Delayed Justice: The Murder of Mandy Stavik (1989)
A Jog on Thanksgiving Weekend
For most families, Thanksgiving weekend is a time to kick off the holiday season by gathering with loved ones and eating a fattening feast. For the Stavik family, it was the beginning of a nightmare that would last three decades.
Acme, Washington is a small town nestled along the Nooksack River. In 1989, fewer than two hundred people lived in the rural village. Mandy Stavik was eighteen years old, a recent Mount Baker High School graduate, and a first-year student at Central Washington University. Everyone in Acme knew Mandy. Those closest to her described her as vivacious and larger than life. She was a top student at Mount Baker High School and was heavily involved in athletics, including track and basketball. Mandy was also a cheerleader and aspired to become an airline pilot.
Mary Stavik felt blessed to have such a kind, ambitious child. “She wanted to do everything … she wanted to be very good to the best at everything she did. And she was.”
She spent Thanksgiving Day with her family but had plans to meet up with friends the next day. That Friday afternoon, around 2:00 pm, she decided to go for a jog with the family dog, Kyra. Mandy’s mother, Mary, testified that her daughter usually ran west from their house on Strand Road, crossing Highway 9, and continuing until she reached the south fork of the Nooksack River before running back the same route. This generally covered five miles round trip. When Mandy didn’t return home, Mary began to worry. And when the family dog returned to the Stavik house without Mandy, river slit remnants covering its hindquarters, Mary called the police.
A widespread search for Mandy began immediately. It took three days before her body was found in Nooksack River by Detective Ron Peterson. She wore only her running shoes, her body marred by scratches from the blackberry bushes near the river. The medical examiner theorized that she had gotten the scratches while running from her attacker. He also noted that she had suffered blunt force trauma to her forehead but likely died from drowning. Male DNA was found on Mandy’s body, indicating a sexual assault. Her time of death was listed as between 3:30pm-4:30pm.
Mandy’s future was incredibly bright, which makes her senseless death all the more tragic. Over 1,000 people attended a memorial held by the family, and it was clear that despite her young age, she had touched many lives. The people of Acme mourned their loss together while the police searched for her killer. There were a few persons of interest, including Mandy’s boyfriend Rick Zender, but all of them were cleared. Around 30 men gave their DNA to investigators, but none led to a match.
Sadly, the case went cold for the next twenty-four years, and Mandy’s mother began to lose hope that her daughter’s killer would ever be caught.
The Suspect
But no one in Acme forgot Mandy Stavik, including Heather Backstrom and Merrilee Anderson. In 2013, both women were with their children at a local water park when the subject of Mandy Stavik’s murder came up. Heather claimed to know who killed Mandy. Merrilee said that she knew as well. The two women exchanged stories about one man – Timothy Bass, another Mount Baker High School graduate. They had both had uncomfortable and scary encounters with him and after comparing their stories, the two mothers took their suspicions to investigators, who began to look into Tim Bass.
Tim Bass had refused to give the police his DNA several times throughout the investigation, both in 2013 and 2015. His now ex-wife Gina said that he was paranoid over what police could discover with DNA, even going out of his way to hide his trash so no one could go poking around inside it.
The more investigators looked at Tim Bass as a potential suspect, the more convinced they became that Tim was Mandy’s killer. But without DNA, it wasn’t easy to prove.
In 2017, Tim was working as a delivery man for Franz Bakery. His co-worker Kim Wagner realized that Tim was a suspect in the rape and murder of Mandy Stavik. She took matters into her own hands and waited for the right moment – when Tim would throw something away from which the police could extract DNA. Finally, the day came when Kim watched Tim Bass toss a water cup and a Coke can into the garbage before he left. She quickly gathered both items and took them to the detective in charge of Mandy’s case, Detective Kevin Bowhay.
The DNA from the items matched the profile of Mandy’s killer, and Tim Bass was arrested for murder.
Despite initially claiming never to have had any contact or relationship with Mandy, he quickly changed his story once detectives informed Tim that they had his DNA. He told the authorities that he and Mandy had a secret sexual relationship. Many of Mandy’s friends and family have denied that Mandy would have ever had a relationship with Tim Bass, and he could not provide any evidence to back up his claims.
The State charged Tim with first-degree felony murder, alleging that he had caused Stavik’s death in the course or furtherance of rape, attempted rape, kidnapping, or attempted kidnapping.
While awaiting trial, Tim Bass’s brother, Tom Bass, visited him in jail. During one of these visits, Tom would testify that Tim asked him to help create an alibi.
“He said the cops are lying, everyone is out to get him. Everyone is lying. He said they are going to kill me in here and the main, the main point of it is 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.’ And he said, ‘Maybe [other friends of theirs] could say that they knew her back then as well.'[“]
Tom also alleges that Tim asked their mother to blame the murder on Tim’s father, who had since passed away, but she said no. Their mother would later tell the court that no such conversation ever occurred. One person who did give Tim an alibi was his wife, Gina. In 2017, she told investigators that she saw Mandy running on her way to Tim’s house, but after Tim’s arrest, she recanted, citing fear of her husband as the reason she lied. She then filed for divorce, feeling safe enough with Tim in custody to remove herself from a marriage she described as a “prison”.
Timothy Bass was found guilty of murder in the first degree on May 24, 2019. The judge sentenced him to 27 years in jail. Tim maintains his innocence but wishes “no ill will” toward anyone involved in the case. He filed an appeal of his conviction but was denied by the court. In 2022, the Washington State Supreme Court rejected a review of Bass’s case.
Remembering Mandy
It took almost thirty years to get justice for Mandy Stavik, but thanks to determined detectives and a few brave women, the right man is behind bars. Mary Stavik, now 86, still marvels at how special her daughter was.
“I don’t know why she was or how she got to be that way. … I kind of learned that the living have to go on to honor the goodness in what you’ve lost.”
Final Thoughts
As I read articles and watched some specials about Mandy’s case, I couldn’t help but wonder if she was Tim’s only victim. His ex-wife, brother, and sister-in-law describe him as having no respect for women. In an episode of Evil Lives Here, Gina talks about various incidents throughout their relationship, where Tim treats his mother horribly and makes demeaning comments about women. Supposedly, he also enjoyed watching true crime shows, commenting on how stupid the killers were for getting caught.
Was Mandy Stavik his only victim?
Tim was young when he raped and murdered her. Do those violent urges go away? Would Tim be able to control himself after one murder? Gina lamented that Tim would sometimes come home late and get angry when she would question him. Toward the end of the episode, she said she would not be surprised if, someday, other murders were linked to her ex-husband. It’s certainly something to consider, given the psychology of killers like Tim, who fit a specific profile.
Mandy was so young when her life was taken from her, and it’s apparent that her death affected the entire town of Acme and beyond. Women should feel safe to run, whether in a largely populated city or a small town with little more than a general store and gas station. I’ve thought about Mandy Stavik a lot over the past few days while researching this story, and I know there are so many more cases like hers where families of lost loved ones are waiting years for the same kind of justice. I am glad this one has some closure.
Tim Bass should have to serve out the rest of his days behind bars. He lived his life for 28 years after taking Mandy’s. He got a job, married, and had three kids – things Mandy was never allowed to do herself. Bass should never get to take a step outside of prison again.
Since 1990, Mount Baker High School has offered the Mandy Stavik Scholarship to MBHS graduates who have actively participated in the Mount Baker High School Music Program. If you wish to donate to the scholarship’s endowment, follow this link.
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