Jury finds Timothy Bass guilty in 1989 killing of Mandy Stavik
BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- A jury on Friday found Timothy Bass guilty of killing Mandy Stavik in 1989, bringing closure to the 30-year-old cold case.
Stavik vanished just after Thanksgiving 1989 while jogging near her home in Acme, east of Bellingham. The 18-year-old was home on break from her freshman year at Central Washington University.
A volunteer firefighter found her body during a search three days later in the South Fork of the Nooksack River.
Authorities say Bass was a suspect for years in the rape, abduction and murder of Stavik, but investigators couldn’t prove it until they recently got his DNA. Sheriff’s deputies arrested Bass on Dec. 12, 2017.
The case finally went to trial this month. Stavik's family members took the stand and gave emotional testimony.
On the stand, Mandy's sister recalled the moment she learned her sister had disappeared.
“I was distraught,” she told the court. “I thought this can’t be happening to us again.”
The jury began deliberations on Thursday and delivered their verdict Friday morning. Bass was found guilty of first-degree murder.