First posted September 2nd, 2009
Tammy was last seen by reliable, multiple witnesses at about 11:15 pm on Sept. 17th 1992, at the Stephenson farm in northwest Nebraska.1,2
At about this time, Tammy was getting ready to go back to Yankton with Eric Stukel, who claims he took her back to his parents’ house.3
Nearly a week later, her body would be found within a ravine 1 1/2 miles by road from the Stephenson farmhouse.4
Over the course of the evening of September 17th, about 80 people were in attendance at this party — all potential suspects, all subject to questioning by law enforcement.1,2
Though Stukel claims he took Tammy back to Yankton with him, which was eight miles away, and also claims he was with her until as late as 12:30 to 1:00 am, contents of her stomach revealed that her time of death was likely no later than 12:30 am.5
Out of all the suspects who could have potentially killed Tammy, only one would confess to this crime while Tammy was still missing (courtroom testimony of this confession will be revealed in later posts) and only one person would fail a polygraph administered by law enforcement (the results of which will also be later revealed.)
With these facts in hand, law enforcement quickly impounded Eric Stukel’s automobile. There they found physical evidence indicating that Tammy’s body had been placed in Stukel’s trunk.5,6,7, (See the post: “The Three Fibers“.)
According to a group of teenagers standing at the front door to the Stephenson farmhouse (which was on the south side of the house) Tammy was with them at about 11:15 pm.1
At about this time, Eric Stukel came from the house after smoking pot with some friends upstairs and told Tammy, “Let’s go.”1
According to another friend of Tammy’s, she and Tammy took a bathroom break at about this same time, before this friend left the party.
This all contradicts Eric Stukel’s original claim to law enforcement that he left the party with Tammy at 10:45 pm and was at his parents’ house with Tammy by 11:00 pm.
Confronted by this discrepancy, Stukel changed his story, claiming that they probably left the party closer to 11:15 pm.
Though it should have been the least of his concern, apologists have argued that Stukel was merely concerned about a possible 11 pm curfew violation, so he lied to law enforcement about leaving the party at 10:45 pm and getting home by 11:00 pm, and only changed his story when his memory was “refreshed” in later interviews.
While Stukel taking Tammy home to Yankton is not impossible, these facts need to be taken into consideration:
a.) the fibers found in Stukel’s trunk and on Tammy’s body indicate that Tammy’s body was in his trunk.2,5
b.) the close proximity between the ravine where Tammy’s body was discovered and the location of the Stephenson farm suggests that Tammy died at or near that party spot.
c.) Tammy’s time of death suggests strongly she could not have been with Stukel at his house in Yankton unless she was being killed at or near his house in Yankton.5
I’ll go one further and give Stukel the benefit of the doubt about taking Tammy back to Yankton…
At some point, Tammy and Stukel had to make their way to his car, which was parked on the gravel road north of the farmhouse, out of sight from where the party was taking place. When, though, isn’t exactly clear.
10:45 pm, 11:15 pm, 11:30 pm—can any of these times be trusted at all? Certainly, people at the party weren’t keeping Robert’s Rules minutes, but those at the party who were still in high school did have curfew and school the next day.
I surmise many were keeping track of time because they needed to know when they had to be home. Eric Stukel did not have that problem. He had a seperate entrance to his basement bedroom that led him outside. He could come and go as he pleased. His younger sister had an adult boyfriend spending that night in the same basement.8 A parental curfew was unlikely at issue.
Even if Stukel and Tammy did leave by 11:15 pm as Stukel later claimed, he still might have had time to get back to Yankton, buy more beer, go home, smoke pot, and “make love” to Tammy. 3 And Tammy might have had time to leave his house before her time of death; however, this contradicts Eric Stukel’s own testimony and his sister’s alibi.3,8
His sister claimed to see Tammy in the Stukel house at about 1:00 am that night. The prosecution questioned her testimony by pointing out that her recollection of that night seemed to have become more elaborate as time progressed,8 suggesting that that was not how memory works.
But there’s more….
Interestingly, one report places Eric Stukel’s car still at the Stephenson farm after 11:30 pm This report seems pretty reliable, considering fluid evidence found by a forensic team inside Stukel’s car would seem to match up with this key event (as well as shed some light on many of the wrinkles in Eric Stukel’s timeline.)1,5
Based upon the discovery of body fluids detected in Stukel’s car and found on Tammy’s body (which will be discussed in the next post) I believe Eric Stukel killed Tammy sometime between 11:45 pm and midnight at or near his car, likely very close to that farmhouse.
Why do I believe this time window is accurate?
Around midnight, witnesses would report hearing some sort of altercation erupting on the gravel road directly north of the Stephenson farmhouse, where Eric Stukel and several others had parked that night.
Several minutes would pass before a couple of the people remaining at the party would work up the nerve to go investigate the altercation—was it the sheriff coming to bust up the party? An angry neighbor? A lovers’ spat turned violent? A fight between two drunks?
By the time those witnesses would arrive on the scene, whoever had been there had fled.
In the end, this fluid factor — the fluids found on and in Stukel’s vehicle5 — and the altercation heard on that gravel road at midnight would become more puzzle pieces to the mystery surrounding Tammy’s death.
WORKS CITED
1. Rothanzl, Lorna. “Friends Testify at Stukel Trial.” Yankton Press and Dakotan. Oct. 2, 1996
2. Rothanzl, Lorna. “Testimony Begins In Stukel Trial.” Yankton Press and Dakotan. Sept. 27, 1996
3. Rothanzl, Lorna. “Stukel Takes Stand: Prosecution Rests, Stukel Denies Knowledge Of Death.” Yankton Press and Dakotan, Oct. 3, 1996
4. P&D Staff Reports. “Reports of Found Body Investigated.” Yankton Press and Dakotan. Sept. 23, 1992
5. Rothanzl, Lorna. “Experts Testify in Stukel Trial.” Yankton Press and Dakotan, Oct. 1, 1996
6. Rothanzl, Lorna. “New Clues Revealed: Sufficient Evidence Binds Stukel Over To District Court.” Yankton Press and Dakotan. Oct. 31, 1995
7. O’Neill, Colleen. “Haas was in car trunk before ditch.” Yankton Press and Dakotan. Jan. 11, 1993
8. Rothanzl, Lorna. “Stukel’s Sister Back Up Alibi At Trial: Prosecutor Questions Testimony Of Sister, Clerk.” Yankton Press and Dakotan, Oct. 4, 1996
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