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Who Is Torey Adamcik & Where Is He Now? 2026 Update & Profile

Ryan Gill

Torey Michael Adamcik is one of the two men convicted of the 2006 murder of 16-year-old Cassie Jo Stoddart in Pocatello, Idaho. Adamcik was 16 when Cassie was killed and attended Pocatello High School with Cassie and his co-defendant, Brian Draper.

The case became known across the country because Adamcik and Draper recorded themselves discussing murder before Cassie’s death. The teenagers shared an interest in horror films, including Scream, and prosecutors presented evidence showing that Cassie’s killing resulted from planning rather than a confrontation that developed without warning.

Adamcik maintained during the criminal proceedings that Draper was responsible for the actual killing and later pursued years of appeals challenging his conviction and sentence. Those efforts did not overturn his first-degree murder conviction or life sentence.

As of July 2026, Adamcik remains incarcerated. The Idaho Department of Correction lists him as being held at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution and serving life sentences connected to first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

Torey Adamcik Grew Up in Pocatello

Torey Michael Adamcik was born on June 14, 1990, and grew up in Pocatello, Idaho. By 2006, he was a junior at Pocatello High School.

Adamcik became friends with Brian Draper after the two attended school together. They shared an interest in movies and filmmaking and began making their own recordings.

Their filmmaking took a darker direction. Investigators later uncovered recordings in which the teenagers discussed murder, potential victims and their interest in people responsible for notorious crimes.

Both were 16 when those discussions turned into the murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart.

Adamcik and Draper Became Interested in Horror Movies and Murder

The Scream movies became one of the most publicized influences associated with Adamcik and Draper.

The teenagers were interested in the fictional killers featured in the franchise and discussed committing violence themselves. Evidence also revealed an interest in the Columbine High School massacre and its perpetrators, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.

Investigators discovered that Draper and Adamcik had discussed possible victims before Cassie was murdered.

Their recordings contained statements about killing people and gaining recognition through violence. They also discussed what became described as a death list containing potential targets.

Cassie was not attacked during a spontaneous disagreement between classmates. Prosecutors argued that she had been selected as part of a plan the teenagers developed before arriving at the house where she was staying.

Weapons Were Obtained Before Cassie’s Murder

The preparation included obtaining knives.

A friend named Joe Lucero later testified that he purchased four knives for Draper and Adamcik using money the teenagers supplied.

The weapons included serrated and non-serrated blades.

Those distinctions became important after Cassie’s body was examined. She had suffered wounds consistent with more than one type of knife.

The prosecution used the acquisition of weapons as part of its evidence that Cassie’s murder had been planned.

Other preparations made on September 22, 2006, provided further evidence of premeditation.

Adamcik and Draper Visited Cassie on Her Final Night

Cassie was spending the weekend house- and pet-sitting for relatives at a home on Whispering Cliffs Drive near Pocatello.

Her boyfriend, Matt Beckham, visited her on September 22.

Adamcik and Draper also came to the house that evening. The four teenagers spent time together and watched Kill Bill: Volume 2.

To Cassie and Beckham, Adamcik and Draper appeared to be classmates coming over to spend time with friends.

The two teenagers were concealing another purpose.

At one point, Draper left the group and unlocked a basement entrance.

That door would allow him and Adamcik to return without Cassie knowing they were inside.

Adamcik and Draper Pretended to Leave

Draper and Adamcik eventually told Cassie and Beckham that they were leaving.

They claimed they planned to go to a movie theater.

Instead, they obtained the equipment they intended to use in their plan.

The teenagers had dark clothing, gloves, masks and knives.

They returned to the Whispering Cliffs house and entered through the basement.

Cassie and Beckham remained upstairs.

Neither knew that Adamcik and Draper had returned and were hiding beneath them.

The Teenagers Hid in the Basement

Adamcik and Draper attempted to lure Cassie and Beckham downstairs.

They made noises from the basement and interfered with the electricity.

The lights went out.

One of the dogs also began reacting to the basement area, barking or growling toward the stairs.

Cassie became frightened.

Beckham called his mother and asked whether he could remain with Cassie overnight. His mother refused but offered to allow Cassie to stay at their house.

Cassie chose to remain because she had promised to care for her relatives’ home and pets.

That decision left Adamcik and Draper waiting for Beckham to leave.

Adamcik Was Still at the House When Beckham Called Him

Beckham’s mother picked him up at approximately 10:30 p.m.

Cassie was now alone.

Beckham later called Adamcik’s cellphone.

He recalled Adamcik speaking in a low voice. Beckham assumed Adamcik and Draper were at the movie theater they had claimed they were visiting.

The truth was different.

Adamcik and Draper were still carrying out their plan at the Whispering Cliffs residence.

They waited until Beckham was gone before confronting Cassie.

Cassie Was Attacked After Her Boyfriend Left

Once Cassie was alone, the teenagers again interfered with the electricity.

They hoped Cassie would come downstairs to investigate.

She did not.

Adamcik and Draper then went upstairs.

Draper had a dagger-style weapon, while Adamcik had a hunting knife.

Cassie was attacked in the living room.

She suffered approximately 30 stab wounds, with medical evidence indicating that multiple wounds could have caused her death.

Investigators determined that both serrated and non-serrated blades had been used.

Adamcik and Draper Blamed Each Other

Responsibility for the physical stabbing became one of the major disputes during the investigation and trials.

Draper initially claimed Adamcik had stabbed Cassie while he remained nearby.

His story changed.

Draper later admitted that he had also stabbed Cassie but claimed Adamcik had directed him to make certain she was dead.

Adamcik took the opposite position.

His defense maintained that Draper was the person responsible for Cassie’s murder and disputed the prosecution’s allegation that Adamcik had participated in the stabbing.

The prosecution argued that the question of which teenager inflicted which wound did not remove Adamcik’s responsibility for the murder plot.

The Killers Went to Black Rock Canyon

After Cassie was killed, Adamcik and Draper left the Whispering Cliffs residence.

They traveled to Black Rock Canyon.

There, the teenagers attempted to destroy and conceal evidence connected to the murder.

They burned or buried clothing, masks, weapons and other material.

Among the items was a videotape containing recordings they had made.

Their attempt to destroy the evidence failed.

Within days, Draper led investigators to the location.

Police Began Examining Adamcik’s Alibi

Cassie’s body was discovered on September 24, 2006.

Police reconstructed the final hours of her life and learned that Adamcik and Draper had been among the last people known to have visited her.

The teenagers told investigators that they had left Cassie’s house and gone to see the movie Pulse.

Their story began falling apart.

Neither provided convincing details about the movie.

Investigators also obtained information indicating that they had not been at the theater as claimed.

Adamcik and Draper then changed their explanation.

They claimed they had spent part of the night going through vehicles.

The changing stories increased investigators’ suspicions.

Draper Broke Before Adamcik

Draper began providing investigators with information about what had happened.

At first, he tried to characterize the events at Cassie’s house as a prank that had escalated.

He also attempted to place primary responsibility on Adamcik.

Draper eventually admitted participating in the stabbing.

He then agreed to take investigators to Black Rock Canyon.

The trip provided police with physical evidence linking the teenagers to Cassie’s murder and exposed something Adamcik and Draper had created themselves.

It was their homemade videotape.

The Homemade Recordings Became Powerful Evidence Against Adamcik

The damaged recording recovered from Black Rock Canyon contained footage made before and after Cassie’s murder.

It showed Adamcik and Draper discussing murder and their plans.

The footage became important evidence of their state of mind before Cassie was killed.

Rather than relying only on Draper’s later claims about what Adamcik had done, prosecutors could present recordings involving Adamcik himself.

The videos helped establish that the crime had been contemplated before the attack.

The recording also weakened the argument that Adamcik was an uninvolved observer who had become caught in Draper’s actions.

Adamcik Was Arrested Five Days After the Murder

Adamcik and Draper were arrested on September 27, 2006.

Adamcik was charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

Although he had been 16 when Cassie was killed, he was prosecuted as an adult.

His defense maintained that Draper was the primary killer.

The prosecution presented a different case.

Prosecutors argued that Adamcik had participated in planning the murder, returned to the house with Draper, remained concealed while waiting for Cassie to become isolated and participated in the events leading to her death.

The recordings provided evidence of the joint planning.

Torey Adamcik Went to Trial in 2007

Adamcik was tried separately from Draper.

Draper had already been convicted of first-degree murder by the time Adamcik’s case reached a jury.

The prosecution presented evidence concerning the teenagers’ preparations, their return to the Whispering Cliffs house and their attempts to destroy evidence after Cassie’s death.

The recordings became a major component of the prosecution case.

Adamcik’s attorneys attempted to distinguish his conduct from Draper’s.

The defense argued that Draper was responsible for the killing and questioned whether the evidence proved Adamcik had stabbed Cassie.

Jurors rejected the effort to separate Adamcik from responsibility for the murder.

Adamcik Was Convicted of Murder and Conspiracy

On June 8, 2007, Torey Adamcik was convicted of first-degree murder.

He was also convicted of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

The verdict established his criminal responsibility for Cassie’s death regardless of the continuing dispute over which wounds had been inflicted by each defendant.

Adamcik faced a severe sentence.

On August 31, 2007, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder.

He also received a sentence of 30 years to life for conspiracy to commit murder.

Unlike Draper’s conspiracy conviction, which was later vacated because of faulty jury instructions, Adamcik’s murder and conspiracy convictions remain reflected in his current Idaho Department of Correction record.

Adamcik Maintained That Draper Was Responsible

Adamcik and his family continued disputing the prosecution’s version of his role after his conviction.

His mother, Shannon Adamcik, became a public advocate for her son and argued that he had been treated unfairly.

She later self-published a book titled The Guilty Innocent.

The position presented by Adamcik’s supporters centered on the claim that Draper had been the driving force behind the murder and that Adamcik should not have been held equally responsible.

The jury had rejected that argument.

Courts examining Adamcik’s later legal challenges also did not overturn his first-degree murder conviction.

Adamcik Appeared in the Documentary Lost for Life

Adamcik became one of the prisoners featured in the 2013 documentary Lost for Life.

The documentary examined people serving life sentences for murders they committed while they were juveniles.

Adamcik’s case was suited to a national legal debate that was developing over juvenile life-without-parole sentences.

He was 16 at the time of Cassie’s murder.

His age later became an important part of efforts to challenge his punishment as United States Supreme Court decisions changed the constitutional rules governing some juvenile life sentences.

Those developments did not result in Adamcik receiving a new sentence.

Adamcik Pursued Post-Conviction Relief

Adamcik’s legal challenges continued for years.

One post-conviction claim focused on the representation he received during sentencing.

Adamcik argued that character witnesses could have provided information that might have affected the sentence imposed by the court.

His former attorney had chosen not to call those witnesses. The reasoning included concern that doing so could allow prosecutors to introduce additional damaging evidence.

A post-conviction hearing was held in 2015.

The request for relief was denied in 2016.

Adamcik appealed again.

The Idaho Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision in December 2017.

Adamcik Challenged His Life Sentence in Federal Court

Adamcik next pursued relief through the federal court system.

In 2018, his attorneys filed a federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

Among the issues raised was whether Adamcik should receive a new sentencing hearing because of United States Supreme Court decisions concerning juveniles sentenced to life without parole.

The legal landscape had changed since Adamcik was sentenced in 2007.

In Miller v. Alabama, the Supreme Court held that mandatory life-without-parole sentencing schemes for juvenile offenders violated the Eighth Amendment. Later decisions addressed how that principle applied to older cases.

Adamcik attempted to use those developments to challenge his sentence.

The federal court rejected his petition in 2019.

The Ninth Circuit Upheld the Result

Adamcik continued his challenge in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The appellate court considered his arguments but did not grant him the new sentencing proceeding he sought.

In March 2022, the Ninth Circuit upheld the denial of relief.

The result left Adamcik’s life sentence in place.

His first-degree murder conviction also remained intact.

Years of state and federal litigation had therefore failed to change the central outcome of his 2007 prosecution.

Adamcik’s Name Later Surfaced in the Nori Jones Case

Adamcik and Draper became connected with another Pocatello murder case years after Cassie’s death.

Nori Jones had been murdered in her Pocatello home in September 2004, two years before Cassie was killed.

During later proceedings involving the man accused of killing Jones, the defense explored alternative suspects and raised questions involving Adamcik and Draper.

Both men were called in connection with the 2024 trial but did not provide testimony that changed the outcome.

The defendant in the Nori Jones case was convicted.

The episode showed how Adamcik and Draper remained part of the history of major Pocatello criminal cases decades after Cassie’s murder.

Where Is Torey Adamcik Now?

Torey Michael Adamcik remains in prison in Idaho.

As of July 27, 2026, the Idaho Department of Correction lists Adamcik, IDOC number 86328, as in custody.

He is 36 years old.

Adamcik is currently housed at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, according to his current correctional record.

His IDOC record continues to list both Murder I and Murder I (Conspiracy) as active offenses arising from the Bannock County case concerning Cassie’s murder.

Both entries carry a sentence satisfaction date of Life.

Is Torey Adamcik Eligible for Parole?

The Idaho Department of Correction does not list a parole eligibility date for Adamcik.

His current record identifies the sentence satisfaction date for both his first-degree murder and conspiracy offenses as life. It also lists his release-to-supervision status as not applicable.

That means Adamcik has no conventional parole release date shown in the state’s current correctional records.

His legal challenges concerning his juvenile sentence have not produced a new sentence that would give him a listed parole date.

As of 2026, he therefore remains incarcerated under the life sentences imposed following Cassie’s murder.

Adamcik and Draper Are Now Housed at Different Prisons

Although Adamcik and Draper were convicted of the same murder, current Idaho Department of Correction records show that they are no longer housed at the same correctional facility.

Adamcik is listed at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution.

Draper is currently listed at the Idaho State Correctional Institution.

Both men remain incarcerated for the murder they committed as teenagers.

Adamcik’s current placement at a maximum-security facility provides another indication of how far his life has moved from the 16-year-old Pocatello High School student seen in the recordings made before Cassie’s murder.

What Happened to Torey Adamcik After Cassie’s Murder?

Torey Adamcik was 16 when he participated in the events that resulted in the murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart on September 22, 2006.

He and Brian Draper visited Cassie while she was house-sitting, left an entrance unlocked, returned to the residence with masks and knives and hid inside while Cassie and her boyfriend remained upstairs.

They waited until Cassie was alone.

Cassie was then stabbed approximately 30 times.

Afterward, Adamcik and Draper traveled to Black Rock Canyon and attempted to conceal or destroy evidence. That effort failed when Draper led investigators back to the location.

The videotape recovered there became one of the defining pieces of evidence against them because it documented their discussions about murder.

Adamcik was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in 2007 and received life imprisonment without parole for the murder.

His family continued to challenge the conclusion that he bore the same responsibility as Draper, and Adamcik spent years pursuing relief through state and federal courts.

Those efforts did not overturn his murder conviction or secure his release.

As of 2026, Torey Michael Adamcik remains incarcerated at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution. He is 36 years old and continues to serve life sentences arising from the murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart.

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