori making big plans. After months of talking, he and Brian were ready to put their plan in action. So Tori, him and Brian for months now were just kind of going back and forth and they're just like, We should really do this. Like, this is a great idea. Like, this is what we want to do. And so they're just like, Okay, how are we gonna do this? We can't very well buy weapons. We're underage. And you would think that would be enough of a, well, you know, we tried. But Tori is just like, no, I know a guy. So Tori has this friend who's 18 years old. And actually it said acquaintance. So Tori has an acquaintance, excuse me, who's 18 years old and his name is Joe Lucero. He calls up Joe and he's just like, Hey Joe, listen, me and my friend need knives. Not for any nefarious reason, but we're not of age to buy them. So can you go get them for us? And Joe was just like, Okay, yeah, sure. I'll pick you guys up and we're gonna we're gonna go we're gonna go get you guys knives. And I'm just gonna add this here. If anyone ever contacts you to buy a knife or pick up a gun, like you can always say no. Like, no is an option. You have the right to say no. I think more people should say no, especially to themselves. I'm one of those people, but no is always an option. Regardless, Joe, Tori, and Brian head over to the local pawn shop around August 31st, 2006. Before arriving, they stop at an ATM so Brian could withdraw some money. So they walk into the pawn shop, they purchase. couple knives, which total forty-five dollars. Brian contributes forty dollars towards the purchase and I think Corey or Joe coughed up the other five. Tori selected one of the knives while Brian selected three others. They thank Joe. They're just like, bro, thank you for placing these knives in your name. Appreciate ya. and we're gonna take off now. And they take the knives with them. It's now September 21st, 2006, and Brian and Tori begin to document all of the details of their plan. So they're recording themselves constantly with this camcorder. And in these recordings, they're discussing their desire to kill multiple people, including driving past the house of another female student. And they were talking about killing her. Like, do you think she's alone? Is she alone? Because she's definitely going to be one of our victims. Brian talked about making history in the recordings. Tori spoke about avoiding capture. They even made comments directed towards future FBI investigators, basically saying, like, uh-oh, FBI, you guys are too late. By the time you find this, it's too late. We've already done what we're gonna do. And it's like, you guys haven't even committed the crime, but you're taunting the FBI. And what made you think that taunting the FBI was gonna be a good idea? This is not my story. So they're already like in this like arrogant space where they're just like, we're about to do this. We're gonna get away with it. We're gonna commit so much damage. All this stuff. And they're recording themselves while they're making these plans. At the beginning of one of the days of video footage, they record Cassie at her locker and they're just like, Hey Cassie, how are you? And you know, she's smiling and talking back with them. Their videotapes continued to discuss other potential victims and just how far their murderous fantasies extended beyond one specific person. At one point in the video, the boys discussed making a list of people they intended to kill. And they recorded that conversation at school with details on their plans for the evening around lunchtime on September 22nd, 2006. It was a peaceful and sunny day. Not hot enough for summer and not nearly cold enough for winter. It's around 3 45 at this point, and Cassie's mom Anna picks her and her boyfriend Matt up. This was around the same time that her now I've seen two versions. Most versions say that they were her aunt and uncle, but the court records say they were her cousins. On this particular weekend, Cassie was scheduled to house it for her cousins slash auntuncle. I'm just gonna say her aunt and uncle. So Cassie was scheduled to house it for them. She had to stay at their house and care for their two dogs and two cats. It's about five thirty PM. You know, they got home from school. Cassie's just like, All right, I'm gonna grab my bag, I'm gonna get myself together, probably take a quick shower. Matt stays at the house while all this is happening because he intends on going over to Frank and Allison's house with Cassie just to kind of keep her company for the evening. So it's about 5 30 PM and Anna's just like, All right, Cassie, are you ready? You know, it's time to go. I'm gonna drop you over there so I can get back home before it's dark. And Cassie's just like, Yep, sure, grab my stuff, got everything together. Matt, you're riding with us. And they head on over to the house located on Whispering Cliffs Drive. It's a home outside of the busier parts of Pocatello and it's relatively secluded, which means, you know, Cassie could enjoy some peace and quiet and kind of just stay out the way for the weekend. Her responsibilities for the weekend would include looking after the home, looking after the family's pets. And unlike most house sitting gigs, she was totally allowed to have company. So as far as Cassie was concerned, this was a pretty sweet arrangement. She can make some money, spend time with her boyfriend, and demonstrate that not only is she a responsible teenager, but she is also a mature lady as well. So Anna drops Cassie and Matt off and she lays down the ground rules like there should be no reason you two are going in the bedrooms together. One at a time in the restrooms. No need to hold it. No drinking wine. No touching her behind. Understood, Matt? And so I'm sure at this point, you know. Now, this is my version, because I'm just saying what I would do. But Anna drops Cassie and Matt off, and she's just like, All right, you guys have fun. I'll call you later. Cassie, I trust you to do the right thing. And Cassie's like, Of course, mom. I'm responsible. So She leaves and she ends their conversation by telling Cassie that she'll pick her up Sunday morning when Frank and Allison return. So Matt and Cassie are in the house. They're watching TV. They're like, let's find some movies to watch. They're just chilling. And so at some point, Matt invites Tori to hang out. Tori, of course, arrives with Brian and they get there about 6:30 or 7 o'clock that evening. And by all accounts, the four have a great time together. They watch some TV, they watched Kill Bill Volume 2. They had some snacks. They ate some food. It was a really chill Friday night. Like that's how I like my Friday nights to go now. So they just, you know, they were chilling. They were just calm. Everything was cool. They were watching some TV. All was right with the world. Throughout the night, Brian and Tori asked Cassie if they could see the rest of the house. And she's like, Yeah, that's fine. I don't see why that would be weird. And they're just like, We've just never been to this side of Pocatello before. So we just want to see, you know. We just want to see how the other side lives. And Cassie's like, sure, go right on ahead. What Cassie didn't know is that while they were touring the house, Brian went downstairs to unlock the basement door. Anna calls and speaks with Cassie between 9 30 and 10 PM. And Cassie's just like, hey, mom, everything is fine. The boys are here. We're just chilling out. We're watching movies. We're having snacks. And you are kind of cramping my style, Mom. So I will call you in the morning. And Anna's just like, All right, I will talk to you in the morning. Please be safe, sweetheart. Like, I'm gonna talk to you in the morning. You better call me in the morning. And Cassie's like, Of course, mom. We'll call you in the morning. Around the same time, Brian is just like, well, you know, would you look at that? It's 9:30, it's getting a little late. I need to leave. Tori and I are gonna head out. And so he and Tori leave. And as far as Cassie and Matt knew, the boys were headed out to go enjoy the rest of their evening. Nothing unusual there. Unfortunately, Brian and Tori they went out to their car and they sat there and waited in the dark for their opportunity. Around 10 PM, they had back through that basement door that Brian unlocked and they go and kill the power to the house. So Cassie and Matt are sitting on the couch and they are freaked out. They're just like, my gosh, what the heck is going on? But a few moments later the lights turn back on. And so Matt's just like, I guess it's an issue with the power company. So, you know, I'm just gonna chill out here for a second and just make sure it doesn't happen again. Around eleven PM, Matt's mom calls and she's just like, hey, Matt, it's almost you I'm about to come pick you up. It's time to go. And Matt tells her, like, the power went out here. I'm feeling really uneasy about it. Would it be okay if I spend the night? And like every other mom, I think, at the you know, maybe not every other mom, but like a lot of moms, Matt's mom was like, absolutely the hell not. Like, I said you could hang out, I did not say you could sleep over. You're gonna bring your ass home and I'm gonna come get you. But if you want. Cassie can spend the night over here. And so Matt's just like, Well, Cassie, do you want to just come over to our house for the night? And Cassie's like, No, my aunt and uncle trusted me to watch their house to be with their pets. I cannot leave. Like, it's okay. I think everything will be fine. Thank you for trying, but you can go ahead and go home. I'll just I'll be okay. It's around eleven fifteen PM and Matt's mom and hers his dad come over to the house to pick him up. And before Matt leaves, he calls Tori and is just like, Tori, I'm gonna head home for the night. And Tori is whispering into the phone. And Matt's like, Tori, why are you whispering into this phone? And Tori's just like, me and Brian are at a movie. So what's going on? And Matt's just like, Well, I'm leaving for the night, but I'm, you know, I'll just talk to you tomorrow, enjoy your movie. So Matt once again looks at Cassie and he's just like, You sure you're gonna be all right? And she's just like, Yes, Matt, I'll be fine. Like, yes, I was a little shaken up, but I mean, the power came back on. Everything's fine. I'll, you know, I'll lock the door or whatever once you leave. So Matt leaves the house. And as Tori and Brian see Matt's parents' car driving off, they take this as their opportunity to cut the power again. So Cassie's laying on the couch at this point, and it's pitch black in the house, and they're expecting her to come downstairs to see what's going on with the power. Cassie never came downstairs, but her aunt's dog stood at the top of the stairs, growling at them. So they turn the power back on. And they walk upstairs. They see Cassie laying on the couch. Cassie sees them and begins screaming. And she gets up to run and they stab her repeatedly, 30 times in total. Cassie did put up a fight, but the two were able to overpower her, killing her. Afterward, Tori and Brian leave the house. They get back into a vehicle and they begin talking about what they had done. And not only do they begin talking about what they had done, they record it as well. At approximately 11:31 p.m. on September 22nd, 2006, Brian and Tori record themselves in a vehicle shortly after Cassie's murder. In the recording, Brian identified Cassie as the person they had just killed. He described stabbing her in the throat and seeing her body. Tori said he was shaking. And Brian expressed how unreal the experience had felt. But then the conversation shifted towards getting their story straight. They discussed buying movie tickets. I think the Menendez brothers tried the same tactic if memory serves me right. They rehearsed their alibi and talked through how to avoid being caught. I can't. Around 12 30 AM that night, Matt places a phone call to Cassie to check on her, and he received no answer. He finds it strange, but he's just like, you know what, maybe she just went to bed. You know, it has been a pretty long day and we did hang out all night. So maybe she just went to bed. At 1 30 AM, Tori and Brian stop at a convenience store to buy matches and peroxide. Y'all done have curfews? If I was out 130 a.m., I might as well have found somewhere else to live because my mother would have knocked my head off, like clean off my shoulders. Regardless, after leaving the convenience store, they drive out to Black Rock Canyon and they try to burn the evidence. It's now Saturday, September 23rd, 2006, and Matt is up. It's daylight outside, and he's just like, all right, let me check on Cassidy to see how she made it through the night. So he calls her again and again and again and again. And he still gets no answer. He goes through his day and he's calling her constantly throughout the day. Still nothing. He continues to try to contact her, but as his day goes on, he hears from Tori. And I'm not sure if it was Matt's idea to hang out or Tori's idea to hang out, but they hung out that entire afternoon. And as Matt and Tori are hanging out, Matt is calling Cassie again and again. And again, and he's just like, I hope she's not mad at me for leaving. Like, I couldn't spend the night, but why is she not answering the phone? And Tori's just like, I'm sure she's fine. I'm sure like everything's fine. And he's just like, Well, all right, but I need to hear from her soon. As Matt's trying to get a hold of Cassie back at the ranch, Anna is also trying to reach Cassie because again, she can set her watch to Cassie. And Cassie promised that she would call, but she never did. So as the day goes on, Anna is calling Cassie again and again and again. And so Anna, as she's calling Cassie, she's just like, something is not right. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something is not right. But she's just like, you know what? I trust my daughter. I know she's not over there doing nothing crazy. Like, I know she ain't over there doing nothing crazy, but I'ma just see her in the morning. So finally that night, Anna goes to bed and she's like, okay, before I go to bed, I'm gonna call Cassie one more time. So she calls Cassie again and she didn't get an answer. So now she's starting to worry a little bit, but she's like, you know what? I know my daughter. She's not over there doing nothing crazy. I know she's safe. I know she has a good head on her shoulders. I'm gonna go to sleep and I'm gonna wake up in the morning and I'll just go pick her up. And Anna said she basically forced herself to sleep that night because it's like she couldn't sleep without hearing from Cassie, but also she trusted Cassie. She trusts Cassie. Like, I think. As parents, most of the time you know your kids. Like I know which ones of my kids I can trust and I know what I can trust them with, you know. Granted, kids will be kids and they will all try you at some point. But, you know, to Anna, she's just like, Cassie's a good kid. I know she's not doing nothing crazy. I like I know she's fine. I just I just gotta lay down and then I'll see her in the morning. On Sunday, September twenty fourth, two thousand six, Frank and Alison Contreras return home. They walk inside and they expect to find Cassie on the couch, maybe watching a movie, maybe watching a show, but they expect to find her on the couch surrounded by their pets. Instead, they discover a scene that no family should ever have to encounter. Cassie's body was in a pool of blood on the floor, and it was obvious that she had been brutally attacked. Allison panics and she calls 911, and police and EMS respond to the scene. Lieutenant Robert Roush was among the first on the scene and he immediately calls for backup because, you know, to his knowledge, he's just like, okay, there's a body, like there's, you know, there's someone on the floor, but he didn't know the extent of what was going on. So he walks in the house and he's just like, I'm gonna need more help. Investigators quickly realized that this was a homicide. Cassie had suffered multiple stab wounds, and the evidence inside the house indicated a violent assault. As the investigators are surveying the scene, Cassie's parents arrive to pick her up. And so Anna pulls up and she's seeing like the police and everything and she's just like, Okay, what's going on? So she gets out of her car and she's just like trying to walk inside. And they're just like, ma'am, I'm so sorry you can't go inside. And she's like, I beg your finest pardon, but my daughter's in there. And they're like, I understand, ma'am, but this is an active crime scene. And so she's like, Crime scene, I think you're mistaken. My daughter is in there. And so they're just like, I I hear what you're saying, ma'am, but we really do need to preserve evidence. So Anna's going back and forth with them, and as you know, she's talking to them, she's starting to realize like that gut feeling was not just a gut feeling. Something happened. As police carry out their investigation, they realize that the power had been turned off to the home around 10 PM Friday night. There were no reports of a power outage, so they figured whoever was messing with the power would have had to be in the fuse box. So they go, they dust the fuse box for prints and recover the prints of a man that they send for testing. The prints were tested and came back to match Anna's boyfriend Victor. So they're just like, okay. We already know what this is. So they head over to the house and they question Victor. They're just like, you know, the power was cut. Your prints are on the fuse box. Care to tell us what your prints were doing on the fuse box. And Victor is just like, Listen, this is my family too. Like I do work at Frank and Allison's all the time. You can ask them. And on Friday night, I was I was at our neighbor's house playing video games well into the wee hours of the morning. And so they check with Frank and Allison, and they're just like, yes, he has done electrical work for us before. And they check with the neighbor. And the neighbor's like, yes, we were playing video games on Friday night. After interviewing Victor and after everything comes up clear, detectives, they're now going down the list. Who were the last people? Who were the last people to see Cassie? What was she doing Friday? They're like building out her day. And then they realized that the last person to see Cassie alive would have been Matt. So they head over to Matt's home and they're just like, Matt, we need to talk. And Matt's just like, okay, this is weird. Why are the police at my house? And so they notify him of Cassie's death. And they're just like, Can you tell us anything that happened on Friday night? And investigators were immediately suspicious of Matt because as they're telling him, like, hey, your girlfriend that you just spent Friday night with has passed away. Matt shows no emotion. He doesn't cry. He just acts like everything is normal. And so he's walking them through the evening. He's just like, yeah, we, you know, we watched TV and we had some snacks. We watched Kill Bill 2. And, you know, her mom had dropped us off about 5:30. My mom picked me up at 11:15. I was home after that. And so as Matt is telling them this story, they're just like, okay, this does line up with Anna's account of how their night went. So Matt's story was plausible to the police, but they're just like, why aren't you emotional? Like, where are your emotions? What's going on with you up here? And they're just like, Would you be interested in taking a polygraph test? And Matt was like, sure, I'll take a polygraph test. So Matt takes the polygraph test. He passes with flying colors. So the detectives are like, wow, color us surprise because we thought. For sure you had something to do with this, but we can clear you. You pass the test. And so Matt's like, Okay, I mean, I figured that would happen, but you know, all right. And so he's walking out, he just turns to police and he's just like, you know, Tori and Brian came over Friday night too. And they're just like, Okay, we have names of other people we can question. Thank you so much. 'Cause At this point, you know, after Matt passed the polygraph, they thought they were like up the creek without a paddle. They're just like, we have no leads, we have nothing else. But now that Matt gave them these names, he's just like, okay, cool. And then Matt also gave them access to his phone records, which showed that he had been calling Cassie all Saturday, that he called from, you know, that he left as soon as he got home. He called to make sure she was okay. So they're just like, his story's checking out. Like, but now let's look into this Tori and Brian kid. Brian and Tori were both brought in for questioning. And, you know, the detectives, they're just like, okay, walk us through your Friday night. Both boys admitted to detectives that they were at the house with Cassie and Matt. They said that they hung out, ate snacks toward the house because they were curious. And then they left about 9:30 p.m. to go see a movie. So Detective John Ganske, he's just like, okay, tell me about the movie you saw. What was it about? They're just like, yeah, we saw Pulse. And Pulse was a it was a supernatural horror film that was released in 2006. I have no idea what it's about. And apparently neither did Brian and Tori. So they're just like, tell us about the movie. And they're just like, it was about something supernatural and some type of entity that was chasing everybody. And so the detectives are looking at each other like, okay, your story's not making no damn sense. If you're going to use a movie as your alibi, you would think you would want to at least familiarize yourself with the plot. But that's neither here nor there. Brian nor Tori could adequately explain what happened in the movie, which was suspicious to detectives, but not necessarily enough to charge them with murder. So detectives head to the movie theater to confirm Brian and Tori's alibi. And they get there and they're at the ticketing booth and they're there's a young lady there and they're just like, Hey, can you confirm for us if two people came to see a movie Friday night? And she's just like, Yeah, I worked Friday night. I can tell you exactly who was here. Cause remember, this is a small town. Everybody knows everybody. And they're just like, Have you seen these two boys? And she's just like, I know them. That's Brian and Tori. We go to school together. And the detectives are just like, Would you look at that? The person working the ticketing booth actually knows them. So they're just like, Okay, cool. Just tell us they were here and we can go about our business. And she's like, Whoa. I never said they were here. I said I know them. We go to school together. But I can absolutely with certainty tell you those two were not here Friday night. I worked the ticketing booth. I would have noticed them. I would have at least said hi. They did not walk past me. And so the detectives are just like, All right, well, thank you for that information. So now detectives know that both Tori and Brian are lying, but they need to figure out why they're lying and exactly how much they know. So The detective reaches out to Tori and he's just like, Hey, I would like to speak with you and your parents. And they're just like, No, you have questioned him enough. Tori's just like, I told you everything I know. I told you I was at the movies. There's nothing further I need to say to you. Now, Tori, I understand him not wanting to speak with detectives because obviously he did it and he can't lie to save his life. But what would be the reason for his parents to not force him to cooperate? Because I'm just placing myself in their shoes. If police came questioning my child about a murder, I'd be like, you need to go speak to them. You need to go clear your name. And if I did not feel comfortable, because I understand that police distrust is a real thing. Trust me. Trust me. I get it. I can tell you guys some stories. But I would at least say, okay, we're gonna have a lawyer present if you feel like your words are gonna be skewed, but we're gonna clear your name today. Because You're gonna give up this information willingly or forcefully. And I would hate for you to have to give up this information with my foot up your ass. But that's neither here nor there. Getting frustrated that they're getting nowhere with Tori or his family, police set their sights on Brian. They're just like, you know what? We're getting nowhere with Tori. Let's go ahead and speak to Brian. Brian was willing to speak with them. And as they asked him questions, they're he's answering them. They're just like, Where were you? What was this? We know you weren't at the movies. And he's just like, dang. And so They're just like, let's let's talk. Like, we know you lied about your alibi. And he's just like, Okay, listen. Yes, I lied about my alibi, but I have a good reason. And they're just like, Okay, tell us more. He's just like, We had actually spent the evening breaking into cars. And they're just like, Well, where were you breaking into cars? He was just like, I'm not sure. Tori drove. And they're just like, Okay, so you're breaking into cars and you didn't know where you were. And so they're just like, Listen, let's just, let's just give it to you straight. Did you have anything to do with Cassie's murder? And he's just like, absolutely not. Like I would never kill my friend. Brian was scheduled for a polygraph the next day because, like Matt, taking a polygraph shouldn't be too hard, right? So they're just like, if you're in fact telling the truth, you should be okay with this polygraph test. And we can clear your name. No, no problem. So Brian's just like, okay, bet. The next day on September 27, 2006, Brian shows up to take his polygraph and he was hysterical. He was so hysterical that the polygraph technician, polygrapher, polygrapher, what whatever you call those people. The guy doing the polygraph test, he calls detectors and he's just like, This ain't gonna work. This boy is not gonna simmer down and now he's asking to speak with you. So the police are just like, okay, well, yeah, he can speak with us. So Brian and his parents were taken down to the station and Brian spills his guts. He tells them that after they left, they snuck back in through the basement door just to scare Cassie. But things didn't go as planned. According to Brian, when they came through the basement door, Tori walks in front of him and Cassie notices them. She starts screaming and Tori started stabbing Cassie repeatedly. And Brian said, while all this was going on, he wasn't shot. He was just like, I just stood there. I had nothing to do with it. Tori just lost control. And so at this point, they're just like, okay, Brian, we hear you, but you're under arrest. On September 29, 2006, detectives bring Tori in for questioning. He comes to the station accompanied by his parents. Tori tells detectives that on Friday night after leaving the house, he and Brian went, they burglarized some cars, and they're just like, Listen, Brian told us that you guys went back to the house. And Tori's just like, absolutely not. And before detectives could question him any further, he's just like, I would like to speak to an attorney, please. So they're just like, okay, back to the drawing board. Tori's not giving us any information. We need to go back to Brian and we need to get the truth out of him. Because they're just like, this whole we meant to scare her story is c is crap. And we're just gonna keep pressing until we know the truth. So detectives, they go because they have Brian in custody and they're just like, you don't have to answer these questions because they called his parents to come down to the jail so that they can question him with his parents present. They could not get a hold of his parents. So they're just like, listen. W you don't have to answer us without your parents here. We're more than willing to wait for them. And Brian is just like, No, it's fine. Let's just talk. So they're questioning Brian and he's telling them the truth at this point. And he admits that they buried the evidence in a nearby location called Black Rock Canyon. With this information, detectives head out to Black Rock Canyon with Brian. And by this point, they had gotten a hold of his father, Carrie. And so they're just like, We're gonna take both of you guys out to the canyon. Brian, if you can explain, like just show us where you buried the evidence. And we'll dig it up. So Brian takes them to the exact location where the evidence was buried. When police dig up the evidence, they find two dagger style knives with sheaths, a silver and black handled knife with a smooth edge, and a non-serrated blade. A folding knife with a silver blade and a black handle, which is similar to a survival knife. The portion of the blade nearest to the top, I guess, was serrated. A homemade Sony videotape, a box of stick matches. A melted brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide, partially burned notebook paper, a partially melted multicolored mask, a red and white mask, a pair of black boots, a single black glove, a pair of black puma gloves, a pair of blue latex gloves, a pair of fingerless black athletic works gloves, a black Calvin Klein dress shirt, and a black Hagar shirt. They were unsure if the information on the tape would be retrievable, but once the tape was sent out to forensics, they were able to play it and they were able to see everything. That tape detailed the entire day. It started off with the boys filming Cassie at her locker, then showed them creating a death list of all the people they planned to murder starting that night. Investigators also recovered handwritten notes. Some of the writing referenced killing Cassie, and the recovered written material helped connect their conversations about murder. To what ultimately happened. It went on to show Brian saying, I'm sorry to Cassie's family, but we gotta stick to the plan. The tape shows them leaving the house, the murder itself, the moments afterward. The tape also let police in on a part that they didn't even know. They wanted to kill Matt too. Matt was also supposed to be a victim. Tori and Brian detailed killing him as well as he was in the house with Cassie that night. The tape also detailed plans for Brian and Tori to execute a Columbine style school shooting. Now, Brian's initial explanation was that Tori carried out the stabbing, but after the videotape surfaced, he had to admit that he did stab Cassie as well. He described everything that he did, but of course they had the tape to back it up. Brian claimed that Tori had pressured him to participate, and both boys basically after the tape. Just started finger pointing, but again, police already had the tape, so they're just like, We we know what happened. Like you don't have to point the finger at each other. An autopsy was performed on Cassie's body and it found approximately thirty stab wounds with twelve considered potentially fatal. The Emmy noted that two separate knives were used in the attack. One knife was serrated and was responsible for eleven of those potentially fatal wounds. The other knives was smooth and was associated with the final. Potentially fatal injury. And by Idaho state law, a person can be held responsible for intentionally participating in a murder even if they did not inflict the final fatal injury. Following the investigation, Brian and Tori were charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder. When Brian and Tori were exposed as those responsible for Cassie's murder, their friends were in shock and disbelief. They couldn't believe that two of their peers could do something so senseless and heinous. Cause remember, even though Brian and Tori were close, they had other sets of friends. Like they were not loners. They did actually speak to people. And everybody was in shock. They just couldn't believe that they would do this. Brian's father, Carrie, also mentioned that when he broke the news to Brian's little sister, she let out the most gut-wrenching scream and just kept saying, no, he couldn't have done this. This isn't true. This isn't real. You're lying to me. Cassie's funeral was held at St. Anthony's Catholic Church a week after her murder. Her funeral drew a crowd of over 500 people, including family, friends, and classmates, and students from surrounding schools. Her casket was draped in white silk, surrounded by family pictures and several of her original drawings. Father Enrique Torriques led the ceremony and said that death can overcome quickly and suddenly. And he urged Cassie's family and friends to find solace in the knowledge that God gives hope. I think I mentioned this in one of my previous episodes, but I actually hate when when like pastors and priests do that because We don't know, right? We don't know why things happen. We don't know why things happen. And I used to go to this church in Virginia and in that church, I remember the pastor was saying that it he felt like that rhetoric does more harm than good. Because now instead of going to God with your questions, instead of saying like, you know what, God, just I need you to help heal me through this. Like, if you can just give me just some peace. Now you're going to God with why did it have to be my child? I mean, that's gonna happen anyway, but it kinda comes, it kind of makes it seem like that's what God wanted, you know? And I just it i it's a really sticky area. Regardless, following her funeral service, Cassie was buried at Mountain View Cemetery. Although both boys were 16 years old when Cassie was killed, they were both tried as adults. And their cases proceeded through separate jury trials. Brian Draper's trial came first. Before the trial could even begin, Brian filed a motion to have his fourth interview removed from evidence because his parents weren't present. The prosecutors were just like, hey, hold up though. We have right here that you were asked if you wanted to wait for them and you, my friend, said no. So the court denied the motion. I found all the appeals documents, but I could not find the court documents from their original case. Usually the appeals documents details what happened in the original trial, but all the ones I found just kind of went over the crime and subsequent police interviews. Regardless of what I could or couldn't find, what I do know is that the prosecution relied heavily on the boys videotapes, because I mean the evidence is right there. The physical evidence was right there. The tape, the gloves, like everything was right there. Like Taking this to trial to me was bonkers. I would have like, let me tell you, what can y'all do with a guilty plea? Cause you got me. You know, regardless, they both took it to trial and the prosecution, they used er they used all of their things against them. The defense raised questions about the boys' individual roles and whether the videotapes were connected to a fictional horror project rather than an actual murder plan, which I'm just like. I I I would love to speak to a defense attorney. And I because I really do want to know, like, on these really bad cases, like, how do you like w what what be your thought process? And I understand like you have to do what the client asks you to do, but also I'm just like, you couldn't convince them in the least bit to just be like, Baby, you did this. Like I don't know what to tell you, you know? But that's not why we're here. On April 17, 2007, a jury convicted Brian of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder. Tory's trial followed, and on June 8, 2007, he was also convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy. In August 2007, both Brian and Tory had sentencing hearings, which, according to an article in the Idaho State Journal, their parents were not allowed to attend. Both boys were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for Cassie's murder. They also received sentences for conspiracy to commit murder. So at sixteen years old, these boys made decisions that would determine the course of their entire lives and They had to pay the consequences. Which brings me to where are they now? Last month was the 20th anniversary of Cassie's death, and the two boys who committed the crime, they're no longer boys. They're now both 36 years old. Idaho DLC's website was a little confusing to a little old lady like myself, but it looks like both Tori and Brian are housed at the Idaho Maximum Security Prison with no release date. Now, y'all know the story doesn't end at sentencing because when someone receives a life sentence, there are often years of appeals and post-conviction litigation. And Brian and Tory were no exception to that. Both Tori and Brian challenged aspects of their convictions and sentences. Brian raised issues involving his own police interviews, jury instructions, and sentencing. However, in 2011, the Idaho Supreme Court affirmed his first-degree murder conviction and life sentence. But vacated his conspiracy conviction because of an issue with the jury instructions, sending that charge back for further proceedings. But to be clear, his murder conviction was not overturned. Tory also challenged his conviction and sentence. He raised questions about the sufficiency of evidence, which I'm just like, bruh, like you guys handed them the evidence on a silver platter. I don't understand why that would be a question. Like, hello. He went on to challenge the jury instructions, the admission of certain statements, and the constitutionality of his sentence. The Idaho Supreme Court rejected those challenges in 2012. Additional proceedings followed, including arguments about whether life without parole was appropriate for someone who had been a juvenile at the time of the crime. And that continues to be a significant legal issue, to be honest. The U.S. Supreme Court has issued major decisions addressing mandatory life without parole sentences for juvenile offenders. Those decisions have required courts to take age and mitigating characteristics into account in relevant sentencing circumstances. But they do not automatically guarantee release for everyone sentenced as a juvenile. After 15 years in prison, Brian spoke with Dateline via phone and tried to explain why he and Tori did this. Long story short, he tells them that he regrets what happened, but he wanted to be somebody. He wanted to be seen as big and bad. He wanted to be somebody important, somebody memorable, somebody people would talk about. And instead of doing something meaningful, he chose violence. He admitted to the thrill of the murder and feeling like he was being watched by an audience as it was happening. He ended the interview by thanking Dateline for speaking with him and reaching out to kids that are just like he was, the ones that get wrapped up in violent fantasies. He tells them that what they're feeling is just fear. Fear of being a loser, fear of not mattering, but he tells them that prison is worse than any fear they could ever have. He says that he will give his life to go back and change what they did. That instead of killing Cassie, they would have just scared her and they would have laughed about it. He says he doesn't speak about the crime much and he declines interviews regularly because he doesn't want to further hurt Cassie's family by continuously talking about it. He has since issued them multiple apologies and An apology, I'm not sure if Cassie's mother Anna ever got to hear because unfortunately, in April 2022, Anna passed away from cancer and you know, she was the matriarch of the family. You know, she by this point had grandkids and it just further left their family with a void that will never be filled. Tori has continued to dispute aspects of his direct participation in Cassie's stabbing, although his murder conviction has remained intact. His family has also publicly supported his efforts to challenge the conviction and sentence. Tori's family blames Brian for the events, and even though the two are housed at the same correctional facility, they don't speak and they're no longer friends. Brian says that they see each other all the time and they just walk past each other. They don't even like they don't even acknowledge each other. Tori's mother, Shannon Adam Chick, wrote a book that was published in 2013 named The Guilty Innocent, which proclaims Tori's innocence and Blame Brian for everything. The book was released to horrible reviews, and a lot of people felt like she was trying to profit off of Cassie's name to fund Tori's commissary. I guess after receiving backlash, she had to think about her life choices and went on to release a statement that reads, quote, 20 years ago, I wrote The Guilty Innocent from the heart of a mother's greatest crisis. At the time, I was fueled by a desperate need to protect my son and a struggle to grasp a reality that felt impossible. Today my perspective has changed. I have come to terms with my son's responsibility in this tragedy, and I recognize that terms like innocent used throughout the original narrative no longer reflect the truth as I understand it now. I want to acknowledge the shortcomings of the book while offering it as an honest reflection of my experience at the time, the raw, often blinded journey of a mother navigating the unthinkable. At the core of this tragedy remains Cassie Joe Stoddard. My deepest empathy goes out to the Stoddard family, who for 20 years Have had to endure the silence of a life and future cruelly stolen. Cassie was a vibrant girl who would never reach the milestones she deserved, leaving a void that lingers with every passing year, a loss that remains the ultimate undeniable truth of this story. I also hold sincere empathy for the drapers. No parent is prepared for the soul-crushing task of reconciling the son that they raised and loved with the haunting reality of Brian's own admissions. I'ma stop right there because I can't even continue reading this. I can't. Like, I hear what she is saying. But it's like it's she's apologizing while further going on to blame Brian. And d like, I do understand that had Brian and Tori maybe not become friends, this would not have happened. But also Tori was just as responsible as Brian. And it drives me crazy that like in these cases, sometimes you have these moms who are just like, my son would never, and your son is nevering like he never before. Saying this to be like, let's start a hate campaign against Shannon Adam chick, but I'm saying at some point it gets to the point where you have to just realize, like, my son did this. Period. There's no explanation. There is no, there's nothing that you can do to change people's minds about how they feel about what your son did. And the fact that you're trying to water down something as serious as murder is just mind-blowing to me. From what I could find, both Brian and Tori's parents moved out of their homes to be closer to their sons. Carrie Draper does have a substack where he details what life is like for him and their family in the aftermath. He speaks about how life has been since the trial and what it's like to have a son sentenced as a juvenile to life in prison without parole. He shares his input on Idaho State legislation, and he's it's beautifully written stuff. The comments under his post are heartbreaking because it's just like, I don't think anybody actually took the time to read what he said before they were just like, Yeah, but your son's a murderer. You know, cause at no from what I read, he has a whole page, there are tons of journal entries. But from what I read, I d I didn't see anything to where he was just like, Brian is a victim and all this. From what I read, he was just like, he did this. He did this, and I would like to use this story. To prevent other children from doing it. That's how I took it. But people were like really going off on his page and I didn't really like that. But I mean, people are gonna feel how they feel. He d went on to say, quote, I can't control what the world emphasizes with a story once it becomes public property. I can only control what I do with my own voice. Side note, I looked at Carrie's picture because his picture's on his website. I don't know. I don't know if you guys ever watched The Righteous Gemstones, but in his picture, he reminds me of like a late season. Eli gemstone. Like I can't unsee it. I don't know what his voice sounds like, but that's how I hear him when I read his work. I also read through the court documents and they typed out the transcript of Brian and Tori's tapes. Why would y'all ever include Brian Stutter? Like they put multiple letters at the beginning of each sentence. So for example, if the sentence was supposed to read memories fade, they wrote Mama Memories Fade. Like y'all are petty as hell for that. Y'all are trifling. Y'all are trifling. And maybe that's just how they gotta do their job, but I was like, why would y'all do that? Y'all know he's sensitive about that stutter. Anyway, how's our good friend Matt? Y'all, my heart really hurt for Matt. He had to live with the memory of leaving somebody he loved in a house where they were later murdered. And he had to live with the fact of feeling like something was wrong before he left and not being able to do anything about it. And I want to be very clear. I don't think that Matt did anything wrong. He Called, like his mom called and he's just like, Mom, I don't feel right. Can I stay? And his mom said no. So naturally he went home with his mom. And I get that. But after the case, he was ostracized because remember, he was the one that invited Brian and Tori over. He spent the entire next day with Tori and they spoke before he realized like they were the ones that did this. He was still in contact with them. So it just did not look good. But he had their videotape and his phone records on his side. Even with that. People still side-eyed him after Cassie's death, but he was a teenager simply following his mother's instructions, which is the right thing to do. So Matt did eventually start dating someone like a couple months after Cassie's murder, and the side eye furthered. Like they were just like, mm-hmm. But those close to him state that he went through horrible depression, anxiety, and survivor's guilt. I read online that he's now married and have a daughter, but take that with a grain of salt, because y'all know the internet is like a rug. It lies. During the legal proceedings that followed Cassie's death, information emerged suggesting that concerns about Brian and Tori had been raised before the murder. And I don't mean somebody saying they were a little weird or they watched too many horror movies. I'm talking about reports of threatening behavior and discussions of violence. According to a later civil lawsuit, students had expressed concerns about the boys to school staff and administrators. One student reported finding notes exchanged between Brian and Tori that she considered threatening. She remembered references to death and a question about what they were gonna carry out. She reportedly brought those concerns to school officials and they were just like, you know, what you want us to do about this? Now the school district disputed aspects of the allegations and the interpretation of those reports. So I wanna be fair here. The existence of a warning doesn't automatically mean someone could have predicted that this would happen. But also you guys could have done a better job. Because at what point were you guys gonna say, maybe we should look into this? Like they did nothing. And that's everybody's account, so I didn't make that up. These concerns were brought because people were just like, they're acting weird and they were just like, What you want us to do about it? I mean, a thorough investigation would have been nice. Because then you would have seen what everyone else saw. You probably would have found the tape and then you can do with it what you will. After Cassie's death, her family understandably wanted answers, and so the Stoddart and Contreras families pursued legal action against the Pocatello School District, alleging failures connected to the warnings. In 2010, the Idaho Supreme Court affirmed a decision in favor of the school district in that litigation. The court did not establish that the school was legally responsible for Cassie's murder, and the case was closed. A painted mural of Cassie now sits outside of Pocatello High School. Cassie's brother Andrew states that for years it was hard to talk about Cassie's death. He says that September is still an extremely difficult month for him to get through and that his grief comes in waves. He found a tiny silver lining in the clouds as he said Cassie's death helped him appreciate the little things in life more. In 2016, he released a statement to the Associated Press saying, quote, I know how to handle it now. It's still a huge part of me. There's days where I'm fine and others I'll just crumble. We love her. It's always going to be a part of us. It's not like it's ever gonna go away. It's always in the back of our minds, but we focus on keeping our family strong instead of focusing on the bad. We focus on the good and we focus on when she was still around. Nobody should ever have to go through this. Which brings me to my final thoughts. The audacity is real up in here. The audacity is real. Brian and Tori, at what point did either one of y'all stop to think maybe this isn't a good idea? And I know some people argue that you were young, impressionable, and obsessed with violent entertainment, but we cannot keep blaming horror movies and violent video games for decisions. Because that's what this was. It was a decision. Millions of people have watched Scream, millions of people have watched scary movies, and millions of people can separate entertainment from reality. They're like, they're not exclusive. They made a series of decisions. They purchased weapons, they discussed killing. They prepared disguises. They left the house and came back. That's not a movie's fault. And there should be accountability. And that's where I'll give Brian a smidge of credit. So I'm not gonna beat up on you too bad, Brian, because Brian, he has apologized and he has shown remorse that seemed genuine to me. I mean, anything can seem genuine when you're sitting behind bars, but he at least acknowledged like I did this, it was like the stupidest thing I could ever done, and I would give my life to change it. I could not find an apology from Tori. I'm not gonna assume that he didn't issue one because I've done that before and I was wrong. And Jake Eakins had to send me a little email to tell me I was wrong, but I could not find an apology from Tory. And from what I can see, he's still blaming Brian. It's Brian did this, and Brian talked me into it, and and and Brian said this, and it was Brian's idea, and Brian paid for the weapons. Brian probably paid for the weapons because you ain't had no money. You can blame Brian all you want, but you was looking real comfortable in those tapes, planning it with him. You were the one that drove. You were the one that called up your homeboy and was just like, hey, can you buy us some knives? You are just as responsible as Brian. And that is all anybody wants to see from you. I can't speak for everybody else. That's all I want to see from you. Because for it to be 20 years later and you're still like, this would have never happened if Brian, and maybe that's true, but you still walk through it with him. And Shannon, you're a part of the problem. I'm not gonna beat up on you too bad because I promised my therapist I'll stop crashing out. But I get that you acknowledge now that the book was in poor taste, but you really sat there and wrote an entire book about how this was all Brian's fault and how Cassie shouldn't have been left alone and your son was innocent and all this. When your son was literally on tape talking with his friend about killing her. And I feel like like I it would you would have been better off had you said nothing. And continue to support your son privately. Because I I don't understand it, but I do acknowledge that there are boy moms out there, and I even hate using that term because I feel like as a boy mom myself, that boy moms get a bad rap. But then I look at stuff like this and I'm just like, this is why. We have to hold our sons accountable. We have to. We have to hold our daughters accountable. Because if you raise a child that lacks accountability. They're not gonna feel responsible for anything that they ever do. It's going to be everybody else's fault. And that's no way to go out into the world. Because it's like, you got fired. It's somebody else's fault. your girlfriend broke up with you. It's somebody else's fault. you know, your car got repoed. It's somebody else's fault. It's completely, it's it's cool. It's the coolest thing ever to look yourself in the mirror and be like, you what? This is on me. This is on me. And I own that. And that's what I think. People are looking for from Tori. I also don't understand the notion of wanting to be famous for doing something terrible. Cause I'm just like, why would that, why would why would you want recognition so badly that you're willing to destroy someone else's life to get it? And I don't think that desire is limited to 2006. Cause I do feel like we live in a world where people would do almost anything for attention. They'll embarrass themselves, they'll exploit other people, they'll create fake drama, like they'll do it all for a little bit of attention. But like, I'm just like, Honestly, like let's just it is perfectly cute to be quiet. It really is perfectly cute to be quiet. But regardless, before I close out, I do want to take a moment to go over Cassie's legacy because that's what the show is really about. Cassie may be forever 16, but her life left a lasting impact on not only those who knew her, but those who have been blessed enough to know her story and those who were fortunate enough to meet her. She was responsible and had a lot going for her. She had a boyfriend who cared about her. She had family members who loved her with every fiber of their being. She had a close-knit family. She had plans for her future. Her grandma, you know, her grandma released a statement that she was looking forward to college and trying to figure out what she wanted her career to be. She loved art. She loved to draw. She loved to laugh. She loved school and she was kind to everyone. I actually found a Reddit thread where some of her classmates kind of came together and they were commenting because the Thread was to those who knew Cassie Joe Stoddart personally, what was she like? And a lot of the boys in her class were on there like, I had a crush on her. Like I had a crush on her. They said that she was someone that you can count on for encouragement. She would offer kind words. And not only was she beautiful on the outside, but she was also beautiful on the inside. And a lot of the boys, they were really feeling her. They really were. And while this case is frequently described as the real life scream murder, I think we should be careful not to allow that title to overshadow Cassie herself because she wasn't a character. She was a real person and she deserved to grow up. And that's the end of our show. I do want to know what y'all think about today's story. Do you believe that Brian and Tori were equally responsible? I I mean, I do. I I do. I really do feel like they were equally responsible. Do you believe that their sentences were appropriate considering their ages? And do you think that the warning signs before Cassie's death should have resulted in more intervention? I think I answer yes. Except for the sense like, yes, actually I answer yes on all the questions, on all of the above. But let me know your thoughts wherever you're listening. Let me know in the comments. But as always, please remember that there are real people of various experiences behind keyboards. So please be kind in the comments. Please be kind in the comments. Before I head out, I'm gonna read some reviews. I got a review from S. Marie from last week's episode titled The Bever Brother Blame Game, which read, quote, another great episode. Never been so jazzed to hear ads. Awesome job. And thank you, S. Marie, because I'm glad to. But no, seriously, thank you guys for all the love in the comments. Like, seriously, thank you guys for all the love in the comments. Another review from Julia reads. Quote, you know, these are real people. A person who brutally took someone's life is a mischief maker. Julia, listen, it's never my goal to minimize or make light of the stories we cover, because this is this is not like it's heavy stuff, right? But me saying mischief maker is not to belittle what they did. It's just to differentiate who is who in the story because that can be a little confusing in the beginning without context. That's it. That's all. My goal is always to highlight the real stars of our show, which are our victims. And I just want you to leave each episode remembering their legacy. So I mean I can't think of any other way to put it. So I'm sorry. But it's really just to differentiate. So like I said earlier, let me know what y'all think. But also be kind in the comments. some of y'all have been really hateful. Some of y'all have been really hateful. And we don't do that in this group chat. I really do want to leave a positive experience for all involved. And if it's not your jam, that's fine. Everything is not for everybody, but just be nice. Like it's it's totally free to be kind. I had a person leave a long dissertation review on YouTube about how biased I am and how much they hate me and hate this show. And I was like, bro, are you cool? Or sis, are you cool? Cause honestly, if you wanted to listen to you listen to what you like. Why would you waste time listening to something you don't like? That's that like that's crazy to me. I'm gonna be honest. and then I really was thinking, I'm like, damn, am I biased? And I was like, yes. Yes, I am. Yes, I am. I'm with you when you're right, and you're right. I am biased. Why would I side with a murderer that lacks accountability? Ask yourself that. Lack of accountability is my biggest pet peeve, and I feel like I have done a great job of showing that. But let's just all be nice, okay? Let's be kind. Let us be kind. It is free to be kind. But I will say dealing with just dealing with some of y'all in these internet streets had made me realize that the kids that grow up to bully people, the kids that Bully other kids are the adults that bully other adults. And I just, I just would like us all to grow up. If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure you're following the podcast, leave a review, and share this episode with somebody who loves true crime as much as we do. Follow me on TikTok, Minor Mischief Pod on Instagram, Minor Mischief Podcast. If you want to be pen pals like me and my buddy Kaya Papaya, send me an email, minor mischiefpodcast at gmail.com. I think that's it. I think that's everything. I'm gonna really leave y'all now because I know I'm way past time. But I will talk to y'all next week. We'll talk next week. We're gonna have a great time. And you guys, it's my birthday weekend. I'm so excited. So when I come back next week, I'll tell you about how that went. And yeah, I love y'all to life. And until next week, we'll be back, same day of the week. And until then, stay mischievous, friends.