It shouldn't have happened at all. The suspected shooter of a double homicide in Tacoma, Washington, could be responsible for a third deadly shooting nearby, Fox13 reported . In the same filings, Basss wife ominously claimed her husband often watched cold-case, true-crime television shows. Det. She was naked except for socks and her blue sneakers. Although his DNA did not match the crime scene, Bowhay still wanted to talk to him again. Bass had lived just a short distance down the road from Mandys house and along the route shed taken for her run. Peterson, and so many others in the small community of Acme, Washington, are still emotional even 30 years later. Basketball player, cheerleader, top student, once an aspiring airline pilot, Mandy Stavik truly stood out says her mother Mary. Gerber agreed to give Mulryan a ride, knowing Mulryan intended to rob Sather of $250 after setting up a fake drug deal, according to court records. Kevin Bowhay: I started goin' through, "Who's been interviewed? Bass had lived just down the road from Stavik. This week on ID, the team at 20/20 examine this tragic case that devastated this rural, tight-knit community. Det. Go get make me food.". She understood. And I was praying that that would not happen. Kevin Bowhay: Yeah. In 2013, investigators went to Bass workplace, a bakery outlet store, in the hopes of obtaining a DNA sample from his delivery truck. Kevin Bowhay: She always started from the house and then ran down westbound towards the west side of the Strand Road. Det. He had mentored her off the court as well, becoming a father figure after Mandy's parents divorced. Please share your experience here: Both Backstrom and Anderson who barely knew each other held long suspicions about the same man. She has worked in Montana, Florida and Virginia. No, says defense attorney Stephen Jackson. That it was Tim Bass. Mike and Molly Brighton and Mary Stavik await the verdict. She says they all piled into a friend's truck including Tim Bass, who was sitting next to her. Gerber told investigators he remembered the passenger door opening and Sather falling to the ground. The manager, Kim Wagner, directed them to the companys human resources department and didnt think too much of it because they hadnt given her any specifics about the investigation. Starck Follis is one of Bass' defense attorneys. Are you saying that when she came home, they met somewhere and had intimacy? So, I grabbed it and then I was like [laughs] I threw it in my desk drawer. We had posters on the wall and maps. Acme is located in Whatcom County, WA . Kevin Bowhay: They got a warrant and got his DNA and he was ruled out. The prosecution expert, the original medical examiner from 30 years ago, Dr. Gary Goldfogel, disagrees. After the DNA match, they paid another visit to Tim as he was leaving work. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. She secretly grabbed both, put them in a Franz Bakery bag and handed them over to police. Ron Peterson [emotional, turns away from the camera]: You're the first person that asked that. This was a case that had lain cold for nearly 30 years until investigators received a tip-off that sent them in the direction of Mandys neighbor Timothy Bass. It's on the far edge of Neil McCleod's farm. In 1989, a beautiful, athletic, and intelligent young woman named Mandy Stavik went missing while out on a run in her home of Whatcom County, Washington. Investigators believed she had been sexually assaulted, knocked out and placed in the river to drown. Where are we right now? Det. Follow the links to read about more horrific murders profiled on 20/20 on ID. Robin Bass: Oh, yes. Kevin Bowhay: As my partner's cuffing him up, I say, "You're under arrest for the murder of Mandy Stavik.". As the nine-day trial wraps up, both sides make their final appeal to the jury. is 6.0%). Det. She divorced Tim after his arrest and claims about his affair with Mandy. They told her: Bass was a suspect in the 1989 rape and murder of 18-year-old Mandy Stavik, one of the regions most infamous unsolved crimes. And the things that . He should never get out. After I asked if it was that case and who it was, I felt a basic human moral obligation to help, the woman would later testify, according to the Bellingham Herald. A home less than two miles from Mandy's house, right along her running route. Peter Van Sant: What was lost for you and this community with the death of Mandy Stavik? Kevin Bowhay: So, when they did the autopsy, they were able to recover male DNA from Mandy. It was June 2013. "And I just said I knew that it was Tim Bass.". Kevin Bowhay: So, he just looked up and was, like, "Mandy, Mandy, Mandy. COST OF LIVING Compared to the rest of the country, Acme's cost of living is 8.0% higher than the U.S. average. Tom Bass: I think potentially more could've been his next victims. It was it was agonizing As hard as it was, I I knew I had to do it. Det. Kevin Bowhay: You hear 'em, but you're not sure it's almost like, "I'm dreaming. The same went for information on his routes. For prosecutor Dave McEachran, it's been a long road to justice. If you are planning on traveling to Acme, use this interactive map to help you locate everything from food to hotels to tourist destinations. It was 30 years ago this past Thanksgiving weekend that Mandy Stavik, an 18-year-old college student, disappeared after going out for a jog in Acme, Washington. As kids, they palled around together like most brothers. Information was received pertaining to literally hundreds of potential suspects, and leads were followed up locally, in other states, and foreign countries, including in Asia. One of the names now on the list was Bass. This week on ID, the team at 20/20 examine this tragic case that devastated this rural, tight-knit community. Kevin Bowhay: At this point, we decided, we need to get a surveillance team on him and follow him on his route. Kim Wagner [emotional]: That they knew, and so that's why I did it. For more information, review the . Backstrom also never discussed her concerns with anyone in the area. Would her family and friends finally get justice? He was weird. Anderson told CBS News that Bass was a friend of her husbands and that one night a few years after Staviks death, he came to their house and made sexual advances toward her. I grabbed it and I put it in my desk drawer. On May 24, 2019, a jury convicted him of first-degree murder, and the judge sentenced him to nearly 30-years in prison. Malone testifies that she witnessed Tim ask his mother to lie for him to point the finger at his own dad. Staggering snowfall in California mountains leaves residents trapped for days, SpaceX launches new crew on flight to space station, Garland testifies before Senate panel amid ongoing special counsel probes, Colon cancer rates rising in younger age group, study finds, Firefighter dies battling blaze in downtown Buffalo, mayor says, Several hospitalized after Lufthansa flight diverted to Dulles due to turbulence, Explosive found in checked luggage at Pennsylvania airport, feds say, Prosecution wraps its case at Alex Murdaugh murder trial, Top McCarthy aide, House Oversight chair each met with Ashli Babbitt's mother. He's trying to cover himself. Kevin Bowhay: We needed some answers. Back in 1989, Tim Bass lived down the road from Mandy Stavik and she often jogged past his house on her regular running routewhich is how he fixated on her, police believe. I'm gonna get you something.". She was the girl that they found on the river." Like, you have to be careful about what you say. Kevin Bowhay: This is the Standard Road where Suchy was observed. She returned to her hometown of Acme, Washington, for Thanksgiving break. Heather Backstrom and Merrilee Anderson had both gone to Mount Baker High. Shoshana Paige: Even innocent people, when they're under that great weight of suspicion, can do things that can be interpreted as, "Well, only a guilty person would do this.". Kevin Bowhay: He went from denial to, "How did you get my DNA, what are you talking about?". Mulryan normally hangs out in Lynden, Everson and Bellingham, according to a previous sheriffs office press release. Acme is a tiny town down Highway 9 in Washington State's Whatcom County. Acme jobs have increased by 1.7%. "I'm gonna find something. Now they were lovers? Bass was, by then, married and working as a driver at a bakery. An advisory statement says to expect total snow accumulations of up to 10 inches in lowland areas. According to ABC News, when authorities began investigating Bass, his wife at the time, Gina Malone, told them he was very controlling and that he also loved to watch true crime shows and say that he wouldnt be stupid enough to get caught.. KING 5's Eric Wilkinson with the latest from the Whatcom County Courthouse. Then, almost 25 years later, a new suspect emerged, and he had lived right in Mandy's neighborhood. The investigators had come once before in 2013, asking about a delivery truck driver named Timothy Bass. But following Basss arrest, his attorneys attempted to have the DNA evidence thrown out because they argue the search violated his Fourth Amendment rights. Hold him accountable. However, after hearing each other's stories, Anderson decided to talk to police. Gina Malone: I felt like his servant "Go get me a drink. The DNA was at the heart of Tim Bass' trial. An obsessive fan murdered aspiring actress and former model, Rebecca Schaeffer. Peter Van Sant: And what? The Whatcom County Sheriffs Office has identified another man wanted in a planned robbery that ended in the death of a woman in Acme over the weekend. Six weeks later, it was time for sentencing. Unemployment in Acme is very high and the median home sales price is $0. Ken Gates [pointing at house]: He lived right in this house right here. I was was dying because there was a lotta people around. Bass' father had died more than a decade earlier. Peter Van Sant: If Tim Bass sitting in his home was lookin' out the window, could he have seen Mandy running by? That's all he says, "We got him." Gerber is incarcerated at the Whatcom County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail. And for the past 25 years, Tim had been living a quiet life in a nearby community, married with three children, and driving a delivery truck for a bakery. He couldn't get life because prosecutors did not charge him with premeditated murder they were not sure they could convict him of that charge. [chokes up]. Judge will allow DNA evidence at trial of man accused in 1989 murder of Mandy Stavik, Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican, A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. Wendy Aughe was 29 when she went missing in 1987. And she says, "I can get it for you. Bowhay says her assailant had to be in a vehicle. Right after that conversation, on December 12, 2017 28 years after Mandy had been found dead police arrested 50-year-old Tim Bass in the bakery parking lot. From that night on, Tom says people close to Tim noticed a change in him. Peter Van Sant: When you lifted her out of the water as a father, did you say anything to her? Kevin Bowhay: And at that point, he goes, "Well, I don't wanna give my DNA. Kevin Bowhay said. COURT CLERK: We the jury find the defendant Timothy Forrest Bass guilty . Twenty-nine years and six months to the day had passed since Mandy Stavik was killed. And he apparently had a pistol with him. The shop, a branch of a commercial outfit supplying baked goods to customers across the region, was on an empty two-lane road north of Bellingham, Washington. Mandy Stavik's family had come from Alaska. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port, A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador, A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk, The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron, Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. With a population of 229 people and just one neighborhood, Acme is the 319th largest community in Washington. DAVE MCEACHRAN | PROSECUTOR: She was raped and then was killed and deposited in the river and drowned in the river. Kevin Bowhay: By weapon, that's what they used to gain to control of her. Gerber said he didnt know Sather or her friends, the records show. Stavik, 18, was home from college for Thanksgiving when she disappeared. Acme Neighborhood Map. Capital Punishment Case Status Report published monthly by the Attorney General's . Police asked Bass for a saliva sample to get his DNA. Kevin Bowhay: I'm questioning him on, like, "Well, did you have any relationship with her?" Kevin Bowhay: We got the right guy. The burden of proof is on the state of Washington, not on the defense. Jim Freeman was Mandy's high school basketball coach and gave the eulogy at her memorial service, attended by nearly a thousand people. At trial, Mandys mother Mary testified that after several hours, the family became concerned and called the sheriffs office. Two days later, they discovered a pair of abandoned green sweatpants in the woods. On August 10, 2017, the co-worker watched Bass toss out a plastic cup and a Coke can. Peter Van Sant: Very non-threatening in your approach? And she was. Robert John Bardo traveled from his home in Arizona to West Hollywood to kill the actress in cold blood in a crime that shocked Hollywood. The last person to see Mandy alive was a man in a pickup truck. Wagner came up with a plan to help police get the DNA they needed to connect Bass to the crime. Peter Van Sant: It's a solemn place for you isn't it? McEachran was 44 when Mandy Stavik was murdered. Acme, Washington has good air quality 84.0% of the time or 306 days per year. And that's what I thought. It took three long months, and then, finally, she saw him throw away a plastic cup and later, a Coke can. Unfortunately, while investigators initially had plenty of persons of interest, all the suspects were eventually cleared by the DNA evidence or had a solid alibi. Gerber said he, Mulryan and OKeefe, who was seated in the back, drove to the park just before dawn Saturday. Anderson contacted another Mount Baker High graduate Detective Ken Gates. The Washington State Attorney General's Homicide Investigation Tracking System (HITS) comprises investigators and the HITS databasea software application designed to store crime-related information voluntarily contributed by police and sheriffs' departments in the Pacific Northwest. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin, Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Merrilee Anderson: So, I open the door and there's Tim Bass at the door. The decision was appealed by the defence. But if this anonymous womans freelance forensic work, pushed by a desire to do right, was the means of closing a 28-year-old cold case, it was also what threatened the prosecutions case. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. Kim Wagner: He never called me Kim. It is 1005% greater than the overall U.S. average. There's nothing like the smell of a brand new house, and in Acme, you'll find that a large proportion of houses were recently built. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. The 18-year-old was completely naked except for socks and sneakers. The database acts as a central repository for detailed information on violent crimes occurring She alleged in court filings that he was both physically and verbally abusive to her and their three children. Kevin Bowhay: I didn't believe him. They exchanged stories and discovered they were talking about the same man, Timothy Bass. Were going back over some of the old leads and trying to weed out those that seem far-fetched.. Unswayed, the judge sentenced Bass to the maximum sentence: nearly 27 years. Something doesnt, No , the murder happened in Ohio . Bass was sentenced to 27 years in prison. When the three arrived, they parked behind a white truck with three men inside and Sather got out with $250 to purchase drugs, according to court records. The pollution index in Acme is 479% worse than . It was 30 years ago this past Thanksgiving weekend that Mandy Stavik, an 18-year-old college student, disappeared after going out for a jog in Acme, Washington. On the Friday after the holiday, Ms Stavik left for a jog around . 20/20 on ID airs at 10/9c on Investigation Discovery. Detectives are investigating after a deceased person was discovered in an abandoned building in First Hill on Wednesday night. Tom Bass: Social interaction's never really been natural to him. ELIZABETH JOHNSON [on witness stand]: I would say most consistent is hours to days and probably within up to 48 hours. David Suchy was a local drifter seen in the area that day, Bowhay says. The case went cold, and the murder hung like a dark cloud over this community for the next two decades. Merrilee Anderson: So, then he walks through the kitchen and back to my bedroom. The Whatcom County Sheriff's Office is investigating a suspected homicide after a body was found at a park in Acme, according to a sheriff's office . he'll spend enough years in jail, so if he ever does get out, his life will be practically over. Please enter valid email address to continue. Kevin Bowhay: I would say that wooded area ahead of us is where I believe she was abducted. Would your findings be consistent in all regards with that hypothetical? Tom Bass: Just the disgust the disrespect towards women. Years later, the two women now realized they had to speak up. And that he had always been in love with me. Authorities wouldn't have their main suspect until 28 years later. this is an investigation based on the faulty assumption that this is a sexual assault. The conversation shifted to the Stavik murder. Mandy Stavik Mandy's family life had not been easy but she loved spending time with them whenever she got the chance. The male DNA was semen, suggesting a sexual attack. December 15, 2022 1:30 am. Heather Backstrom: In the end, three women's word or experiences are what took him down. By 2009, Detective Kevin Bowhay, who attended the same high school as Mandy Stavik, was the lead investigator on the unsolved case. On 4/13/1949 at 19:55:42, a magnitude 7.0 (7.0 UK, Class: Major, Intensity: VIII - XII) earthquake occurred 102.2 miles away from the city center, causing $80,000,000 total damage It was more more kissin' and stuff. 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