State Supreme Court acts on review of Bass’ conviction in 1989 Stavik murder

The Washington State Supreme Court denied review this week of Timothy Forrest Bass’ conviction in the 1989 abduction, rape and murder of Amanda “Mandy” Stavik.

In a unanimous decision, the court decided at its Tuesday, Jan. 4, motion hearing that it would deny review of Bass’ court case. Bass, 54, of Everson, had appealed his conviction to the state’s high court after the Court of Appeals Division 1 ruled in June that Bass’ 2019 murder conviction would stand.

While the appeals court determined that the Whatcom County Superior Court wrongly applied a 1990 version of the state’s felony murder law in convicting Bass, rather than the 1989 version, it determined it was a harmless error. The appeals court rejected the rest of Bass’ arguments challenging the DNA evidence linking him to the crime, insufficient evidence of kidnapping or rape and ineffective assistance by his defense attorneys, among other things.

Former longtime Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney David McEachran said everyone in the prosecutor’s office was gratified with the high court’s ruling this week.

McEachran, who retired in 2018, was appointed as special prosecutor to handle Bass’ case and has been involved with the case since 1989. He said Friday in an interview with The Bellingham Herald that the state Supreme Court’s decision means Bass’ appeals are effectively done.

“If you look at this case in its entirety, there’s no other case I’ve handled that’s had an impact on the community like this,” McEachran said. “This result is as good as we could get as far as justice in the criminal sense. But boy, for the family and friends that loved Mandy Stavik, this is an ongoing tragedy.”

“I’m very happy (Bass) is in prison. It’s where he belongs. I’m very happy we got this result,” McEachran added.

Stavik disappeared Nov. 24, 1989, while jogging near her home on Strand Road in Clipper, near Acme in Whatcom County. Three days later, the 18-year-old’s nude body was found in the south fork of the Nooksack River.

On July 2, 2019, Bass was sentenced to nearly 27 years in prison — almost as much time as he was free — for killing Stavik. A jury found Bass guilty of first-degree murder May 24, 2019, after a three-week trial in Whatcom County Superior Court. The jury also returned special verdicts finding Bass guilty of first-degree rape, attempted first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping and attempted first-degree kidnapping.

One of the ways to charge first-degree murder in Washington state is if a person commits or attempts to commit the crimes of rape or kidnapping and in the course of those actions, causes the death of another person.

Bass maintained his innocence and filed his appeal immediately following his conviction.

Bass now has 90 days to decide whether to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.

Bass had a second pending appeal that centered around review of a Whatcom County Superior Court judge’s decision in late 2020 denying Bass an evidentiary hearing that a former defense attorney argued would cast doubt on Bass’ conviction.

A judge ruled in early November that an evidentiary hearing presenting the evidence Bass’ former defense attorney had about a potential suspect who was believed to have never been investigated would not be held because the evidence was available to the defense and could have been developed before the trial. The judge also denied Bass’ motion for relief from judgment, which would have been a dismissal of his conviction or a new trial.

Bass was appointed an outside attorney in the case after the Whatcom County Public Defender’s office requested to be removed from representing Bass. Bass’ new attorney then appealed the judge’s decision to the appeals court.

In August 2021, Bass’ attorney filed a motion for voluntary dismissal of the appeal. The appeals court granted the motion in September 2021 and dismissed the appeal, according to court records.

Bass is currently incarcerated at the Clallam Bay Corrections Center, according to the state Department of Corrections.

This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 11:23 AM.

Denver Pratt

The Bellingham Herald

360-715-2236

Reporter Denver Pratt joined The Bellingham Herald in 2017 and covers courts and criminal and social justice. She has worked in Montana, Florida and Virginia. She lives in Alger, Wash.