48 Hours - Mandy Stavik: The Case No One Could Forget - Encore

Episode Date: July 19, 2020

How a bakery worker’s secret plan to recover DNA from a discarded Coke can helped investigators solve the cold case of a college student murdered over Thanksgiving weekend. "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant reports.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. Acme is a very small community. Everybody knows each other. Have a good day. Thank you.

See you. Take care. They go to the local diner to have their breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You okay? And they shop at the general store. You have that feeling of safety. Keep your doors unlocked. On November 24th, 1989, Mandy Stavik went out running with her dog. The dog had returned, but she hadn't.

The dog had returned, but she hadn't. And when she didn't come back, I panicked. There was a massive hunt for her. Everybody was out looking. It was three days later when we found her This is the South Fork of the Nooksack River She was just floating lightly The only thing I could see

were her tennis shoes and socks When I rolled her over it was kind of a real shock to me because she looked like my daughter And people would shock to me because she looked like my daughter. And people would say to me, oh, you're so strong. Oh, yeah, right. You can't be strong through something like that.

It just rips you to pieces. Oh, we were in shock. People were crying. And they were, um... Whoa. There was a killer out there somewhere. And the question is, was this person going to strike again? Yeah. So much unknown.

For 25 years, we had no viable suspects in this case. You've got to keep working. Keep persisting. Keep going. Mandy's dead, but this case was not going to die. No. I absolutely did not think it would ever get solved. Amazingly enough, it was two women talking in a water park

that gave us the break in this case. One of the moms brought her name up. I just kind of turned to Marilee and said, well, I am sure I know who killed her. And turned to her and I said, oh, I do too. Thank you. So take me back. It's November 27th, 1989. Where are we right now? We're upstream from where I recovered her. It's a solemn place for you, isn't it?

It is. Back then, Detective Ron Peterson led the search team for Mandy Stavik, moving upriver in a Zodiac boat. We came around the corner and we got out of the main river and into the little side channel and I could see pink, something pink. It was Mandy, wearing only her running shoes. When you lifted her out of the water as a father, did you say anything to her? Hmm.

out of the water as a father, did you say anything to her? You're the first person I asked that. I said, I got you. Peterson and so many others in the small community of Acme, Washington, are still emotional, even 30 years later. What was lost for you in this community with the death of Mandy Stavik? A sense of innocence, I think, more than anything. Jim Freeman was Mandy's high school basketball coach and gave the eulogy at her memorial service, attended by nearly a thousand people. You see her smiling back at you, right at your soul with eyes that say, I love life.

He had mentored her off the court as well, becoming a father figure after Mandy's parents divorced. Mandy expressed her admiration for him in this card. For Mr. Freeman, the one person who has inspired and influenced me more than anyone, thank you. You're the greatest. Most sincerely, Mandy Stavik, class of 89, number 13. Mandy Stavik, class of 89, number 13. Basketball player, cheerleader, top student, once an aspiring airline pilot, Mandy Stavik truly stood out, says her mother, Mary. She wanted to do everything. She wanted to be very good to the best at everything she did. And she was. Mandy's older sister, Molly Brighton. Mandy, she was larger than life.

She accomplished a lot in the short time that she was here. All that promise came to an abrupt end in 1989, when the college freshman came home from Central Washington University for Thanksgiving. The day after the big holiday meal at her house, Mandy set out on the last jog of her life with her German shepherd, Kyra. How many times have you driven this road? Oh, geez, probably close to 100 over the 30 years of working on the case.

Detective Kevin Bowie, who was just a rookie deputy back then, has pieced together Mandy's route from the few people who briefly saw her that day. She always started from the house here and then ran down westbound toward the west side of the Strand Road. The last person to see Mandy alive was a man in a pickup truck who pulled up right here. Mandy ran right in front of him, heading in that direction to go around the bend to her home, about an eighth of a mile from here. I would say to that wooded area ahead of us is where I believe she was abducted. Bowie says her assailant had to be in a vehicle.

Mandy was too fast a runner to catch on foot. How do you think she was abducted? By weapon, that's what they used to gain the control of her. I believe it was a gun. And what, points the gun at her and says get in? Yeah, points the gun at her, get in. At that point, she's compliant. Investigators believe the attacker had kicked the dog into a ditch before abducting Mandy. He then sexually assaulted her about three and a half miles away from where she was jogging.

Afterward, she tried to flee, a scenario suggested by the scratches on her arms and legs. I immediately went, oh my God, she was running away, running through the blackberries. Blackberry bushes, got thorns on them. Big thorns. And that's what I thought, she was running away from whoever had her. I believe whoever was chasing her caught her and hit her in the head, knocking her out, and then placed her in the river to make sure she drowned. It occurred to Ron Peterson that Mandy's body may hold other important evidence. He had just recently been trained by the FBI on recovering DNA. And based on the position that she was in the water, you knew you had to get her out to preserve it. That was the biggest fear of mine, is how to get her out without disturbing it.

His training paid off. So when they did the autopsy, they were able to recover male DNA from Mandy. The male DNA was semen, suggesting a sexual attack. What happened in terms of the investigation? From there, it was, you know, you always look for that person that's strange or odd that doesn't quite fit into the community. Tips poured in, and deputies checked them out. This is a standard road where Suchi was observed. David Suchi was a local drifter seen in the area that day, Bowie says. They got a warrant and got his DNA and he was ruled out.

Deputies interviewed various persons of interest, including Mandy's boyfriend, Rick Zender. They also looked at him just to rule him out. All dead ends. In all, some 30 local men gave DNA samples. None matched. The case went cold. And the murder hung like a dark cloud over this community for the next two decades. It was like an assault on all of us.

Then, almost 25 years later, a new suspect emerged, and he had lived right in Mandy's neighborhood. His name wasn't even on the radar. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all. I'm Marsha Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases,

and this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop. Now, through dramatic interviews and access, I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informant's Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island.

It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reached the age of 10 that would still have heard it. It just happens to all of them. I'm journalist Luke Jones, and for almost two years I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it,

people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn trials I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. I don't know what it was about her. I'm just an ordinary person. I don't know how I managed to have that child. Mary Stavik spent years haunted by the murder of her daughter Mandy and the lack of progress in the case. And I just really didn't have any hope.

That became more ingrained in me as the years went on. But Detective Kevin Bowie, who attended the same high school as Mandy, had never given up. By 2009, he was the lead investigator on this unsolved case. We needed some answers. We needed to get to the bottom of it. He began scouring the case file, poring over old leads and old suspects. And I started going through who's been interviewed, who's been talked to.

Bowie noticed that a local drug dealer named John Wisniewski had been questioned because he told people he might know who murdered Mandy. Although his DNA did not match the crime scene, Bowie still wanted to talk to him again. And in 2010, he traveled all the way to Cambodia, where Wisniewski now lives, to question him. What did your gut tell you about this man? I thought he was a good liar. Just kept reiterating, I don't know who did this. You weren't believing him though? I didn't believe him. But a feeling wasn't evidence. So

it's another dead end? Yes. But then three years later, the sheriff's office got a tip that sent them in a new direction. Coming from of all places, a pair of moms chatting at a water park. It was June 2013. Where were you guys when you had this conversation? Sitting on the grass right over there. Heather Backstrom and Marilee Anderson had both gone to Mount Baker High. And you were just watching your kids coming down the water slides and things? Out of the blue, one of the other mothers brought up the name Mandy Stavik.

Both Heather and Marilee, who barely knew each other, held long suspicions about the same man. Marilee had never told anyone in law enforcement of her suspicions. I really wasn't ready because we are in a small town and to accuse someone of something that we don't know for sure is a little scary. Heather also never discussed her concerns with anyone in the area. No friend or family in the community that I lived in because of the weight of that. But talking to each other here in this water park decades later, they finally felt compelled to say his name out loud. And I just said that I knew that it was Tim, that it was Tim Bass. I knew that it was Tim, that it was Tim Bass. Timothy Bass had gone to Mount Baker High, too.

Why did you say Tim Bass? I thought it was Tim Bass because of the experiences that I had had with him in the past. Disturbing experience. Very disturbing, yes. As it turns out, both women had experienced creepy run-ins with him and began exchanging stories. I'm probably 15, and he was in his 20s. It was after a softball game in the summer of 1989, a few months before Mandy's murder. We decided, a bunch of us, to go to Dairy Queen.

She says they all piled into a friend's truck, including Tim Bass, who was sitting next to her. He would talk about my eyes, that my eyes were beautiful. Then he took like a pen out of the cup holder and would like start rubbing it along my knees because I was wearing cut off sweatpants. You must have been scared. You're 15 years old. Yeah, I was very nervous. Hearing Heather's story, Marilee told her own, which was far more chilling. Back in July 1991, she was at home one night with her young son when she heard a knock on the door. So I opened the door and there's Tim Bass at the door.

And he asked if he can use the phone because he had been hunting all day and wanted to use the phone to call his wife. When she handed him the phone, he started dialing, but something wasn't right. I hear the beep, beep, beep, we're sorry when you call and the phone's disconnected. So I thought, OK, something's up. Then she says things got scary. So then he walks through the kitchen and back to my bedroom. He said that he used to drive by our house and that he had always been in love with me and wanted to make love to me. Right then and there. Yes. right then and there? Yes.

Marilee says she demanded that Tim leave, but he refused. And what are you feeling at this moment? Terrified. Eventually, after she threatened to call the police, Tim left. Years later, the two women now realized they had to speak up. Marilee contacted another Mount Baker High graduate, Detective Ken Gates. She had a gut feeling that Tim Bass was responsible for killing Mandy.

Where did Tim Bass live? He lived right in this house right here. A home less than two miles from Mandy's house, right along her running route. Back in 1989, 1990, did they go to the Bass household and question people there? They looked at it like, no, it wouldn't be this family because they're well-liked in the community. And so I think it was just overlooked. Tim Bass, along with his brother and father, had never been asked to give a DNA sample.

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. Any criminal record? Anything that would have called attention to Tim Bass? No. He kept to himself and for the most part worked and came home. But now police decided to pay Tim a visit at home. Very non-threatening in your approach. Correct. When asked about Mandy, Bass pretended he didn't even remember her, at least not at first. even remember her, at least not at first. So he just looked up and was like, Mandy, Mandy, Mandy. Oh, yeah, she was a girl that they found on the river. It was kind of like, OK, I think we're being played here. Who could who could forget Mandy Stavik? Police asked Bass for a saliva sample to get his DNA. And at that point, he goes, well, I don't want to give my DNA. I watch those

crime shows. I see how many people go to prison because I've given DNA. So they tried a new plan. At this point, we decided we need to get a surveillance team on him and follow him on his route. They followed Tim Bass all night long on his bakery delivery route. Police were hoping Bass would throw away an item with DNA on it, but no luck. The investigation stalled yet again, until police received an unexpected helping hand. I wasn't really going to take no for an answer. I'm going to find something. I'm going to get you something. 24 long years had passed without an arrest, and police finally had a prime suspect. Back in 1989, Tim Bass lived down the road from Mandy Stavik, and she often jogged past his house on her regular running route,

which is how he fixated on her, police believe. If Tim Bass sitting in his home was looking out the window, could he have seen Mandy running by? Easily. Investigators knew Mandy didn't jog by the Bass house the day she disappeared, but Tim was in their crosshairs, so they wanted to know more about him. They got some background from his younger brother, Tom. As kids, they paled around together like most brothers. Very competitive. We had a lot of fun together playing, you know, different sports.

Tim had always been a loner, but as a teenager, he began to reveal deeper issues. Social interactions never really been natural to him. Tom remembers a harrowing night after a high school girlfriend had broken up with Tim. after a high school girlfriend had broken up with Tim. He was on the phone with her in his bedroom, and he apparently had a pistol with him. At some point said, I'm going to kill myself. He actually ended up firing the gun.

Tim had fired into the air. From that night on, Tom says people close to Tim noticed a change in him. on, Tom says people close to Tim noticed a change in him. It's just the disgust, the disrespect towards women. Robin, did you ever see this? Oh, yes. Robin is Tom's wife. I think that he really thinks that women are inferior to him. Tim got married young at 22, just six weeks after Mandy's murder. He married another Mount Baker graduate, Gina Malone. She says it was hardly a fairy tale romance. I married him basically to get away from home. Gina says throughout their nearly 30-year marriage, Tim was a controlling and emotionally abusive husband. I felt like his servant. Go get me a drink. Go get, make me food. I personally witnessed him tell Gina to shut up, you know, eight million times. It didn't feel like like a marriage. I felt like I went into a prison, actually. But Gina stuck with Tim and had three children with him. Why did you stay with him?

I was scared. And I did leave. I actually, I got a restraining order and left for two months. At that point, I had started divorce proceedings. And he's like, I'm going to lie to the judge and get the kids taken away from you. Anything with my kids, I'm just like, okay, I'm going to do whatever I have to do to not lose my kids. In Tim Bass, detectives believed they had their killer, but they wanted to cast a wider net of potential suspects to be sure they were on the right path. We developed this list. We called it a DNA sweep. Investigators got DNA from three dozen more men in the area, but Tim Bass wouldn't cooperate. So cops called the bakery where Tim worked and spoke with his boss, Kim Wagner.

Tim Bass, I, he was different. I don't know, he was weird. How was he weird, though? You just never knew what Tim was going to be at work that day. The smallest thing would anger him, and so you tend to kind of stay away from people like that. And Kim says she experienced Tim's low regard for women. He never called me Kim.

He always called me woman. Woman. And, um, which, you know, whatever. As Kim chatted with investigators, she realized they were looking at the Mandy Stavik murder and figured out what they were really after. Kim said, well, you guys want DNA, don't you? And I said, well, yes. And she says, I can get it for you. At this point, I'm

thinking I'm working with somebody that potentially did this to Mandy and I got to know. She kept an eye on Tim day after day, watching if he discarded anything that might have his saliva on it. You'd empty the garbage so it would be empty. Yeah. In case he dropped a cup. Uh-huh. Or a bottle. Yeah, well, a cup, yeah.

It took three long months, and then, finally, she saw him throw away a plastic cup, and later, a coke can. And I just stood there and went, it's game time. I'm like, this is jackpot. And so this time my heart was like, oh, I was dying because there was a lot of people around. So I grabbed it and then I was like, I threw it in my desk drawer. And then she gave it to police. My gut said it was him. My heart said it wasn't. Because I just didn't really want to think that we were all betrayed. So about three months later, we got the results from the state crime lab.

And Katie from the crime lab says, Kevin, we've got a match. You hear those words, what was that moment like? You hear them, but you're not sure. It's almost like I'm dreaming. I'm going to wake up at any moment in time. I was just like, this is the biggest thing that's ever happened to me. A lot of tears. After the DNA match, they paid another visit to Tim as he was leaving work.

I'm questioning my life. Did you have any relationship with her? No. So you didn't even kiss her or anything? No, never. Then why would your DNA be inside her? He went from denial to, well, how did you get my DNA? What are you talking about? Right after that conversation, on December 12, 2017,

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. They charged him with kidnapping, rape, and murder. As my partner's cuffing him up, I say, you're under arrest for the murder of Mandy Stavik. Later that day, the sheriff came knocking on Mary's door. It also happened to be her birthday. And he says, we've got him. That's all he says, we've got him. And I says, who?

I really, I really never dreamed. I really never dreamed it. Mandy's sister Molly was overwhelmed too. I was like, wow, what a present. What a birthday present. Detective Bowie called Kim Wagner with the news. Her first thought was about Mandy. And I asked if her family knew.

What did he say? That they knew. And so that's why I did it. I just never forgot about Mandy. But it's a big leap between thinking you have your man and convicting him in a court of law. Were you trying to get me to admit to something I didn't do? Is that what you're trying to do right now? Tim says he's innocent and that he had a secret that explains everything.

He said, I just wanted to let you know I slept with Mandy. I was like, what? To what lengths would you go to get someone's DNA? Hear more from Kim Wagner on Facebook at 48 Hours. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? more from Kim Wagner on Facebook at 48 Hours. Stories of the products you're obsessed with and the bolder risk takers who brought them to life. Like, did you know that Super Mario, the best-selling video game character of all time, only exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye? Or Jack, that the idea for the McDonald's Happy Meal first came from a mom in Guatemala? From Pez dispensers to Levi's 501s to Air Jordans,

discover the surprising stories of the most viral products. Plus, we guarantee that after listening, you're going to dominate your next dinner party. So follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. It's just the best idea yet.

As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror.

But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, wherever you get your For prosecutor Dave McEachran, it's been a long road to justice. She was such a good kid. And it just shouldn't have happened. It just shouldn't have happened at all. McEachran was 44 when Mandy Stavik was murdered.

And now, at 73... Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. He's come out of retirement and insisted he not be paid as he leads the prosecution team in this deeply personal case. In your heart as well as in your head, you wanted to finish this. You bet. After 30 years of heartache, fear, and frustration, the trial of Mandy's accused killer finally begins. The state's case is simple. The defendant's DNA was inside her, and we know that she was kidnapped, she was raped,

We know that she was kidnapped, she was raped, and then she was killed. Case closed? No. Tim Bass is not guilty, says defense attorney Stephen Jackson. He didn't kidnap anyone, he didn't rape anyone, and he certainly didn't kill anyone. Jackson floats a theory to jurors that, if true, would be shocking. 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 were no signs of a struggle. Evidence of sexual contact is not evidence of rape. Everything I've said is the truth. In this interrogation, after his arrest, Bass claimed he had been having a secret affair with Mandy.

It was more of a friendship type thing. We just talked and then it just kind of grew into more of a physical thing and we didn't even really do it that much. So it was more kissing and stuff. DNA can only tell you that there was contact. Stark Follis is one of Bass's defense attorneys. Mandy had come home for Thanksgiving break. Are you saying that when she came home, they met somewhere and had intimacy? That's exactly what I'm saying. And what do you say to those who say prove it, that no one saw the two of them together? There are no telephone calls made between the two of them. First of all, I don't have to prove it, that no one saw the two of them together. There are no telephone calls made between the two of them. First of all, I don't have to prove it.

The burden of proof is on the state of Washington, not on the defense. Remember, when Tim Bass was first questioned in 2013, he said he barely remembered who Mandy was. Now, they were lovers? Why would his story evolve like that in your opinion? Because he's making it up. He's trying to cover himself. Good afternoon, Ms. Wagner. Come on, step right up here if you would. Testifying for the prosecution is the woman who helped retrieve the DNA evidence that linked Bass to the crime scene. I was terrified. But Kim Wagner knew she had one more job to do. If Tim

was potentially involved in that crime, I wanted to do the right thing for Mandy. But the defense is hoping science can support Bass's account. They called Dr. Elizabeth Johnson, a forensic expert, to the stand. She says the semen could have been deposited up to two days before Mandy's death. I would say most consistent is hours to days and probably within up to 48 hours. The prosecution expert, the original medical examiner from 30 years ago, Dr. Gary Goldfogel, disagrees. He says various indicators say it was much sooner. She was raped and then was killed and deposited in the river and drowned in the river. Would your findings be consistent in all regards with that hypothetical? Yes, they would.

Now it was time for a woman to testify who Bass knew very well. Please have a seat. You've been sworn. His now ex-wife, Gina. She divorced him after his arrest and his claims about his affair with Mandy. I was so nervous and I was shaking. I don't even want to see his face. Gina testifies that she witnessed him ask his mother to lie for him, to point the finger at his own dad.

He asked her, can we say dad did it? Bass's father had died more than a decade earlier she put her hands over her face and like this and and paused for a minute and then said no tim bass's trial was turning into a family reunion from hell his brother tom took the. As you're about to go take the stand, what's going through your mind? Did you sleep the night before? Very little. It was agonizing. As hard as it was, I knew I had to do it. I'd like to direct your attention to February 24, 2015. Tom recounted that when Tim was under investigation, he told Tom he had slept with Mandy decades ago, and then asked Tom to tell police he had also slept with her. 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. He said, you believe me, right? I didn't know what to say. And Tom describes another damning incident after Tim was arrested. He said that the cops are lying. Everyone's out to get him. He said, I need a strong alibi or I'm going to prison. He said, Mom, maybe you can say that we were Christmas shopping.

Tom, do what you can. Despite that testimony, defense attorney Shoshana Page has an explanation for his behavior. 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. As the nine-day trial wraps up, both sides make their final appeal to the jury. It's easy to make the assumption that this pretty young woman would never have anything to do with Mr. Bass. But this is Mr. Bass circa the late 80s. Just because somebody hadn't seen them together doesn't mean that they hadn't been together at some point. This is an investigation based on the faulty assumption that this is a sexual

assault, and it may well not have been a sexual assault. This was not a situation where there was consensual sex. There was no contact between these people. She was abducted, she was raped, and she was killed. Hold him accountable. The DNA was at the heart of Tim Bass's trial. It would now be at the heart of the jury's deliberation. One of them said, teenage girls can sneak out at night. Maybe there was a secret relationship. Not a clerk.

Issue the verdict. What do you think of Tim Bass's defense? Chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and Twitter. 30 years of wandering, two weeks of trial, five hours of deliberations. I was terrified. As the jury in the Mandy Stavik case deliberated, the hours felt like an eternity. I was every juror, please do the right thing, do the right thing, do the right thing. They have to have 100% agreement. If one person

doesn't agree, they've got a hung jury and they have to start all over again. And I was praying that that would not happen. Although no one testified to ever seeing Tim and Mandy together, juror Ed Beeman says they had a lot to discuss. When we go in and deliberate, we had to turn in to be investigators and attorneys too. And we went through everything. We had posters on the wall and maps and we went through everything just like the attorneys did. Juror Jay Van Mersbergen. Maybe a quarter of the people tied up on whether or not there might be reasonable doubt. Deliberations lasted a little over a day. Madam Clerk, issue the verdicts. 29 years and six months to the day had passed since Mandy Stavik was killed.

Would her family and friends finally get justice? We, the jury, find the defendant, Timothy Forrest Bass, guilty. Guilty. Of murder, rape and kidnapping. It was such a relief. It was such a relief. It was such a relief. For you, that moment when you're seeing the family embrace and the tears, did you think this is what justice looks like?

Yeah, at that point I thought, this is why we do what we do. The harm that this caused is incalculable. He has finally received justice. And to me, it can't be enough time. He should never get out. Six weeks later, it was time for sentencing. My family will never be healed, never be normal. Mary and Molly were too emotional to speak. So Molly's husband, Mike Brighton, spoke for them. Timothy Forrest Bass must never be allowed to walk the earth as a free person. Never, ever. The defendant's mother would like to address the court.

Then it was the Bass family's turn to speak. Tim's mom, Sandra Bass, insisted that her son never tried to blame his father for Mandy's death. That is totally false. I do know my son is not guilty of this crime. Then... If you would like the opportunity, now is the time. I will. Convicted murderer Tim Bass, whose DNA had sealed his fate,

spoke in court for the first time. I would first like to say that I'm 100% innocent of this crime. Furthermore, I don't believe I received a fair trial. In saying that, though, a better man in me says I should say very little today. I give this day to the Stafford family. Unswayed, the judge sentenced Bass to the maximum sentence, nearly 27 years. 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.

For 30 years, you have lived free from the responsibility for your acts. But that life has been a lie. And tragically, it has caught your family, your mother, your brother, your ex-wife, and your children in its web. Tim says he's an innocent man. What do you say? Guilty as hell. I lived in prison for 28 years with him, and now it's his turn. For Mary, who once thought she'd never see justice, Bass's sentence gave her some salts. Definitely closure, I feel. After all, they've got the guy that did it.

He'll spend enough years in jail, so if he ever does get out, his life will be practically over. Tom Bass now wonders if his brother considered other killings, possibly even Heather or Marilee. I think potentially more could have been his next victims. You sometimes think we're lucky to be alive? Yep. Heather and Marilee are proud of their roles in putting Tim Bass away.

In the end, three women's word or experiences are what took him down, and I love that. Kim Wagner, part of that trio of women, credits Mandy's hometown, Acme. It really took a village. It took a whole community. The sheriff's office never gave up on Mandy. We got the right guy. I'm sorry. I guess the community could feel safe and be whole again.

And I'd hope that at that point the family could heal. In some ways you could be whole again too, right? Yeah. We'll be right now. Where do things go for you now? We have to talk to people, listen. Why is it important to you guys to come out? If we just stayed home, nothing would change. What do you hope no one ever gets? It comes from this. This is what's coming from it. The change is here.

CBS News Original Reporting. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.