Why Brian Hawkins Confessed on TV to the Fatal Stabbing of a California Teen After 25 Years

Despite the concept of the American dream—working hard to earn a living and building a legacy—a scheme to make quick cash can be enticing to some, even if it’s illegal.

Frank McAlister was ready to start a new life with his fiancée. He had $5,000 and wanted to multiply that amount by purchasing and reselling drugs. He met with three acquaintances to help him make a deal. Instead of taking McAlister to a buyer, they murdered him and pocketed his money. 

A quarter century passed before the crime was solved. In this case, the hero also happened to be the villain.

Cindy Tolmachoff recalled her son Frank’s childhood in a season 4 episode of A&E’s Cold Case Files: “He was a good baby. He loved to joke. He'd love to tease you and do whatever he could do to get your attention.”

Frank’s parents separated when he was 8 and he ended up living with his father, Douglas McAlister, in Redding, Calif. “At the time I thought he was better off with his dad,” Tolmachoff said.

By the time Frank was 19, he was using drugs, becoming especially familiar with methamphetamine, per Cold Case Files. His girlfriend, Donell Tatich, was helping him kick the habit. They got engaged and talked about eloping and moving to Reno, Nev. 

Working as a cook at a local restaurant wasn’t Frank’s idea of financial independence. He was involved in a car accident in March of 1993 and got a settlement for $5,000. Still, he wanted more, so he hatched a plan to buy some meth, resell it and make a neat profit.

He shared his idea with Tatich and his friends Curtis and Shanna Culver, 21-year-old and 17-year-old siblings, respectively, who concocted their own secret plan to rob Frank of his small fortune. Shanna’s boyfriend Brian Hawkins, then 19, agreed to be the middle man who would take them to a dealer he “knew” in nearby Shingletown, Calif. 

On May 6, 1993, Frank borrowed Tatich’s car and drove to Shingletown with Hawkins seated behind him; Curtis rode shotgun and Shanna sat on the rear passenger side. They headed deep into a remote forest. That’s where Hawkins stabbed McAlister in the neck. McAlister tried to crawl out of the car when Hawkins climbed over him and continued stabbing him in the head, neck and chest. Curtis then allegedly dragged McAlister to the front of the car and said, “Hey, Brian, look,” and threw a giant rock at his head, according to Cold Case Files. 

After dumping the dead body, the group drove back to Redding and left the car at a Costco parking lot. Hawkins said the siblings had a large wad of cash; they handed Hawkins a few hundred dollars. He knew where the money came from because it was tainted with blood, local station KRCR reported.

Tolmachoff recalled a conversation with Tatich: “I got a call from Donell telling me that Frank was missing and so was her car. I just go, what? It's not like him to just up and leave.” Tatich filed a missing person report. She told police about the recent infusion of cash and his attempt to buy meth. 

The car was found after Tatich reported it missing. Although Hawkins had attempted to clean up the blood, plenty was left behind. There was blood running down the driver’s door, the armrest and the exterior. Investigators suspected a drug deal gone bad. They also knew that finding so much blood coincided with murder, so they treated the case like a homicide. 

“I realized then that I don't think Frank was coming back and he was gone and I'd never seen him again,” Tolmachoff said on Cold Case Files. “My heart broke ... Why was he up here doing the s--- he was doing? It's not him.”

Police questioned Hawkins and the Culvers. CNN reported that they all shared the same story of being dropped off at a park in Redding because McAlister was meeting somebody. 

In April 1994, mushroom foragers were in the woods when they found skeletal remains, according to the Record Searchlight. The lower part of the body had been scavenged by animals resulting in bones being scattered throughout. Dental records matched Frank’s.

“I got a call from the police,” Tolmachoff recalled. “They said, ‘We found your son's remains.’ And I dropped the phone and I just started crying.”

Frank’s uncle, John McAlister, found some comfort with the discovery. “We can lay Frankie's remains to rest and have a place to go and talk to him,” he told Cold Case Files.

Despite receiving myriad tips, detectives didn’t have a solid suspect for decades. On January 10, 2018, the cold case got red hot when Hawkins met with a reporter at KRCR’s newsroom and confessed. He said, “I'm going to turn myself in for a crime I was involved in years ago, and somebody lost their life. It was murder.” After the interview, he went to the nearby sheriff’s office and turned himself in. 

Police asked the station to hold off airing the segment until they rounded up his accomplices. KRCR management agreed to wait 24 hours.

Hawkins was motivated to come forward by his religious faith. He claimed that the idea belonged to his girlfriend, Shanna. She gave him the knife. Authorities had limited success talking to her at the time of the murder because she was 16 then. Interviewed 25 years later, she stuck to the 1993 story. When a Redding detective played a recording of Hawkins’ confession, she clammed up. “That's all I'm gonna say anymore. I want a lawyer,” she said.

After initial denials—Curtis claimed that throwing the rock at McAlister’s head was a mercy killing while Shanna said she was not present during the assault—the evidence was too compelling to ignore. They eventually took some responsibility. 

Hawkins pleaded guilty in November 2019 to murder, robbery and special allegations. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. 

Curtis and Shanna pleaded guilty in January 2022 to voluntary manslaughter, robbery in concert and various assault charges. Curtis was sentenced to 35 years. Shanna got 20 years.

“I wanted justice, but truthfully nothing will bring back your child,” Tolmachoff said on Cold Case Files. “I know he went to heaven.”

Former Redding Police Detective Rusty Bishop tells A&E Crime + Investigation that the case “would have been a pretty tough one to solve without [Hawkins’s] cooperation.” 

Shasta County Senior Deputy District Attorney Kelly Kafel tells A&E Crime + Investigation, “Groundwork laid by the original investigators was absolutely essential. Without that foundation, even cooperation might not have been enough. Every step, from preserving the evidence decades ago to conducting modern-day interviews, played a huge role in getting us here.”

Kafel acknowledges the difficulty in trying old cases. “The biggest challenge was definitely dealing with evidence and memories that were decades old,” she says. “Over time, people move away, witnesses pass on and memories fade. Thankfully, the original investigators did an incredible job collecting and preserving what they had. Because of their attention to detail, we were able to use modern forensic tools to breathe new life into the case.”

As a result, families of the victims aren’t the only ones relieved over unravelling a mystery. “The feeling you get from being able to tell a family member that justice has finally come for their loved one, is like none other,” Bishop says.

Kafel concurs, “When a case is finally solved, it brings closure not just to the families, but to those officers, too. Solving a cold case takes teamwork across generations, and it’s a powerful reminder that time doesn’t erase justice. We never stop trying.”