Timothy Bass began serving a 27-year prison sentence in the 1989 rape and murder of 18-year-old Amanda “Mandy” Stavik after his sentencing in July 2019. The case went cold until one of his coworkers, Kim Wagner, provided police with a Coke can and plastic cup Bass discarded.
Mandy Stavik was a freshman at Central Washington University when she died. She was home for Thanksgiving break when she went missing. The day after Thanksgiving, on November 24, 1989, she went for a run down her usual path. The trail took her five miles from her home in Whatcom County, Washington, to the Nooksack River. Her body was found floating nude in the river three days after her disappearance, according to the Bellingham Herald.
Bass was arrested December 12, 2017 on suspicion of murder in the cold case death. Bass watched cold case shows and bragged that he would never be caught, according to the newspaper. In high school, Mandy played softball, ran track, was in the school band, and served as a cheerleader. She also played high school basketball on the varsity team, Whatcom County Prosecutor David McEachran said in court. There were scratches found on her lower legs and forearms, as if she had been running through brush on the day she died. She was jogging with the family dog. The dog returned but she did not, and her body was found in the river. The cause of death was drowning, and authorities felt she was knocked out after being sexually assaulted.
The sheriff said that authorities matched the DNA recovered from Mandy’s body to Bass. The match probability that he was the suspect was 1 in 11 quadrillion, authorities said. Wagner, according to ABC, had taken it into her own hands to help authorities by waiting until Bass left an item at work that would have his DNA on it.
Bass, who lived down the road, admitted that he knew of Stavik, the prosecuting attorney said. But he said he was older than her: three years ahead of her in school. He remembered she was a good athlete, and he had watched some of her basketball games.
He was sentenced July 2, 2019 to serve 27 years in prison. He spoke publicly for the first time at his sentencing and maintained his innocence. Corrections records show he is 51 years old and is not scheduled for release until January 24, 2036. He is being held at the Washington Corrections Center.
Here’s what you need to know:
Bass Will Serve Less Time in Prison Than the Time He Was Free After Stavik’s Murder & Maintained His Innocence at Sentencing
Timothy Bass, 51, was sentenced to serve 27 years in prison on July 2, 2019 in the cold case murder of 18-year-old Mandy Stavik in 1989. Bass was free for 28 years before he was caught. He spoke publicly at his sentencing for the first time, according to a video from the Bellingham Herald.
“I would first like to say that I am 100 percent innocent of this crime. Furthermore, I don’t believe that I received a fair trial,” he began, then added his attorney told him not to say much at his sentencing.
“I would like to address one thing,” he said, referring to the testimony of his ex-wife, Gina Malone. Malone testified that Bass blamed his father for the death, Bass said.
“I love my father. He was my best friend. We did everything together. He died in an accident on February 17, 2002, and I have not been the same since,” he said.
He went on, saying he was a good citizen without a record.
“I have never been arrested before. I have not been unemployed. I don’t do drugs. I don’t drink…I was married for almost 30 years. I raised three great children, two of them on the autism spectrum. While this investigation was going on I actually delivered to this jail twice a week until 2016,” he said, referring to his delivery job with a bakery.
“I tried to be respectful and kind in my year and a half that I’ve been here, and that’s very hard to do when you’re accused of something like this,” he said. “I will continue to be respectful and kind because that’s who I am. I wish no ill will on anyone here, not even today, but I am having a hard time with this.”
Timothy Bass’ Lawyers Argued His DNA Was Obtained in an Illegal Search
Timothy Bass to spend nearly 27 years in prison for 1989 murder of Mandy Stavik t.co/L2me2tp5JT 2 of the 3 charges would be death in Texas. 27 years does not match the crime !
The attorneys for Timothy Bass argued in court his DNA was obtained illegally when his coworker, Kim Wagner, took a plastic cup and coke can from a trash can and gave it to police. However, at trial the defense attorney acknowledged the DNA inside Stavik’s body was Bass’s. However, he argued that only proved consensual sexual contact, not murder or rape.
According to ABC, authorities years later had decided to map out all men who were living in Acme at the time of Mandy’s death and obtain their DNA. Bass made their list because he had lived on the same street at the time and went to high school with Mandy.
“Put simply, law enforcement officers cannot use private citizens to obtain evidence without a search warrant where a search warrant would otherwise be required,” the defense wrote in one motion filed in August 2018, newspapers reported. “This search was done for a singular reason: to assist law enforcement.”
When police asked Wagner for information on her coworker, she thought of her daughter and wanted to help.
“I felt a basic human moral obligation to help,” Wagner testified, according to the Bellingham Herald.
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