The Real Killer Season 3: Ep. 5, We Shouldn’t Talk About This

Almost three years after Anastasia is murdered, an eyewitness comes forward and describes Anastasia’s horrific murder moment by moment. But there’s not enough for an arrest, just yet. Nine months pass and prosecutors finally have what they need: a “tacit admission” from the killer caught on tape. An arrest, trial and conviction soon follow. Has the right person been sent to prison for life?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A warning.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
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. It's been almost three years since eighteen year

(00:24):
old Anastasia Whitbolsfugen was brutally murdered in Lincoln Cemetery. There
have been no arrests in the case. No one has
been ruled out.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
Followings interviewer conducted on.

Speaker 4 (00:38):
September twenty first, two thousand, starting in approximately thirteen oh
five hours.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Then out of nowhere, a huge break in the case.
Someone comes forward who says they know who killed Anastasia
and they're ready to come clean. I'm Leah Rothman. This

(01:07):
is the real killer. Episode five. We shouldn't talk about this.

Speaker 5 (01:20):
Station name Kelly Moffatt, date of birth.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
With the promise of immunity from prosecution, Kelly Moffatt, who
went out the night of October twenty second, nineteen ninety
seven with her boyfriend Byron Case, Anastasia, and Anastasia's boyfriend
Justin Bruton, has now come forward to say she witnessed
Anastasia's murder and she knows who pulled the trigger. Sergeant

(01:46):
Gary Kilgore speaks with her at Mainstream Women's Center, a
drug rehab facility where Kelly is doing inpatient treatment.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
I understand that.

Speaker 4 (01:58):
The times that you and I have previously talk that
you were not entirely truthful with me.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
Yeah that is correct.

Speaker 5 (02:06):
Yeah, that's great, okay, and.

Speaker 4 (02:07):
You are now willing to be truthful with them.

Speaker 5 (02:11):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
At the time of this interview, Kelly is seventeen, about
one month shy of her eighteenth birthday. She was fifteen
the night of Anastasia's death.

Speaker 3 (02:23):
Do you know how Anastasia died?

Speaker 5 (02:25):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (02:27):
Could you go ahead and tell me what it is?
Did you know about them?

Speaker 5 (02:31):
Where? Should I start? Just anywhere? Anything? Well, I'll start
with what I know, okay, because I'm not.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
Kelly begins with Justin and Anastasia's tumultuous relationship in early
fall of nineteen ninety seven. She says, Anastasia had been
living with Justin at his condo and they were fighting
a lot. Kelly says about one week before Anastasia was murdered,
Justin asked her to move out, so she moved back
home with her dad.

Speaker 5 (03:00):
After that, she was kind of Justin was getting upset
because she was calling him constantly and showing up at
his apartment and everything. Him and Anastasia. Justin and Anastesia
had had plans at one point because Justin's parents were
so wealthy and he didn't get along with them, they
were gonna go rob them, and that didn't work out.
They had I guess they had it planned out or whatever.
I never saw a weapon or anything.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
They tim robbed Justin's parents.

Speaker 5 (03:24):
Got no as far as I know, they decided to.
They started to drive down there to told to Oklahoma
to his parents' house, and they ended up kind of
chickening out and turning around and coming back home.

Speaker 3 (03:36):
And when was this taking place, probably.

Speaker 5 (03:40):
I don't know, a couple of weeks before she died,
before she moved out anyway, so that was kind of
when Justin's weird plans for things like started.

Speaker 3 (03:48):
Did they discussing any of these?

Speaker 2 (03:51):
The conversation then turns to October twenty second, nineteen ninety seven,
the last day Anastasia was seen alive. Kelly says, after school,
Byron and Justin picked her up, and I just figured.

Speaker 5 (04:04):
It was like a normal day, like we were gonna
go hang out. When I got in the car with them,
they asked me if I would help them with something
and I was like, well what, And Justin's like, well,
you know, I've been having like a really hard time.
And he goes, who's the person who's like the biggest
pain in my ass right now? So I said your
parents and he was like, no, they're in Tulsa. You know,
they're not that big of a problem. So I was
like in Anastasia and he goes, yes, and he said,

(04:26):
wouldn't my life be a lot easier? She wasn't like around.
So that's how like all that talk started.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
And where were you when this convers SAFETI was taking
close in the.

Speaker 5 (04:35):
Car with them, driving around j They come and picked
me up, Yeah, in Justin's car.

Speaker 3 (04:38):
Then did night just driving around talking about this.

Speaker 6 (04:41):
HM.

Speaker 5 (04:41):
Well they He was saying all this as we were
on the way to a gas station where they wanted
me to call her and ask her to meet her
d meet them at Dairy Queen. But she knew that
all it was all three of us, And when I
called her, you know, they said that they he was
going to get her out there and break up with
her and all this, and.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
You called Anna sty Yes I did from where.

Speaker 5 (05:05):
From the kick sixty sixth uh gas station in Lennoxa, Kansas.
And about what time is between four and five?

Speaker 4 (05:12):
I'd say, okay, So in your conversation with Anna stage.

Speaker 3 (05:17):
Or was what it was?

Speaker 5 (05:18):
Just it wasn't long. I just called her and said,
did uh Firen and Justine they were going to meetup
with day And She's like, yeah, where am I supposed
to meet you guys? And I just said the dairy queen?

Speaker 3 (05:30):
Mkay? So she had already You've made arrangement?

Speaker 5 (05:32):
Yeah, I guess sh she'd talk to 'em on the
phone or earlier that day, but I'm pretty sure they
were like wanted me to make the phone call probably,
you know. So she told somebody, yeah, Kelly called, were
going to go meet up a dairy queen something like that,
because what were heppened? Okay? And so after that they
were talking about how he did They did say that

(05:54):
they were going to shoot her?

Speaker 3 (05:57):
Just sh how did they come out? Uh? I mean,
are you sitting.

Speaker 4 (06:01):
There listening to t two people playing a a a murder?

Speaker 3 (06:04):
Do you have questions though.

Speaker 5 (06:06):
Yeah, basically I was like, what did you say or
you know, I said, well, I didn't really think that
they were gonna do it, because, like I said, the
whole robbery thing and stuff before. But it was just
kind of him saying, you know that he was just well,
Justin was really depressed anyway, him just saying that everything
would be a lot easier if she was like out
of the way and all this. And it was also
they kind of had like Justin had always said that

(06:28):
he just kind of wanted to kill somebody just to
I guess to have done it in his lifetime or
something like that, and Buyer and agreed to it, you know, to.

Speaker 4 (06:40):
Killing somebody or specifically killing Anastasia.

Speaker 5 (06:44):
I heard him talk about like kind of having like
the morbid curiosity of one because when he before, but
this time it was specifically her. Mkay.

Speaker 4 (06:52):
And you said when they were talking about this, you
said what, I.

Speaker 5 (06:56):
Was like, you guys are you guys are not? So
I was like, you were really not gonna do this?
And it was just so stupid because it was broad daylight,
I'd just gotten off school. It was like a week
day and everything. I was like, you guys, don't even
I mean, it just seemed ridiculous, you know. And also
they had when I got in the car, they had
a bottle of Jack Daniels. So they've been drinking and
they've been just kind of brooding with each other all day.

(07:17):
I guess about this or just about something anything.

Speaker 3 (07:20):
Did you see a weapon?

Speaker 5 (07:22):
Uh?

Speaker 3 (07:22):
Uh No, did you ever see a weapon?

Speaker 5 (07:25):
The only weapon I ever saw was I knew at
Byron's dad's house that I didn't think Justin never had
one or anything, but I knew at Byron's dad's house
there was like a hunting rifle or like a shotgun
of some sort that was up on the wall at
his dad's house.

Speaker 4 (07:39):
Okay, Uh, if your memory serves me right, when you
and I talked in the past, you told me about
a shotgun that Justin out.

Speaker 5 (07:47):
They just knowaned now that must have just been part
of the story cause of Holly, I never saw having one.

Speaker 4 (07:54):
So uh, it's telling me about the shotgun in the
past and what you saw.

Speaker 3 (07:59):
Kah, Yeah, Why did you tell me that?

Speaker 5 (08:02):
Because at that point in time, me and Byron thought
it would just be easier if somebody thought, you know,
Justin had done it. And since they they had told
me that they had him on camera buying the shotgun,
and I kind of went along with it.

Speaker 2 (08:19):
Okay, Okay, Now this is interesting because remember investigators have
the firearms transaction record for the shotgun Justin purchased in
September of nineteen ninety seven, just weeks before the murder,
so that gun did at one point exist.

Speaker 4 (08:37):
Okay, okay, So you're still in the car and they're
talking about the Yeah, Anastasia and I need more conversation
about that.

Speaker 5 (08:47):
But Justin was saying that they were talking about, you know,
who was actually going to do it, and Justin said
he didn't think that he could actually do it, so
he asked. Justin was all, it was just weird, you know,
he was going to do over there he wasn't and
he asked Byron if he would do it. And also
cause I don't think Jodin had ever saw a shot
gun or anything before. So they decided that, uh, Byron

(09:08):
was gonna do it. And then I just thought, you know,
that was ridiculous, cause what Byron even had to do
with it. You know, he knew in the stage that
he went to high school with her and everything, but it.

Speaker 3 (09:16):
Just seemed, you know, okay, did they talk about how
they were gonna do?

Speaker 5 (09:20):
They just they said that they had the gun in
the trunk. I mean he was gonna pop the true shooter,
but they didn't.

Speaker 3 (09:25):
Who did you hear say that?

Speaker 5 (09:27):
Byron said it? I said, well, how the hell are
you even gonna do this? I was like, it's froad daylight.
He's like, well, I don't think it would take very
long and it's in the trunk. And I was like,
you know, you don't even how do you even know
how to shoot a gun or anything? And he's like, well,
I used to go like hunting with my dad or
something like that. So I'm not sure like how that happened.
We ended, We drove out to go get her, picked

(09:50):
her up. You know, she got in the car.

Speaker 3 (09:51):
You drove out to where to the dairy Queen.

Speaker 5 (09:54):
I don't know which road it was on, but the
one across the street from Mount Washington.

Speaker 3 (09:58):
Do you uh remember about what time?

Speaker 5 (10:00):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (10:00):
Nay, hum, not really, I don't know. Okay, when you
arrived at the dry queen? What did you guys do
She just got in the car. Do you remember what
she was wearing?

Speaker 5 (10:12):
No? Anymore, I know I'm sure probably just seems in
like a T shirt or sweat shit, that's usually what
she wore. I don't say.

Speaker 4 (10:18):
So, you guys are parked out the Dry Queen parking
lot and uh, Anastasia gets in the car.

Speaker 3 (10:25):
Where was everybody's dating?

Speaker 2 (10:26):
Kelly says. Justin was in the driver's seat. Anna Stesia
was in the front passenger seat. Kelly was sitting behind Anastasia,
and Byron was sitting behind Justin conversation.

Speaker 3 (10:38):
Uh what was said?

Speaker 5 (10:40):
Just you know, she gets in the car, small talk
all this stuff, and she was abating. She was like, Justin,
you're late, You're always late on the We were just
kind of uh. Then Justin said that he need to
talk and everything would drive across the street to Mount
Washington Cemetery cause I think they they used to go
out there. I'd only been out there with him like
once or twice. Then Anna Stezia was kind of up
because he's like, I need to talk to you, and

(11:01):
she's like, well, then why'd you bring them? You know,
She's like sh She was kind of like embarrassed that
he wanted to talk about their relationship in front. I
guess of uh, me and Byron. So we're driving around.
She's kind of driving aimlessly. It was like they had
they had no spot, they knew where they were gonna
do this or anything. Now this is not watching. Yes,
we're start watching the cemetery. So we're driving around. They're

(11:24):
kind of bickering and stuff the whole way. Me and
Byron are standing in the back of the car drinking,
and I don't know how long we drove around in there,
and so finally I got we exited the cemetery. But
uh huh.

Speaker 4 (11:38):
Before you exited the cemetery, did you come into contact
with anybody?

Speaker 5 (11:43):
I think we saw the grounds keep a guy like
in his car or something. I don't remember really.

Speaker 3 (11:49):
Any anybody get out of the car.

Speaker 5 (11:51):
I don't think so.

Speaker 3 (11:52):
Even briefly.

Speaker 5 (11:54):
I th actually I think maybe Jocelyn and a stage
I got up for a little bit. You remember where
it was that It was at a mausoleum of some
sort something. I think they got I think I can't remember. Well,
I mean it was just briefly got out of the car,
just kind of walked around a little bit, but didn't
It was like out of the car, kind of got out,

(12:15):
looked around while I kind of.

Speaker 3 (12:16):
A little bit got back, so they were out of
the car for a few minutes.

Speaker 5 (12:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (12:19):
Human, And did you and uh Byron have any conversation
while they were out.

Speaker 5 (12:23):
Of the car. No, not really. Well, I was just like,
you know, this is ridiculous, blah blah blah. You know,
you guys aren't really gonna do this. I ask if
they had like planned it for a while. He said
that they'd been like talking about it, and I was
just like, well, I was like, hopefully, you know, they'll
just break up and it'll be over. So but I
can't really remember like exact conversation about it.

Speaker 4 (12:42):
Well, prior to that particular day, did you know anything
about them talking.

Speaker 3 (12:48):
About doing thathing?

Speaker 5 (12:48):
No? They always kind of had rich schemes and stuff
like that. That's why it seemed so ridiculous, cause it was
just like it came out of nowhere, mkay for this, cause,
like I said, probably just a week or two prior
to that, Justin's little thing, and then that they.

Speaker 4 (13:00):
Were in Rock's parent Okay, So, uh, they did get
back in the car and you exited, they.

Speaker 3 (13:06):
Yeah, Mount Washington Cemetery. Where'd you go from there?

Speaker 5 (13:11):
They were just driving around kind of looking for a
park or some of a place where they could talk
or whatever. But I mean it was still light out,
I basically and everything, and somehow they ended up in
the little cemetery where she was shot. I don't really
quite remember where it was and everything. I guess it
was kind of like Justin and Baron kind of looked
at each other when they pulled them there. I guess

(13:31):
it was like but it was still ripe pace.

Speaker 4 (13:33):
Did they go anywhere else before you got to bat location?

Speaker 5 (13:38):
I don't think so.

Speaker 3 (13:39):
Mkay, you don't think so.

Speaker 5 (13:40):
I don't. Uh, I don't really recall. I mean, I
think they were just kind of driving to a park.

Speaker 3 (13:45):
Didn't go to anybody's house.

Speaker 4 (13:47):
No, So they were just a constant just driving or yeah,
looking until you get to this point.

Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah, what's Lincoln? The cemetery was where.

Speaker 5 (13:56):
She was sho Okay, yeah, then we got there.

Speaker 4 (13:57):
Okay, do you remember which uh you'd you pulled into
her from to get into the mm cemetery and you
know the streets that bordered Lincoln Cemetery?

Speaker 5 (14:07):
Mm mm no, I don't. I think it was a
it was a back entrance to it.

Speaker 3 (14:11):
Sumhow could you describe that too?

Speaker 5 (14:14):
No, not really.

Speaker 3 (14:15):
I mean it was it uh on a hill? Was
it straight away?

Speaker 5 (14:18):
I just curved with uh you know, No, I think
it was cause I we didn't.

Speaker 3 (14:23):
I don't think.

Speaker 5 (14:24):
I don't think we got to it from main Street.
I think it was like through some gravel thing or something.
By last year, i'd probably have to see place first
to see which lake, cause I haven't. I mean I
went back there once because I knew there was a
little bit more. I don't think for her there, but that's.

Speaker 4 (14:39):
It, okay, send Uh So you eventually stopped then at
a n location in Lincoln, seb.

Speaker 3 (14:45):
Yeah, what happened.

Speaker 5 (14:48):
Justin and I stays I got out of the cart
of talk, you know, like once again they got out
and they were kind of over on like the driver's side,
seeing they're talking, just like yelling at each other. Yeah,
so me and bron are kind of still sitting in
the back like during well at least I was. I
was just sick the drinking, kind of just like listening
to him and yell at each other and everything like that.

Speaker 3 (15:06):
Was it still light or dark?

Speaker 5 (15:08):
I think it was starting to get dark. I don't think.
I mean, it wasn't like pitch flack. But I know
it wasn't cr It wasn't like complete daylight, cause I
remember I think I remember seeing headline and stuff with
cars like passing on the street or by there. So
they're out of the car talking fighting or whatever, and.

Speaker 3 (15:28):
Uh, could you hear anything being said.

Speaker 5 (15:31):
Yeah, it was just basically her telling him to bug off,
just like an argument earlier in the car. She'd taken
off this ring he gave her and threw it at
him and all this stuff, and he was just telling
her to like calm down, and she was just you know,
telling him. She's like, I can't believe you're not emotional
about those just that kind of stuff.

Speaker 3 (15:48):
Do you know what happened to that ring? Mmm?

Speaker 5 (15:51):
Great. So we're just sitting back there and Byron tells
me to stay in the car, and he got out
of the car. He pushed justin c for it or
got out, and so he gets out of the car.
That's all happened in a matter probably I don't know,
like thirty seconds. It was really quickly. He got out
of the car and I saw him go around to

(16:13):
the back of the trunk and I could hear Justin
yelling at him in German saying what saying like never mind,
never mind?

Speaker 3 (16:23):
Okay, uh stop say that in German.

Speaker 5 (16:26):
No. But I mean at the time I was in
that's what cause. Okay, but you'll figure out how I
knew that what he was saying.

Speaker 3 (16:32):
I that's what I'm to figure out.

Speaker 5 (16:34):
Yeah, when he got back in the car after well,
okay here, so he's saying like stop, he's saying that
in English and he's saying never mind like in German.
But Byron, I guess was fokes on what he was
doing or whatever. When he had gotten out of the car,
the keys were in the ignission, so he'd like grab
the keys. I could hear'em, you know, like open the

(16:55):
trunk and got out the gun and shot her.

Speaker 2 (17:12):
Kelly Moffatt just told Sergeant Kilgore. On the night of
October twenty second, nineteen ninety seven, she witnessed her then
boyfriend Byron Case shoot her friend Anastasia Whitfelsfugen close to
the car.

Speaker 5 (17:25):
I like saw hoping that happened, and the whole time
Justin was yelling at her exactly. I saw him get
the gun out, just go do a little I don't
know what he did, just the whole.

Speaker 3 (17:36):
Tell me what you think he did. What did you hear?

Speaker 5 (17:40):
Well, I don't think I don't think I heard that
little because they were still talking so much. I don't
think he did the little the little teaching thing. But
I don't I don't think he did that. I just
thowting with it.

Speaker 3 (17:52):
Were you describing to me as like a pump shotgun?

Speaker 5 (17:56):
No, I'm not sure if he did that. I saw
him kind of filling with it for a couple seconds,
but it he just like grabbed it out and walked
down the side of the car. I think it was
double barreled though, cause it looked like an old gun.

Speaker 3 (18:08):
Which side of the car we him or me?

Speaker 5 (18:12):
Where?

Speaker 3 (18:12):
Uh?

Speaker 4 (18:13):
Just then then Anastas or they were on the h
driver's side of the driver's side, say like.

Speaker 5 (18:18):
Here's the back of the car. All he had to
do he got out, got it and then went cause
they were still pretty close to the car. Okay, And
it just all happened in a matter of seconds. He
just lifted it up and shot.

Speaker 3 (18:28):
Her, just lifted it up and shot. Where'd you shoot
her at?

Speaker 5 (18:32):
Just in the head?

Speaker 3 (18:35):
Kay?

Speaker 5 (18:36):
Did you see pretty close to the car.

Speaker 3 (18:38):
Did you see her fall down?

Speaker 5 (18:39):
Yeah, how did she fall? It fell back? Well, it
was like kind of like an explosion, you know, it
just I mean, it just knocked her backwards, the whole thing, Okay,
and really quickly by and just like threw that thing
in the the gun in the trunk again, you know,

(19:02):
like opened it up through it in there was like.

Speaker 3 (19:05):
Did you see her fall to the ground?

Speaker 5 (19:07):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (19:08):
And what position did she fall in?

Speaker 5 (19:12):
I don't know, cause I remember I looked at that
and then just kind of, you know, obviously sawed. I
like screamed and kind of looked away, and then I
looked back and I couldn't really she was just I
think she was on her back just like that. I'm
pretty sure it locked her backwards cause I just remember
kind of seeing her body on the ground like that.

Speaker 3 (19:28):
Kay, And uh then what happened then?

Speaker 5 (19:33):
Justin like freaked out. He was like, oh my god,
Oh my god. And they got in the car, you know,
Barne's like getting in the car, getting the cars ruled.
Like I said, we're right by a street and everything.
We jump in.

Speaker 3 (19:46):
Can you say we jump No?

Speaker 5 (19:48):
I was in the car. No I didn't. I'm' just
say they did it up time, Okay, So they get
into the car and and then I said it all
happened in like a matter of seconds.

Speaker 3 (19:57):
What uh who was driving? Justin was trying okay, and
where did Byron? Where did he sit.

Speaker 5 (20:04):
In the front passenger's seat? Okay, So they get in
the car and Justin drives off, and Justin's like, that's
how I knew what he said in German. He was
kind of freaking out. He was like, oh my god,
oh my god, he goes. Didn't you hear me telling
you to never mind? To stop and everything like that?
As Byron said, He's like no, He's like, I was

(20:24):
concentrated on that. He goes, and once you know, I
got out of the car, He's like, what else was
I supposed to do? Cause you'd already you know, got
a gun out or whatever. He's like, what was I
supposed to do? And Justin was just like flipped out
the whole time, like he was driving. Eventually he went
to some I don't know if it was pre planned
or not. It didn't really seem like it. He just

(20:46):
drove up to some railroad tracks and uh, Byrone got
out and.

Speaker 7 (20:51):
Threw the gun.

Speaker 3 (20:52):
How far away from the cemetery?

Speaker 5 (20:54):
I don't know. I don't think it was very far.

Speaker 3 (20:56):
Do you remember what street?

Speaker 2 (20:58):
Hm?

Speaker 5 (20:59):
If I I would probably remember that on remember what street?
So when they did that, when he threw the gun
out and everything, Justin was like so shaken up and
everything that Byron drove and he drove back to Justin's condo,
and I remember just because Byron seemed to really calm
about I remember Justin saying, he goes, I don't understand

(21:21):
how you seem so calm about this. It's like you
had like two brains to like put it in, because
he was just we were just in like this, and
Byron kind of seems normal, you know, he could drive
and everything. So got back to Justin's condo.

Speaker 2 (21:37):
Kelly says, at Justin's condo they came up with the story.
They will eventually tell everybody that Anastasia got out of
the car at Truman Road and the I four thirty five.
Kelly says that Byron was the one leading the narrative
because Justin was almost incoherent.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
He was so shaken up.

Speaker 5 (21:57):
For a little bit and everything, and you know, like
you are you He kept repeating the thing over and
over again because they knew that people were obviously going
to be questioned, and so finally it was getting pretty late,
and you know, they didn't want it to seem like
anything weird it happen. I had to be home between
like ninety nine thirty, so drove back to my house

(22:20):
and went inside, and Justin asked to use the phone
because Barne was like, well, what are we going to say?
You know happened to her and all that, you know,
how we're gonna he had to contact somebody. So they
came in and Justin used my phone and called her house.
I don't know who he talked to though, and told

(22:41):
her sister the story that they've made up that she
got out of the car and everything, and Byron made
it a point to in front of my mom say yeah,
you know, Anna Stasia jumped out of the car and everything.
I guess made it more like believable.

Speaker 2 (22:54):
And they left and I didn't Kelly says Byron, and
Justin left soon after, and late that night she spoke
with Byron again.

Speaker 5 (23:02):
And I don't know, Byron just didn't seem very pricked
out about the whole thing. It was like he didn't
really I don't think he really understood how great doubt.

Speaker 4 (23:09):
You know, Justin was when you were talking to the
Byron later that night, did you.

Speaker 3 (23:19):
Ask him anything like how could you?

Speaker 5 (23:20):
Yeah, exact yeah. I was like, well how did you
you know, how could you do that? Or whatever? And
I was like, there's really there was like no reason
for it. And he was like, well, you know, once
I got the gun out, there was like turning back
and everything. And I was like, well, why you know
did it happen in the first place? And he goes, well,
Justin asked me to do it, and you know, because
he couldn't do it. He goes, and he shouldn't have

(23:42):
asked me to do it if like he didn't want
it to be done basically, and so and that's why
I said. I go, well, you do realize that this
makes you like a murderer. And I remember exactly what
he said. He goes, no, he goes, I think a
murder of someone who doesn't feel bad about like what
they did. He's like, well, I feel bad, but it
already happened.

Speaker 2 (24:00):
So kil Gore turns over the tape. Kelly says the
next time she spoke with Byron was the following day, Thursday,
after she got back from her grandmother's house.

Speaker 4 (24:14):
And you came out and talk to me first time.
I believe that was on the following Friday. Okay, so
you talked to Byron on Thursday, and did you talk about.

Speaker 5 (24:26):
Just Well, obviously, you know, that was the focus of
the conversation. I remember him talking about that they couldn't
find Justin, like he'd called there and he wasn't there,
everything like that. Just you know, I was like, you know,
freaked out, what are we gonna do? You know, where
to Justin and all this? And then I obviously asked him,

(24:47):
I was like, had you guys been planning this and everything? Friend?
He said yeah, And I said, well, why did you,
you know, bring me into this and all this?

Speaker 3 (24:56):
And he's like, well, I.

Speaker 5 (24:57):
Guess we needed somebody to call her, and cause you
know I didn't, I was like, well, why'd you bring
I was kind of, you know, like bad, like, why'd
you bring me into this and everything?

Speaker 4 (25:07):
Did you guys go over, uh the story that you
were gonna tell the police?

Speaker 5 (25:11):
Yeah? He had. Yeah, he was like talking about that
like quite a bit. Now.

Speaker 3 (25:19):
You and I went out the few days later and.

Speaker 4 (25:25):
And uh, you know, we discussed the circumstances there and
the events that it happened.

Speaker 3 (25:31):
Did you and your mother went with me and I.

Speaker 4 (25:33):
Asked you to show me the path and the route
that you guys would taken. Did you uh seemed pretty
uh sure of yourself when you were telling me where.

Speaker 3 (25:46):
To go and what you guys did. Did you uh
go over that with Byron? Also?

Speaker 5 (25:52):
Yeah, Byron when he had said, cause I don't know
independence at all, when he said that she was, you know,
where she got out of the car and every thing
like that, I believe I think it was the next
day or the day after, you know, when he obviously
knew that we're gonna have to talk to you guys.
He took me out there to the spot He's like,

(26:14):
a miss, is where you know you're gonna say that
she got out of the car, which was at that
stop light?

Speaker 3 (26:18):
Okay, it would have been at Truman in four thirty five.

Speaker 4 (26:21):
I believe when you and I talked the first time
on Friday, you drove me, drew me out of a little
mass You recall doing that, yeah, and so then move
Byron drove you around.

Speaker 5 (26:33):
She drove me out there saying, you know, this is
where we're gonna say she got out because I was
that was He was like worried about that because I
didn't know, you know, where we were, where we'd gone.
Whose car were you when he drove out there?

Speaker 3 (26:47):
I believe you know what kind of car it was.

Speaker 2 (26:49):
Tilgore circles back to the shooting and asks Kelly to
show him, specifically the position of Justin's car at Lincoln Cemetery.
Although it's not set out loud, it sounds like Kelly
is drawing a map for him.

Speaker 5 (27:01):
See, they wasn't that far from the road. Probably the
road was like here, do want me to show where?
Like the people are?

Speaker 3 (27:07):
Sure?

Speaker 5 (27:08):
Okay, okay, so that's I'm like the back passenger seat
at first, bron was obviously sitting there. Justin and Anastagia
got out. They weren't very far from the car. Let's
just stay here. Justin was probably like there and Anna
Sasa was there. They were talking. So byrone, you know,

(27:31):
got out of the car, went right around there, and
he was pretty close to where just got it out
to like a thick a step forward or so. He
wasn't like walking around a lot. He just got right out,
went back to the trunk and hop gun.

Speaker 3 (27:45):
How close was he when he shot her.

Speaker 5 (27:47):
To her or to the car to her? Pretty close?
And probably say, I don't hear to that wall. He
wasn't very far at all. He's close to her.

Speaker 4 (27:58):
There was what you showed maybe was practically five foot Yeah.

Speaker 5 (28:02):
Maybe that are a little bit over. He was closed
to her, though, really close to her.

Speaker 4 (28:06):
Did you hold the shotgun of with the end of
it to his shoulder like you would hold it right?

Speaker 5 (28:12):
Role, I I think I know, I don't.

Speaker 3 (28:15):
I just all I saw him.

Speaker 5 (28:17):
Yeah, I was probably up cause I all I saw
was that it like happened so quickly.

Speaker 3 (28:21):
Okay, it's been almost three years. Why now, Why am
I saying something?

Speaker 5 (28:29):
Yeah, because well it just first off, I know how
Knot's like her family is probably going. And also I
mean it's just it's just like wrong. It's like Justin
said in station said there was no reason for it.
You know, Byron's still out there and it seems like
he's not having any problems because of this, whereas you know,
obviously my life's been really messed up, I mean, rehab,

(28:50):
my life's been like completely just you know, messed up,
like because of this, and it's just you know, it's
just not right. It doesn't And like I said, it
seems like it's two people are dead for no reason,
and he's just like out there.

Speaker 6 (29:07):
You know.

Speaker 2 (29:09):
Kilgore asks if Kelly's shared the story with anyone else.
She says about a year ago, she told her then
boyfriend that Byron had shot Anastasia. She asked him not
to say anything besides her ex boyfriend. Kelly says she
told her drug rehab counselor Maggie, which led to her
coming forward.

Speaker 4 (29:29):
Okay, so you told Maggie and who.

Speaker 3 (29:34):
Else have you told?

Speaker 5 (29:35):
Well? Then after, you know, I talked to Maggie my
parents and everything.

Speaker 3 (29:39):
How long ago did you first tell your parents?

Speaker 5 (29:42):
How long ago? Well? I told him that, you know,
I knew more than I said and everything, but I
hadn't ever told him the complete story up until recently
when I told.

Speaker 4 (29:54):
Maggie, what did you How much did you tell them
back in the past?

Speaker 2 (30:00):
Not.

Speaker 5 (30:00):
I just told him that, you know, I knew what
happened and everything like that.

Speaker 3 (30:04):
So you told him that you knew for back? How
in a state died?

Speaker 2 (30:09):
Okay?

Speaker 3 (30:10):
And did they discuss it with you?

Speaker 5 (30:13):
Well, I mean they were always trying to get me
to tell like the complete story and stuff. But I
wouldn't why because well I was just scared to And
also I didn't I was just scared to say anything.
And anytime I'd say anything to viron about saying, it'd
be like, you know, it's over in the past. He's like,
we don't need to wreck our lives, or as it's
already you know, He's like, they think, justin did it.

(30:33):
It's like in the past or whatever. Well when also
I just didn't wanna, you know, admit to my parents
that I had like anything to do with anything of it,
you know, cause it just seems so you know.

Speaker 4 (30:44):
Or were you scared what would happen to you go
to jail or something?

Speaker 5 (30:48):
Yeah, well, not not so much to that, just that,
I mean, that's a it's a weird thing to tell
your own parents that you were like involved in something
like that, because regardless of if I really didn't think
it was gonna happen, and I still should have said,
you know, what are you know tonight? I've gotten a carlin.

Speaker 2 (31:13):
On September twenty one, two thousand and almost three years
after Anastasia Whipples Fuchen was killed, Kelly Moffatt has come
forward to say Byron Case murdered her again. Strangely, Kelly
shows no real emotion while telling this story, the real story,
the one she's been holding onto for so long. The

(31:37):
next day, Kelly goes out with Sergeant Kilgore to show
him where Anastasia was killed and where the gun was dumped.
They start at the Dairy Queen, then head across the
street to Mount Washington Cemetery. Steely Dan's Dirty Work is
playing on the radio for the first few moments of
their drive.

Speaker 3 (31:56):
If anything works familiar, it's been such a lot of time.

Speaker 2 (32:02):
Eventually they make their way towards Lincoln Cemetery.

Speaker 3 (32:06):
In your medium right here, does any of this look familiar?

Speaker 5 (32:10):
I don't know. Well, I know that where it happened,
you could see a street. I think you could see
a street house. I don't know. I didn't get out
of the car, so I don't know. I just remember
seeing like I thought you could actually see like where
people were buried something, cause it's just kind of like
a park. Yeah. I think they pulled that onto this,

(32:31):
they think, But I thought there was like houses or something, No,
cause I remember trying. Okay, Yeah, this is how it
came out.

Speaker 3 (32:38):
Okay, this is the way you left after uh.

Speaker 5 (32:41):
She was killed? Yeah, I believed so.

Speaker 3 (32:44):
Weren't you in here and found the memorial side afterwards?

Speaker 5 (32:47):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (32:47):
Do you remember where that.

Speaker 5 (32:48):
Was at all? Assume to me maybe this is where
they stopped. But I could have sworn they could see
the street from there, like see.

Speaker 3 (32:58):
Cars nothing, Weland, Stay, his body was found over here
in this.

Speaker 5 (33:01):
Area, probably cause I think I just worn it was
close to the street though.

Speaker 4 (33:08):
The way you described it to me yesterday, would have
had to have stopped the car somewhere in here, mkay,
based on where her body was found.

Speaker 3 (33:18):
Is there any way you could reconstruct that position my
vehicle like right here? Well, where do you think it was?
That's why I'm trying to get you to do it?

Speaker 5 (33:27):
Yeah for me? Yeah, keep going forward.

Speaker 3 (33:32):
You're just not sure that where you actually stopped.

Speaker 5 (33:35):
No, I'm not sure.

Speaker 8 (33:37):
Okay, I think it was at least maybe like here,
because yeah, I mean I.

Speaker 5 (33:41):
Could at least see cars going past on that road
because I.

Speaker 8 (33:45):
Remember, yeah, cause I could see headline and stuff over there,
and I was like, well, god, you know, I mean
it was right by like a busy street and everything okay.

Speaker 2 (33:54):
Next, Sergeant Kilgore asks Kelly to show him where they
got rid of the gun.

Speaker 3 (33:57):
Here I was just right after it happened.

Speaker 8 (34:03):
I remember that there was like maybe factories are like
a rock if there were some type of old something
with the roroad tracks going by.

Speaker 2 (34:14):
Kelly says Justin and Byron acted like they'd been there before,
because Kelly told kil Gore in their interview the gun
had been ditched not far from Lincoln Cemetery. Kill Gore
drives in and around the area, but nothing seems to
jog Kelly's memory. She then remembers they got on the
highway pretty quickly after the shooting. She says they wanted

(34:36):
to get out of the area as fast as possible.

Speaker 3 (34:41):
Justin or Byron did either one of them give any floating.

Speaker 2 (34:48):
Kelly then says they might have driven to a place
in Kansas, not too terribly far from her house in
Lenexa to ditch the gun, so.

Speaker 1 (34:57):
Kill Gore heads that way.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
Roughly forty minutes of driving, they seem to zero in
on an area that might look familiar to Kelly.

Speaker 4 (35:07):
Practically rode off Douglas Is in the area of the
Inland Quarries and Kelly believes that it could possibly be
the road an area that.

Speaker 3 (35:20):
Withdrawn.

Speaker 2 (35:23):
Four days later, Kilgore and two other sergeants search the
area for the weapon, but are unable to find it,
probably not surprising since it had been almost three years
since the killing. About two and a half months later,
on December fifth, two thousand, a tape recorder is installed

(35:44):
at Kelly's parents' house in the hopes Kelly can get
Byron on tape confessing to the crime. Nothing seems to
happen for about six months. Then on June fifth, two
thousand and one, around eleven thirty.

Speaker 6 (36:00):
What's Mom's house?

Speaker 5 (36:03):
Hello?

Speaker 6 (36:04):
He is Byner.

Speaker 3 (36:05):
You have to hear Byron. Yeah?

Speaker 5 (36:07):
Is this Kelly?

Speaker 6 (36:10):
Hello? I realize you probably don't wanna talk to me.
I have to talk to you. I absolutely have to
fucking talk to you. Okay, hello here listening? Okay, some
extremely bad shit has gone down.

Speaker 5 (36:30):
Are you listening to me?

Speaker 4 (36:31):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (36:33):
Okay. I don't know what to do and that's why
I called you, because you do realize that I have
been a drug addict for some time. My memory is
not a dead and they are harassing me about information
now and I don't know what to do. About it.
Do you know what I'm talking about? Yeah, okay, you know,

(36:55):
Caesar's dad has called me. Two or three investigators have
called me, and I don't know what to do. I
don't remember the whole story, and I need your information please,
because they're gonna call me in. They're gonna fucking ask
me for a light to take your test again. And
I have no idea. Okay, I know I'm probably the

(37:25):
last person on the oath that you wanna talk to you,
but we have to talk about this otherwise. Remember the
fucked what?

Speaker 5 (37:31):
I don't remember?

Speaker 6 (37:32):
You don't remember what? What?

Speaker 5 (37:36):
Yeah? Things that don't remember?

Speaker 6 (37:40):
Don't you remember? You don't remember what we said at all?

Speaker 5 (37:48):
Like you?

Speaker 2 (37:49):
But but what whatever Byron says next is unintelligible.

Speaker 5 (37:57):
Mm.

Speaker 6 (38:00):
This is like not a game anymore. And I was
like realized that to It's like a fullest extent and
it sucks.

Speaker 3 (38:09):
Really Suppose they called again?

Speaker 6 (38:12):
Well, they called again, They've called a bunch again, They've
called while I was and where all they showed that
all there? Yeah, I don't understand. I like, seriously, what
all went on or whatever? And I seriously I hate
to say this, but I why, seriously, why did you

(38:34):
have to come? What was the whole fucking big deal?
Could you explain that to me? Because I don't get it? Seriously,
Justin said, for no reason, she said, for no reason.
It's just all fucked up, And for some reason they're

(38:57):
talking to me because you won't talk Ie fucked And
it makes me look horrible because everybody already knows that
I'm a fucking crackhab and I'm a coke habb I'm
an alcoholic, and I don't remember shit. If I try
to talk to 'em, nothing's gonna add up. So I mean,

(39:18):
if you could seriously explain to me as to why
you actually fought the need to kill her, then that
would really help me feel better about the whole fucking thing.
I mean, is there seriously any reason to all this?

Speaker 2 (39:40):
Talk about this?

Speaker 5 (39:42):
Why like something should talk about that? Of course we
should as up.

Speaker 6 (39:48):
I think I need to talk to you. What do
you mean?

Speaker 5 (39:58):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (39:58):
I would love we talk we it because nothing nothing
has been the same thing said okay, and you may
have been okay or whatever, but all I did was
get more drunk or get more fucked up. That's it.

Speaker 5 (40:15):
That's it.

Speaker 6 (40:16):
Okay, I'm not the same person, and you know that
I have not been the same person for years and
I hate it. Then something seriously has to give where
we need to talk or something because for some reason,

(40:38):
you know, it just seems like you were inaccessible or
you were too cold or something, and everybody's coming to
me and I got talked to any serious that I
can't do.

Speaker 5 (40:50):
Any of those.

Speaker 2 (40:53):
It's really hard to hear Byron in this next section,
but he tells Kelly that he was granted immunity and says, quote,
I told my lawyer flat out that I didn't I
wasn't going to remember things. I told the cops that too.
I was like, I can't remember things. And so basically
I would, you know, tell them up front before you
go in or agree to meet them, just say I'm

(41:14):
not going to remember things. Kelly then says she really
needs to talk with Byron. They agree to meet in
person something.

Speaker 6 (41:23):
Because I don't. Yeah, I don't like this over the
phone bullshit, but I can't. So I was the one
that went to brow to picked your house. I was
wh when all this shit happened to and so I'm
the one that they're like robbing and for some reason
that bif shit, fucking like police force out there to
talk to us somehow, and is just father has my

(41:46):
number and you know how disturbing he is, and he's
emailing me. He's calling me. I have no idea what
to do. I can't remember anything. I know, but I
don't remember anything. The whole banger his leg. I thought
it would go in, it's not.

Speaker 2 (42:04):
Byron says he's sick, he has the flu, but he
will meet Kelly at a local park the next day
at eleven am.

Speaker 6 (42:14):
The black by phone.

Speaker 2 (42:18):
Really impressed, okay, According to Kilgore's report, He retrieves the
tape from this June fifth recorded phone call. The next day,

(42:42):
although Byron and Kelly made a plan to meet for
her own safety, Assistant Prosecutor Amy McGowan instructs Kelly not
to go. On June seventh, Kelly calls Byron again. I
only have the transcript of that call, but basically Byron
wants to know why Kelly didn't show up at the park.
They decided me the next day, time and place to

(43:04):
be figured out the next morning, but it seems that
never happens. Four days later, on June eleventh, two thousand
and one, Kansas City Sheriff's deputies and the Kansas City
Fugitive Apprehension Unit descend on Byron's mom's house. According to
an arresting officer's report, it says quote entry was made

(43:27):
to the residence, and I continued to yell police as
I moved toward the hallway that led to the bathroom
and bedroom area of the residence. A white male who
resembled Case started to come out of the north bedroom.
Upon seeing me, Case retreated into the bedroom, closed the door,
and was attempting to lock the door when I pushed
it open. As I entered the room, Case was in

(43:51):
Case stumbled backwards onto a bed. Case was taken into
custody without further incident.

Speaker 1 (44:09):
Almost four years.

Speaker 2 (44:11):
After Anastasia Whitpelsfuchen was murdered, twenty two year old Byron
Case is charged with first degree murder and armed criminal action.
Bond is set at two hundred thousand dollars, but Assistant
prosecutor Amy McGowan argues that because the idea of the informant,
Kelly Moffatt, had been revealed to Byron for her safety,

(44:32):
bond should be revoked, and it is the bond issue
actually comes up again. A judge ends up modifying the bond,
raising it to three hundred thousand dollars, but since Byron
can't afford to post it, he remains in jail awaiting trial.
At trial, Byron will be represented by Horton Lance, a

(44:53):
Jackson County public defender. Trying the case for the state
will be Jackson County prosecutors to A. Crayon and David Fry,
and presiding over the trial will be Judge Charles Atwell.
April nineteenth, two thousand and two, start the pre trial motions.
Prosecutors want evidence of Byron's goth lifestyle to be allowed in.

(45:17):
They believe it shows a fascination with morbid death and
it gives context to what Kelly is going to say
on the stand. They argue the jury should be able
to hear about things like Byron's appearance, how he wore
his face pale with black makeup, his hair dyed black,
and how he dressed in black clothes, which they say

(45:37):
was different than Justin's appearance he was somebody out of
quote the gap ad. They want the jury to hear
about how Byron and a friend would walk around town
wearing priest collars and how he had been seen wearing
a button that said I as raped your Savior. Prosecutors
want Byron's license plates morbid and atheist to be allowed

(46:01):
into evidence, as well as his bumper stickers that read
evil and I Am God, also that he had an
autopsy photo as his computer screensaver. They want the jury
to hear that Byron's sign and name to his own
website was Savior, and that the website included discussions of
Justin's death, Anastasia's death, the crime itself, and the Jackson

(46:24):
County Sheriff's investigation. The defense wants Kelly's mental health records
to be allowed in and they want the June fifth
and June's seventh recorded phone calls between Byron and Kelly
to be kept out. When Judge Atwell rules on these motions,
he says Kelly's medical records will remain sealed. They're out

(46:46):
the June fifth and June seventh recorded conversations will be
allowed in.

Speaker 1 (46:51):
Judge Atwell says Kelly's voice is much.

Speaker 2 (46:53):
Clearer than Byron's, but with the aid of the transcript
he can understand what was said. The transcripts are quote
exceptionally accurate in regard to the goth lifestyle stuff, Judge
Atwell is not going to allow in the bumper stickers,
license plates, autopsy screensaver, the button, the website stuff, or
descriptions of Byron's appearance. On April twenty ninth, two thousand

(47:19):
and two, about four and a half years after the murder,
the trial begins. The prosecution star witness is Kelly Moffatt
about the night of October twenty second. Kelly tells the
same story she told Kilgore when she came forward in
September of two thousand, that after school, Byron and Justin
picked her up. Justin asked who's the biggest problem in

(47:41):
his life. He said Anastasia, and wouldn't it be better
or easier if she were gone? Justin said he couldn't
kill Anastasia, so he said Byron would. Kelly says they
stopped at a gas station near her house because Byron
and Justin wanted her to call Anastasia to tell her
to meet them at the Dairy Queen. She says she

(48:02):
didn't have Anastasia's number, so they gave her a number.
Kelly says, quote, I think maybe Justin dialed it for me.
I'm not sure, Kelly says. Anastasia answered the phone, and
the conversation went like this quote, Hi, I'm with Justin
and Byron. You know we're supposed to meet. She said, well, yeah,

(48:22):
you're running a bit late. But dairy Queen. Kelly goes
on to say, quote, I guess the original I don't
know what the deal was. I guess the original plan
was to meet at Mount Washington, but it got changed
to Dairy Queen. Kelly says they picked up Anastasia at
the Dairy Queen, then went across the street to Mount
Washington Cemetery. They got ushered out of there, then drove around,

(48:45):
eventually finding a road off Truman that led to what
looked like a park with a circle drive. They parked,
and Justin and Anastasia got out of the car. Kelly
says it was dark enough to where she could see
cars with their headlights going by. She says Byron then
got out of the car popped the trunk. She saw

(49:07):
Justin was waving his arms saying something in German. Kelly
says Justin was standing pretty close to the driver's door.
Anastasia was standing by the second window on the driver's side.
She wasn't reacting, she was just looking at Justin. Kelly
says she then saw Byron raise the gun. Then she
heard a big loud noise. She screamed, turned away, then

(49:30):
looked back and saw Anastasia's body had been quote blown
backwards and I could see her feet.

Speaker 1 (49:37):
Kelly says. She was crying.

Speaker 2 (49:39):
Justin and Byron got in the car and Justin said,
didn't you hear me say stop? And Byron said, quote,
I already had the gun out, I already had it
in her face.

Speaker 1 (49:48):
What was I supposed to do? You asked me to
do this? Kelly says. They drove for.

Speaker 2 (49:54):
A while, then dumped the gun in an industrial area.
They went back to Justin and came up with the
story that Anastasia got mad and got out of the
car at Truman Roade and the I four thirty five.
Kelly says she continued to date Byron for a little
over a year after the murder, finally breaking up with

(50:15):
him around December of nineteen ninety eight. Kelly says eventually
her life's biraled. She got deep into drugs and it
got so bad her parents kicked her out and wouldn't
let her back in the house. She was living in
crack houses, was homeless in and out of rehab, she says.
Eventually Byron moved to Saint Louis, leaving her to deal

(50:37):
with everything on her own. Kelly testifies that in September
of two thousand, the night before she went into rehab,
she told her father that Byron did it. Then in rehab,
her counselor, whom she'd known for some time, convinced her
to tell what she knew about that night or she
was going to kill herself with drugs and alcohol. So

(50:58):
Kelly told the counselor Justin killed Anastasia. When Kelly's mom
has told this, she said, but wait, Kelly told her
dad Byron did it. Kelly says she broke down and
explained that she pointed the finger at Justin because he
was already gone. The police believed he did it, and
she was afraid because Byron had always told her she

(51:21):
is as guilty as he is. She finally says it
was Byron. The counselor then called a lawyer, and from
there the Moffitts went to.

Speaker 1 (51:31):
Talk with prosecutors.

Speaker 2 (51:36):
Then prosecutors get to the June fifth and June's seventh
recorded phone calls between Kelly and Byron. Prosecutors say the
June fifth call is significant because when Byron told Kelly,
we shouldn't talk about this, that is a tacit admission.
A tacit admission is when someone doesn't say something directly,

(51:58):
but their words are acts suggest that they agree with something,
like because Byron didn't deny anything during that call, like
when Kelly said, why did you have to kill her?
That can be seen as a tacit admission that it's true.
Byron's attorney, Horton Lance, then cross examines Kelly. He points

(52:20):
out she's lied to police multiple times. He then challenges
her about her drug problems. She admits she used drugs
before Anastasia's murder, but says witnessing the murder caused her depression,
which made her drug use much worse. He then asks
what was going on with Justin leading up to the murder.

(52:40):
Kelly says he had been very depressed. He'd been using
drugs and was even hearing voices, and he talked about
having odd plans about hurting people. Kelly says, but Byron
did too. Then Lance drills down on the phone call
Kelly says she made to Anastasia from the gas station
in lenn Nexa, Kansas.

Speaker 1 (53:01):
He challenges Kelly on whether she or.

Speaker 2 (53:04):
Justin called Anastasia's house because Anastasia's sister Francesca told police
Justin called the house from Lenexa not long after Anastasia
had already left for Mount Washington Cemetery. Kelly says she
believes Justin spoke with Francesca earlier that day, she doesn't
recall him using the payphone at the gas station. Byron's

(53:26):
attorney then asks about the gun Kelly had said she
saw hanging at Byron's dad's house. Kelly says she doesn't
remember which room it was in, and she doesn't know
if that was the gun used. All she knows is
Byron told her the gun they had with them that
night was Byron's dad's gun. Horton Lance asks Kelly if
she still stands by what she told Kilgore that Byron

(53:49):
was five feet away or a little more from Anastasia
when he shot her.

Speaker 1 (53:54):
She says yes.

Speaker 2 (53:56):
Horton Lance asks why that night, after Byron and j
were gone, didn't she tell her mom that she had
just witnessed her boyfriend kill her friend, Kelly says she
was scared. Then he confronts Kelly about an email she
sent to Anastasia's dad, Bob Whitplesfuchen in May of nineteen

(54:16):
ninety eight. In it, Kelly wrote quote, let's get together
and swap stories. Kelly says she didn't want to necessarily
talk about the murder. She just wanted to let him
know how sorry she was that Anastasia was dead. Lance
asks if she got the ten thousand dollars reward money.
Kelly says no. Then Horton Lance wants to know did

(54:40):
Kelly warn Anastasia that Byron and Justin were planning to
murder her that night? Kelly says she did not. On redirect,
Prosecutor Teresa Crayon wants to make clear Kelly said Byron
was five feet away when he shot Anastasia, but Kelly
also said Iron was holding a long gun. Also testifying

(55:04):
for the state, our Deputy David Epperson, who found Anastasia's body,
and Deborah Moffatt, Kelly's mom. Debora, testifies that when Kelly
got home the night of the twenty second, Byron and
Justin came inside with her.

Speaker 1 (55:17):
Debora said she was upstairs.

Speaker 2 (55:18):
But she could hear the three of them whispering downstairs,
which made her suspicious. Debora says by January of nineteen
ninety nine, about fifteen months after Anastasia's murder, Kelly's drug
use had gotten really bad. She would disappear, be gone
for days at a time. Then one night, late around

(55:38):
March of two thousand, Debora says, Kelly called her and
said she saw Anastasia murdered. Debora says she asked if
it was Justin, and she said yes. That was the
end of the conversation. Debra says she eventually came home
but never wanted to talk about it. According to Deborah,
over the coming months, Kelly ran away from rehab two

(55:59):
or three times, and they always took her back. Then
one night Kelly told her dad Byron killed Anastasia. Deborah
and her husband took Kelly back to rehab, and not
long after, Kelly confessed to her drug counselor that Justin
killed Anastasia. Eventually, when confronted with her changing story, Kelly

(56:23):
said it was Byron. After Deborah Moffatt, Diane Marshall, Anastasia's stepmom, testifies,
then Anastasia's sister, Francesco Whipplesfugen takes the stand. Franzays, in
October twenty second, Anastasia was wearing her black shoes, some
black jeans, and a tan corduroy jacket when she went

(56:43):
to meet Justin at Mount Washington Cemetery. She says, around
four thirty pm, Justin called the house looking for Anastasia,
and he sounded surprised to learn she had already gotten
a ride to Mount Washington about fifteen or twenty minutes before.
She says, during that call, Justin acted like he didn't
want to drive all the way from Lenexa, Kansas, to Independence,

(57:04):
Missouri to meet Anastasia. Francisca testifies that when Justin called
her later that night, she told him, quote, if anything
happened to her, it was his fault, and I kind
of hung up on him at that point. Francisca also
says she never spoke to Kelly that day. The state's
other witnesses include Glenn Colliver, the caretaker at Mount Washington Cemetery.

(57:26):
He testifies he saw Anastasia at Mount Washington around five pm,
then later with two males and a female. Originally, he
told investigators he saw her the second time around seven pm.
Now on the stand, he says he saw her around
nine pm. Next to take the stand is John Bruton,
Justin's dad. Then Jim Dodd, the bullet Hole store employee

(57:47):
who sold Justin the gun the morning of October twenty third.
Then two from law enforcement testify. The detective who worked
Justin's death case. He says it was obviously self inflicted,
the officer who arrested Byron. Then doctor Chase Blanchard, who
works at the Jackson County Medical Examiner's office, takes the stand.

(58:08):
The chief medical Examiner, doctor Thomas Young, who actually performed
the autopsy, is out of town. Doctor Blanchard testifies from
doctor Young's report, saying that Anastasia died from a contact
wound to the nose, meaning the muzzle was up against
her skin. Doctor Blanchard says doctor Young saw a dark
city deposit around the face and the presence of gunpowder particles,

(58:32):
which also means a close range shot. Doctor Blanchard says,
quote to me, that means less than six inches. The
muzzle must have been less than six inches from the
person to the person's skin. She goes on to say quote,
but it was probably right up against the skin. And
that's what I believe doctor Young's opinion is, because he

(58:53):
calls it a contact. Doctor Blanchard also says there were
no defensive wounds detected, and she can't say specifically what
kind of gun fired the fatal shot. For all of
the people who do testify for the prosecution, there's one
person I am stunned wasn't even called. Lead investigator, Sergeant

(59:14):
Gary Kilgore. Next up is the defense's case. Don Wright,
the dairy queen worker, testifies first. She says although she
told Sergeant Kilgore she gave Anastasia a pad that night,
she actually gave her a tampon. Don Wright says she
hasn't used anything other than a tampon since she was.

Speaker 1 (59:34):
About thirteen or fourteen years old.

Speaker 2 (59:37):
She said she only said it was a pad because
she couldn't think of a polite name for it. An
important distinction for the defense, because if don Wright gave
Anastasia a tampon, then why was she found in Lincoln's
cemetery wearing a clean pad. Don Wright says that night,
Anastasia had a long brown purse with her and she
was wearing light blue jeans and sandals with socks. She

(01:00:00):
also testifies to a story different than Kelly's. Don Wright
says that Anastasia told her she and her boyfriend Quote
had been in an argument because they had plans that
night and she couldn't get a ride over there to him,
so she had gotten out to the dairy Queen called
him and asked if he could come pick her up,
and he said that he had already made plans with

(01:00:21):
his best friend, and she was upset. Then Byron's mom,
Evelyn Case, takes the stand. She says Byron came home
the night of October twenty second, around ten or eleven pm.
He told her about Anastasia and justin arguing and Anastasia
getting out of the car. She says Byron didn't smell

(01:00:42):
like alcohol or seemed to be acting out of the ordinary.
They had idle chit chat. Then Byron went to his
room and got on his computer. Ellen says after that night,
Kelly and Byron seemed the same. Kelly never seemed afraid
of Byron. They would cook together and listen to music.
She says about that June fifth recorded phone call with Kelly,

(01:01:04):
Byron was sick. The next day, he went to a
doctor and had something like strep throat. He was prescribed antibiotics.
Evelyn says Byron's dad, her ex husband, never owned a gun.
He wasn't a hunter. They were an anti gun family,
and she says Byron's car was in the shop the
night of the murder. Evelyn says about a month after

(01:01:27):
Byron was arrested, Kelly called her. She said the first
thing Kelly said to her was, quote, this is insane,
Evelyn says. Kelly went on to say, quote, I'm an accomplice.
I'm an accomplice. But since I told I got they
gave me part immunity. Evelyn says. Kelly went on to say, quote,

(01:01:47):
my family really liked Byron a lot. I should be
in jail with him, and I'm ready to go, Evelyn says.
Kelly asked if she could write to Byron in jail.
On cross examination, prosecuteter David Frye asks Evelyn where she
was born. She says Germany. She reads and writes and
speaks in German as much as she can, and Byron

(01:02:09):
is still learning, but he knows the basics enough for
them to communicate. Evelyn says she would speak to Justin
in German too. This is an important point for the
prosecution to make, because Kelly testified that Justin was yelling
something in German to Byron right before he shot Anastasia.
As the defense's case continues, Horton Lance calls to the

(01:02:32):
stand Nancy Knolger, Byron's aunt, his dad's sister, who testifies
her brother never had any guns and he never hunted.
Then Byron's friends, Abraham Nisley and Tara McDowell testify, who
both say they saw Byron that night and nothing seemed
out of the ordinary with him. Tara says when Byron

(01:02:52):
came by that night, he and Justin did not smell
of alcohol. They seemed to be in fairly good moods,
and Justin specifically and look upset, shaken, or that he'd
been crying earlier. On cross examination, Tara's asked why in
her February nineteen ninety eight interview with Sergeant Kilgore, she
said Byron and Justin were going to Abraham's house after hers.

(01:03:15):
She said that's how she remembered it, then now she
doesn't remember.

Speaker 1 (01:03:19):
It at all.

Speaker 2 (01:03:20):
She's also asked if before trial Abraham gave her the
case file to read so she could prepare before testifying.
Tara says she only had a stack of papers and
she only read her interview with Kilgore and the autopsy reports.
Then Don Rand, the night mechanic at the Amico station,
takes the stand. He says, when he first spoke with investigators,

(01:03:43):
he was shown two photos, one of a boy and
one of a girl. He said the girl in the
photo looked like the one he saw walking quickly away
from the car at the light at Truman Road and
the I four thirty five. Don Rand says her faster
pace made him think she was upset. He says he
thinks this happened around dusk or a little bit after dark,

(01:04:04):
and he saw the young woman walk east on Truman
Road towards Independence, both in the direction of Lincoln's Cemetery
and Anastasia's house. On cross examination, Don Rand is asked
to confirm the height and wait of the girl he
saw that night. Don Rand says she was about five
six or five seven and about one hundred and thirty pounds.

(01:04:28):
Anastasia was five to two and one hundred and twenty pounds.
Then Byron takes the stand in his own defense, he
tells the same basic story he's told since he first
spoke with Sergeant Kilgore back in October of nineteen ninety seven.
But Byron denies they were drinking that night and says
he and Justin never asked Kelly to call Anastasia to

(01:04:51):
meet them.

Speaker 1 (01:04:51):
At the Dairy Queen.

Speaker 2 (01:04:53):
He says they didn't even know where the Dairy Queen was,
Anastasia gave them directions. On cross examination, Prosecutor David Frye
questions Byron about everything from his relationship with Kelly, who
was fourteen when they first started dating Byron was eighteen,
to the night of October twenty second. Byron for the

(01:05:15):
first time says he Justin and Kelly stopped at the
gas station in Lenexa, where Justin called Anastasia's house. Byron
says Justin spoke with her sister Fran and learned that
Anastasia had already left for Mount Washington Cemetery. Prosecutor David
Frye challenges Byron on this, asking if it would have

(01:05:35):
been normal for Anastasia to page him if she couldn't
get a hold of him, and Justin Byron says yes.
Then David Frye asks, quote, and if she had reached
you on your pager and given the number, you could
have dialed the phone number that Kelly says she dialed,
and Kelly could have talked to her at the dairy queen.

Speaker 1 (01:05:57):
Isn't that right?

Speaker 2 (01:05:58):
Byron says yeah, if the pay phone allowed incoming calls,
but he says he doesn't remember getting paged by Anastasia.
David fry says Byron's story about that night is hogwash.
He says there's no way this stubborn, strong fighter who
was Anastasia would end up dead with no defensive wounds,

(01:06:18):
implying she knew her killer and her killer was him.
In closing arguments, Prosecutor Teresa Crayon says Kelly Moffatt had
no reason to come forward and lie, admit she was
a drug addict, accusan ex boyfriend she broke up with
two and a half years before, and implicate herself in
a murder. Defense Attorney Horton Lance says in his closing

(01:06:42):
there are two Kelly Moffetts, one who's a crack addict,
alcoholic who's ruined her life and has no excuse. The
other Kelly, he asserts, is all of those things, but
has an excuse. She witnessed a murder and that's how
her family could take her back because it's not her fault.
Horton Lance reminds the jury that Anastasia was the one

(01:07:03):
who wanted to get together that day. He says she
got a ride in Mount Washington and only went across
the street to the Dairy Queen when Justin didn't show up.
He says Anastasia was the one who called and said,
I'm at the Dairy Queen, come get me. When Justin
spoke with Francesca, she said Justin acted like he didn't
want to drive all the way from Lenexa to Independence

(01:07:24):
to meet Anastasia. Horton Lance says Anastasia called Justin four
or five times from the Dairy Queen and was mad
when they picked her up so late. Horton Lance argues,
if the plan was to kill Anastasia, why are they
so late. He says they were late because the plan
was for Justin and Anastasia to talk about their relationship,

(01:07:46):
not to kill her. He says Justin didn't even want
to be there, which Horton Lance says is the opposite
of Kelly's testimony. After three days, the case goes to
the jury. A little over three hours later, they come
back with their verdict for count one murder in the

(01:08:09):
first degree guilty for count two armed criminal action guilty.
Almost two months later, Judge Atwell sentences Byron case to
two life terms to run. Concurrently, I spoke with Byron's
defense attorney, Horton Lance, about possibly sitting down for an interview.
He told me he'd consider it, he was busy about

(01:08:32):
to start a trial and I should call him back
in a few weeks, which I did. I left several
messages for him, but he never returned any of them.
I also reached out to Prosecutor Teresa Crayon. Her communications
director said quote, the office has decided that until all
litigation is complete on this matter, it isn't appropriate for

(01:08:52):
a potential witness. I e Teresa to participate. In twenty fourteen,
Teresa Crayon was interviewed for on the case with Paula's On.
Here is what she said about why Kelly you should
be believed.

Speaker 7 (01:09:07):
When you listen to Kelly's whole story, it made sense.
Kelly never saw a picture of the crime scene. She
was never shown one Yep, she was able to describe
exactly the position of Anastasia's body. And you know what
was Kelly's motive to lie about this when she came forward.

Speaker 2 (01:09:23):
I also reached out to former prosecutor David Frye. He
never responded, and I emailed Kelly Moffatt finally right first,
she responded with quote, you don't have an agenda and
your podcast is called The Real Killer. I find that
incredibly hard to believe. How did you get my email?

(01:09:45):
Two emails later, she wrote this quote, I will briefly
talk to you. I'll let you know what happens. So
the trial is over, the judge and Jerry have spoken.
Now I want to talk to Byron Case. Did you
kill Anastasia Whitfelsfugen Next time on The Real Killer? What

(01:10:13):
do you say to the people out there who think
you are murderer? My face to face interview with the
man convicted of killing Anastasia.

Speaker 9 (01:10:24):
I a long time ago accepted that people aren't going
to like me, and people are going to think some
terrible things about me, and it isn't my job to
make them think otherwise.

Speaker 2 (01:10:47):
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 Crisis

(01:11:09):
Lifelines 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

(01:11:29):
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,

(01:11:51):
Audio engineer Justin Longerbeam studio engineer Graham Gibson, Legal console
for AYR Media, Douglas Executive producer for iHeartMedia, Maya Howard