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Teens inspired by ‘Scream’ recorded ‘first kill’ plot before stabbing classmate to death
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Two teens turned their obsession with slasher films into a deadly real-life nightmare.
In September 2006, 16-year-old Cassie Jo Stoddart, who was house-sitting for relatives in Pocatello, Idaho, was found stabbed to death inside the property. Investigators in the small town focused on the last three people who saw the popular teen alive: classmates Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik, along with her boyfriend, Matt Beckham. But the discovery of a buried videotape revealed a disturbing truth.
Stoddart’s case is being explored in the ABC News Studios true crime docuseries “The Scream Murder: A True Teen Horror Story.” It examines how Draper and Adamcik, both inspired by the 1996 film “Scream,” selected a victim and carried out the killing.
“In their minds, they were playing characters,” director Lisa Quijano Wolfinger told Fox News Digital. “In the videotape, you can hear them talk about how this was going to make them famous. When they committed this terrible crime, they imagined the FBI and others would see the tape and say, ‘Oh my gosh, these guys were such mastermind killers.’ They wanted notoriety. They wanted to be seen.”
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Brian Draper is seen reading a statement to the court during his sentencing on Aug. 24, 2007, in Pocatello, Idaho. (Doug Lindley/The Idaho State Journal/AP Images)
But after killing their friend, investigators believe the boys were spooked.
“After the crime, they tried to burn the tape,” Wolfinger said. “They buried all of their evidence in a pit out in the canyon. So in the aftermath, they said to themselves, ‘Oh no, we should hide this.’ Ultimately, they didn’t want the tape found.”
Cassie Jo Stoddart was murdered on Sept. 22, 2006, in Pocatello, Idaho. She was 16. (ABC News Studios)
Stoddart’s friends and classmates described her as a bubbly, well-liked teen with a close circle of friends. The community was blindsided and devastated by her sudden death.
“We talked to her high school friends and her art teacher, who knew her well and loved her very much,” Wolfinger said. “They all said the same thing — she was just Cassie. She was kind and caring, with a big soul and big plans for her future.”
“I remember talking to the art teacher,” Wolfinger recalled. “He said, ‘She wasn’t the best artist. She was just Cassie.’ To me, that was powerful because it was authentic. The love everyone had for her was genuine. Twenty years have passed, and it’s still not enough time — she was so loved.”
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Draper initially presented himself as a concerned friend eager to take a polygraph test to clear his name. But just before the exam, he broke down and said he needed to speak with detectives.
Sitting beside his distraught parents, Draper told investigators that he and Adamcik went to the property where Stoddart was staying. He claimed they intended only to turn off the power and scare her while wearing masks. But then, according to Draper, Adamcik began stabbing Stoddart. Draper later led detectives to an area where they had buried the evidence. In the pit was a tape on which the boys chronicled their plot.
The tape that was found by investigators. (ABC News Studios)
The recording showed the teens gleefully discussing plans for what they called their “first kill.” They referenced the movie “Scream,” saying they wanted to know what it felt like to take a life. The tape didn’t show the attack, but it captured Draper and Adamcik in Draper’s car soon afterward. They vividly described the adrenaline rush they felt and then talked about disposing of the evidence.
Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik were said to be inspired by horror films, including the 1996 film “Scream.” (United Archives/TBM/ALAMY)
“This sense of raw excitement and glee in the aftermath of the crime was chilling to me,” Wolfinger said. “I found it fascinating that these two 16-year-old boys could do something like this without appearing traumatized at all.
“As a mother of teen boys, it was difficult to comprehend. I wanted to understand how that could happen — what was going on in their teenage brains that made them think it was OK or somehow justified?”
The community still wonders why Stoddart, who was friendly with Draper and Adamcik, was targeted.
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When high school student Cassie Stoddart was found stabbed to death in a house on the outskirts of Pocatello, Idaho, the community was gripped by fear that a random killer was on the loose. (ABC News Studios)
“I think, honestly, it’s because she was a friend,” Wolfinger said. “They knew her. It gave them access. They knew she would be house-sitting for her aunt and uncle, and it became a crime of opportunity. But they also had a kill list. They had a plan. This was something they wanted to do. They wanted to kill somebody.”
“When Friday morning came, they realized Cassie and Matt, their friends, would be hanging out at the house alone,” Wolfinger said. “I don’t know if the plan was set in stone that morning or if it solidified once they went to the house and realized they had an opportunity to go into the basement.”
Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper created their own masks inspired by Ghostface from “Scream” (seen here) before the slaying. (Victoria Jones/PA Images via Getty Images)
“It was truly a crime of opportunity,” Wolfinger continued. “I don’t think they sat there and said, ‘Oh, Cassie.’ It was in the moment — ‘She’s going to be home alone in a big, empty house. This is our opportunity.’ To me, that makes it even more chilling.”
Torey Adamcik listens as Judge Peter D. McDermott reads the jury’s guilty verdict during his murder trial at the Bannock County Courthouse on June 8, 2007, in Pocatello, Idaho. (Joe Kline/Idaho State Journal/AP Images)
In 2007, Draper and Adamcik were convicted of first-degree murder, The Associated Press reported. They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 30 years to life for conspiracy to commit murder.
Their attorneys filed separate appeals at the Supreme Court in 2010 and 2011, the outlet noted. Both were denied.
Now both 35, Draper and Adamcik were interviewed from behind bars for the docuseries, along with their parents.
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Anna Stoddart reacts as she identifies a photo of her slain daughter Cassie Jo Stoddart on April 11, 2007, in Pocatello, Idaho. (Doug Lindley/Idaho State Journal/AP Images)
“There were many conversations,” Wolfinger said. “What strikes me is that these are two middle-aged men who are very remorseful. They’ve had plenty of time to think about everything.”
“They know they did a terrible thing and can never bring Cassie back or repair the harm they caused to her family, their parents, or their community,” she shared. “As teenagers, they didn’t fully understand the consequences of their actions. Now, as 35-year-olds, they do.”
A clip of a recording taken by Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik at the library in Pocatello, Idaho. (ABC News Studios)
The docuseries also explores how this tragedy went beyond a fascination with “Scream.”
“They both loved horror movies,” said Wolfinger. “Horror movies spoke to them, especially Brian. He’s still a big movie buff. They clearly loved the movie ‘Scream,’ and you can hear it on the tape. ‘This is going to be like ‘Scream.’’ They made their own homemade ‘Scream’ masks. They were definitely inspired by the movie. They were inspired by other movies, too.”
Stoddart’s mother, Anna Stoddart, became a relentless advocate for justice, publicly supporting prosecutors’ efforts to ensure her daughter’s killers received life sentences. She died in 2022. Draper and Adamcik’s parents continue to wrestle with painful questions about how their sons became involved in the tragic crime.
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In the docuseries, police captain John Ganske spoke out about how the case was solved with key evidence. (ABC News Studios)
“It’s devastating for them,” said Wolfinger. “They don’t recognize their sons in that footage and can’t make sense of it. These were kids from good homes. They had some social struggles in high school — Brian wanted a girlfriend and struggled with confidence, while Torey faced other issues. But how did it lead to this?”
“This crime shattered so many lives,” Wolfinger added.
“The Scream Murder: A True Teen Horror Story” is streaming on Hulu.
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Baker County was 1st official jurisdiction in Eastern Oregon
Published 9:00 pm Monday, June 29, 2026
Although Native Americans had lived in what became Northeastern Oregon for millennia, when the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, the better part of a century would pass before settlers began to start towns in the region.
Tens of thousands of immigrants rolled through the area, following the Oregon Trail, starting in the 1840s.
Although their destination was the trail’s end at Oregon City, and ultimately a farm in the Willamette Valley, eventually some retraced the ruts to the northeast corner of Oregon, which became the nation’s 33rd state on Feb. 14, 1859, while others halted their wagons in the valley of the Powder or Grande Ronde river, or in the Columbia Basin on the west side of the Blue Mountains.
The first post office in Eastern Oregon actually predates the state. The Umatilla post office was established on Sept. 26, 1851, although it was closer to present-day Echo than to the city of Umatilla. The post office closed just a year later.
The region’s first official jurisdiction was Baker County, which the Oregon Legislature carved out of Wasco County on Sept. 22, 1862.
That was prompted by the region’s first gold rush, which followed Henry Griffin’s discovery of gold in a gulch, a few miles southwest of what would become Baker City, on Oct. 23, 1861.
Just five days after designating Baker County, on Sept. 27, 1862, lawmakers shrunk Wasco County even more by creating Umatilla County.
Two years later, on Oct. 14, 1864 — apparently a busy day in Salem — the legislature added two more counties in Grant and Union.
Grant County was made of parts of Umatilla and Wasco counties, while Union County was originally part of Baker County.
On Oct. 14, 1887 — it’s not clear why Oct. 14 seems to have been 19th century lawmakers’ favorite day to create counties — the legislature designated a chunk of eastern Union County as Wallowa County.
In many cases, such as Umatilla, post offices were started before towns were incorporated.
And most cities in the region were settled years, or even decades, before they were incorporated.
People were living in what became Baker City, for instance, in 1863, but the city was platted in 1865 and incorporated in 1874, eight years after the post office was established.
La Grande was already a town when it was incorporated in 1865.
And two cities — Umatilla and Canyon City — were incorporated even earlier, in 1864.
Incorporation dates for other cities in the region:
Pendleton: 1880
Hermiston: 1907
Heppner: 1887
Boardman: 1921
Milton-Freewater: 1950 (Milton, 1873; Freewater, 1890)
Enterprise: 1889
Elgin: 1891
Echo: 1904
Haines: 1909
Halfway: 1909
Huntington: 1891
Imbler: 1922
Ione: 1903
Irrigon: 1957
Island City: 1904
John Day: 1901
Joseph: 1887
La Grande: 1865
Lexington: 1903
Long Creek: 1891
Mount Vernon: 1948
North Powder: 1903
Pilot Rock: 1911
Prairie City: 1891
Richland: 1917
Stanfield: 1910
Sumpter: 1901
Summerville: 1885
Union: 1878
Unity: 1972
Wallowa: 1899
Weston: 1878
Athena: 1904
Three firefighters were killed Saturday while battling two wildfires near the Colorado-Utah border, the U.S. Wildland Fire Service announced.
Emily Barker, 38, was from Michigan; Nick Hutcherson, 27, was from Arizona; and Sydney Watson, 26, was from Alabama.
Loved ones and friends started sharing tributes on social media, and FOX 13 News spoke to the loved ones of Emily Barker.
It all started when Sarah Brubeck was looking for a roommate in Colorado.
“Emily answered a random Craigslist ad,” Brubeck said. “We didn’t even know we had so much in common, so we had multiple hockey bags in our garage and multiple snowboards.”
Little did Brubeck know, she was getting a lot more than just a roommate.
“Grew to be more sisters than friends,” she said.
3 firefighters killed in wildfires
Just a couple of states over, Barker had touched the life of Kayla Lindsey.
“I met her when I was doing my interagency fire season with USFS and BLM Idaho,” she said. “You cannot see Emily and not want to talk to her.”
However, both friends’ worlds came crashing down when they heard the news that three firefighters did not make it while responding to the Knowles Fire along the Colorado-Utah border.
“One of our teammates was like, ‘Hey, Emily, let us know you’re safe,’ and she didn’t respond,” Brubeck said. “I just assumed she was out of service, and she would respond when she could, but she couldn’t.”
“I saw it first on Facebook,” Lindsey said. “I just kept reading it over and over, like, ‘That’s not the Emily Barker, I know that’s not my Emily.’”
Barker had died during a burn-over incident, something that hits close to home for Lindsey.
“I remember my first state fire, we pulled our shelters, and that’s never a good feeling. You never want to have to hear the words, ‘Get to your safety zone,’” she said. “I couldn’t imagine as strong as Emily was, how scared she must have felt when that happened, because that’s a terrible way to go.”
“She was more than life itself,” Lindsey added through tears. “She took so much interest in every person she met. She loved her job.”
While the world is getting to know Barker as a hero, her friends said it’s who she’s been all along.
“Showing up to house sit for free while we’re on our honeymoon or offering to carry someone’s hockey bag — she just gave of herself constantly,” Brubeck said.
“Didn’t matter how much she didn’t have in her cup, she always tried to fill everyone else’s,” Lindsey added. “I just wish we had more Emilys in the fire service.”
A wildland firefighter who knew the victims in Utah released the following statement:
“It’s times like these we’re reminded how truly dangerous our jobs are. Fire is the only natural disaster we ask men and women to stand in front of and stop. While we are often successful, sometimes the power of fire overtakes us, despite our best efforts and safest decision making. As we see so much criticism online about how we do our jobs, please remember our ultimate goal is to get every firefighter home safely. Saturday, we failed. The loss of Emily, Nick, and Sydney is burned in our souls. Our agencies and firefighters are hurting. We appreciate the public support now. And we hope that continues long after this has been forgotten for most of you. Because, for us, it is never forgotten. Every decision“It’s times like these we’re reminded how truly dangerous our jobs are. Fire is the only natural disaster we ask men and women to stand in front of and stop. While we are often successful, sometimes the power of fire overtakes us, despite our best efforts and safest decision making. As we see so much criticism online about how we do our jobs, please remember our ultimate goal is to get every firefighter home safely. Saturday, we failed. The loss of Emily, Nick, and Sydney is burned in our souls. Our agencies and firefighters are hurting. We appreciate the public support now. And we hope that continues long after this has been forgotten for most of you. Because, for us, it is never forgotten. Every decision, every pause in action, is because of a lost firefighter. To our fallen comrades… we’ll take it from here.”
WASHINGTON (7News) — D.C. is looking forward to an economic boost from added tourists this summer.
Tourism numbers for the America 250 celebration are looking positive. Hotel bookings are up, as D.C. prepares to celebrate America’s birthday.
The National Mall is ground zero for the 4th of July festivities, with the Folklife Festival, the 4th of July Parade, fireworks and free museums. Plus, this year, there is an extra emphasis on historic and cultural exhibits. 50 million visitors are estimated to inject millions into the local economy.
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“It’s very hard right now for us to tell you exactly what the economic impact is. overall, events like this, we typically don’t know the impact until after the event has taken place,” said Elliott Ferguson, Destination DC CEO.
According to Destination DC, 27.2 million people visited D.C. in 2025, up 20,000 visitors from the year before. They spent almost $12 billion, bringing in $2.5 billion in tax revenue and creating more than 114 thousand jobs.
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International visitation declined by 4%.
This summer of 2026, hotel bookings are up. More than two dozen hotels have DC250 packages, hoping to attract overnight guests. Luxury hotels are reporting record packages.
Visitors to the District pump billions directly into the local economy, accounting for over $11.4 billion in recent annual visitor spending and generating $2.3 billion in local tax revenue. And there’s a strong demand for the July 4 period.
D.C. has also secured 18 conventions for 2026, estimated to bring in $317(m) according to Exhibitor Online. This influx saves the average D.C. household more than $3,600 in taxes.
“As we look at the events with America’s 250 and the events that this Trump administration is bringing to the city, it has been positive for the industry,” Ferguson added.
Major openings are adding to the expected summer tourism boom, including the National Geographic Museum, renovations to the Air and Space Museum, and the new Lincoln Memorial Undercroft exhibit. The Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., will take place Aug.22 to 23, 2026, marking the firstever IndyCar series race on the National Mall.
These tourism dollars are critical, saving the average D.C. household more than $3,600 in taxes, as D.C. is facing headwinds from reductions to the federal workforce and commercial real estate challenges.
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