I'm gonna wake up at any moment in time" I was just, like, "this is the biggest thing that's ever happened to me." Gina Malone: I was so nervous, and I was shaking I don't even want to see his face. ''All these terrible things, all you can think is it doesn't happen to you. Gina Malone: I married him basically to get away from home. The next time police came around asking about Bass delivery routes, she offered to help them get a DNA sample. Stavik, 18, was home from college for Thanksgiving when she disappeared. this is an investigation based on the faulty assumption that this is a sexual assault. Detective Ron Peterson, left, pictured with "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant, led the search team for Mandy Stavik. "And I just said I knew that it was Tim Bass.". Acme is a rural village in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy, Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq, A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France, A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. And we went through everything just like the attorneys did. It is 1005% greater than the overall U.S. average. Gerber said he accelerated to 30 mph and started swerving, but Sather was holding onto the truck. He didnt leave any chance that somebody would find something.. Heather Backstrom: We decided, a bunch of us, to go to Dairy Queen. There are no telephone calls made between the two of them. Did you sleep the night before? Peter Van Sant: And you were just watching your kids coming down the waterslide? Det. And she was. And that's what I thought. Molly Brighton: Mandy, she was larger than life. I was very weak but I shouldve gone with my gut instinct, said Malone. Kevin Bowhay: I would say that wooded area ahead of us is where I believe she was abducted. 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. Starck Follis is one of Bass' defense attorneys. Hearing Backstrom's story, Anderson told her ownwhich was far more chilling. Although no one testified to ever seeing Tim Bass and Mandy together, juror Ed Beaman says they had a lot to discuss. She returned to her hometown of Acme, Washington, for Thanksgiving break. Twenty-four long years had passed without an arrest, and police finally had a prime suspect. When the results came back from the state crime lab, Basss DNA from the soda and cup were a 1 in 11 quadrillion match to DNA recovered from the dead young woman, prosecutors say. When she handed him the phone, he started dialing but something wasn't right. Bass was sentenced to 27 years in prison. Tim Bass addresses the court at his sentencing. Bowhay]: How many times you driven this road? Dylan Eason and Isaiah Churchwell were convicted of murdering Cynthia William "Patrick" Alexander remains in prison for murder. Mary Stavik: And he says, "We've got him." KIM WAGNER [on witness stand]: If Tim was potentially involved in that crime, I wanted to do the right thing for Mandy. I was was dying because there was a lotta people around. And I did leave, actually. The friends told sheriffs office investigators that after Sather stuck her arm into the passenger side to exchange the money for drugs, the truck took off with Sather hanging onto the side, court records state. And Tom Bass describes another damning incident after Tim was arrested. Kim Wagner: The Tim Bass I knew, he was different. I was like, "What?". 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. Ron Peterson: Big thorns. I was like, Oh, my God. Kim Wagner, part of that trio of women, credits Mandy's hometown of Acme. Mary Stavik spent years haunted by the murder of her daughter Mandy, and the lack of progress in the case. Molly Brighton: I was terrified. ", Det. Mary Stavik: Definitely closure, I feel. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo, A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota, Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. the age-adjusted homicide rate to no higher than 5.5 per 100,000. And it may well not have been a sexual assault. Senator Murray Highlights Millions in Funding to Fix Water Supply Issues, Promote Drought Resilience in Central WA. But then, three years later, the sheriff's office got a tip that sent them in a new direction. Ron Peterson: I immediately went, "Oh my God, she was runnin' away. More Cost of Living or Compare Acme's Cost of Living. Peter Van Sant: What did you gut tell you about this man? Stavik's murder seemed unsolvable the case hung over the small tight-knit community like a dark cloud. And, so, you'd tend to kinda stay away from people like that. Kevin Bowhay: They also looked at him just to rule him out. 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. The burden of proof is on the state of Washington, not on the defense. Detective Bowhay called Kim Wagner with the news. Heather Backstrom and Merrilee Anderson had both gone to Mount Baker High. Kevin Bowhay: Yeah. And now, at 73, he's come out of retirement and insisted he not be paid as he leads the prosecution team in this deeply personal case. 20/20 airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. None matched. Median contract rent in 2019: $998 (lower quartile is $923, upper quartile is $1,458) Median gross rent in Acme, WA in 2019: $995 Housing units in Acme with a mortgage: 56 (0 second mortgage, 48 home equity loan, 0 both second mortgage and home equity loan) 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. Bass' father had died more than a decade earlier. In saying that, though, the better man in me says I should say very little today and give this day to the Stavik family. Kevin Bowhay, who was just a rookie deputy back then, has pieced together Mandy's route from the few people who briefly saw her that day. Eventually, after she threatened to call the police, Bass left. Peter Van Sant: Why did you stay with him? Investigators got DNA from three dozen more men in the area, but Tim Bass wouldn't cooperate. I looked in the garbage and my heart was likebeating out of my chest, Wagner told ABC News. (Washington, D.C.) - Today, U.S. He had just recently been trained by the FBI on recovering DNA. Authorities wouldn't have their main suspect until 28 years later. Although his DNA did not match the crime scene, Bowhay still wanted to talk to him again. Mandy had graduated from high school only that year and had just started her first year at Central Washington University when she returned home for Thanksgiving. 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. Investigators believed she had been sexually assaulted, knocked out and placed in the river to drown. Where are we right now? Police asked Bass for a saliva sample to get his DNA. 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. Tom Bass: Social interaction's never really been natural to him. Anderson had never told anyone in law enforcement of her suspicions. Do you live in Acme, Washington? The pollution index in Acme is 479% worse than . Backstrom also never discussed her concerns with anyone in the area. Acme Neighborhood Map. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes, A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India, The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC, An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution, A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors, State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya, A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic, A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California, Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. And I was praying that that would not happen. It shouldn't have happened at all. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. That it was Tim Bass. 30 years later, authorities arrested a. So, cops called the bakery where Tim worked and spoke with his boss, Kim Wagner. Mandy Stavik, ABC's Nightline. (The US average is 35.4) NOTE: The city of Acme, Washington does not have FBI Crime Statistics. Heather Backstrom: Sitting on the grass right over there. The sheriff's office never gave up on Mandy [emotional]. If it was her girl who had been viciously killed, she wondered, wouldn't she want someone to do whatever they could? Belinda Temple from Katy, Texas, appeared to have a bright future. Mary Stavik: She wanted to do everything she wanted to be very good to the best at everything she did. That's all he says, "We got him." I grabbed it and I put it in my desk drawer. Heather Backstrom and Merrilee Anderson are proud of their roles in putting Tim Bass away. Robin Bass: Oh, yes. 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. Det. Thankfully, a colleague of the killer agreed to help the cops by giving them a water cup he had drunk from. Brent Scott Gerber, 47, of Maple Falls was arrested Monday, April 6, by the sheriffs office on suspicion of first-degree murder. Acme police department Sex offenders in Washington There are a total of 6,688 sex offenders in Washington. Jim Freeman [emotional reading card]: "For Mr. Freeman, the one person who has inspired and influenced me more than anyone. She wanted to do well in everything she did. Deliberations lasted a little over a day. Please enter valid email address to continue. Over 30 years ago, teenager Amanda Mandy Stavik disappeared while out for a run in her rural Washington town. 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. It's November 27, 1989. Det. Gerber was formally charged Tuesday, April 7, with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery, according to Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Richey. 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. Something doesnt, No , the murder happened in Ohio . "I'm gonna find something. An advisory statement says to expect total snow accumulations of up to 10 inches in lowland areas. Tim had always been a loner, but as a teenager he began to reveal deeper issues. Gerber told investigators he remembered the passenger door opening and Sather falling to the ground. And the things that . David Suchy was a local drifter seen in the area that day, Bowhay says. The database acts as a central repository for detailed information on violent crimes occurring Merrilee Anderson: I really wasn't ready, because we're in a small town. The air quality index in Acme is 32% better than the national average. 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. 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. He said, "You believe me, right?" She has worked in Montana, Florida and Virginia. Starck Follis: First of all, I don't have to prove it. Peter Van Sant: How do you think she was abducted? Her first thought was about Mandy. She was naked except for socks and her blue sneakers. Mandy Stavik was a bright and gregarious young woman. And she says, "I can get it for you. (The US average is 22.7) Acme property crime is 50.0. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropria. Heather Backstrom: In the end, three women's word or experiences are what took him down. She says they all piled into a friend's truck including Tim Bass, who was sitting next to her. Acme is a tiny town located in the state of Washington. Heather Backstrom: He would talk about my eyes and say that my eyes were beautiful. Mulryan gave Gerber $50 cash for his efforts, which was taken from the money they allegedly stole from Sather, court records state. Now the focus is only on preparing for trial and showing that Mr. Bass had nothing to do with this case.. Then, in 2017, detectives returned to the bakery and encountered the woman who helped them land the case by providing the information about his 1989 deliveries and the Coke can. Follow the links to read about more horrific murders profiled on 20/20 on ID. Det. 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. Twenty-nine years and six months to the day had passed since Mandy Stavik was killed. Backstrom said she had a similar experience with Bass a few months before Staviks murder when she was just 15 and Bass was 21. She was runnin' away from whoever had her. Basss trial is scheduled to start in April. Never ever. "And I just kind of turned to Merrilee and said, 'Well, I am sure I know who killed her," Heather Backstrom says. The investigation kicked into high-gear. It also happened to be her birthday. I've watched those crime shows, I see how many people go to prison because they've given DNA.". As it turns out, both women had experienced creepy run-ins with him and began exchanging stories. 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