Tom Bass: I personally witnessed him tell Gina to shut up, you know, eight million times. Despite having DNA evidence and an intensive police investigation, the suspect was unknown for more than two decades. Points the gun at her head and says, "Get in.". 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. 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. According to CBS News, in June 2013, two women, Heather Backstrom and Merrilee Anderson, who had attended the same high school as Stavik, took their children to a local waterpark and got to talking about Staviks unsolved murder because it was something that had rocked their small, tight-knit community. Deputies interviewed various persons of interest, including Mandy's boyfriend Rick Zender. An autopsy report was expected today on Amanda Stavik, 18. Tom Bass says his brother Tim had always been a loner, but as a teenager he began to reveal deeper issues. Basketball player, cheerleader, top student, once an aspiring airline pilot, Mandy Stavik truly stood out says her mother Mary. An obsessive fan murdered aspiring actress and former model, Rebecca Schaeffer. In July 1991, she was at home one night with her young son when she heard a knock on the door. And I had hoped, at that point, the family could heal. This week on ID, the team at 20/20 examine this tragic case that devastated this rural, tight-knit community. "And I just said I knew that it was Tim Bass.". Crime is ranked on a scale of 1 (low crime) to 100 (high crime) Acme violent crime is 16.4. Where are we right now? Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Bass was found guilty of first-degree murder on May 24, 2019. ''All these terrible things, all you can think is it doesn't happen to you. As Wagner chatted with investigators, she realized they were looking at the Mandy Stavik murder, and figured out what they were really after. December 15, 2022 1:30 am. Nearby Cities With Low Crime Rates Cities with similar population 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. 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The total crime rate for Acme is moderate , and there are 0 registered sex offenders residing in the city. 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. Malone says throughout their nearly 30-year marriage, Tim was a controlling and emotionally abusive husband. The conversation shifted to the Stavik murder. This yields a total of 107 sex offenders in Washington per 100,000 residents which is 60% less than the national average. Then, almost 25 years later, a new suspect emerged, and he had lived right in Mandy's neighborhood. Back in Acme, Washington, we're in dim late-afternoon light beneath the maple trees on Jones Creek. I was "every juror, please do the right thing. 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 . And he asks if he can use the phone, because he had been hunting all day and wanted to use the phone to call his wife. In 2013, investigators went to Bass workplace, a bakery outlet store, in the hopes of obtaining a DNA sample from his delivery truck. He said, "You believe me, right?" It took a whole community. On May 24, 2019, a jury convicted Bass of murder in the first degree. Jim Freeman: A sense of innocence, I think, more than anything. Kevin Bowhay: So, he just looked up and was, like, "Mandy, Mandy, Mandy. Basss trial is scheduled to start in April. The friends determined Sather had been run over and was dead and left the scene because they were scared, according to court records. The database acts as a central repository for detailed information on violent crimes occurring After this conversation, Anderson contacted a fellow classmate of theirs who worked for the Whatcom Sheriffs Office and told him about their suspicions of Bass, which is what led to an investigation. And I love that. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Kim Wagner: It really took a village. It was a town where everyone knew each other and it had a safe and friendly feel about it. Peter Van Sant [riding in car with Det. Tim Bass says he's innocent and that he had a secret that explains everything. More Economy. In total, some 30 local men gave DNA samples. Kevin Bowhay: His name wasn't even on the radar. The 18-year-old was completely naked except for socks and sneakers. Acme Neighborhood Map. Known as "homicide by abuse," a person can commit this crime when, under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to human life, but not necessarily creating a grave risk of death, a person causes the death of a vulnerable individual.Under the statute the defendants must have been previously engaged . Now, it was time for a woman to testify who Bass knew very well: his now ex-wife Gina Malone. I didn't know what to say. Ken Gates: She had a gut feelin' that Tim Bass was responsible for killin' Mandy. Unswayed, the judge sentenced Bass to the maximum sentence: nearly 27 years. 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. Investigators got DNA from three dozen more men in the area, but Tim Bass wouldn't cooperate. Anderson contacted another Mount Baker High graduate Detective Ken Gates. Bowhay says her assailant had to be in a vehicle. It's just she accomplished a lot in the short time that she was here. Where is Acme, Washington? David Suchy was a local drifter seen in the area that day, Bowhay says. The unemployment rate in Acme is 6.7% (U.S. avg. Mary Stavik: She wanted to do everything she wanted to be very good to the best at everything she did. And paused for a minute and then said, "No.". In his interrogation after his arrest, Tim Bass claimed he had been having a secret affair with Mandy: TIM BASS INTEROGATION: Everything I've said's the truth. COURT CLERK: We the jury find the defendant Timothy Forrest Bass guilty . She had reportedly gone to college intending to be a commercial pilot, but abandoned the idea after she realised she would rather be looking out the window rather than [at] the instrument panel, a former teacher would say later. Reporter Denver Pratt joined The Bellingham Herald in 2017 and covers courts and criminal and social justice. TOM BASS [on witness stand]: I guess to make it look like she got around, that would be my only, you know, that's probably why he said that And then he asked me again. DAVE MCEACHRAN | PROSECUTOR: This was not a situation where there was consensual sex. On November 24, 1989, Amanda Mandy Stavik was kidnapped, raped, and murdered as she went jogging near her home on Strand Road in Clipper, near Acme in Whatcom County, Washington State. Merrilee Anderson: I really wasn't ready, because we're in a small town. Anderson and Backstrom had creepy encounters with him around the time of Stavik's murder, but they had never come forward with their suspicions. It was more more kissin' and stuff. With a population of 229 people and just one neighborhood, Acme is the 319th largest community in Washington. Acme is a tiny town down Highway 9 in Washington State's Whatcom County. Acme is located in Whatcom County, WA . Kevin Bowhay: You hear 'em, but you're not sure it's almost like, "I'm dreaming. He has finally received justice. So, cops called the bakery where Tim worked and spoke with his boss, Kim Wagner. If one person doesn't agree, you've got a hung jury and they have to start all over again. It's game time." The sheriffs office determined Gerbers truck matched the description of the vehicle that allegedly hit and killed Sather and that he told friends he was in the Acme area when something bad happened to a girl, the court records state. Two days later, they discovered a pair of abandoned green sweatpants in the woods. Kevin Bowhay: He went from denial to, "How did you get my DNA, what are you talking about?". Kevin Bowhay: I'm questioning him on, like, "Well, did you have any relationship with her?" Acme is a rural village in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. He says various indicators say it was much sooner. Det. Gina Malone: I was scared. Kim Wagner: He never called me Kim. Forecasters: Snow accumulations expected in Whatcom County lowlands, higher elevations overnight (Sat.) ", Det. He said, "I need a strong alibi or I'm going to prison." Kevin Bowhay: Well, thought he was a good liar He just kept reiterating, "I don't know who did this.". 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. The businesses respond, Bellingham requires landlords to give this new notice of rent increases to tenants, Another piece of the puzzle set for connection between Lake Padden, Whatcom Falls Park, Morning snow covered roads in Whatcom. 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. 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. There are 2 public schools in Acme with an average Homefacts rating of D+. She understood. Whatcom County Sheriff Larry Mount said she was murdered. Lastly, he refused to give the police a DNA sample to compare to the DNA found at the crime scene. Timothy Bass killed Mandy Stavik in Acme Washington. Robin Bass: Oh, yes. And it was kinda, like, "OK, I think we're bein' played here." The population was 246 at the 2010 census. The suspected shooter of a double homicide in Tacoma, Washington, could be responsible for a third deadly shooting nearby, Fox13 reported . The closest similar sized city with FBI crime data is the city of , . READ NEXT: Murdered UNC Students Family Thinks Her Roommate Knows More Than She Is Telling, 30-Year-Old Rape/Murder Case Solved in Most Unusual Way, Please review our privacy policy here: https://heavy.com/privacy-policy/, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Peter Van Sant: And you were just watching your kids coming down the waterslide? Gina Malone: I married him basically to get away from home. Bowhay noticed that a local drug dealer named John Wisnewski had been questioned because he told people he might know who murdered Mandy. And that's what I thought. Heather Backstrom: No friend or family in the community that I lived in, 'cause of the weight of that. I'm just an ordinary person. And which, you know, whatever. Anderson and Backstrom say they had creepy encounters with Tim Bass around the time of Stavik's murder, but they had never come forward with their suspicions. Hold him accountable. Kim Wagner: You just never knew what Tim was gonna be at work that day. Kevin Bowhay: We developed this list we called it a DNA sweep. Paul Snider allegedly killed two men near 80th and . Det. And so, I think it was just overlooked. The state of Washington has a very narrow category of homicide that is age-specific. It was updated on July 18, 2020.]. Investigators became very interested in Timothy Bass; however, he refused to take a DNA test claiming that he didnt trust the police. For Mary Stavik, who once thought she'd never see justice, Bass' sentence gave her some solace. I lived in prison for 28 years with him and now it's his turn. Also, he was charged with first-degree rape and first-degree kidnapping too. Sincerely Mandy Stavik, class of '89, number 13.". Det. The next day, November 27, Ms Stavik was discovered floating in the Nooksack River, three and a half miles from her family home. The investigators had come once before in 2013, asking about a delivery truck driver named Timothy Bass. During the investigation, Bass claimed it was because he and Stavik had been having a secret relationship, but the only person who could have corroborated those claims was Bass father, who had died. Oregon inmate arrested, charged in Bellingham womans 1987 death, Poll finds Whatcom wants a Chick-Fil-A or In-N-Out. In addition, the sheriffs office is still trying to find 25-year-old Payton Thomas Mulryan, a white man who is 6 feet tall, 160 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. Hours later, the dog returned home, but Ms Stavik did not. As the jury in the Mandy Stavik case deliberated, the hours felt like an eternity. Det. And I was praying that that would not happen. Det. ACME, Wash. (AP) _ A college student who disappeared while jogging alone was found dead in a riverbed three days later after a search by neighbors and residents of this small Northwest town. And we went through everything just like the attorneys did. Peterson, and so many others in the small community of Acme, Washington, are still emotional even 30 years later. In his interrogation after his arrest, Tim Bass claimed he had been having a secret affair with Mandy Stavik. Peter Van Sant: And what are you feeling at this moment? Who's been talked to?". 30 years later, authorities arrested a. The sheriff's office is asking the . Would your findings be consistent in all regards with that hypothetical? And it may well not have been a sexual assault. Twenty-nine years and six months to the day had passed since Mandy Stavik was killed. And I said, "Well, yes." Woman." She was abducted. Peter Van Sant: Blackberry bushes got thorns on 'em. But Kim Wagner knew she had one more job to do. In 2010, he traveled all the way to Cambodia where Wisnewski now lives to question him. Det. Backstrom said she had a similar experience with Bass a few months before Staviks murder when she was just 15 and Bass was 21. He's trying to cover himself. Ron Peterson: I immediately went, "Oh my God, she was runnin' away. Peter Van Sant: Mandy had come home for Thanksgiving break. Investigators believe the attacker had kicked the dog into a ditch before abducting Mandy, and then sexually assaulted her about 5 miles away from where she was jogging.