They could have taken separate cars, or even been separated by a barrier in the same vehicle. Instead, Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper chose to sit next to each other in a Bannock County Sheriff's van.

The two convicted teen killers, who blamed each other for the murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart throughout the legal process, held polite conversations as they rode to prison on Friday just minutes after being sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Lt. K.G. Fonnesbeck of the Bannock County Sheriff's Office, along with three other officers, transported Stoddart's killers to prison. He said two vehicles, the van and a sheriff's cruiser were used to transport the teens.

Fonnesbeck said the two haven't socialized much with anyone since their arrest nearly a year ago, and riding together gave them to a chance to talk.

"It was a little like a class reunion," Fonnesbeck said. "Basically they told each other they had no animosity toward each other."

Over the last 11 months Fonnesbeck, who runs Bannock County Jail, has been charged with transporting both Adamcik and Draper to and from the Bannock County Courthouse. He has gotten to know them well over that time.

He said the teens even joked with him on the drive to Boise.

"They asked me a couple of times if I could let them go. 'We are just stupid kids. Can't you let us go?"' Fonnesbeck said.

As the drive continued, conversations between Draper and Adamcik turned to religion, then to reflection on the events that landed them in prison.

"A comment they made is who would have ever thought that three days out of their lives would have an effect on them the rest of their lives," Fonnesbeck said.

As the convoy to the Idaho State Correction Institution in Kuna City left the highway for the long stretch of road to the prison, Fonnesbeck said reality began to set in for the teens.

"Once you hit the Kuna exit, you can see the water tower, and I mentioned that was where they were going," Fonnesbeck said. "You could sense they were getting a little more nervous. When you could see the yard, it got a little more real."

Draper is now known as inmate No. 85763 and Adamcik is 86328.

Adamcik and Draper are now at ISCI in the reception and diagnostic unit where they are being evaluated for classification. That will determine where in the Idaho Department of Correction's system they will be placed, said Jeff Ray, a department spokesman.

"It takes two to four weeks to evaluate new inmates," Ray said. "They undergo psychological evaluations, physical evaluations and their educational needs are assessed." Ray said the Department of Correction takes steps to ensure inmates are safe, including keeping those deemed more vulnerable segregated from the rest of the population. He said that determination has little to do with age.

"They could be 40 years old, and if they are still perceived as vulnerable, they will be in a more secure environment," Ray said.

John Hardison, the warden at ISCI, said Adamcik and Draper have already been evaluated by a clinician and other tests, and evaluations are pending. Hardison said the teens are currently in segregation and had some initial thoughts about their ability to handle themselves in prison.

"They both are very young, and their stature is not very large," Hardison said. "They could be vulnerable."

Adamcik and Draper were arrested Sept. 27, five days after Stoddart was stabbed to death while house-sitting for relatives in northeast Bannock County and three days after her body was found.

Both inmates and Stoddart were 16-year-old Pocatello High School juniors at the time of the murder.

Draper was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder by a jury in April. Adamcik was convicted on the same charges by a jury in June.

By Jimmy Hancock

jhancock@journalnet.com