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September 18th, 2009
Today marks the 17th anniversary of
Tammy's murder.
For a brief overview of the basic facts surrounding this
case, please see the post from Sept. 9, 2009.
PROBABLY SOME SORT OF ACCIDENT
Even though pathologists – scientists who are trained
professionals in their field – ruled Tammy’s death
homicide, this claim of accidental death has been the
mantra chanted by far too many lawyers, business
people, and concerned citizens in the greater Yankton
area over the years – people with no such scientific
training, who had no involvement in the autopsy and
other medical examinations.
“Such a thing just couldn’t happen in our little town.
Why can’t we just call it some sort of accident? It’s just
so hard to believe!”
I entertained this notion of accidental death for quite
some time myself, but the physical evidence was too
compelling. According to the pathologists who
examined the evidence of her injuries, Tammy was
assaulted and killed.
None of the rumors — her falling out the window of a
moving car, her falling off the roof of a moving car, her
falling out the upstairs window or roof of the
Stephenson farmhouse — matched up with the physical
evidence revealed in her autopsies and at the crime
scenes.
After The Homecoming was released, I was challenged
by a rather influential and respected lawyer on the
facts of the case: “How do you know this wasn’t some
sort of accident? How do you know these weren’t just
innocent kids who got scared and didn’t report what
happened to the police?”
At best, the question was totally legitimate.
I’m guessing though, from the tone the lawyer took, his
question was meant to be antagonistic — this sort of
thing just couldn’t happen in Yankton. Who are you to
question the fine upstanding youth of our community
or the lawyers who represent their families? Why can’t
you just let it go?
“Have you studied the evidence?” I asked the lawyer.
“Well, no, but—”
“If these were just innocent kids covering up some sort
of wild accident,” I interrupted, “Why keep it a secret
for so many years, especially knowing how much
Tammy’s family has suffered?”
I have never heard a reasonable answer to this
question, but the baseless (and sometimes fantastical)
rumors still persist about how she died, despite
evidence pointing toward Eric Stukel’s culpability.
Having said that, I will not be as arrogant and simple-
minded as to say that I know with one-hundred percent
certainty Eric Stukel is Tammy’s killer.
What I do know is that no other evidence points in any
other direction: and the police have gone on wild-goose
chases, following even the tiniest of leads, the wildest
of rumors...
Still, some won't be convinced no matter what evidence
is presented...
So, for the first time in print, I will examine alternate
theories posited to explain away Tammy’s death
against the physical and circumstantial evidence.
My hope is that some of these rumors will be put to
death:
***
CAR-SURFING: this rumor was started when it was
reported that Tammy’s shoes were found off of her
body in the ravine. The theory goes Tammy and her
friends would have been riding down County 121,
Tammy “car-surfing” barefoot atop one of their cars.
She would have slipped and tumbled into the ravine, or
she might have fallen somewhere else and her friends
might have panicked and transported her body to the
ravine, tossing her shoes and purse down after her.
THE RUB: The problem with this theory is that her
injuries and the condition of her clothing were not
consistent with a fall from the roof of a car. The
frictional forces involved in an accident like this
would have caused more serious abrasions to her flesh.
Plus, there would most likely have been staining and
pitting on her clothing in a pattern consistent with a
fall from a moving vehicle. Most kids who have crashed
their bikes and have had to pick the gravel from their
knees will attest to as much.
***
DRIVING COOKIES: According to this rumor, kids at
the Stephenson farm were driving cookies on one of
the gravel roads near the farm. Tammy would have
been in the crowd watching, when one of the vehicles
would have gotten out of control and hit her.
THE RUB: Again, the problem with this theory lies in
the injuries she had sustained. First, she had defense
wounds on her hands and arms. Second, her neck
injury wasn’t consistent with a sudden impact, but
rather slow blunt-force pressure.
***
PEEING OUT THE WINDOW OF A CAR: In this blame-the-
victim scenario, Tammy is riding home and has to go to
the bathroom. The driver (wasn’t it Stukel who
claimed to take her home?) chooses not to stop. Tammy
decides to pee out the window and falls from the car.
THE RUB: Precisely as in the above car-surfing
scenario, her wounds aren’t consistent with a fall from
a moving vehicle.
***
PEEING BEHIND A CAR: A car at the Stephenson party
backs up and hits Tammy, breaking her neck.
THE RUB: This theory does have a bit of credence,
considering there were bodily fluids found on the back
bumper of Stukel’s car. But these fluids most likely got
there when Tammy’s body was stuffed in Stukel’s
trunk. In the end, two many questions arise to put
much stock in this theory. Some of those include: how
fast was that car backing up when it hit Tammy? Why
weren’t there wounds on Tammy’s body consistent
with any type of automobile impact? Why wasn’t there
pitting and staining on her clothing consistent with
being dragged, or forced down, or thrown by a vehicle?
Why keep such a freak accident like this a secret? Why
make up an elaborate and impossible story about your
night with Tammy and allow yourself to go to trial for
manslaughter, when all you have to do is admit that
Tammy died accidentally on that farm?
In the end, there is a big difference between the
damage one human being can do another, and the
damage a thousand pounds of moving steel can do to
that same person—a big difference impossible for any
reasonable person to ignore.
***
FALLING OUT THE SECOND-STORY WINDOW OF THE
STEPHENSON FARMHOUSE: In this scenario, allegedly
started by Dan Stephenson and Jenny Gooby, Eric
Stukel and Tammy are the last people at the party, but
they have been locked inside the farmhouse. They try
to escape out an upstairs window and Tammy falls.
THE RUB: Tammy’s injuries weren’t consistent with a
fall. Had she fallen from a second-story window hard
enough to break her neck, there would have been
considerable trauma to her head. These injuries
weren’t evident.
***
HIT BY A PASSING CAR ON COUNTY 121: In this
scenario, Tammy is hitchhiking when a passing car
strikes her and her body is thrown into the ravine by
the impact.
THE RUB: Tammy’s injuries weren’t consistent with a
fall into the ravine or impact with a car.
***
ABDUCTION: Tammy is abducted by a stranger after
walking away from the Pump N Stuff on 2nd and
Walnut in Yankton. By some strange coincidence her
body winds up in the ravine near the Stephenson farm.
THE RUB: Again, time of death is the problem here.
Tammy would have had to have eaten a second plate of
spaghetti at a later time for Stukel’s story about taking
her home and her walking off into the night to be true.
Besides the problem with time of death, there has not
been one shred of evidence linking Tammy’s death to
another person. If further testing were done on her
articles of clothing and purse, could such evidence
emerge? Possibly. Would this be likely? Probably not.
***
CARNIES: This theory went that the carnival was in
town, so the Carnies must have killed Tammy. Some
people have even suggested that the carnies were
camping out at South Shore, not far from the
Stephenson farm and within a very short distance of
the location of the ravine, lending some credence to
this possibility.
THE RUB: To bring this theory into any sort of realm of
possibility, we must entertain several notions. First,
Tammy would have had to have eaten another meal of
spaghetti some time after her meal with Stukel at Pizza
Hut. Second, she would have had to have been killed
without one trace of evidence left on her person
linking her to any unknown attacker. Third, her killer
or killers would have to have had no interest in
stealing any of her personal belongings. Fourth, her
killer would have had to have followed her body into
the ravine after barrel rolling it down there and would
have had to make the conscientious choice of removing
her pants and returning her broken watch to her wrist.
***
ANOTHER FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER KILLED
TAMMY: The defense tried to plant the supposition in
the minds of the jurors that Tammy was picked up near
the Pump N Stuff and taken back into Nebraska. Some
people have even speculated that Tammy lost
something like a bracelet at the farm and wanted to
return there to find the belonging.
THE RUB: Several problems arise with this theory,
some of which have already been addressed. Did
Tammy eat more spaghetti? How did identical red
plastic fibers end up on Tammy’s body and in Eric
Stukel’s trunk? Where did the black fibers on Tammy’s
clothing come from if not from Stukel’s trunk? What
about the urine? What about Stukel’s peculiar
behavior? What about his failing the polygraph? Why,
in the end, did not one shred of evidence link any other
person to Tammy’s death?
***
HE WHO CASTS STONES: This theory goes that I’m
responsible for Tammy’s death, and that my writing of
The Homecoming was a clever attempt to cover up my
actions and pin the blame on Stukel.
THE RUB: I was at Fort Benning, going through Basic
Training at the time of Tammy’s murder.
Do any of these theories have merit? Sure, any of these
theories could be possible. In fact, space aliens might
have come down and abducted Tammy and returned her
dead body to the ravine. That too is possible, but (like
all these theories) it lies outside the realm of reason.
Again and again, every examination of the evidence
returns us to one most likely suspect—Eric Stukel.
Some have suggested that, Eric Stukel might have
killed Tammy, but that he was just a kid—that he didn’t
mean what he did—and should be forgiven.
If that’s the case, if he didn’t mean it, why can’t he
come forward and confess his crime now. Accidents
happen, right?
Today marks the 17th anniversary of
Tammy's murder.
For a brief overview of the basic facts surrounding this
case, please see the post from Sept. 9, 2009.
PROBABLY SOME SORT OF ACCIDENT
Even though pathologists – scientists who are trained
professionals in their field – ruled Tammy’s death
homicide, this claim of accidental death has been the
mantra chanted by far too many lawyers, business
people, and concerned citizens in the greater Yankton
area over the years – people with no such scientific
training, who had no involvement in the autopsy and
other medical examinations.
“Such a thing just couldn’t happen in our little town.
Why can’t we just call it some sort of accident? It’s just
so hard to believe!”
I entertained this notion of accidental death for quite
some time myself, but the physical evidence was too
compelling. According to the pathologists who
examined the evidence of her injuries, Tammy was
assaulted and killed.
None of the rumors — her falling out the window of a
moving car, her falling off the roof of a moving car, her
falling out the upstairs window or roof of the
Stephenson farmhouse — matched up with the physical
evidence revealed in her autopsies and at the crime
scenes.
After The Homecoming was released, I was challenged
by a rather influential and respected lawyer on the
facts of the case: “How do you know this wasn’t some
sort of accident? How do you know these weren’t just
innocent kids who got scared and didn’t report what
happened to the police?”
At best, the question was totally legitimate.
I’m guessing though, from the tone the lawyer took, his
question was meant to be antagonistic — this sort of
thing just couldn’t happen in Yankton. Who are you to
question the fine upstanding youth of our community
or the lawyers who represent their families? Why can’t
you just let it go?
“Have you studied the evidence?” I asked the lawyer.
“Well, no, but—”
“If these were just innocent kids covering up some sort
of wild accident,” I interrupted, “Why keep it a secret
for so many years, especially knowing how much
Tammy’s family has suffered?”
I have never heard a reasonable answer to this
question, but the baseless (and sometimes fantastical)
rumors still persist about how she died, despite
evidence pointing toward Eric Stukel’s culpability.
Having said that, I will not be as arrogant and simple-
minded as to say that I know with one-hundred percent
certainty Eric Stukel is Tammy’s killer.
What I do know is that no other evidence points in any
other direction: and the police have gone on wild-goose
chases, following even the tiniest of leads, the wildest
of rumors...
Still, some won't be convinced no matter what evidence
is presented...
So, for the first time in print, I will examine alternate
theories posited to explain away Tammy’s death
against the physical and circumstantial evidence.
My hope is that some of these rumors will be put to
death:
***
CAR-SURFING: this rumor was started when it was
reported that Tammy’s shoes were found off of her
body in the ravine. The theory goes Tammy and her
friends would have been riding down County 121,
Tammy “car-surfing” barefoot atop one of their cars.
She would have slipped and tumbled into the ravine, or
she might have fallen somewhere else and her friends
might have panicked and transported her body to the
ravine, tossing her shoes and purse down after her.
THE RUB: The problem with this theory is that her
injuries and the condition of her clothing were not
consistent with a fall from the roof of a car. The
frictional forces involved in an accident like this
would have caused more serious abrasions to her flesh.
Plus, there would most likely have been staining and
pitting on her clothing in a pattern consistent with a
fall from a moving vehicle. Most kids who have crashed
their bikes and have had to pick the gravel from their
knees will attest to as much.
***
DRIVING COOKIES: According to this rumor, kids at
the Stephenson farm were driving cookies on one of
the gravel roads near the farm. Tammy would have
been in the crowd watching, when one of the vehicles
would have gotten out of control and hit her.
THE RUB: Again, the problem with this theory lies in
the injuries she had sustained. First, she had defense
wounds on her hands and arms. Second, her neck
injury wasn’t consistent with a sudden impact, but
rather slow blunt-force pressure.
***
PEEING OUT THE WINDOW OF A CAR: In this blame-the-
victim scenario, Tammy is riding home and has to go to
the bathroom. The driver (wasn’t it Stukel who
claimed to take her home?) chooses not to stop. Tammy
decides to pee out the window and falls from the car.
THE RUB: Precisely as in the above car-surfing
scenario, her wounds aren’t consistent with a fall from
a moving vehicle.
***
PEEING BEHIND A CAR: A car at the Stephenson party
backs up and hits Tammy, breaking her neck.
THE RUB: This theory does have a bit of credence,
considering there were bodily fluids found on the back
bumper of Stukel’s car. But these fluids most likely got
there when Tammy’s body was stuffed in Stukel’s
trunk. In the end, two many questions arise to put
much stock in this theory. Some of those include: how
fast was that car backing up when it hit Tammy? Why
weren’t there wounds on Tammy’s body consistent
with any type of automobile impact? Why wasn’t there
pitting and staining on her clothing consistent with
being dragged, or forced down, or thrown by a vehicle?
Why keep such a freak accident like this a secret? Why
make up an elaborate and impossible story about your
night with Tammy and allow yourself to go to trial for
manslaughter, when all you have to do is admit that
Tammy died accidentally on that farm?
In the end, there is a big difference between the
damage one human being can do another, and the
damage a thousand pounds of moving steel can do to
that same person—a big difference impossible for any
reasonable person to ignore.
***
FALLING OUT THE SECOND-STORY WINDOW OF THE
STEPHENSON FARMHOUSE: In this scenario, allegedly
started by Dan Stephenson and Jenny Gooby, Eric
Stukel and Tammy are the last people at the party, but
they have been locked inside the farmhouse. They try
to escape out an upstairs window and Tammy falls.
THE RUB: Tammy’s injuries weren’t consistent with a
fall. Had she fallen from a second-story window hard
enough to break her neck, there would have been
considerable trauma to her head. These injuries
weren’t evident.
***
HIT BY A PASSING CAR ON COUNTY 121: In this
scenario, Tammy is hitchhiking when a passing car
strikes her and her body is thrown into the ravine by
the impact.
THE RUB: Tammy’s injuries weren’t consistent with a
fall into the ravine or impact with a car.
***
ABDUCTION: Tammy is abducted by a stranger after
walking away from the Pump N Stuff on 2nd and
Walnut in Yankton. By some strange coincidence her
body winds up in the ravine near the Stephenson farm.
THE RUB: Again, time of death is the problem here.
Tammy would have had to have eaten a second plate of
spaghetti at a later time for Stukel’s story about taking
her home and her walking off into the night to be true.
Besides the problem with time of death, there has not
been one shred of evidence linking Tammy’s death to
another person. If further testing were done on her
articles of clothing and purse, could such evidence
emerge? Possibly. Would this be likely? Probably not.
***
CARNIES: This theory went that the carnival was in
town, so the Carnies must have killed Tammy. Some
people have even suggested that the carnies were
camping out at South Shore, not far from the
Stephenson farm and within a very short distance of
the location of the ravine, lending some credence to
this possibility.
THE RUB: To bring this theory into any sort of realm of
possibility, we must entertain several notions. First,
Tammy would have had to have eaten another meal of
spaghetti some time after her meal with Stukel at Pizza
Hut. Second, she would have had to have been killed
without one trace of evidence left on her person
linking her to any unknown attacker. Third, her killer
or killers would have to have had no interest in
stealing any of her personal belongings. Fourth, her
killer would have had to have followed her body into
the ravine after barrel rolling it down there and would
have had to make the conscientious choice of removing
her pants and returning her broken watch to her wrist.
***
ANOTHER FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER KILLED
TAMMY: The defense tried to plant the supposition in
the minds of the jurors that Tammy was picked up near
the Pump N Stuff and taken back into Nebraska. Some
people have even speculated that Tammy lost
something like a bracelet at the farm and wanted to
return there to find the belonging.
THE RUB: Several problems arise with this theory,
some of which have already been addressed. Did
Tammy eat more spaghetti? How did identical red
plastic fibers end up on Tammy’s body and in Eric
Stukel’s trunk? Where did the black fibers on Tammy’s
clothing come from if not from Stukel’s trunk? What
about the urine? What about Stukel’s peculiar
behavior? What about his failing the polygraph? Why,
in the end, did not one shred of evidence link any other
person to Tammy’s death?
***
HE WHO CASTS STONES: This theory goes that I’m
responsible for Tammy’s death, and that my writing of
The Homecoming was a clever attempt to cover up my
actions and pin the blame on Stukel.
THE RUB: I was at Fort Benning, going through Basic
Training at the time of Tammy’s murder.
Do any of these theories have merit? Sure, any of these
theories could be possible. In fact, space aliens might
have come down and abducted Tammy and returned her
dead body to the ravine. That too is possible, but (like
all these theories) it lies outside the realm of reason.
Again and again, every examination of the evidence
returns us to one most likely suspect—Eric Stukel.
Some have suggested that, Eric Stukel might have
killed Tammy, but that he was just a kid—that he didn’t
mean what he did—and should be forgiven.
If that’s the case, if he didn’t mean it, why can’t he
come forward and confess his crime now. Accidents
happen, right?
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