The Real Killer Season 3: Ep. 3, How Do You Sleep at Night?

Anastasia’s father, Bob WitbolsFeugen, launches his own investigation into his daughter’s murder. He questions whether Justin took his own life or someone else killed him. Bob also becomes focused on one person in particular: Byron Case. Bob believes he saw Byron driving near Lincoln Cemetery the night Anastasia was killed. When Sgt. Kilgore and Byron speak, Byron says he has nothing else to offer the investigation. Is he telling the truth or hiding a deadly secret?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A warning. This episode contains depictions of violence and conversations
about suicide that may be disturbing and triggering for some listeners.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please fast forward
to the end of this episode to find out where
help is available. Two couples meet up the night of

(00:23):
October twenty second, nineteen ninety seven. The next morning, eighteen
year old Anastasia Whitbolsfugen is found murdered. Two days later,
her boyfriend, twenty year old Justin Bruton, is found dead,
having taken his own life. The investigation into what happened
to these two young people is now entering its third week.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Well, have you talked to anybody that might be had
some credible information.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
And it's taking detectives down some unexpected roads.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
It's all I feel is that the same we'll give
it a name, We'll call it a demon. Same demon
killed on a stage that killed Justine. The same energy
was present. That's what I feel, and that's not what
you want.

Speaker 4 (01:14):
I know.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
Well, the investigation gained some traction or will someone threaten
to derail it? I'm Leah Rothman. This is the real Killer.

(01:36):
Episode three? How do you sleep at night. On November seventh,
nineteen ninety seven, two weeks after Anastasia was killed, Lee
Detective Sergeant Gary Kilgore gets a call from eighteen year

(01:56):
old Byron Case. He's one half of the other couple
who had been out with Anastasia and Justin the night
of October twenty. Second Sergeant Kilgore writes in a report
that Byron says he's calling on behalf of himself and
some other friends who are concerned and wondering if anything
new has been uncovered about Anastasia's death. Kil Gore says

(02:19):
not really, then takes the opportunity to ask Byron if
he's heard anything about the murder. Byron says he heard
Anastasia was shot twice in the head with a handgun,
and he's heard rumors there was a suicide pact between him,
his girlfriend Kelly Moffatt, Justin, and Anastasia, but he says

(02:40):
that isn't true, and Byron says he doesn't believe Justin
killed Anastasia. Kil Gore asks if either he or Kelly
were present when Anastasia was killed. Byron says no, neither
of them were present. About a week later, Anastasia's stepmom,
Diane Marshall calls Sergeant Kilgore. It was Diane who dropped

(03:02):
Anastasia off that night at Mount Washington Cemetery to meet
up with Justin and friends. Diane shares with Sergeant Kilgore
one theory she has about what might have happened that night.
You will hear a few beeps during their recorded call and.

Speaker 5 (03:20):
After a few after a short while of living with
Antasia this summer, I think Justin discovered a big gap
between the reality and the fantasy of their relationship.

Speaker 4 (03:39):
What that leads me to is that.

Speaker 5 (03:44):
He got more into drops. I just have to make
that assumption, and it's further away from reality. And I
think somehow he must have patched an idea. I'm just
telling you my speculations, but he must attached an idea
of himself an Anastasia in an ideal act life. So

(04:05):
there's this fantasy idea.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
Diane wonders, what if Justin might have lured Anastasia out
with the idea that if they both committed suicide, they
could be together eternally.

Speaker 5 (04:19):
There's a reference in one of her letters him about
how he's mentioned her away where.

Speaker 6 (04:26):
They can meet together forever.

Speaker 5 (04:29):
And I think she is that pie compared. I think
he was at far off base that he right now.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
Of course you know there's But what Diane says she
doesn't understand is how or why Anastasia ended up in
Lincoln Cemetery, the cemetery where she was eventually found dead,
not Mount Washington Cemetery where Diane dropped her off.

Speaker 5 (04:56):
Not a walk, not a hiker. He was not a
person that one with nature she was, she would not have.
I mean there's no street line since there anything. She
was not the kind of person.

Speaker 7 (05:14):
Would boldly go into.

Speaker 5 (05:17):
Natural wooded surrounding.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
Sergeant Kilgore asks Diane what Anastasia was wearing when she
dropped her off at Mount Washington Cemetery. Diane says she
remembers she was wearing a tan corduroy jacket and assumes
she was dressed as she usually was, meaning black jeans,
But Diane says she can't remember that specifically, so it

(05:42):
seems no new or concrete information is learned from Diane.
When the files from Justin and Anastasia's computer's hard drives
are in, Kilgore notes in a report, the only one
that appeared to be of any value. On Justin's drive
is an unnamed document, possibly written by Anastasia. Data says

(06:04):
it was created on October twentieth and last saved on
the twenty first. Those are the two days leading up
to the night in question. The document is one long paragraph,
which in part says quote, I may annoy you, you
annoy me. It's a match made in hell. I want

(06:25):
you to love me. I want you to feel pain
if I ever leave you. It goes on to say,
I don't care what Byron thinks of me. I never
cared what anyone thought of me until I loved you.
Then I only cared what you thought of me. Byron
can go fuck himself for all I care. I wish
I could kill myself. I wanted to do it before,

(06:47):
but I couldn't because I firmly believed that you would
come back to me. The only person's opinion I care
about is yours. So fuck me. You and Byron deserve
each other because that seems to be the one you want,
someone who shares your brain and your thinking, and so
fuck me. So that's the only noteworthy thing found on

(07:08):
Justin's computer. On Anastasia's there's a bit more like some emails.
There's one email she wrote to a friend dated April
twenty sixth, nineteen ninety seven, where she talks about how
Justin wouldn't take her to prom so Byron was going
to take her. In another email, dated May tenth, she
wrote that some guy was talking all sorts of crap

(07:30):
about Byron and she felt like beating him senseless. She
told the guy to shut the fuck up and that
he doesn't even really know Byron, so he shouldn't be talking,
especially when the person he's talking about is one of
her best friends. On October eighteenth, four days before the
night she was murdered, Anastasia wrote an email that says,

(07:50):
a quote from Gabrielle Garcia Marquez, the only regret I
will have in dying is if it's not for love,
would you die for love? On November fourteenth, Sergeant Kilgore
and Anastasia's dad, Bob Whitplesfugen, speak over the phone. Bob
says he wants to share something he remembered. Anastesia told

(08:13):
him their conversation is recording.

Speaker 8 (08:16):
Okay, now, I recall a conversation with my daughter about
just having a gun, purchasing it for three hundred and
fifty dollars and only got one hundred and twenty five
dollars for when he sold it, and she said that

(08:39):
Byron took care of the sale. Only she didn't believe
Byron actually sold it. She thinks Byron kept it.

Speaker 4 (08:47):
Why would she take that or did you ask?

Speaker 9 (08:51):
I didn't ask.

Speaker 8 (08:51):
I was more concerned about whether there was still a
gun in their position.

Speaker 7 (08:58):
She mentioned that.

Speaker 8 (09:02):
That just look angry at Byron for only getting a
hundred twenty five dollars for it, and she felt that
Byron's base is not honest, samful about having even sold
a gun because he only came up with one hundred
and twenty five dollars for MY quick query to her
was come he thinks he only got one hundred and

(09:23):
twenty five for it? She answered once that she didn't
think Byron actually sold as she saw that Byron just
gave Justin one hundred and twenty five dollars to keep quiet.

Speaker 1 (09:33):
But I am did Byron secretly keep Justin's gun and
not tell anyone about it? So far it's just conjecture,
but investigators are able to get the ATF transaction record
for the gun. It seems Justin purchased it on September
twenty seventh, less than a month before Anastasia's murder. The
gun was a Remington twelve gage shotgun model eight seventy

(09:56):
and he bought it at a Walmart in Kansas City.
It's the same make and model as the one he
bought the morning of October twenty third. That gun was
found lying next to him. But investigators don't know what
happened to the gun justin bod in September. There doesn't
seem to be any record of him selling it back

(10:17):
to Bob and Sergeant Kilgore's phone call but h.

Speaker 8 (10:21):
And then my wife remarked this morning that.

Speaker 10 (10:24):
You may be having some difficulty getting a hold of Byron.
So I haven't had any problems getting back with him
on that kit. Did you locate Patrick Rock's phone number here?

Speaker 9 (10:37):
Yeah, and I can recall it right now.

Speaker 4 (10:39):
It's three two one to.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
Patrick Rock. That's a name you haven't heard so far.
He's a close friend of the Whipple's Fugen family. As
a way to honor Anastasia, Patrick starts a memorial website.
Included on the website are photos of Anastasia, who was
really beautiful. She had reddish brown hair and hazel eyes.

(11:04):
There's also some of her poetry and artwork. There's mention
of the music she was into, like the Beatles, the
Cure and Soussi and the Banshees, and her interests like
Star Trek conventions, public radio fundraisers, causes like free speech
on the web, and organizations like Amnesty International. The website

(11:26):
is updated often adding tributes to Anastasia, links to media coverage,
the announcement of a ten thousand dollars reward, which will
eventually be increased to fifteen thousand dollars, and criticism of
the Jackson County Sheriff's departments handling of the investigation. The
large file I received from the Sheriff's Department includes dozens

(11:49):
of printed pages from this website. They must have printed
them every time it was updated. Reading about Anastasia and
what she was into makes me really sad. We liked
some of the same music and were interested in some
of the same causes. Although I never got the chance
to know her, There's something about Anastasia I identify with

(12:11):
that feels familiar. Her young young life was cut short,
so brutally and so unnecessarily, But me describing Anastasia based
off her emails and a website can't compare to hearing
about who she really was from her own family. Here
is her father, Bob. His audios not great.

Speaker 11 (12:32):
The activities she was building, individual and thoughtful. She had
triends to attending the University of Sitting in the Surrey back.
She had the role there during the summer of ninety seven.

(12:54):
Many times I start heading and she only laughter. And
she was also sullen and salty and needing individuals to
confuy them. She did explore different activities she had justin

(13:16):
to do that with and you have to ask a
sister fan for more specific instant. I was just a dad.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
I reached out to Anastasia's sisters, Francesca who goes by
Friend and Emma to see if they would be willing
to share some of their memories of Anastasia with me. Reluctantly,
yet graciously, they agreed. Sadly, Friend was fifteen when Anastasia
was killed. Emma was only four. I first asked them

(13:50):
to tell me a little bit about Anastasia. Friend begins,
then Emma jumps in.

Speaker 12 (13:56):
She was super intelligent, so I think she could carry
a conversation with anybody. She could be really funny. I
guess maybe in a Marsery broad Way. Yeah, I can
imagine that she carried herself, you know, publicly, like in
a way that she.

Speaker 13 (14:15):
Might have been a drama queen.

Speaker 1 (14:17):
Was that passed down from your mom, from your dad
or was it just being a teenager?

Speaker 13 (14:22):
It was just who she was at that point, Probably
just being a teenager.

Speaker 8 (14:27):
I don't know.

Speaker 14 (14:27):
There was We could get into our parents and just
you know, emotional ball little stuff, but I don't like
to think that it was that.

Speaker 12 (14:39):
I think, you know, she was just similar to our
dad though, like stubborn. I think that short temper to
a degree. Yeah, oh yeah, that's where I get it from.

Speaker 13 (14:50):
You're you're unique. Don't worry about.

Speaker 1 (14:54):
What kind of stuff was Annestatian two.

Speaker 14 (14:58):
I think she was like interest stood in Amnesty International
and human rights and didn't rights. She studied Latin in
school and wrote poetry, and she was the best Vietnam.

Speaker 12 (15:12):
Yeah, she did drama club, drama class, and she wanted
to travel the world.

Speaker 14 (15:18):
So I wanted to go to Italy and stuff, and yeah,
I liked the cure and other golf stuff. Some Green
Day some Sussi and the ban Cheese.

Speaker 7 (15:30):
I don't know.

Speaker 13 (15:32):
Can you think of others like Pearlin, Nirvana, a lot
of nineties alternative music.

Speaker 14 (15:41):
She liked Pinky and the Brain. And did she like
Wallace and Gromit. Huh yeah, okay, so I watched that
sort of stuff. Yeah, growing up too, we had the
v VHS's.

Speaker 1 (15:52):
And what movie were you into for a while.

Speaker 14 (15:55):
Oh, Anastasia, I was. I couldn't really tell you exactly why,
but probably some part of me wanted to imagine my
sister because I mean, she wasn't there anymore by the
time that I started really having memories, and so I'd
like to imagine her as a princess or whatever, you know,
a fantastical tale. And that movie was intensely popular around

(16:16):
that time, but it had her name.

Speaker 1 (16:20):
Was she like a typical oldest sister or was she
like protective of the other girls? Just sort of describe
an stage in terms of her being a sister.

Speaker 12 (16:30):
She's definitely the big sister. I wouldn't say she was
overly protective of us. She is pretty independent when it
came to herself. I guess living with her in my
dad's house and going to Lincoln together for high schochool.

Speaker 13 (16:48):
She was pretty protective of me.

Speaker 12 (16:50):
She would welcome me at some degree to hang out
with her and a few of her friends, and then
other points like definitely when it came to Byron, she
kept me at an arm's length, like she didn't. She
was very protective of me, I think in terms of
she knew that he wasn't someone she wanted around her

(17:11):
little sister, So I definitely see that as her being protective.

Speaker 13 (17:15):
In a way.

Speaker 12 (17:16):
She was definitely vocal to me about Kelly and Byron's
age difference.

Speaker 13 (17:22):
Whether she didn't like Kelly, she did not like that
relationship at all.

Speaker 12 (17:26):
She did not like them basically moving into Justin's place
is what the way she made it sound to me,
like they were always there.

Speaker 13 (17:34):
She probably had her reasons for, you know, keeping me.
I didn't.

Speaker 5 (17:39):
I don't.

Speaker 12 (17:40):
I met Byron only a couple times, like in real life,
and she was friends with him since middle school. So
I remember hearing, you know, their phone conversations when they
were in middle school and just thinking like this guy
has like got something wrong with him, like he's you know,
getting in trouble going to psychiatric words in juvenile hall

(18:02):
and breaking into relatives' houses, could go.

Speaker 13 (18:05):
To Lincoln get it, Yeah, getting kicked out of Lincoln.

Speaker 12 (18:08):
Things like that, Like, I you know, he piqued my curiosity,
but also I think spoke to Anastasia that she would
be friends with somebody that maybe didn't have a lot
of friends and that was kind of hard to love.

Speaker 13 (18:22):
She didn't give up on him.

Speaker 1 (18:25):
I then ask Fran what she remembers about Anastasia and
Justin's relationship.

Speaker 12 (18:31):
I just remember like thinking about it, like that's I mean,
they didn't know each other that long before, you know,
she was thinking they were going to be together forever.
I think she believed they would get married. So when
they started to have problems, she was not willing to accept.

(18:51):
I guess that's part of her personality too, is she
is very headstrong and stubborn, so she wasn't willing to
scept that it was going to be over. On his terms,
she had told me he suffered from depression, so he
was a little bit more standoffish and quiet, and he

(19:13):
was polite. Yeah, I think my sister was kind of jealous.
The only like, one of the only memories I have
of going out with them together was to the young
Casey bookstore and some.

Speaker 13 (19:27):
Bookstore employee college girl.

Speaker 12 (19:30):
Was talking to him, and Anastasia got a little jealous,
and I remember thinking, like, pastilly, that was or whatever.

Speaker 14 (19:37):
But those are the memories you have.

Speaker 6 (19:39):
I know.

Speaker 13 (19:40):
It's kind of like, oh that's and.

Speaker 12 (19:42):
I think they were joking about it, like in some
ways Anastasia was insecure with herself, maybe so that she
she believed or she thought maybe justin what might be
too good for her kind of dynamic, especially because his
family did come from money, was the impression that he gave.

Speaker 15 (20:05):
So they worked at the bookstore together or not the
bookstore store a store on the plaza, a store of
knowledge on the plaza for very long.

Speaker 14 (20:16):
No, well, none of this was for very long.

Speaker 13 (20:18):
Yeah, it is such.

Speaker 1 (20:21):
An interesting friend. Emma and I talked some more than
Emma reminds me of what's at stake.

Speaker 13 (20:28):
You have immense power in your hands.

Speaker 1 (20:31):
It's it's a very big responsibility, and I don't take
it lately because ultimately it's about your sister. So sorry,
I'm getting all tripped up, but yeah, and and yeah,
so thank you, thank you too. Sorry I'm a mess. Okay,

(20:52):
thank you. Have a good rest of your evening after.
I am incredibly thankful to Fran and Emma for sharing
some of their memories of Anastasia with me. You will
hear more from them down the line. I also reached
out to Justin's sister to see if she and or
her mom might be open to talking with me, but
she never responded. From the photos I've seen, Justin was

(21:16):
a good looking kid, tall, brown hair, brown eyes, and
he wore wire rimmed glasses. It seems he was in
his second year at the University of Missouri at Kansas City,
studying journalism, although I think he had stopped going to
classes that fall. Justin loved animals. He and Anastasia had
a black cat together named Pagan, and from all accounts,

(21:39):
Justin was a very kind and gentle soul. On November twentieth,
nineteen ninety seven, fifteen year old Kelly Moffatt, Byron's girlfriend,

(22:02):
meets with Sergeant Kilgore at the Dairy Queen where they
picked Anastasia up that night. Although kil Gore has already
interviewed Kelly, he wants her now to show him exactly
where they went and what they did leading up to
Anastasia getting out of Justin's car. Kelly is accompanied by
her mom, Deborah Moffatt, who chimes in later.

Speaker 4 (22:23):
Yah, I have a couple of questions before we get started.
Have you ever known Byron to own again any gain
at all?

Speaker 6 (22:32):
Not that I've seen him.

Speaker 4 (22:34):
Okay, has he ever had one? In his position?

Speaker 6 (22:41):
Justin was only one that had bought the gun at
wal Wine.

Speaker 4 (22:44):
Do you know where that particular gun is? Had you
ever seen again? Wait?

Speaker 16 (22:49):
Yeah, actually I saw it at his condo, But I
mean I've never seen him fire or anything because him
and Byron are everybody's like that stupid it cost too
much and it's like just like a big toy.

Speaker 4 (22:58):
Okay. Do you know if Byron disposed of the weapon
for him?

Speaker 6 (23:02):
No? But I know all I knew was that Justin
didn't have the gun anymore.

Speaker 4 (23:08):
Okay. On the the night that you, you and Byron
and Justin picked up Anastasia, you're here at this dairy, queen,
it is Crand Okay, what time did Justin and Byron
first get over to your house.

Speaker 6 (23:23):
After m h It was probably fivety no, or maybe
even a little bit earlier.

Speaker 4 (23:30):
And when you guys left there, where did you go?

Speaker 6 (23:32):
There's a I don't know.

Speaker 16 (23:34):
There's a gas station by my house if we went there,
so that they could get something to drink in this
gas Oh and also Justin called Anastasia from there because
their plans have been all screwed up. She can't right up.

Speaker 6 (23:48):
Probably right after they picked me up, So like five forty.

Speaker 4 (23:50):
Five or so, we called her from this gas station.

Speaker 16 (23:53):
Yeah, from the paphone there because he she like left
weird messages on his answering machine, so just to like
find out what happened, he called her. How she wasn't there,
pushes r Frian goes, well, she got an end up
to at wash and he goes, well, I told her
that I couldn't go, and she canted the plans with
an and so then he's like, well, great, we better

(24:13):
get back to Westport so that I can.

Speaker 6 (24:16):
Take my answering machine.

Speaker 16 (24:17):
Because he didn't know where she was, but once he
found out she was here, then he just wanted to
build here.

Speaker 1 (24:22):
Kelly just shared a new detail that after Byron and
Justin picked her up, they went to a nearby gas
station in Lenexa, Kansas, near where she lives, and that's
where Justin was when he called Anastasia's house, which seems
to track because Francesca in her interview told Kilgore about
twenty minutes after Anastasia left, Justin called and said he

(24:46):
was in Lenexa, Kansas. But this is different than what
Byron said in his first interview, which is that after
they picked Kelly up, they went directly to Justin's condo.
There Justin played a message Anastasia left him saying she
got a ride to meet him at Mount Washington Cemetery.
After all, Justin then called Anastasia's house and that's when

(25:07):
he spoke with her sister friend, who told him that
Anastasia was at Mount Washington Cemetery. Okay, back to Kelly
and Kilgore.

Speaker 4 (25:17):
And so after the gas station, then he went back
to Justin's department about what, Tom, did you get there?

Speaker 6 (25:25):
Six six thirty probably six thirty?

Speaker 4 (25:27):
When did you leave there?

Speaker 16 (25:29):
Probably like twenty minutes later, so like seven seven, Because
first she had to check all his answering, like he's
answering Washington. And then Anastasia called from a pay for
propaty and she's like get up here, I'm Cole blah
blah blah.

Speaker 4 (25:46):
And they're like That's when I started following. Okay, so
you left Justin's apartment at about seven o'clock.

Speaker 16 (25:54):
Yeah, probably a little bit after. Yeah, oh the way
we left early she would go to the yeah, probably
like seven okay, and you.

Speaker 1 (26:01):
Went to where Kelly says after they left Justin's house
they stop at a smoke shop. This is also a
new detail.

Speaker 4 (26:11):
And then from there you went where here to this
dairy queen. Do you remember about what time you got here?

Speaker 6 (26:18):
I'll probably say seven now, probably seven forty five or
was my doll? She was mad and I just laughed.
She's like, I just want to get out of here.
This place is so annoying.

Speaker 4 (26:29):
Did she said that? And from that point, where.

Speaker 11 (26:33):
Did you go?

Speaker 4 (26:33):
For?

Speaker 16 (26:34):
Well, she still wanted to go to Mount Washington tenthill
we went in there, Okay, did you?

Speaker 1 (26:38):
Kelly's timeline is important. Kil Gore needs to make sure
it's consistent with what she said in her first interview,
and how does it match up with what other witnesses
have said. Kil Gore, Kelly and Kelly's mom, Deborah leave
the Dairy Queen and drive across the street to Mountain
Washington Cemetery. Again, not the same cemetery where Anastasia's body

(27:02):
was found. That was Lincoln Cemetery.

Speaker 4 (27:06):
Y'all just driving like this or in a hurry or anything.

Speaker 16 (27:11):
No, no, not hurry, just kind of looking for Amaza limbs.
That's where Anna Stays wanted to like sit on the
stoves and talk because she wanted on them to be alone.
And then Justin was gonna give me and Byron like
the car like to go drive off someplace else, well,
just like a little bit away and go talk to Zannasa,
just like ask.

Speaker 6 (27:28):
Talk to a line.

Speaker 4 (27:30):
Do you know why she needed to talk to him alone.

Speaker 6 (27:33):
She was, well, she was mad at him.

Speaker 16 (27:34):
I know that they had like broken up before, and
she was kind of I remember her saying, so she's.

Speaker 6 (27:38):
Like, well, this is the last while you know, I'm freezing.
You know, we've already broken up and you can't even
come like pick me up all the time. I know,
there's like a big kind of church looking thing. It's
not that one, like I think it's up that way,
but I'm not sure. We went past there.

Speaker 16 (27:52):
Yeah, we went here, and we're going to stop the
card and get out, But there was like a load
of like teenagers over.

Speaker 4 (27:56):
There, and they were, Okah, when you pull in front
of this, did you stop?

Speaker 6 (28:01):
Yeah, like just.

Speaker 16 (28:02):
Kind of in the middle of the road, and we
were we kind of stopped here and it was just
like some teenagers and stuff getting out and then uh,
right over by the steps. They were parked over her
by there. Then we saw a car. It was like,
I mean, it wasn't like a kid's car pull up
and they started to leave. So we kind of guessed
that it was the caretaker and we're like, well, we

(28:23):
better go because it followed us till we left the car.

Speaker 4 (28:25):
Did what about the other car load of kids.

Speaker 16 (28:28):
Just like left too because they saw the caretaker, but
they went out this way and the caretaker followed us
out that way.

Speaker 1 (28:35):
Kilgore then asks about Anastasia's clothes.

Speaker 4 (28:38):
Remember what she was wearing that?

Speaker 16 (28:41):
Yeah, because I told her that her shirt was she
had on like she always wore black Janie's mostly black
shoes and it was like maybe blue or greenee shirt.

Speaker 4 (28:54):
That.

Speaker 16 (28:55):
Yeah, she had on like a big floppy I think
it was brown, like weird coat.

Speaker 4 (28:59):
I might have any corn or have a purse.

Speaker 6 (29:03):
Wallet.

Speaker 1 (29:03):
Though this is close to what Francesca and her stepmom
Diane said, Anastasia was wearing that night, but different than
what Dairy Queen worker don Wright said. She said Anastasia
was wearing blue jeans, sandals with socks, and she was
carrying a brown purse. I wonder could the wallet and
the purse be the same thing anyway? Kelly says after

(29:27):
they left Mount Washington, they decided they'd all go back
to Justin's where he and Anastasia could talk.

Speaker 4 (29:33):
Just did Anastasia agree with that?

Speaker 6 (29:37):
Yeah, that's fine.

Speaker 16 (29:39):
She's like, just as long as I'm not cold on
the guitar, Yeah, this way right, because I remember passing by,
like over that solders.

Speaker 4 (29:48):
When you got on to Truman Road. Did that they
continue what they're arguing? And do you remember anything at all?
It was said, Oh, man, I.

Speaker 6 (30:00):
Was like just the same old stump.

Speaker 16 (30:01):
She's like, was mad that he broke up with her,
and she was like, you know, you're showy responsible.

Speaker 6 (30:06):
You can't even come pick me up all the time.
We always made plants and.

Speaker 4 (30:08):
Break up and stuff like that. Is that true?

Speaker 6 (30:12):
Well? I don't know to an extent sometimes, but she
usually wanted to see him, like every day, and he
kind of get mad.

Speaker 16 (30:18):
He'd be like, no, look you know, I promised, like
Byron that I do something.

Speaker 4 (30:22):
Look up.

Speaker 16 (30:22):
And he also had this girl in Ashley that he
was wrapped with and she didn't like that.

Speaker 6 (30:27):
I think she also brought that up.

Speaker 4 (30:29):
That's all this familiar.

Speaker 16 (30:31):
Yeah, this is where they got like really bad stuff.
She's just like, look, just take me back to my house.
She was like, I want to talk the top. I
didn't waste like gas when he come out here for
like you to be a brat. So they kept like
fighting and she was like take me home, cra so
up at this stop light, that was when he had
to stop and she got out. She's like He's like,
don't get out of the car, being like a baby.

(30:52):
And then she's like, look there's two gas and she's
under that I can't be.

Speaker 6 (30:54):
Around right now.

Speaker 4 (30:56):
And did he stop at the light right down? Yeah?

Speaker 6 (30:58):
I think he was in this line because she got out,
stepped onto that.

Speaker 4 (31:01):
Little like famous and this is where she got out.

Speaker 16 (31:05):
Yeah, right at the fun I think he was thinking
about like turning around, like to go back and get her.

Speaker 6 (31:10):
But there was I mean, there really wasn't anyway because
there's like traffic and he's just like, well, screw it.

Speaker 16 (31:14):
You know, there's a gas station night by there, and
she was also like was like, well, you know, she
won't even get back in the car if.

Speaker 4 (31:20):
You go back to get her. And he's like, we'll
find And about what time was that? Do you remember
we got back.

Speaker 16 (31:25):
To yeah, Justin's condo like eight fifteen, eight twenty something
like that, because we left I remember by eight thirty
because Abraham called and wanted us to pick up some
stuff of Tarras, and so Baron's like, well, if you
have to be back by you no, nine, nine fifteens
that are gone now.

Speaker 6 (31:41):
So we played video games.

Speaker 4 (31:42):
For from the Left, And so at what time did
you get home at?

Speaker 6 (31:49):
Probably? Yeah, well I remember looking and we were like, well,
right on time. Probably it was either a little bit
before nine or a little bit after a little bit after.

Speaker 4 (31:58):
Yeah, I think I told her she had to be
home by nine and she got hop. Yeah, it's like
nine ten all together from the time that she picked
up Anastasia Derek Plaine in the time that she got
out bank. Barry Truman of four thirty five, About how
much time do you think last?

Speaker 6 (32:16):
I don't well, it probably only liked.

Speaker 16 (32:20):
Like turn fifteen minutes because well, maybe a little bit
longer that because we know around the cemetery for quite
while because Justin was like all lost and everything.

Speaker 4 (32:27):
But I don't it wasn't that long. And after that
you didn't see Anastasia.

Speaker 6 (32:33):
Again and didn't even talk.

Speaker 16 (32:37):
Why are we both were just kind of like, well,
she got out of the car to say me else,
slamming door.

Speaker 1 (32:44):
Kelly says she never saw or talked to Anastasia or
Justin after that night. She did speak with Byron though,
sometime between eleven PM and midnight.

Speaker 4 (32:55):
To you paid him and he called you back at
your house. Where was he at?

Speaker 16 (33:01):
Because I remember he was talking about how we had
to get off off online to call me.

Speaker 4 (33:05):
Back and what did you environ talk about that?

Speaker 16 (33:08):
So we just kind of blunt it between like normal
commerciations and then we'd, like, you know, talk about like
the whole situation with that.

Speaker 1 (33:17):
The tape runs out. I don't have the audio for
the second side, but I have the transcript. Kelly goes
on to say she doesn't think there was a suicide pact,
and she doesn't think Justin killed Anastasia. She says, Anastasia
annoyed Justin, but that was about it, and she can't
imagine some random person grabbing her. When asked if there

(33:39):
was anything else she could share, Kelly says, quote, I
mean Anastasia was like really mad. I'd never seen her
this mad. Two significant things happen on November twenty first,

(34:06):
nineteen ninety seven. One kil Gore calls Justin's dad, John Bruton,
to brief him on the investigation. It's now been about
twenty seven days since Justin was found dead. In kil
Gore's report, he writes that he asked John what Byron
told him about the night Anastasia got out of Justin's car.
John Bruton says the only specific thing that Byron told

(34:28):
him was when they got to the stoplight, Anastasia supposedly said,
I don't know why you don't love me. I don't
know why you don't want to be with me, and
Justin replied, I'm sorry, I don't either, but I just don't.
The other significant thing that happens on November twenty first
is Bob, Anastasia's dad, and kil Gore speak over the phone,

(34:51):
warning the audios not.

Speaker 9 (34:52):
Great, and I was just curious, as true.

Speaker 10 (34:57):
How much contact you've had with Justice's father I have
quite a bit of contact.

Speaker 8 (35:03):
Okay, how's he doing with his uh death? You're kindly
not satisfied with a with a suicide as.

Speaker 4 (35:13):
Any Well, I don't think he has anything a question
about suicide on his son, or.

Speaker 1 (35:23):
It seems Bob is wondering if Justin's death might not
actually have been self inflicted. He then asks if Kilgore
has taken Justin's answering machine into evidence.

Speaker 4 (35:35):
Oh, he did not retrieve that.

Speaker 8 (35:41):
A lot of people that try to call Justin that
day or that evening, that Wednesday evening and all day Thursday.
My understanding is that Justin's father arrived at the apartment
late Thursday night, where a lot of messages on that

(36:05):
that the tape, and I just wonder why if he
had it, why he don't have that.

Speaker 4 (36:14):
I can't answer that, Okay.

Speaker 8 (36:16):
Would it be possible if he had spoken over the
top messages that you might be able to retrieve.

Speaker 4 (36:21):
Something out of that. Would I don't believe there's a
technology to do that.

Speaker 8 (36:25):
Okay, Well, he might just talk Justine's father about that
audio tape.

Speaker 1 (36:34):
More on that in a moment. It's now been a
month since Anastasia was killed and Bob is desperate for answers.
On November twenty fourth, he contacts Sergeant Kilgore and tells
him that he spoke with John Bruten, Justin's dad, who
is now not so sure his son committed suicide. So

(36:58):
kill Gore calls John Bruce himself, and John relays the
conversation he had with Bob. Kil Gore writes in his
report that Bob told John that Byron was quote bisexual
and was infatuated with Justin. John stated he didn't believe
his son was gay. Bob told John he believes Byron

(37:21):
and another guy named Alex might have been involved in
the murder of Justin. Bob also told John that Kelly
Moffatt had been quote addicted to heroin and that she
was a prostitute and that she sold herself and used
the money for drugs. By the way, these prostitution claims
are unsubstantiated. John tells Kilgore he is now not completely

(37:47):
convinced Justin's death was a suicide, but John says he
hired a private investigator and the PI said everything appeared
to be quote cut and dry, that Anastasia's death was
a homicide and Justin's was a suicide. Kil Gore asks
John to send him Justin's answering machine. A few days later,

(38:09):
it arrives.

Speaker 4 (38:11):
Back you have thirteenth full necagers.

Speaker 1 (38:16):
It's noted in a report that there are thirteen messages
on the machine, including the one Kilgore left for Justin
on October twenty third. The tape is very poor quality,
but there is a transcript of the messages, which begin
in the early afternoon of Thursday the twenty third, the
day Ona Stage's body was found, and go through Saturday

(38:37):
the twenty fifth, the day Justin's body was found. The
callers include Sergeant Kilgore, Justin's friends Byron, Paige and Abraham,
Justin's mom and dad, and a few other people, all
basically asking Justin to call them back. So where are
the messages from the night of the twenty second and

(38:57):
the morning of the twenty third. Anastasia was murdered sometime
within that window. Remember. Bob says he left a message
for Justin around nine thirty ten the night of the
twenty second, and Justin called him back sometime after ten.
Bob also says he called and left a message for
Justin the next morning. Neither of those messages are on

(39:21):
the machine. Also not on the machine is the message
Anastasia supposedly left Justin saying she got a ride after all,
and that she was at the dairy Queen. Sergeant Kilgore
contacts the FBI for help on retrieving the messages. He
also contacts the Sony Corporation, the maker of the answering machine.
They tell him that erased or recorded over messages are

(39:44):
not recoverable. December first, we're now six weeks into the investigation,
and Bob calls Sergeant Kilgore again. He suggests a new
theory about Anastasia's murder that somehow involves Justin's dad John
as an accessory.

Speaker 16 (40:03):
After the fact.

Speaker 1 (40:05):
After the call, kil Gore writes in his report, mister
Whipples Fugen is quote rambling nearly every contact I have
with him. He says, mister Whipples Fugen's comments, etc. Are
making little sense. On December fifth, Sergeant Kilgore interviews a
friend of Anastasia's whose name has come up during the investigation.

Speaker 4 (40:29):
Sake an answer, ale Xavier Strange.

Speaker 6 (40:32):
Growth.

Speaker 1 (40:34):
That's Alex the Alex that Bob thinks might have had
a hand in killing Justin. My guess is that kil
Gore thought that theory was ridiculous, so he doesn't even
ask Alex about it. Alex says in the two and
a half months set he knew Anastasia, she talked a
lot about the ups and downs of her relationship with Justin,

(40:57):
and the last time he spoke with Anastasia he told
her he found her attractive.

Speaker 3 (41:02):
I mean, I barely knew out of stage or she
just turned it right as I was getting to know,
I thought out I really liked her, and then I
lost her, and so I am in. You know, I'm
in a bit of pain about that. It's like things
I don't like to have happened to me, and so,
you know, it's it's confusing. But I'm not an expert.
I'm not I'm not someone that was close enough to
maybe know what was going on.

Speaker 4 (41:24):
I would like to know what was going on. I'm
trying to use my intuition.

Speaker 2 (41:27):
Well, have you have you talked to anybody that you
might be I had some incredible information about how she died.

Speaker 3 (41:36):
No, I wish I had, because I would be following
them around. I would be keeping closer eye.

Speaker 2 (41:44):
Are you aware of any type of a suicide pack
or anything.

Speaker 3 (41:48):
I was waiting for the death cult stuff. No, I
do not believe there's any kind of a cult or
any kind of a pact. I don't know where that
concept came from.

Speaker 6 (41:59):
Justin.

Speaker 3 (41:59):
And on a stage, it weren't even in the mode
of what you would call industrial.

Speaker 4 (42:03):
Gothy or whatever.

Speaker 3 (42:04):
They didn't wear all black, they weren't depressed all the time.
Justin's kind of wre s forty light outfits and on
a stage are bounced back before trains some darker outfits
to some lighter outfits, and it's just.

Speaker 4 (42:17):
Like, I've never heard of anything like that. But then again,
you know, no, I couldn't.

Speaker 3 (42:22):
I can't see any of those goop calls being involved
in anything like that. So and on a stage and
Justin just barely even listening to even the darker music
it was in the quite a variety of music had
that was a lot happier, or it went through moods
like like on a stage of like The Cure, which
can't be considered kind of depressing, but it's it's romantic
on a stage was more romantic.

Speaker 4 (42:42):
Because I don't know about Justin, Like I said.

Speaker 1 (42:44):
Honest, Kilgore asks when was the last time he saw Byron,
Alex says, at Anastasia's funeral, he just he always.

Speaker 3 (42:53):
Seems nervous to me always, so his demeanor at the
funeral was the same level of nervousness that I would
expect from him at any time. She was just talking
about the investigation, talking about how he, I mean, he felt,
talking about how he felt accused of it.

Speaker 4 (43:10):
He was being shocked about that.

Speaker 11 (43:12):
That was his whole thing.

Speaker 3 (43:13):
It's like, I can't believe, you know, the injustice is
going on here and the fact that they're trying to
accuse us of it, And that was the main gist
of everything that he was saying.

Speaker 4 (43:24):
Did Anastagia ever speak of her family line? He was
actually talking to me.

Speaker 3 (43:28):
Some about the family, And all I knew is that
she was looking for a place out. She cannot stay
at her where her she was residing. Her dad didn't
want to them.

Speaker 4 (43:40):
It was her dad.

Speaker 3 (43:42):
It was her dad that didn't want to it. But
I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't because of his wife.

Speaker 1 (43:47):
He means, Diane, Bob's wife, Anastasia's stepmom. Kilgore then asks
Alex if he knows of anything else that might assist
him in the investigation. Alex says he does not.

Speaker 4 (44:00):
I do not know for back to to kill Landstein,
no I wish.

Speaker 1 (44:09):
December twelfth, Anastasia's dad, Bob contacts Sergeant Ron Kellogg. Sergeant
Kellogg was hands on in the early days of the investigation.
Since then, it's pretty much just been Sergeant Kilgore on
the case. Bob tells Sergeant Kellogg he hasn't heard from
Sergeant kil Gore since quote this past Monday, Kellogg writes

(44:30):
in his report, quote he stated to me that as
the leader of this unit, that I had better find
out something about the investigation by the end of the
day and get back with him. Kellogg continues, quote, this
caller's voice showed a sign of threatening that I had
better get this information or else. On December twenty first,

(44:54):
an interesting email exchange begins, not between Bob and sergeant's
kill Gore or Ca, but between Bob and Byron and
Bob's friend Patrick Rock. Remember he's the one who started
and is maintaining the Anastasia memorial website, and it seems
the first email comes from Byron. He writes to Patrick

(45:16):
after he sees some stuff on the website that doesn't
sit well with him. The subject line of the email
is character assault. Byron writes that he has cooperated with
police and to insinuate that he knows anything more as ridiculous.
He asks for them to stop with the accusations. Patrick

(45:37):
writes back, in part, quote you were her friend for
many years, Byron, you took her to the prom if
nothing else, why did you fail to stop Justin from
driving away? Byron and Patrick go back and forth a
couple of times, then Bob jumps in. On Christmas Eve,
Bob writes that the website is quote intentionally provocative because

(45:59):
of the web of silence that still exists sixty days
after the tragedy. Bob continues to Byron, your characterization of
yourself and of the events that occurred that night are
incompatible and therefore illogical. That same day, Christmas Eve, Byron's

(46:20):
father dies unexpectedly, a day before his fiftieth birthday. On
December twenty sixth, Bob writes Byron, sending his condolences. He
goes on to say that for all the losses he's experienced,
nothing compares to the loss of a child, especially quote
a murdered child whose memory will never rest in peace

(46:41):
until justice is done. If you, now, in the pain
of familiarity with death, characterize my correspondence with you as
hate mail, then I pity you.

Speaker 4 (46:51):
Byron.

Speaker 1 (46:52):
For months, the back and forth of emails between Bob
and Pat and Byron continue. Bob and Pat ask Byron questions.
Byron's tone is quite testy at times, but he answers
their questions. Then, in early March, Bob invites Byron to
go play pool and grab food, after Byron responds quote, well,

(47:13):
I'm not much for pool, but I have been considering
meeting with you and or Patrick to more easily discuss things.
You two have a lot of questions, and email, as
handy as it may be, isn't exactly the best way
to go about answering them. I think in person there
would be less of a chance of misunderstandings flaring up.

(47:34):
It seems they never do meet. The emails start up
again in May, and on May second, Byron writes Patrick
in part, quote, I realized long ago that I was
not being ruled out as a suspect that bothers me,
but because there is no way to prove to the police,
that I am innocent. I have to just deal with that.

(47:56):
Sergeant Kilgore is merely doing his job and following procedure,
and I am in no position to dispute logic. I
can't help but feel that if this were the Dark Ages,
Anastasia's family would have had me burned at the stake
out of sheer suspicion. That is what bothers me, not
that the police haven't ruled me out, but that the

(48:16):
family is convinced that I had a hand in Stassia's murder.
Even if I was perverted enough to murder someone, I
doubt I'd be such a sick fuck as to bring
my girlfriend along for the ride. That doesn't exactly make
a good impression on one's beloved. What the hell do
you take me for? Those are some of the emails

(48:37):
between Bob, Patrick Rock and Byron that run from December
of nineteen ninety seven through May of nineteen ninety eight,
but rewinding four months to January TEWOD of nineteen ninety eight,
Bob writes an email to Sergeant Kilgore that may make
a monumental difference in the case, subject line blue jeens.

(49:12):
On January TEWOD nineteen ninety eight, Anastasia's father, Bob Whitbolsfugen,
writes what might be a bombshell of an email to
Sergeant Kilgore. It says, in part quote, I don't remember
if I ever told you. A couple of days after
her death, I opened the washing machine and inside was
a single pair of blue jeans. It was nothing unusual

(49:34):
because I frequently do laundry and often found that the
girls had unfinished stuff in the wash. Bob goes on
to write, also in the wash basin in the basement
next to the washing machine was a pair of her
underwear soaking. About a week later, Bob sends another email
along with a photo of a brown purse. He writes,

(49:57):
is this possibly the purse that Don Wright said Anastasia
reportedly had at the DQ. By the way, I'm going
to post to the photo of the purse on the
Real Killer podcast on Instagram. Okay, So do Bob's emails
corroborate what Dawn Wright, the dairy queen worker said Anastasia
was wearing that night blue jeans and carrying a brown purse.

(50:21):
And we know Anastasia got her period while she was there,
So the fact that Bob found her blue jeans and
the washing machine and her underwear soaking. Does all of
this together mean she actually went home at some point?
And if she did go home and change her clothes,
why did she go back out? Where did she go
and how did she get there?

Speaker 16 (50:43):
And who was she with?

Speaker 1 (50:45):
While Kilgore is busy with the official investigation Anastasia's father,
Bob continues with his own. He goes to the coffeehouses
where Anastasia, Justin, Byron, and Kelly used to hang out,
and he interviews her friends. Bob sends Kilgore emails and
faxes about what he learns from these interviews and shares

(51:06):
all the new theories he's working on, like, for instance,
how he suspects a sheriff's deputy might be involved in
Anastasia's murder somehow. It's now January twenty second, nineteen ninety eight,
three months into the investigation, Sergeant Kilgore calls Bob at
work to follow up on some of his emails. The

(51:29):
audio is not great, so i'll sum up the important part,
Bob says. One day, when he was out putting up
reward posters, he spoke with Don Rand at the Amico station.
Remember night mechanic Don Rand said he saw Anastasia walking
east on Truman Road around eight thirty the night of
the twenty second Bob tells Kilgore after talking with Don Rand,

(51:52):
he then went next door to the Phillips sixty six
gas station and spoke with a father and daughter who
may have been the owners. They told him they also
saw a young woman that night and she used the
payful This could be huge. Are there now two more
witnesses who saw Anastasia that night on Truman Road? And

(52:16):
if Anastasia did in fact use the payphone, who did
she call? Were they her ride home or her ride
to Lincoln Cemetery? On April first, Bob and Sergeant kill
Gore speak again. Kil Gore writes in his report that
during the call, Bob asks if he's a suspect in
the case. Kil Gore tells him no, one's been ruled

(52:40):
out yet. Bob then says if kill Gore didn't believe him,
then he would have a problem. Kil Gore writes, quote,
I perceived this comment as a threat, and I cautioned
him about making threats towards me. Threat or no threat.
Bob continues with his investigation. Three months later, on July eighth,

(53:00):
Bob speaks with kil Gore, this time at the Jackson
County Sheriff's Department, and this time it's about something Bob
has never brought up in the nine months since he's
been communicating with kil Gore. It's about cars. Cars, Bob
says he saw the night of the twenty second when
he went out searching for Anastasia. Bob says around eleven

(53:23):
thirty that night, he parked at the south gate to
Mount Washington Cemetery and watched a caravan of thirty one
cars go by. Bob believes the drivers of these cars
either know what happened to Anastasia or may have been
directly involved in her death. Bob tells Kilgore he got
license plate numbers, makes and models, as well as descriptions

(53:45):
of some of the drivers.

Speaker 9 (53:47):
I did the best I could.

Speaker 4 (53:48):
How long were you staying in there?

Speaker 17 (53:51):
I figured somewhere between ten and fifteen minutes? And you know,
live the thirty one car, Yeah, so you saw him
at fifteen minutes.

Speaker 4 (54:01):
Let me answer your question. Are the the list that
we're looking at are using the order as you saw
them coming down? Truman wrote I.

Speaker 17 (54:08):
Tried to make them as close to it as as
my memory as I did on that thing.

Speaker 1 (54:13):
They go through the first twelve cars, then move on
to number thirteen, the white Pontiac six thousand with a
big dent in the front bumper and bumper stickers all
over the rear panel of the car. License plate morbid
is number thirteen.

Speaker 13 (54:31):
Let me number thirteen.

Speaker 17 (54:33):
There it is identified by all sorts of memorable things
about this vehicle. Have some tire prints, got a close
up of the decal which essentially, as all this guests later,
are not that significance anymore, and that I remember them
that night.

Speaker 4 (54:53):
This blocked to Byron Tool.

Speaker 13 (54:56):
I presume that it does.

Speaker 11 (54:58):
It's in his position.

Speaker 4 (55:00):
We did think we remember seeing that car that life
has played went ran down Truman Road when you were
standing at the entrance to not.

Speaker 17 (55:07):
Wasting vividly, vividly remember how about occupant occupant? As I
could determine there was only one occupant in this car
identified that fact very early on when I saw that
car round in the bend. I had been looking in
cars trying to see how many people were driving in
these vehicles, and had slim luck and seeing guy. But

(55:33):
I saw the drive around this car far away, and
it was the silliest thing because his face glowed like white,
you know light. And I said, well, there's at least
one occupant in that driver, and he looks like the ghost.

Speaker 4 (55:48):
By god, he must have come out of that come
out of the cemetery scared.

Speaker 11 (55:54):
Why does the sheet coming down the hill?

Speaker 4 (55:56):
What's the matter with you? You?

Speaker 11 (55:59):
Independ It's got.

Speaker 1 (56:02):
Bob calls the driver of this car Independence goth Independence
is the name of the town nearby and where the
Whippos Fugens live.

Speaker 17 (56:12):
Have you ever met Byron case before that, I had
occasion to have dinner with him, probably with Anastas and
justin at Gojo's April February April, that area.

Speaker 4 (56:28):
The night that you saw the vehicle, did you recognize
the occupant?

Speaker 17 (56:36):
No, no, it didn't occur to me at all. All
I saw was that there was somebody that looked like like,
you know, like the ghost.

Speaker 4 (56:44):
Sure th share license.

Speaker 1 (56:47):
Late Kilgore learns that Byron drives a white nineteen eighty
six Pontiac six thousand l E with Kansas license plates
that read morbid. The question is, did Bob actually see
Byron out that night? In the meantime, Bob's emails and

(57:07):
facts is to kill Gore continue. He still shares his
theories and what he learns while out investigating, but Bob
also starts zeroing in more on Byron, sending Kilgore photos
of Byron, Byron's car, close up of his tires, descriptions
of Byron's sightings, his new haircut, and links to Byron's
web page, and Bob starts sometimes emailing and factxing Kilgore

(57:31):
the same thing multiple times within minutes of each other.
At times, the tone is aggressive, like on July twenty third,
when Bob writes, quote, nine months later, and you still
haven't done anything. How do you sleep at night? On
August twenty first, nineteen ninety eight, kil Gore sends Bob

(57:52):
a letter. It reads, in part, quote stop harassing me,
both directly and indirectly. Stop harassing me at my residence.
Do not communicate with me at my residence or try
to contact me at my residence in any way. He
goes on to say, quote, I believe that your harassment
of me has caused irreparable damage to me personally and professionally.

(58:14):
I believe this was your intention, despite what you have
done to me personally and professionally. I am still optimistic
that the information and or evidence needed to solve the
case will eventually surface and the truth will be known.
On August twenty second, ten months after Anastasia was murdered,

(58:37):
Kelly Moffatt is back at the Jackson County Sheriff's Department
to answer more of Sergeant Kilgore's questions. This time, she's
accompanied by both of her parents. I have the transcript,
but not the audio from this interview, so I will
summarize some of what is discussed. Kelly says she and

(58:57):
Byron are still dating, but they've been fighting lately and
she thinks he may know more than he's sang. Kelly
now wonders if there might have been a suicide pack
that night after all. Kelly says, maybe Justin and Byron
freaked out after they saw Anastasia kill herself and they
backed out of the pact. Kilgore asks when this might

(59:19):
have happened, and Kelly says maybe after they dropped her off.
She says, quote, I don't think that it was really
a murder situation, and she says she didn't see a
gun with them that night. Kilgore asks about Byron's car.
Kelly says Byron wasn't driving it around that time because
she remembers he was getting a lot of rides from

(59:41):
Justin and her parents were pissy about always having to
take her to meet him. Kelly says Byron feels like
he's being harassed by Anastasia's father, Bob, and because Byron's
on probation for stealing back in nineteen ninety six, he
doesn't want to speak with police. He's suspicious they may
t try and trick him and falsely accuse him of

(01:00:02):
Anastasia's murder. At the end of the interview, Kelly agrees
to a computer voice stress analysis, something similar to a
light detector test. Some of the questions Kelly's asked are
did Byron kill Anastasia? Were you with Anastasia when she
was killed? And do you know of anybody that might

(01:00:25):
have some information about this suicide pact. In Kilgore's report
after the interview, he writes, quote, due to a machine malfunction,
the results of the test were void. After this interview
with Kelly, Sergeant Kilgore wants to speak with Byron again
about the night in question and about his car. Byron

(01:00:47):
now has legal representation, so his attorney tells Kilgore Byron
won't be giving another interview at this time. But about
a week later, Byron actually does call kil Gore. Here's
some of that recorded phone conversation from August twenty ninth,
nineteen ninety eight.

Speaker 4 (01:01:05):
And what chance are you coming out swing sit down
and talk again? Can I ask what? For example, just
to go over what we've already gone over, to see
if there's been in new developments in your life because
of this, to see if maybe you come up with
any additional information I might be able to spring off

(01:01:27):
of just.

Speaker 7 (01:01:31):
Well, I mean nothing, I mean there's nothing that's changed, right,
I mean.

Speaker 4 (01:01:38):
I'd still like to just in person degree interview.

Speaker 7 (01:01:43):
Well, I mean I really want statements. I mean you
still have that, right, Oh?

Speaker 4 (01:01:47):
Absolutely?

Speaker 7 (01:01:48):
Well, I mean yeah, nothing's changed from that. I mean, well,
is actually I had to be a problem and you're
doing this for me. Well, I'm really busy. I understand
that my uh, you know, I mean my dad passed
away in December, and trying to keep the top of
your skat.

Speaker 4 (01:02:05):
All of that.

Speaker 7 (01:02:07):
You know, there's just a lot of tid more than
or to work around your schedule. Well, I mean, I
can't really offer anything, though.

Speaker 4 (01:02:18):
I still would like to united sit down and Chuck,
I'm not I'm not playing any games or there's nothing
like what that one to take you did with the
wrong There are no games. I have no intentions for resting.

Speaker 7 (01:02:34):
You or anything.

Speaker 1 (01:02:35):
Kilgore is referring to Byron's friend Abraham here. You might
remember after his interview with Sergeant Kellogg, he was arrested
on an outstanding traffic warrant.

Speaker 7 (01:02:45):
You know, I mean, I can't think of anything else
that I do have, and well, just with me, uh,
you know, I I think I could better judge that
as to what I need.

Speaker 4 (01:02:55):
Okay, what I might be looking for, what you might
say or something like this that I would really like
to sit down. Factor, there's no tricks.

Speaker 7 (01:03:04):
Well, it's just that this was ten months ago.

Speaker 4 (01:03:06):
Or I'm very well aware of the day, and.

Speaker 7 (01:03:10):
You know that's all that I know because I can't
you know, I mean, if I could contribute anything else,
I would call you. You would contribute a great deal.

Speaker 4 (01:03:20):
If you say yes, Sergeant.

Speaker 7 (01:03:22):
Kill well let's get together going talk. Well, I don't
feel that that would be I mean, I don't see
how that would give for any value whatsoever. I mean,
I can't offer any more information.

Speaker 4 (01:03:34):
You don't even know my questions.

Speaker 7 (01:03:37):
Well then, I mean I'm on the phone now, right.

Speaker 4 (01:03:42):
And I'm sure you can can appreciate my situation here
the nature of the investigation that is not really something
you would want to get to in depth over the funnel.

Speaker 11 (01:03:55):
I mean, I personally don't have a.

Speaker 4 (01:03:56):
Problem with it with interviewing over the phone. Is there
a transportation problem, Well, first off, I told them to
have to drive all the way out there, and like
I said, I mean, there's nothing else that I can
I can tell you. Well, maybe there is. I really
appreciate you coming and talking again. Whatever time to day

(01:04:19):
is good for you.

Speaker 6 (01:04:21):
Well, I.

Speaker 7 (01:04:23):
I really wouldn't. I mean, basically, I just you know,
I don't see how this is above anything you have
to take people know about and everything that I said
you before. I mean, I gave you more than you
know enough details about anything. I would think that you
know there would be you know, enough to go on

(01:04:45):
from that. I mean, the fact that this hasn't been
involved is I mean, you know, there's no fault of mine.
I mean, I told you everything I could, is yes,
many a problem. I mean, you know that's not the issue,
you know. I mean, I have more important things to
do with my time than you know, run around in circles.

Speaker 4 (01:05:05):
No, no circles.

Speaker 7 (01:05:06):
I guarantee that in miss case, this is not a
circle or anything like that.

Speaker 4 (01:05:13):
I guarantee you that.

Speaker 7 (01:05:15):
After we talk you can you'll be leaving.

Speaker 4 (01:05:18):
I'm not trying to drag you in here just to
make an a risk.

Speaker 6 (01:05:22):
I was going to do that.

Speaker 4 (01:05:23):
I was done that a long time ago. I think
you know that.

Speaker 7 (01:05:26):
But there are some questions that have came out, and
I need you to clarify a few things. I like
I said, I mean, I can't clarify anything because all
I know is I hold you.

Speaker 4 (01:05:35):
You know what I do. You have no idea what
I need you to clarify. So how can you make
a statement?

Speaker 17 (01:05:41):
Are you?

Speaker 4 (01:05:41):
Are you afraid to talk to me? You know?

Speaker 7 (01:05:43):
I mean it's just that I see absolutely no purpose.
I mean, I give you all the information that I have,
but if I come to you, I you know, I'm
hardly over here anyway. Well, that's not really the issue
of like where.

Speaker 4 (01:05:59):
All Well, if it's not a transportation, if it's not
location if it's not financial then and just not wanting
to cooperate with me, I'm sorry, just not wanting to
cooperate with me.

Speaker 7 (01:06:14):
No, it's it's not that at all. I mean that's
cooperated as much as I can.

Speaker 4 (01:06:18):
Well, And and have I have I Have I ever
asked you or hounded you or anything?

Speaker 7 (01:06:23):
No, I didn't think so.

Speaker 4 (01:06:25):
And so I'm now I see that you come in
talk to me again and clarify a few things that
came up during the course of this investigation. And I'm
just merely asking for your cooperation. Well, I will have
to get back with you, okay. And when could I
expect you to get back with me?

Speaker 7 (01:06:46):
Probably sometimes they.

Speaker 4 (01:06:48):
Not may not be in the office.

Speaker 7 (01:06:50):
Okay, Well I can leave a leverage okay, thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:06:57):
I have no documentation that says Byron called kil Gore
back that day, but there is a report that a
couple of weeks later, Byron's attorney calls kil Gore with
some information about Byron's car. He says it was towed
to Birch Automotive, where it stayed for about two weeks,
and it was there the night Anastasia was murdered. Byron's

(01:07:20):
attorney says Byron's dad paid for the tow by check
and he banked at Brotherhood Bank. Byron's attorney says, in
regard to an in person interview, his client is concerned
investigators are going to try and pin the murder on him,
so no interview will take place with Byron right now.
But kil Gore does call Birch Engine Services and speaks

(01:07:43):
with the owner, who says he has an invoice that
shows Byron's vehicle was at his shop to have the
water pump replaced. The work was completed on October twenty eighth,
five days after Anastasia was murdered, and the bill was
paid on the twenty ninth. Says he can't confirm when
the vehicle was actually brought in and can't recall if

(01:08:05):
the car was towed there or not, but he says
when a vehicle is towed to his shop, they use
Santa fe Toe service. The owner says he will send
the invoice for the work he did on Byron's car
to kilgre So it seems Byron's car was in the
shop at least on the twenty eighth and twenty ninth,
but there's still no confirmation Byron's car was there the

(01:08:26):
night of the twenty second kil Gore reaches out to
Santa Fe Toe Service, who says they have no record
of towing a car for Byron case. I don't know
if Kilgore ever reached out to Byron's dad's bank to
see if perhaps another toe company had been used. We're
now eleven and a half months into the investigation. There's

(01:08:50):
still no weapon, no physical evidence or eyewitness testimony pointing
to any one suspect or suspects. It continues to be
an investigation fueled by rumors, speculation, and some wild theories.
But maybe buried in there somewhere lies the truth. Next

(01:09:14):
time on the real killer.

Speaker 4 (01:09:16):
Who do you think killed Anastasia?

Speaker 9 (01:09:17):
I think there were many individual treasures and I don't
know who pulled the trigger. I don't think that person
is alive today.

Speaker 1 (01:09:26):
Are people being scared into silence?

Speaker 9 (01:09:29):
Well, I think Virons fearing for his life and that's
why he's not telling the story.

Speaker 1 (01:09:39):
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely
those of the individuals participating in the podcast. If you
or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts or a crisis,
please no help is available, call or text nine to
eight eight or chat online at the Suicide and Christi

(01:10:00):
is Lifeline's website at nine eight eight lifeline dot org.
To see photos, maps and documents related to this season's story,
follow The Real Killer podcast on Instagram and at TRK
podcast on TikTok. The Real Killer is a production of

(01:10:21):
AYR Media and iHeartMedia, hosted by me Leah Rothman. Executive
producers Leah Rothman and Elisa Rosen for AYR Media. Written
by Leah Rothman, editing and sound design by Cameron Taggi,
mixed and mastered by Cameron Taggi. Production coordinator Andy Levine,

(01:10:43):
Audio engineer Justin Longerbeam studio engineer Graham Gibson, Legal console
for AYR Media. Johnny Douglas, Executive producer for iHeartMedia. Maya
Howard