ELIZABETH JOHNSON [on witness stand]: I would say most consistent is hours to days and probably within up to 48 hours. Oregon inmate arrested, charged in Bellingham womans 1987 death, Poll finds Whatcom wants a Chick-Fil-A or In-N-Out. Gina Malone: It didn't feel like a marriage. Tim's mom Sandra Bass insisted that her son never tried to blame his father for Mandy's death: SANDY BASS: That is totally false. 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. Hours later, the dog returned home, but Ms Stavik did not. And we know that she was kidnapped, she was raped, and then she was killed. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month, Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Molly Brighton: I was terrified. There was no contact between these people. By 2009, he was the lead investigator on this unsolved case. Kim Wagner [emotional]: That they knew, and so that's why I did it. All that promise came to an abrupt end in 1989, when the college freshman came home from Central Washington University for Thanksgiving. Peter Van Sant: What did you gut tell you about this man? Basss trial is scheduled to start in April. Growing up in Washingtons Whatcom County, she was reportedly a star student and athlete at Mount Baker High School varsity basketball and softball; flute, clarinet and saxophone in the school band; an honour student who spoke Japanese and was fluent in sign language. And he apparently had a pistol with him. Tom Bass: Social interaction's never really been natural to him. I've watched those crime shows, I see how many people go to prison because they've given DNA.". And we went through everything. 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. At 7:48 p.m., a 911 caller reported finding a dead body in an abandoned building in the 600 block of 9th Avenue. Six weeks later, it was time for sentencing. This yields a total of 107 sex offenders in Washington per 100,000 residents which is 60% less than the national average. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. It was updated on July 18, 2020.]. And I love that. (The US average is 35.4) NOTE: The city of Acme, Washington does not have FBI Crime Statistics. Sheriff Bill Elfo told ABC News that that shot Bass to the top of the suspect list. I'm going to do whatever I have to do to not lose my kids. Malone testifies that she witnessed Tim ask his mother to lie for him to point the finger at his own dad. Kevin Bowhay: I would say that wooded area ahead of us is where I believe she was abducted. ABC Case closed? Peter Van Sant: Why did you stay with him? Timothy Bass had gone to Mount Baker High too. Tim basically took his trash home, Det. Mandy Stavik was a beloved daughter, sister and friend in her freshman year of college when she was murdered. 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. Anderson and Backstrom had creepy encounters with him around the time of Stavik's murder, but they had never come forward with their suspicions. In the same filings, Basss wife ominously claimed her husband often watched cold-case, true-crime television shows. Dave McEachran [emotional]: She was such a good kid it just shouldn't have happened. And, so, you'd tend to kinda stay away from people like that. Were going back over some of the old leads and trying to weed out those that seem far-fetched.. Kevin Bowhay: Oh, jeez. Investigators believed she had been sexually assaulted, knocked out and placed in the river to drown. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. GINA MALONE [on witness stand]: She put her hands over her face and like this [covers her face with her hands]. The defendant does not have a criminal record, but has had previous run-ins with the court system. Where are we right now? I was was dying because there was a lotta people around. Stavik's murder seemed unsolvable the case hung over the small tight-knit community like a dark cloud. Det. Eventually, after she threatened to call the police, Bass left. It would now be at the heart of the jury's deliberation. 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. JUDGE OLSON: If you would like the opportunity, now is the time. Mary Stavik spent years haunted by the murder of her daughter Mandy, and the lack of progress in the case. So, I grabbed it and then I was like [laughs] I threw it in my desk drawer. In fact, he was sentenced to around 27 years of imprisonment. Kim Wagner: I wasn't really gonna take no for an answer. Mary Stavik: They have to have 100% agreement. Please share your experience here: Gerber is incarcerated at the Whatcom County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail. Acme is also included in, and the source-name for, a larger census-designated place (CDP). Merrilee Anderson: And I just said that I knew that it was Tim. So, cops called the bakery where Tim worked and spoke with his boss, Kim Wagner. Powered by. Tom Bass: Very little. By 2009, Detective Kevin Bowhay, who attended the same high school as Mandy Stavik, was the lead investigator on the unsolved case. I got a restraining order and left for two months. It's November 27, 1989. On the Friday after the holiday, Ms Stavik left for a jog around 2:30 p.m. wearing a light-coloured sweatshirt, green sweatpants and blue running shoes, according to the Herald. WATCH NIGHTLINE EPISODES: abc.go.com/shows/nightline ALSO AVAILABLE ON HULU: hulu.tv/2wSmSrZ #Nightline #MandyStavik #KimWagner #TimBass #KevinBowhay #ColdCase #CollegeStudent, convicted Bass of murder in the first degree, Murdered UNC Students Family Thinks Her Roommate Knows More Than She Is Telling. He always called me "woman. ", Det. 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. There is a general store, post office, gas station, diner, elementary school and two churches located there. That just happened.'. Det. At trial, Mandy's mother Mary. Bass had lived just down the road from Stavik. And I said, "Well, yes." In July 1991, she was at home one night with her young son when she heard a knock on the door. and I says, "Who?" Det. Tom Bass: Just the disgust the disrespect towards women. Anderson had never told anyone in law enforcement of her suspicions. Peter Van Sant: In your heart, as well as in your head, you wanted to finish this? 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. Det. Peter Van Sant: You'd empty the garbage so it would be empty , Peter Van Sant: in case he dropped a cup or a bottle . It's on the far edge of Neil McCleod's farm. All dead ends. "And I turned to her and said, 'Oh, I do, too," Merilee Anderson says. If you are planning on traveling to Acme, use this interactive map to help you locate everything from food to hotels to tourist destinations. And I was praying that that would not happen. The database acts as a central repository for detailed information on violent crimes occurring COST OF LIVING Compared to the rest of the country, Acme's cost of living is 8.0% higher than the U.S. average. Starck Follis is one of Bass' defense attorneys. The next time police came around asking about Bass delivery routes, she offered to help them get a DNA sample. Peter Van Sant: For you, that moment when you're seeing the family embrace and the tears, did you think, "This is what justice looks like? Go get make me food.". Merrilee Anderson: I thought it was Tim Bass, because of the experiences that I had had with him in the past. She went for a run the day after Thanksgiving, taking a very regular route that she often took. She says the semen could have been deposited up to two days before Mandy's death. Gerber said he didnt know Sather or her friends, the records show. STEPHEN JACKSON: There were no signs of a struggle. I was like, "What?". The closest similar sized city with FBI crime data is the city of , . 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. Tom Bass now wonders if his brother considered other killings possibly even Heather Backstrom or Merrilee Anderson. Detective Bowhay called Kim Wagner with the news. Ahead of 20/20s rebroadcast of the episode about how her murder was solved 30 years later, heres what you need to know about the crime and how her killer was finally apprehended. Many people were looked at for her murder in Acme, Washington, including the Green River Killer. Mandy Stavik was a bright and gregarious young woman. The unemployment rate in Acme is 6.7% (U.S. avg. 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. Det. Jackson floats a theory to jurors that, if true, would be shocking: the suggestion that Tim Bass and Mandy Stavik had consensual sex in the hours before her murder. There are no telephone calls made between the two of them. He who could who could forget Mandy Stavik? He began scouring the case file, pouring over old leads and old suspects. 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.". KIM WAGNER [on witness stand]: If Tim was potentially involved in that crime, I wanted to do the right thing for Mandy. The sheriffs office is asking the publics help in locating 23-year-old Tyler James OKeefe. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless, Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican, A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California, A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho, Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open, Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally, A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. Testifies that she witnessed Tim ask his mother to lie for him point... Run the day after Thanksgiving, taking a acme, washington homicide regular route that she was such a good kid just! 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