February 24, 2025 • 54 mins
Did you know that the relentless efforts of Wayne Harris to help his son, Eric, began just 48 hours after Eric's arrest? Join us as we unravel the story of a father's desperate attempts to address his son's mental health challenges by seeking professional help from Dr. Kevin Albert. Despite these interventions, Eric's violent tendencies persisted, leading to a narrative that contrasts his path with Dylan's turbulent emotional journey. Explore how Wayne Harris's determination to clear his son's record through a Juvenile Diversion Program was overshadowed by the chilling reality of Eric's fixation on mass murder.
Discover the unsettling web of deception and missed warnings that could have altered the course of history. Insights from Judy and Randy Brown highlight the bureaucratic inaction that overlooked substantial evidence against Eric. We also delve into the profound grief experienced by Cassie's family and the poignant remarks from her pastor. By examining the personal letters found in her room, we shed light on Cassie's struggles and the broader implications of failed warnings, leaving lasting emotional scars.
Lastly, we bring to light the compelling stories of Cassie Bernal and Val Schnur. While Cassie's narrative of faith and martyrdom gained fame, Val's survival story remains less recognized, leading to feelings of community rejection. Misty Bernall's quest to honor her daughter's spiritual journey through a book unfolds amidst conflicting accounts, challenging public perceptions. With firsthand experiences shared by Emily Wyant, we navigate the complexities of truth and myth in the wake of the Columbine tragedy.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Murder Book.
I'm your host, kiara, and thisis Part 10 of Unraveling the
Columbine Tragedy, part 10.
Let's begin.
Eric needed professional help.
His father made thatdetermination within 48 hours of
(00:22):
his arrest.
That determination, within 48hours of his arrest, wayne
picked up the stenopath that hadsat idle for nine months and he
began writing again like sixpages, and in the to-do list he
(00:42):
put see psychologist, see what'sgoing on, determine treatment.
And Wayne also gathered namesand numbers for several agencies
and services, added bulleteditems to them like anger
management, life management,professional therapist, mental
health center, school counselor,juvenile assessment center,
family adolescent team, juvenileassessment center, family
(01:03):
adolescent team.
And he also documented severalconversations that he had with
lawyers and he wrote the wordsprobation, take any chances for
reformation.
And he also wrote the worddiversion and underlined it.
He checked out half a dozencandidates for therapists.
(01:28):
The rates were between $100 to$150 an hour, so he settled on
Dr Kevin Albert, who was apsychiatrist, and he made an
appointment for February 16th.
Wayne logged page after page ofcalls to cops and lawyers,
(01:48):
prosecutors.
He was working through all theoptions.
The doing our diversion programsounded ideal because it was a
year of counseling, communityservice, along with fines, fees
and restitution.
If Eric completed itsuccessfully and kept clean for
an additional year, the robberywould be expunged from his
(02:13):
record.
But the DA's office had toaccept him.
Eric told Dr Albert that he hadanger problems and that
depression was an issue and hehad contemplated suicide.
He apparently did not mentionthe bombs that he took to the
park, and so Dr Albert startedhim on Soloft, which is a
(02:38):
prescription antidepressant.
Eric continued meeting with himbi-weekly and Wayne and Kathy
began occasional sessions aswell.
At home the boys receivedsimilar punishments.
Each was grounded for a month.
They could not contact eachother.
Eric also had his computeraccess revoked, so what he did
(03:04):
was that he went and worked,went to work on his pipe bombs.
On February 15th, the daybefore Eric's first appointment
with Dr Auburn, someone in theneighborhood stumbled upon his
work.
They found a duct tape, pvcpipe in the grass with a red
(03:27):
fuse protruding, and it was in asuburban park in Jeffco.
The Jeffco cops sent out aninvestigator from the bomb squad
and sure enough, it was ahomemade pipe bomb.
Officers didn't find a wholelot of those around here, so
they defused the bomb.
(03:47):
Followed report Eric and Dylan.
They didn't tell any of theirfriends about their arrest.
They made excuses about theirrestrictions and then finally
they began to come clean.
Eric fessed up to a girl atBlackjack, where they work, and
(04:08):
were traveled to Nate.
Dykeman and Nate couldn'tbelieve Dylan has been hiding it
from him and after work leaked,eric told friends it was the
most embarrassing moment of hislife.
Both boys were humiliated andEric was raging mad.
Dylan's response was morecomplex because three days after
(04:33):
his arrest Dylan picturedhimself on the road to happiness
with Harriet.
He sketched it out in hisjournal as a two-lane highway
with a road sign of one shoulderand a dashed stripe down the
center.
His road led off to a majesticworld of mountains with a giant
heart guiding him onward and hewrote it's so great to love.
(04:56):
He was a felon now, but he wasecstatic and he wrote half the
page with drawings andexclamation I love her and she
loves me.
Anger boiled up with theecstasy Dylan was beginning to
see, at Eric's way, the realpeople and they call them gods
(05:19):
are slaves to the majority ofzombies.
But we know and love beingsuperior, either ill commit
suicide or ill get with Harrietand it will be MBK for us my
happiness, her happiness,nothing else matters.
And this is what he wrote.
(05:41):
So suicide or murder, thepattern solidified, homicidal
thoughts, occasionallyself-destruction.
On every page he wrote also,and I'm going to quote If, by
love's choice, Harriet didn'tlove me, I would slit my wrist
(06:03):
and blow up Atlanta strapped tomy neck.
Atlanta was the name of one ofthe pipe bombs.
Wayne Harris kept working thephones, but early March he
secured an evaluation withAndrea Sanchez, a counselor with
(06:25):
the Juvenile Diversion Program.
Sanchez placed calls to Ericand Dylan to prescreen them.
They passed.
She sent a dozen forms, set upappointments and each boy would
come to her office with a parentand a stack of paperwork, and
both intake sessions would takeplace on March 19.
(06:45):
For two months, wayne Harrisworked to get his son into
diversion to keep his recordclean.
Eric was busy too, because atthat moment, while his father
was doing all this work, he wasdetonating his first pipe bombs
and he boldly posted thebreakthrough on his website.
Mfr blew big.
(07:06):
Flipping thing washeart-pounding, gut-wrenching,
brain-twitching, ground-moving,insanely cool.
His brothers have not found atarget yet, though.
This time Eric was producing tokill.
Content had been theundercurrent in his I hate rants
.
Now he made it explicit.
(07:28):
Morons had nerve to judge him.
He said to call him crazy justfor envisioning mass murder.
Empty morons standing injudgment.
If you've got a problem with mythoughts, come tell me and I'll
kill you.
And then he posted in capitalletters Dead people don't argue.
(07:51):
God damn it.
I am pissed.
As Eric embraced murder.
Dylan retreated After the arrest.
He had the one brief outburstin his journal and then he
dropped all mention of it.
For nearly a year His focusshifted dramatically toward love
(08:12):
and he wrote entire pages with10-inch hearts surrounded by
choirs of smaller flutteringhearts.
Eric had no use for love Sexmaybe.
He shared none of Dylan'sdesires for truth, beauty or
love.
Eric's only internal struggleconcerned which stupid bastard
(08:35):
was more deserving of his wrath.
Eric's dreams changed after hisarrest.
Human extinction was still hisaim.
After his arrest, humanextinction was still his aim,
but for the first time he madethe leap from observer to
enforcer.
He posted on his website, quoteI don't care if I live or die
(08:55):
in the shootout, all I want todo is kill and injure as many of
you pricks as I can.
End, quote but it was too muchfor Dylan.
Kill Everything Apparently not.
He made a stunning move behindEric's back.
He told the worst possibleperson, brooks Brown.
(09:20):
Brooks knew about the pettyvandalism and his parents saw
Eric as a young criminal, butthey had no idea how serious it
was.
On the way to class, dylanhanded Brooks a scrap of paper.
Just one line was written on ita web address, and Dylan said I
think you should take a look atthis tonight.
(09:41):
And Brooks said anythingspecial.
And he said well, it's Eric'swebsite, you need to see it and
you can tell Eric.
I give it to you.
So Brooks pulled up the sitethat night and he saw Eric
threatening to kill people.
He threatened to kill Brookspersonally in three different
(10:03):
places.
Dylan leaked the URL to Brooksthe day before their admission
interviews for the diversionprogram.
If Brooks told his parents andDylan knew he told Judy
everything the Browns would gostraight to the cops and Eric
would be rejected and imprisonedfor a felony.
Dylan probably would be too.
(10:24):
He took that chance.
Brooks did tell his mom andRandy and Judy called the cops.
Jeffco investigators came outthat night and they follow up
the file reports but they didnot alert the DA's office.
Eric and Dylan proceeded intodiversion.
Only one parent was required atthe diversion intake meeting.
(10:48):
So Tom and Sue Klebold bothattended because they considered
it important.
They filled out an eight-pagequestionnaire about Dylan.
He did the same and then AndreaSanchez walked them through the
results.
The Klebolds were in for a fewsurprises.
Dylan copped two 5 for 6 drunkenbouts, starting at age 15, and
(11:13):
they were not aware of all of it.
Apparently they were unaware.
His nickname was Vodka.
Dylan claimed he had quitdrinking.
He didn't like the taste andsaid it wasn't worth it.
He had tried pot too andrejected it for the same reasons
.
His parents were stunned aboutmarijuana too.
(11:34):
Tom and Sue were candid and itwas the only ethical course.
It was the only ethical course.
They wrote a line aboutdisrespecting authority figures
and then they crossed it out andthen said what teachers had
reported, that he didn't listenor take correction.
(11:55):
Well, eric was more cautious.
He revealed just enough toappear confessional.
He said he had tasted alcoholthree times, he had never gotten
drunk and had given it up forgood.
He wrote exactly what a parentwanted to hear.
He understood how his parentsthought and in no time he had
(12:17):
read Andrew Sanchez and in thefirst meeting he turned an
admission into a virtue.
He lied about part two heclaimed he had no interest.
The alcohol admission gave theclaim credits.
Wayne and Kathy both attendedtheir session as well.
Their surprise came in themental health section On a
(12:37):
checklist of 30 potentialproblem areas they marked three
boxes anger, depression andsuicidal thoughts.
Eric had told them about thosethree and he discussed them with
Dr Albert.
He was getting help.
Everyone agreed that Soloft washelping too.
It was common for an adolescentto check several boxes.
(12:59):
Eric picked 14.
He marked virtually everythingrelated to distrust or
aggression.
He checked jealousy, anxiety,suspiciousness, authority
figures, temper racing thoughts,obsessive thoughts, mood swings
, disorganized thoughts.
He skipped suicidal thoughtsbut he checked homicidal
(13:20):
thoughts.
Wayne and Kathy worry about Ericsuppressing his anger.
They admitted that he wouldblow up now and then lashing out
verbally, hitting an object.
He never tried it in front ofhis dad but they have gotten
reports back from work andschool.
It didn't happen often but theywere concerned.
(13:41):
Eric responded well todiscipline.
They have control his behavior.
But how could they contain hismoods?
When he really got mad Ericsaid he would punch a wall.
He said that he had thoughtabout suicide, never seriously,
mostly out of anger.
He got angry all the time, hesaid, and almost anything he
(14:03):
didn't like.
So the partial confession washis favorite con of all.
He could turn over half hiscards and still pull off the
bluff.
He posted his actual thoughtsabout the legal system on his
website at around the same timeand this is what he wrote, quote
my belief is that if I saysomething, it goes.
(14:26):
I am the law.
If you don't like it, you die.
End quote.
He described going to somerandom downtown area in some big
city, blowing up and shootingup everything he could.
He assured us that he wouldfeel no remorse, no sorrow, no
shame.
Yet there he sat, submitting.
(14:47):
He bent to their will.
He filled out the degradingform.
Laughing on their inside wasinsufficient.
He would make them pay.
Miss Sanchez worried about theboy's failure to accept full
responsibility.
Eric was sticking to his storythat the break-in was Dylan's
(15:08):
fault.
Dylan thought the whole thingwas a little overblown.
Ms Sanchez noted herreservations but recommended
them for enrollment.
The final decision was up tothe court.
A week later, on March 25th,eric and Dylan stood before
Jeffco magistrate John DeVitaduring a joint hearing.
Their father stood beside themand that impressed DeVita.
(15:32):
Most of the juveniles appearalone or with just a mom, but
having the dads present.
That was a good sign and thesedads appeared to be taking
control of the situation.
Magistrate DeVita was impressedby the way the boys presented
themselves Dressed up,well-behaved, differential, yes,
(15:56):
your Honor, no, your Honor.
They respected the court andits show.
Devita pecked Dylan as well.
The B's and C's on his reportcard were a joke and DeVita told
him I bet you're an A studentif you put that brainpower to
the paperwork.
Devita gave them a lecture andthen he approved them for
(16:16):
diversion.
This pair was going to do justfine, he thought.
Forty months later, after themurders, devita lamented how
convincing the boys had been andhe said, quote what's
mind-boggling is the amount ofdeception, the ease of their
deception, the coolness of theirdeception.
(16:38):
End quote Judy and Randy Brownkept calling the cops and they
were sure Brooks was in danger.
Their other son was so scaredhe slept with a baseball bat.
After two weeks of theirpestering, the case was bumped
up to investigator John Hicks,who met with Julie On March 31st
(16:59):
.
He sat down with two otherinvestigators, mike Guerra and
Glenn Grove, to discuss it.
The situation looked pretty bad, bad enough for investigator
Guerra to type out a two-pageaffidavit for a search warrant
duly sworn upon.
Oath Ngera did good work.
In the affidavit hedramatically outlined all the
(17:20):
crucial elements of the caseagainst this kid.
He detailed the specificity ofEric's plan, his methods and his
ordinance.
He quoted liberally from Eric'swebsite to provide proof.
But, most important, guerradrew the connection to physical
evidence.
A bomb matching dose and Eric'sdescriptions had recently been
(17:42):
discovered near his home.
The Harris house was to besearched for any literal
turnouts or physical materialrelated to the construction of
explosives, as well as all emailcorrespondence, presumably to
include the website.
The affidavit was convincing.
It was filed.
It was not signed or takenbefore a judge.
(18:05):
It was not acted upon in anyway.
A plausible explanation forinaction was never provided.
Years later one official saidGuerra was drawn away to another
case and when he returned theaffidavit was as written, lacked
the timeliness required to takeit to the judge.
(18:26):
The Brown said that InvestigatorHicks also knew about Eric's
arrest for the van breaking.
There was no indication that heor anyone from the Sheriff's
Department ever relayed theirdamning evidence about Eric to
the diversion officers.
Magistrate DeVito was providedno indication before he approved
them for the program.
(18:46):
Senior officials from theSheriff's Department, the DA's
office, the criminal court wereunaware of one another's actions
concerning Eric, but Ericapparently knew what they were
all up to.
Eric got wind that the Brownswere on to him so he took his
website down for a while.
(19:07):
There's no indication he everlearned of Dylan's betrayal.
There's no sign that hesuspected Eric was getting
serious about his plans now andhe would not risk posting
anything about them on the webagain.
He pulled out a spiral notebookand began a journal For the
next year.
(19:28):
He would record his progresstoward the attack and thoroughly
explain his motives.
We'll be right back.
Let's talk a little bit aboutone of the victims' funeral.
Her name Cassie.
Her pastor proclaimed at herfuneral that she was going to be
(19:49):
in the Martyrs' Hall of Fame.
This pastor predicted thatCassie could become the first
officially designated Protestantmartyr since the 16th century
and he said that that was quiteextraordinary, that that was
quite extraordinary.
In the Weekly Standard she wascompared to the 3rd century
(20:15):
martyrs Perpetua and Felicityand the tales of the thousands
of early Christians who wentjoyously to their death in the
Roman Colosseums to their deathin the Roman Colosseums.
And he foresaw the person thatwrote the article foresaw a
(20:36):
generation of kids rising up torecast our cultural landscape,
he said, and he later describeda national change of heart,
trembling on the cusp ofbreaking forth.
(20:59):
And it was a great story becauseit gave the parents, brad and
Misty, relief.
The enemy had taken on theirlittle girl before and in the
first round the enemy had won.
It had been position, pure andsimple.
And that's how Misty, themother, saw it.
The enemy had crept into herhouse a decade earlier but
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remained hidden until the winterof 1996.
She discovered his presencejust before Christmas.
She had just quit her job as afinancial analyst at Lockheed
Martin in order to be a betterfull-time mom, and this had been
a tough transition.
And Misty went looking for aBible for inspiration and she
(21:40):
found it in her daughter,cassie's room.
But she also found a stack ofletters that were disturbing.
Also found a stack of lettersthat were disturbing and the
letters documented a vigorouscorrespondence between Cassie
and a close friend and thefriend was complaining about a
teacher and then suggested wantto help me murder her.
(22:01):
And the pages were filled withhardcore sex talk, occult
imagery, magic spells and theyhammer a persistent refrain kill
your parents, make thosescumbags pay for your suffering.
Murder is the answer to all ofyour problems.
(22:22):
So Misty found only thefriends' letters, but they
suggested a receptive audience.
Black cocktails, vampiresappear throughout and
descriptions.
There were even illustrations.
A teacher was shown stabbedwith butcher knives, lying to
her own blood in her own blood,and figures labeled Ma and Pa
(22:47):
were hung by their intestinesand there were daggers, bloody
daggers, that were lodged intheir chest, and there was even
a gravestone inscribed Pa and MaBarnau so mystical.
Brad, her husband and thesheriff.
And they waited for Cassie tocome home.
(23:09):
First Cassie tried to downplaythe letters and then she got
angry and she hated them.
She said she admitted towriting letters in kind.
She screamed, she said shewould run away, she threatened
to kill herself.
Reverend Dave McPherson, theyouth pastor at West Bowes,
counseled Brad and Misty to gettough and he told them you need
(23:32):
to cut her phone, lock the door,pull her out of school, don't
let her out of the house withoutsupervision.
And that's what they did.
They transferred Cassie to aprivate school.
They let her leave the houseonly for youth group at the
church.
They let her leave the houseonly for youth group at the
church.
There was a struggle thatfollowed, because she despised
(23:54):
them at first and she wouldthreaten to run away and launch
into wild graphic screaming fits.
Cassie caught her wrist, shebludgeoned her skull.
She would lock herself in thebathroom and bash her head
against the sink counter alonein her bedroom.
She beat it against the wallwith her family.
(24:17):
She was sullen and spoke inmonosyllables.
Cassie described the ordeal in anotebook her parents found
after her death and she talksabout.
She says I cannot explain inwords how much I hurt.
I didn't know how to deal withthis hurt, so I physically hurt
myself.
(24:37):
Thoughts of suicide obsessed mefor days, but I was too
frightened to actually do it.
So I compromised by scratchingmy hands and wrists with a sharp
metal file until I bled.
It only hurt for the firstcouple of minutes, then I went
numb and afterwards, however, itstung very badly, which I
(24:58):
thought I deserved anyway.
So suddenly, one night, threemonths later, casey shook the
enemy free.
Casey shook the enemy free andit was after sunset at a youth
group praise and and worshipservice in the Rocky Mountains.
Cassie got caught up in themusic and suddenly broke down
(25:19):
crying and she startedblubbering hysterically to a
friend who couldn't make outhalf of what she said.
So when the mother, misty,picked her up from the retreat,
cassie rushed up, hugged her andsaid Mom, I have changed.
I have totally changed.
(25:40):
Brad and Misty were skepticalat first, but the change took.
She left that angry, vengeful,bitter young girl and came back
brand new.
After the conversion, cassieattended youth ministry,
(26:00):
supported a WWJD bracelet Ithink that's what it means.
What would Jesus do, I thinkBracelet volunteer for a program
that helped ex-convicts inDenver.
And the following fall Brad andMisty allowed her to transfer
to Columbine High School, butshe struggled with social
(26:21):
pressures right up to her lastdays.
She did not attend prom.
That last weekend.
She did not believe that kidsliked her.
The day before Cassie waskilled, the leaders of her youth
group gathered for a staffmeeting and one of the items on
the agenda was how do we getCassie to fit in better?
(26:41):
Brennan Misty Barnard wasforthcoming about Cassie's
history.
A few weeks after the massacre.
It was widely reported in themedia.
But then two other martyrstories surfaced.
There was Valene Schnur'saccount, who was very similar to
(27:02):
Cassie's, except for thechronology and the outcome.
Val was shot before herexchange about God.
Dylan pointed his shotgun underher table and fired several
rapid bursts and this is whenLauren Thompson got killed and
(27:23):
it injured Vow and another girl.
Vow was riddled with shotgunpellets up and down her arms and
torso and Dylan walked away andVal dropped to her knees, then
her hands, and there was bloodstreaming out of 34 separate
wounds that she had and shestarted praying oh my God, oh my
(27:47):
God, don't let me die.
And Dylan turned around andsaid God, do you believe in God?
And she wavered and maybe sheshould not say something, but
she did.
She would say yes, I believe inGod.
(28:10):
And he asked why?
And she said because I believeand my parents brought me up
that way.
Dylan reloaded but somethingdistracted him and he walked off
and Val then called for shelter.
Once she made it out, val wasloaded into an ambulance,
(28:32):
transported to St Anthony's inRussia to surgery, and her
parents, mark and Shari, werewaiting for her when she came to
and Val started blurting outwhat had happened almost
immediately.
She was able to make a fullrecovery and her story never
buried.
Numerous witnesses corroboratedher account.
(28:55):
Baal's story emerged at thesame time as Cassie's, the
afternoon of the attack.
It took a week longer to reachthe media and it never caused
much of a ripple there, and itnever caused much of a ripple
there.
If the timing had beendifferent, bob might have been
an evangelical hero the bravegirl who felt the brunt of a
(29:19):
shotgun blast and still stood upfor her Redeemer.
She proclaimed her faith and hesaved her.
What a message of hope thatwould have been, and the hero
would have been alive to spreadthe good news.
But it didn't work out that way.
Val was seen more often as anusurper.
People thought that she was acopycat and they thought that
(29:43):
she was just following thebandwagon.
A lot of people just didn'tbelieve her story.
The bigger Cassie's fame grew,the more Val was rejected.
An evangelical youth rally wasparticularly disturbing.
She told her story to a crowdgathered to honor Cassie and
Rachel Scott and she got a verycold reception.
(30:03):
Val's parents were supportivebut it wore on her.
They said you know it getsfrustrating because you know in
your heart where you were andwhat you said, and then people
doubt you, and that's whatbothers me the most.
Cassie's fame, on the other hand, grew.
Reverend Kirsten embarked on anational speaking tour to spread
(30:27):
the good news and Kristenembarked on a national speaking
tour to spread the good news.
By summer's end the local youthgroup Revival Generation had
blossomed from a few localchapters to an organization with
offices in all 50 states.
The organizer put on nationaltouring shows with Columbine
High survivors.
Cassie's name sent teenagegirls storming to the stage.
(30:48):
Fame could be intoxicating andbrad and misty were already
celebrities in the world.
Blessed parents of the martyr,they resisted the temptation and
carried on as humbly as before.
Emily wyant watching disbeliefas the story mushroomed and she
(31:12):
asked her mother why are theysaying that Emily had been under
the table with Cassie?
They were facing each other.
Emily was looking into Cassie'seyes when Eric fired his
shotgun.
Emily knew exactly what hadhappened.
Emily was supposed to be inscience class when the shooting
(31:34):
happened, but they had a testschedule and because she had
missed class the day before, shewasn't ready.
Her teacher sent her down tothe library to look over her
notes.
She pulled up a seat by thewindow at a table with just one
girl, cassie Bernal, who wasstudying Macbeth.
They heard some commotionoutside and some kids came to
(31:57):
the window to check it out, butit dissipated.
Emily stood up for a look, sawa kid running across the soccer
field and sat down returning toher notes.
A few minutes later, pattyNielsen ran in screaming and
ordered everyone to get down.
Cassie and Emily got under thetable and tried to barricade
themselves in by pulling somechairs around their tiny
(32:21):
perimeter.
They made them feel a littlesafer.
Cassie crouched by the windowside of the table looking in
toward the room, and Emily gotdown at the other end, facing
Cassie two feet away.
They could keep in contact witheach other that way and
collectively maintain a view ofthe whole room.
(32:42):
The chairs created a lot ofblind spots, but the girls were
not about to move then.
That was the only protectionthey had.
Emily heard shots coming fromdown the hallway, one at a time,
not in bursts.
They were getting closer.
The doors opened and she heardthem coming.
(33:03):
They were shooting, talkingback and forth and shouting
stuff like who wants to bekilled next.
Emily looked over her shoulderto watch.
She saw a kid near the counterjump or go down.
The killers walked around a lottaunting and shooting and Emily
got a good look at them.
She had never noticed thembefore she was a sophomore but
(33:27):
was sure she could pick them outagain if she ever saw them
again.
The girls whispered back andforth.
Dear God, dear God, why is thishappening?
And Cassie said I just want togo home.
And Emily's answer I know weall want to get out of here.
Between exchanges, cassie prayedvery quietly.
(33:47):
Eric and Dylan passed byseveral times, but Emily never
expected one of them to comeunder the table and shoot.
Eric stopped at their table atCassie's end.
Emily could see his legs andhis boots pointing directly at
the right side of Cassie's face.
Cassie didn't turn.
(34:09):
Emily didn't have to.
She was facing perpendicular toEric's stance so she could look
straight at Cassie and see Ericjust to her left.
At the same time, eric slammedhis hand on the table and then
squatted halfway down for a lookand he said peekaboo.
(34:30):
Eric pulled his shotgun underthe table rim as he came down.
He didn't pause long or evenstoop down far enough for Emily
to see his face.
She saw the saw-off gun barrel.
The opening was huge.
She looked into Cassie's browneyes.
Cassie was still praying.
There was no time for wordsbetween them and Eric shot
(34:54):
Cassie in the head.
Everything was muffled.
Then the blast was so loud ittemporarily blew out most of
Emily's hearing.
Loud.
It temporarily blew out most ofEmily's hearing.
The fire alarm had beenunbearably loud, but now she
could barely hear it.
(35:14):
She could see the lightflashing out in the hallway.
Eric's legs turned.
Brie Pasquale was sitting thereright out in the open, a few
steps away, beside the nexttable over.
It had been jammed with kidswhen she got there.
She couldn't fit, so she satdown next to it on the floor.
Bree was a bit farther fromCassie than Emily, the next
(35:35):
closest person, but she had awider view.
She had also seen Eric walk upwith the shotgun in his right
hand, slap Cassie's table twicewith his left and say peekaboo.
He squatted down, balancing onthe balls of his feet, still
holding on to the top tabletopwith his free hand.
Cassie looked desperate,holding her hands up against the
(35:59):
size of her face.
Eric poked the shotgun underand fired.
Not a word.
Eric was sloppy with that shotA one-hander and an awkward half
squat.
The shotgun kicked back and thebutt nailed him in the face.
He broke his nose sometimeduring the attack and that's the
(36:19):
moment investigators believe ithappened.
Eric had his back to Bree so shecouldn't see the gun hit his
nose, but she watched him jumpback on the pump handle and
eject a red shell casing.
It dropped the floor.
She looked under the table.
Cassie was down, blood soakinginto the shoulder of her light
(36:41):
green shirt.
Emily appeared unhurt.
Bree was exposed just a few feetfrom Eric, but she couldn't
take it anymore.
She laid down and asked the boybeside her, who was just barely
under the table, to hold herhand.
He did.
Bree was terrified.
She did not take her eyes offEric.
(37:02):
He stood up after rejecting theround and turned to face her.
He took a step or two towardher, squatted down again and
laid the shotgun across histhighs.
Blood was pouring out of hisnostrils and he yelled I hit
myself in the face.
He was looking at her butcalling out to Dylan.
(37:26):
Eric took hold of the gun againand pointed it in Bree's
direction.
He waved it back and forth in asweeping motion.
He could shoot anyone he wantedand it came to rest on her.
That's when Dylan's gun wentoff.
Bree heard him laugh and make ajoke about what he had done.
When she looked back at Eric,he was staring her straight on
(37:49):
the face and Eric asked do youwant to die?
She said no.
He asked once more and shepleaded for him to spare her.
No, and she pleaded for him tospare her.
No, no, no, no, no.
And Eric seemed to enjoy that.
The exchange went on and on.
(38:09):
He kept the gun right to herhead the whole time.
She said don't shoot me, Idon't want to die.
Finally Eric let out a biglaugh and he told her everyone
is going to die.
And Dylan yelled shoot her.
And Eric replied no, we'regoing to blow up the school
(38:34):
anyway.
Then something distracted him.
He walked away and continuedkilling.
Bree looked back at Cassie'stable.
The other girl, emily, was onher knees now still facing
Cassie's crumpled body.
(38:56):
There was blood everywhere,scare, and Brie kept an eye on
that girl.
And when the explosions movedout into the hallway, brie
figured the killers had gone andshe called to the girl to come
(39:18):
join her group.
But Emily couldn't hear much.
But Brie noticed that all shewas doing was biting her hands.
So Brie started waving herhands and Emily finally saw her
and crawled over.
She was not about to stand up,so she sat next to Brie and
(39:41):
leaned against some bookshelves.
Time got blurry for Emily then.
Later she couldn't recall howlong she had sat there.
Emily and Bree knew Cassie nevergot a chance to speak.
They gave detailed accounts toinvestigators.
Bree's ran 15 pagessingle-spaced, but the police
(40:03):
reports would remain sealed fora year and a half.
The 911 tape provedconclusively that they were
correct.
Other of the murders was playedfor families but withheld from
the public as too gruesome.
Emily and Bree waited for thetruth to come out.
Emily Wyans was sad and shewent to counseling every day.
(40:27):
April 20th had been horribleand now she was saddled with a
moral dilemma.
She did not want to hurt theBernals.
Nor did she want to embarrassherself by shattering Cassie's
myth because the whole thing hadgotten so big so fast.
But by keeping quiet Emily feltshe was contributing to a lie.
(40:52):
So she felt that she was in atough position.
Emily had told the cops, butthey were not sharing much with
the media anymore Definitely notthat bunch of Emily wanted to
go public, but her parents wereafraid the martyrdom had turned
(41:12):
into a religious movement.
Taking that on could be risky.
She didn't know theramifications that could come
afterwards.
She just she was just thinkingabout.
I want to tell the truth.
Her parents were torn too.
They wanted the truth to comeout, but not at the expense of
(41:33):
their daughter.
Emily had already faced morethan any child should and this
might be too much, don't doanything drastic, her parents
advised.
It's a wonderful memory forCassie's family.
Let's not aggravate anything.
(41:55):
In early May the phone rang andit was the Rocky Mountain News.
Dan Lusatherd was one of thebest investigative reporters in
the city and he was sorting outexactly what happened in the
library.
And they were tracking down allthe library's survivors and
most were cooperating.
Emily's parents were worriedbecause her situation was
(42:19):
different.
The reporter showed the Wyanssome of the maps and timelines
they were building and thefamily was impressed and the
team seemed conscientious.
The work looks like it was verythorough and detailed.
So the family agreed to talkand Emily would tell her story
(42:43):
and the Rocky could quote herbut not identify her by name and
her mother said we didn't wanther to be some national
scoundrel.
So after the interview Emilywas glad she had participated
and she had.
She felt a relief to get thatoff her chest so she waited for
(43:04):
the story.
The Rocky editors felt theyneeded more because it could get
ugly.
They wanted somebody on therecord.
Emily kept waiting and herfrustration grew.
The Rocky Mountain News waswaiting too.
They had conducted theirinvestigation and had an
(43:25):
incredible story to tell.
Much of the public perceptionabout Columbine was wrong.
They had the truth.
They were going to debunk allthe myths, including Jock's,
goth's, the Trench Co Mafia andCassie's murder.
All they needed was a news peg.
The story would travel muchfurther if they timed it right.
(43:49):
They were waiting for Jeffco tofinish its final report.
A week or two before the release, the Rocky planned to stun the
public with surprisingrevelations.
It was a good strategy.
Misty Bernard had been hit hard.
Telling Cassie's story made itmore bearable.
(44:11):
Someone suggested a book, soReverend McPherson introduced
her to an editor at the tinyChristian publisher named Plow.
Misty was apprehensive at firstbecause profiting of Cassie was
the last thing on her mind, butshe had two terrific stories to
(44:32):
tell.
Cassie's long fight forspiritual survival would be the
primary focus and her gunpointproclamation would provide the
hook.
A deal was struck in late Mayand it would be called she said
yes the unlikely martyrdom ofCassie Bernal.
The family had no idea thatRocky was or had discovered that
(45:01):
that title was untrue.
Misty, who had gone back towork at Lockheed Martin as a
statistician, would take a leaveof absence to write the story.
To reduce expenses, mistyagreed to forego an advance in
lieu of a higher royalty rate.
Plough also agreed to set up acharity in Casey's name for some
(45:24):
of its proceeds.
Plough Publishing foresaw itsfirst bestseller and it planned
a first printing of 100,000copies, more than seven times
larger than its previous record.
On May 25, something unexpectedhappened.
Police opened the school up sofamilies of the library victims
(45:47):
could walk through the scene,and this served two functions
Victims could face the crimescene with their loved ones, and
revisiting the room might jarloose memories or clarify
confusion.
Craig Scott, who had initiatedthe Cassie story, came through
(46:07):
with several family members.
He stopped where he had hiddenand he retold his story to his
dad.
A senior detective listened.
Craig had sat extremely closeto Cassie, just one table away
facing hers, but when hedescribed her murder he pointed
in the opposite direction.
(46:28):
It happened at one of the twotables near the interior, he
said, which was exactly whereVal had been.
When a detective said Cassiehad not been in that area, craig
insisted and he pointed to theclosest tables to Val's and said
well, she was up there then andthe detective said no, and
(46:52):
Craig got agitated and he saidshe was somewhere over there.
He said and he pointed again toher Val's table.
I know that for a fact anddetectives explained the mistake
.
So Craig got sick.
The detective walked him outand Craig sat down in the empty
corridor to collect himself andhe apologized for getting ill
(47:14):
and he was okay now but he wouldwait for his family out there
because he didn't want to goback to the library.
Library In the meantime friendsof the Bernals said that the dad
, brad, was struggling much morethan the wife.
(47:34):
Brad looked broken.
Misty took Greg Solas and thebook she was writing because it
gave her purpose.
It gave meaning to Cassie'sdeath.
Investigators heard about thebook deal and they decided that
they owe it to Misty to alerther to the truth.
So in June lead investigatorKate Baton and another detective
(47:55):
went to see her.
Misty described the meetingthis way, quote they say don't
stop doing the book.
We just wanted to let you knowthat there are different
accounts coming out of thelibrary.
End, quote Baton said sheencouraged Misty to continue
with the book, but without themartyr incident.
Cassie's transformational storysounded wonderful, baton said.
(48:21):
She made the details ofCassie's murder clear and later
played the 911 tape for Brad andMisty.
Misty and her Plough editor,chris Zimmerman were concerned,
they went back to theirwitnesses Three witnesses stuck
by their story that it wasCassie.
Good enough, the martyr scenewas going to be a small part of
(48:41):
the book anyway.
Misty wanted to focus on Cassieovercoming her own demons.
Misty lived up to her word.
That was the book she wrote.
She described Cassie as aselfish and stubborn on occasion
known to behave like a spoiledtwo-year-old.
Misty also agreed to run adisclaimer opposite the table of
(49:03):
contents.
Misty also agreed to run adisclaimer opposite the table of
contents.
It referred to varying ordifferent recollections and
stated that the precisechronology, including the exact
details of Cassie's death, maynever be known.
(49:23):
Emily Wine was getting moreapprehensive.
Her parents continued urgingcaution.
They had a dinner with theBernals.
Brad and Misty asked Emily ifshe had heard the exchange, and
Emily was a bit shy aboutanswering, but she said no.
Cindy Wyant felt that Emily hadmade herself clear, but
(49:45):
afterward the Bernals recalledno revelation.
Cindy later surmised that theyhave taken Emily's response to
mean she didn't rememberanything.
Vosner's family was uneasy too.
Investigators had briefed themon the evidence and told them
about Craig Scott's discovery inthe library.
(50:05):
Val and her parents wonderedwhich was worse hurting the
Bernals or keeping quiet.
So they also went to dinnerwith the Bernals and everyone
felt better after that.
Brad and Misty seemed sincereand utterly distraught with pain
.
The Snurs were lessunderstanding with the publisher
(50:26):
.
The editor attended the dinnerand Shari asked him to slow down
.
Her husband followed up with anemail and he says if you go
ahead and publish the book, justbe careful.
There's a lot of conflictedinformation out there.
He suggested that Ploughdelayed publication until the
authorities issued the report,but Plough publications declined
(50:50):
.
In July the Wall Street Journalran a prominent story titled
Marketing a Columbine Martyr.
The publishing house wasobscured but Zimmerman had
called in a team of heavyhitters For public relations.
The firm hired the New Yorkteam that had handled Monica
Lewinsky's book.
(51:11):
Publication was two months awayand Misty had already been
booked for the Today Show in2020.
The William Morris Agency wasshopping the film rights around.
A movie was never made.
An agent there had sold bookclub rights to a unit of Random
(51:31):
House.
He said he was marketingvirtually everything you can
exploit, but he said I mean thatin a positive way.
Thank you for listening to theMurder Book.
Have a great week.
Welcome to the Murder Book.
I'm your host, kiara, and thisis Part 10 of Unraveling the
Columbine Tragedy, part 10.
Let's begin.
Eric needed professional help.
His father made thatdetermination within 48 hours of
(00:22):
his arrest.
That determination, within 48hours of his arrest, wayne
picked up the stenopath that hadsat idle for nine months and he
began writing again like sixpages, and in the to-do list he
(00:42):
put see psychologist, see what'sgoing on, determine treatment.
And Wayne also gathered namesand numbers for several agencies
and services, added bulleteditems to them like anger
management, life management,professional therapist, mental
health center, school counselor,juvenile assessment center,
family adolescent team, juvenileassessment center, family
(01:03):
adolescent team.
And he also documented severalconversations that he had with
lawyers and he wrote the wordsprobation, take any chances for
reformation.
And he also wrote the worddiversion and underlined it.
He checked out half a dozencandidates for therapists.
(01:28):
The rates were between $100 to$150 an hour, so he settled on
Dr Kevin Albert, who was apsychiatrist, and he made an
appointment for February 16th.
Wayne logged page after page ofcalls to cops and lawyers,
(01:48):
prosecutors.
He was working through all theoptions.
The doing our diversion programsounded ideal because it was a
year of counseling, communityservice, along with fines, fees
and restitution.
If Eric completed itsuccessfully and kept clean for
an additional year, the robberywould be expunged from his
(02:13):
record.
But the DA's office had toaccept him.
Eric told Dr Albert that he hadanger problems and that
depression was an issue and hehad contemplated suicide.
He apparently did not mentionthe bombs that he took to the
park, and so Dr Albert startedhim on Soloft, which is a
(02:38):
prescription antidepressant.
Eric continued meeting with himbi-weekly and Wayne and Kathy
began occasional sessions aswell.
At home the boys receivedsimilar punishments.
Each was grounded for a month.
They could not contact eachother.
Eric also had his computeraccess revoked, so what he did
(03:04):
was that he went and worked,went to work on his pipe bombs.
On February 15th, the daybefore Eric's first appointment
with Dr Auburn, someone in theneighborhood stumbled upon his
work.
They found a duct tape, pvcpipe in the grass with a red
(03:27):
fuse protruding, and it was in asuburban park in Jeffco.
The Jeffco cops sent out aninvestigator from the bomb squad
and sure enough, it was ahomemade pipe bomb.
Officers didn't find a wholelot of those around here, so
they defused the bomb.
(03:47):
Followed report Eric and Dylan.
They didn't tell any of theirfriends about their arrest.
They made excuses about theirrestrictions and then finally
they began to come clean.
Eric fessed up to a girl atBlackjack, where they work, and
(04:08):
were traveled to Nate.
Dykeman and Nate couldn'tbelieve Dylan has been hiding it
from him and after work leaked,eric told friends it was the
most embarrassing moment of hislife.
Both boys were humiliated andEric was raging mad.
Dylan's response was morecomplex because three days after
(04:33):
his arrest Dylan picturedhimself on the road to happiness
with Harriet.
He sketched it out in hisjournal as a two-lane highway
with a road sign of one shoulderand a dashed stripe down the
center.
His road led off to a majesticworld of mountains with a giant
heart guiding him onward and hewrote it's so great to love.
(04:56):
He was a felon now, but he wasecstatic and he wrote half the
page with drawings andexclamation I love her and she
loves me.
Anger boiled up with theecstasy Dylan was beginning to
see, at Eric's way, the realpeople and they call them gods
(05:19):
are slaves to the majority ofzombies.
But we know and love beingsuperior, either ill commit
suicide or ill get with Harrietand it will be MBK for us my
happiness, her happiness,nothing else matters.
And this is what he wrote.
(05:41):
So suicide or murder, thepattern solidified, homicidal
thoughts, occasionallyself-destruction.
On every page he wrote also,and I'm going to quote If, by
love's choice, Harriet didn'tlove me, I would slit my wrist
(06:03):
and blow up Atlanta strapped tomy neck.
Atlanta was the name of one ofthe pipe bombs.
Wayne Harris kept working thephones, but early March he
secured an evaluation withAndrea Sanchez, a counselor with
(06:25):
the Juvenile Diversion Program.
Sanchez placed calls to Ericand Dylan to prescreen them.
They passed.
She sent a dozen forms, set upappointments and each boy would
come to her office with a parentand a stack of paperwork, and
both intake sessions would takeplace on March 19.
(06:45):
For two months, wayne Harrisworked to get his son into
diversion to keep his recordclean.
Eric was busy too, because atthat moment, while his father
was doing all this work, he wasdetonating his first pipe bombs
and he boldly posted thebreakthrough on his website.
Mfr blew big.
(07:06):
Flipping thing washeart-pounding, gut-wrenching,
brain-twitching, ground-moving,insanely cool.
His brothers have not found atarget yet, though.
This time Eric was producing tokill.
Content had been theundercurrent in his I hate rants
.
Now he made it explicit.
(07:28):
Morons had nerve to judge him.
He said to call him crazy justfor envisioning mass murder.
Empty morons standing injudgment.
If you've got a problem with mythoughts, come tell me and I'll
kill you.
And then he posted in capitalletters Dead people don't argue.
(07:51):
God damn it.
I am pissed.
As Eric embraced murder.
Dylan retreated After the arrest.
He had the one brief outburstin his journal and then he
dropped all mention of it.
For nearly a year His focusshifted dramatically toward love
(08:12):
and he wrote entire pages with10-inch hearts surrounded by
choirs of smaller flutteringhearts.
Eric had no use for love Sexmaybe.
He shared none of Dylan'sdesires for truth, beauty or
love.
Eric's only internal struggleconcerned which stupid bastard
(08:35):
was more deserving of his wrath.
Eric's dreams changed after hisarrest.
Human extinction was still hisaim.
After his arrest, humanextinction was still his aim,
but for the first time he madethe leap from observer to
enforcer.
He posted on his website, quoteI don't care if I live or die
(08:55):
in the shootout, all I want todo is kill and injure as many of
you pricks as I can.
End, quote but it was too muchfor Dylan.
Kill Everything Apparently not.
He made a stunning move behindEric's back.
He told the worst possibleperson, brooks Brown.
(09:20):
Brooks knew about the pettyvandalism and his parents saw
Eric as a young criminal, butthey had no idea how serious it
was.
On the way to class, dylanhanded Brooks a scrap of paper.
Just one line was written on ita web address, and Dylan said I
think you should take a look atthis tonight.
(09:41):
And Brooks said anythingspecial.
And he said well, it's Eric'swebsite, you need to see it and
you can tell Eric.
I give it to you.
So Brooks pulled up the sitethat night and he saw Eric
threatening to kill people.
He threatened to kill Brookspersonally in three different
(10:03):
places.
Dylan leaked the URL to Brooksthe day before their admission
interviews for the diversionprogram.
If Brooks told his parents andDylan knew he told Judy
everything the Browns would gostraight to the cops and Eric
would be rejected and imprisonedfor a felony.
Dylan probably would be too.
(10:24):
He took that chance.
Brooks did tell his mom andRandy and Judy called the cops.
Jeffco investigators came outthat night and they follow up
the file reports but they didnot alert the DA's office.
Eric and Dylan proceeded intodiversion.
Only one parent was required atthe diversion intake meeting.
(10:48):
So Tom and Sue Klebold bothattended because they considered
it important.
They filled out an eight-pagequestionnaire about Dylan.
He did the same and then AndreaSanchez walked them through the
results.
The Klebolds were in for a fewsurprises.
Dylan copped two 5 for 6 drunkenbouts, starting at age 15, and
(11:13):
they were not aware of all of it.
Apparently they were unaware.
His nickname was Vodka.
Dylan claimed he had quitdrinking.
He didn't like the taste andsaid it wasn't worth it.
He had tried pot too andrejected it for the same reasons
.
His parents were stunned aboutmarijuana too.
(11:34):
Tom and Sue were candid and itwas the only ethical course.
It was the only ethical course.
They wrote a line aboutdisrespecting authority figures
and then they crossed it out andthen said what teachers had
reported, that he didn't listenor take correction.
(11:55):
Well, eric was more cautious.
He revealed just enough toappear confessional.
He said he had tasted alcoholthree times, he had never gotten
drunk and had given it up forgood.
He wrote exactly what a parentwanted to hear.
He understood how his parentsthought and in no time he had
(12:17):
read Andrew Sanchez and in thefirst meeting he turned an
admission into a virtue.
He lied about part two heclaimed he had no interest.
The alcohol admission gave theclaim credits.
Wayne and Kathy both attendedtheir session as well.
Their surprise came in themental health section On a
(12:37):
checklist of 30 potentialproblem areas they marked three
boxes anger, depression andsuicidal thoughts.
Eric had told them about thosethree and he discussed them with
Dr Albert.
He was getting help.
Everyone agreed that Soloft washelping too.
It was common for an adolescentto check several boxes.
(12:59):
Eric picked 14.
He marked virtually everythingrelated to distrust or
aggression.
He checked jealousy, anxiety,suspiciousness, authority
figures, temper racing thoughts,obsessive thoughts, mood swings
, disorganized thoughts.
He skipped suicidal thoughtsbut he checked homicidal
(13:20):
thoughts.
Wayne and Kathy worry about Ericsuppressing his anger.
They admitted that he wouldblow up now and then lashing out
verbally, hitting an object.
He never tried it in front ofhis dad but they have gotten
reports back from work andschool.
It didn't happen often but theywere concerned.
(13:41):
Eric responded well todiscipline.
They have control his behavior.
But how could they contain hismoods?
When he really got mad Ericsaid he would punch a wall.
He said that he had thoughtabout suicide, never seriously,
mostly out of anger.
He got angry all the time, hesaid, and almost anything he
(14:03):
didn't like.
So the partial confession washis favorite con of all.
He could turn over half hiscards and still pull off the
bluff.
He posted his actual thoughtsabout the legal system on his
website at around the same timeand this is what he wrote, quote
my belief is that if I saysomething, it goes.
(14:26):
I am the law.
If you don't like it, you die.
End quote.
He described going to somerandom downtown area in some big
city, blowing up and shootingup everything he could.
He assured us that he wouldfeel no remorse, no sorrow, no
shame.
Yet there he sat, submitting.
(14:47):
He bent to their will.
He filled out the degradingform.
Laughing on their inside wasinsufficient.
He would make them pay.
Miss Sanchez worried about theboy's failure to accept full
responsibility.
Eric was sticking to his storythat the break-in was Dylan's
(15:08):
fault.
Dylan thought the whole thingwas a little overblown.
Ms Sanchez noted herreservations but recommended
them for enrollment.
The final decision was up tothe court.
A week later, on March 25th,eric and Dylan stood before
Jeffco magistrate John DeVitaduring a joint hearing.
Their father stood beside themand that impressed DeVita.
(15:32):
Most of the juveniles appearalone or with just a mom, but
having the dads present.
That was a good sign and thesedads appeared to be taking
control of the situation.
Magistrate DeVita was impressedby the way the boys presented
themselves Dressed up,well-behaved, differential, yes,
(15:56):
your Honor, no, your Honor.
They respected the court andits show.
Devita pecked Dylan as well.
The B's and C's on his reportcard were a joke and DeVita told
him I bet you're an A studentif you put that brainpower to
the paperwork.
Devita gave them a lecture andthen he approved them for
(16:16):
diversion.
This pair was going to do justfine, he thought.
Forty months later, after themurders, devita lamented how
convincing the boys had been andhe said, quote what's
mind-boggling is the amount ofdeception, the ease of their
deception, the coolness of theirdeception.
(16:38):
End quote Judy and Randy Brownkept calling the cops and they
were sure Brooks was in danger.
Their other son was so scaredhe slept with a baseball bat.
After two weeks of theirpestering, the case was bumped
up to investigator John Hicks,who met with Julie On March 31st
(16:59):
.
He sat down with two otherinvestigators, mike Guerra and
Glenn Grove, to discuss it.
The situation looked pretty bad, bad enough for investigator
Guerra to type out a two-pageaffidavit for a search warrant
duly sworn upon.
Oath Ngera did good work.
In the affidavit hedramatically outlined all the
(17:20):
crucial elements of the caseagainst this kid.
He detailed the specificity ofEric's plan, his methods and his
ordinance.
He quoted liberally from Eric'swebsite to provide proof.
But, most important, guerradrew the connection to physical
evidence.
A bomb matching dose and Eric'sdescriptions had recently been
(17:42):
discovered near his home.
The Harris house was to besearched for any literal
turnouts or physical materialrelated to the construction of
explosives, as well as all emailcorrespondence, presumably to
include the website.
The affidavit was convincing.
It was filed.
It was not signed or takenbefore a judge.
(18:05):
It was not acted upon in anyway.
A plausible explanation forinaction was never provided.
Years later one official saidGuerra was drawn away to another
case and when he returned theaffidavit was as written, lacked
the timeliness required to takeit to the judge.
(18:26):
The Brown said that InvestigatorHicks also knew about Eric's
arrest for the van breaking.
There was no indication that heor anyone from the Sheriff's
Department ever relayed theirdamning evidence about Eric to
the diversion officers.
Magistrate DeVito was providedno indication before he approved
them for the program.
(18:46):
Senior officials from theSheriff's Department, the DA's
office, the criminal court wereunaware of one another's actions
concerning Eric, but Ericapparently knew what they were
all up to.
Eric got wind that the Brownswere on to him so he took his
website down for a while.
(19:07):
There's no indication he everlearned of Dylan's betrayal.
There's no sign that hesuspected Eric was getting
serious about his plans now andhe would not risk posting
anything about them on the webagain.
He pulled out a spiral notebookand began a journal For the
next year.
(19:28):
He would record his progresstoward the attack and thoroughly
explain his motives.
We'll be right back.
Let's talk a little bit aboutone of the victims' funeral.
Her name Cassie.
Her pastor proclaimed at herfuneral that she was going to be
(19:49):
in the Martyrs' Hall of Fame.
This pastor predicted thatCassie could become the first
officially designated Protestantmartyr since the 16th century
and he said that that was quiteextraordinary, that that was
quite extraordinary.
In the Weekly Standard she wascompared to the 3rd century
(20:15):
martyrs Perpetua and Felicityand the tales of the thousands
of early Christians who wentjoyously to their death in the
Roman Colosseums to their deathin the Roman Colosseums.
And he foresaw the person thatwrote the article foresaw a
(20:36):
generation of kids rising up torecast our cultural landscape,
he said, and he later describeda national change of heart,
trembling on the cusp ofbreaking forth.
(20:59):
And it was a great story becauseit gave the parents, brad and
Misty, relief.
The enemy had taken on theirlittle girl before and in the
first round the enemy had won.
It had been position, pure andsimple.
And that's how Misty, themother, saw it.
The enemy had crept into herhouse a decade earlier but
(21:19):
remained hidden until the winterof 1996.
She discovered his presencejust before Christmas.
She had just quit her job as afinancial analyst at Lockheed
Martin in order to be a betterfull-time mom, and this had been
a tough transition.
And Misty went looking for aBible for inspiration and she
(21:40):
found it in her daughter,cassie's room.
But she also found a stack ofletters that were disturbing.
Also found a stack of lettersthat were disturbing and the
letters documented a vigorouscorrespondence between Cassie
and a close friend and thefriend was complaining about a
teacher and then suggested wantto help me murder her.
(22:01):
And the pages were filled withhardcore sex talk, occult
imagery, magic spells and theyhammer a persistent refrain kill
your parents, make thosescumbags pay for your suffering.
Murder is the answer to all ofyour problems.
(22:22):
So Misty found only thefriends' letters, but they
suggested a receptive audience.
Black cocktails, vampiresappear throughout and
descriptions.
There were even illustrations.
A teacher was shown stabbedwith butcher knives, lying to
her own blood in her own blood,and figures labeled Ma and Pa
(22:47):
were hung by their intestinesand there were daggers, bloody
daggers, that were lodged intheir chest, and there was even
a gravestone inscribed Pa and MaBarnau so mystical.
Brad, her husband and thesheriff.
And they waited for Cassie tocome home.
(23:09):
First Cassie tried to downplaythe letters and then she got
angry and she hated them.
She said she admitted towriting letters in kind.
She screamed, she said shewould run away, she threatened
to kill herself.
Reverend Dave McPherson, theyouth pastor at West Bowes,
counseled Brad and Misty to gettough and he told them you need
(23:32):
to cut her phone, lock the door,pull her out of school, don't
let her out of the house withoutsupervision.
And that's what they did.
They transferred Cassie to aprivate school.
They let her leave the houseonly for youth group at the
church.
They let her leave the houseonly for youth group at the
church.
There was a struggle thatfollowed, because she despised
(23:54):
them at first and she wouldthreaten to run away and launch
into wild graphic screaming fits.
Cassie caught her wrist, shebludgeoned her skull.
She would lock herself in thebathroom and bash her head
against the sink counter alonein her bedroom.
She beat it against the wallwith her family.
(24:17):
She was sullen and spoke inmonosyllables.
Cassie described the ordeal in anotebook her parents found
after her death and she talksabout.
She says I cannot explain inwords how much I hurt.
I didn't know how to deal withthis hurt, so I physically hurt
myself.
(24:37):
Thoughts of suicide obsessed mefor days, but I was too
frightened to actually do it.
So I compromised by scratchingmy hands and wrists with a sharp
metal file until I bled.
It only hurt for the firstcouple of minutes, then I went
numb and afterwards, however, itstung very badly, which I
(24:58):
thought I deserved anyway.
So suddenly, one night, threemonths later, casey shook the
enemy free.
Casey shook the enemy free andit was after sunset at a youth
group praise and and worshipservice in the Rocky Mountains.
Cassie got caught up in themusic and suddenly broke down
(25:19):
crying and she startedblubbering hysterically to a
friend who couldn't make outhalf of what she said.
So when the mother, misty,picked her up from the retreat,
cassie rushed up, hugged her andsaid Mom, I have changed.
I have totally changed.
(25:40):
Brad and Misty were skepticalat first, but the change took.
She left that angry, vengeful,bitter young girl and came back
brand new.
After the conversion, cassieattended youth ministry,
(26:00):
supported a WWJD bracelet Ithink that's what it means.
What would Jesus do, I thinkBracelet volunteer for a program
that helped ex-convicts inDenver.
And the following fall Brad andMisty allowed her to transfer
to Columbine High School, butshe struggled with social
(26:21):
pressures right up to her lastdays.
She did not attend prom.
That last weekend.
She did not believe that kidsliked her.
The day before Cassie waskilled, the leaders of her youth
group gathered for a staffmeeting and one of the items on
the agenda was how do we getCassie to fit in better?
(26:41):
Brennan Misty Barnard wasforthcoming about Cassie's
history.
A few weeks after the massacre.
It was widely reported in themedia.
But then two other martyrstories surfaced.
There was Valene Schnur'saccount, who was very similar to
(27:02):
Cassie's, except for thechronology and the outcome.
Val was shot before herexchange about God.
Dylan pointed his shotgun underher table and fired several
rapid bursts and this is whenLauren Thompson got killed and
(27:23):
it injured Vow and another girl.
Vow was riddled with shotgunpellets up and down her arms and
torso and Dylan walked away andVal dropped to her knees, then
her hands, and there was bloodstreaming out of 34 separate
wounds that she had and shestarted praying oh my God, oh my
(27:47):
God, don't let me die.
And Dylan turned around andsaid God, do you believe in God?
And she wavered and maybe sheshould not say something, but
she did.
She would say yes, I believe inGod.
(28:10):
And he asked why?
And she said because I believeand my parents brought me up
that way.
Dylan reloaded but somethingdistracted him and he walked off
and Val then called for shelter.
Once she made it out, val wasloaded into an ambulance,
(28:32):
transported to St Anthony's inRussia to surgery, and her
parents, mark and Shari, werewaiting for her when she came to
and Val started blurting outwhat had happened almost
immediately.
She was able to make a fullrecovery and her story never
buried.
Numerous witnesses corroboratedher account.
(28:55):
Baal's story emerged at thesame time as Cassie's, the
afternoon of the attack.
It took a week longer to reachthe media and it never caused
much of a ripple there, and itnever caused much of a ripple
there.
If the timing had beendifferent, bob might have been
an evangelical hero the bravegirl who felt the brunt of a
(29:19):
shotgun blast and still stood upfor her Redeemer.
She proclaimed her faith and hesaved her.
What a message of hope thatwould have been, and the hero
would have been alive to spreadthe good news.
But it didn't work out that way.
Val was seen more often as anusurper.
People thought that she was acopycat and they thought that
(29:43):
she was just following thebandwagon.
A lot of people just didn'tbelieve her story.
The bigger Cassie's fame grew,the more Val was rejected.
An evangelical youth rally wasparticularly disturbing.
She told her story to a crowdgathered to honor Cassie and
Rachel Scott and she got a verycold reception.
(30:03):
Val's parents were supportivebut it wore on her.
They said you know it getsfrustrating because you know in
your heart where you were andwhat you said, and then people
doubt you, and that's whatbothers me the most.
Cassie's fame, on the other hand, grew.
Reverend Kirsten embarked on anational speaking tour to spread
(30:27):
the good news and Kristenembarked on a national speaking
tour to spread the good news.
By summer's end the local youthgroup Revival Generation had
blossomed from a few localchapters to an organization with
offices in all 50 states.
The organizer put on nationaltouring shows with Columbine
High survivors.
Cassie's name sent teenagegirls storming to the stage.
(30:48):
Fame could be intoxicating andbrad and misty were already
celebrities in the world.
Blessed parents of the martyr,they resisted the temptation and
carried on as humbly as before.
Emily wyant watching disbeliefas the story mushroomed and she
(31:12):
asked her mother why are theysaying that Emily had been under
the table with Cassie?
They were facing each other.
Emily was looking into Cassie'seyes when Eric fired his
shotgun.
Emily knew exactly what hadhappened.
Emily was supposed to be inscience class when the shooting
(31:34):
happened, but they had a testschedule and because she had
missed class the day before, shewasn't ready.
Her teacher sent her down tothe library to look over her
notes.
She pulled up a seat by thewindow at a table with just one
girl, cassie Bernal, who wasstudying Macbeth.
They heard some commotionoutside and some kids came to
(31:57):
the window to check it out, butit dissipated.
Emily stood up for a look, sawa kid running across the soccer
field and sat down returning toher notes.
A few minutes later, pattyNielsen ran in screaming and
ordered everyone to get down.
Cassie and Emily got under thetable and tried to barricade
themselves in by pulling somechairs around their tiny
(32:21):
perimeter.
They made them feel a littlesafer.
Cassie crouched by the windowside of the table looking in
toward the room, and Emily gotdown at the other end, facing
Cassie two feet away.
They could keep in contact witheach other that way and
collectively maintain a view ofthe whole room.
(32:42):
The chairs created a lot ofblind spots, but the girls were
not about to move then.
That was the only protectionthey had.
Emily heard shots coming fromdown the hallway, one at a time,
not in bursts.
They were getting closer.
The doors opened and she heardthem coming.
(33:03):
They were shooting, talkingback and forth and shouting
stuff like who wants to bekilled next.
Emily looked over her shoulderto watch.
She saw a kid near the counterjump or go down.
The killers walked around a lottaunting and shooting and Emily
got a good look at them.
She had never noticed thembefore she was a sophomore but
(33:27):
was sure she could pick them outagain if she ever saw them
again.
The girls whispered back andforth.
Dear God, dear God, why is thishappening?
And Cassie said I just want togo home.
And Emily's answer I know weall want to get out of here.
Between exchanges, cassie prayedvery quietly.
(33:47):
Eric and Dylan passed byseveral times, but Emily never
expected one of them to comeunder the table and shoot.
Eric stopped at their table atCassie's end.
Emily could see his legs andhis boots pointing directly at
the right side of Cassie's face.
Cassie didn't turn.
(34:09):
Emily didn't have to.
She was facing perpendicular toEric's stance so she could look
straight at Cassie and see Ericjust to her left.
At the same time, eric slammedhis hand on the table and then
squatted halfway down for a lookand he said peekaboo.
(34:30):
Eric pulled his shotgun underthe table rim as he came down.
He didn't pause long or evenstoop down far enough for Emily
to see his face.
She saw the saw-off gun barrel.
The opening was huge.
She looked into Cassie's browneyes.
Cassie was still praying.
There was no time for wordsbetween them and Eric shot
(34:54):
Cassie in the head.
Everything was muffled.
Then the blast was so loud ittemporarily blew out most of
Emily's hearing.
Loud.
It temporarily blew out most ofEmily's hearing.
The fire alarm had beenunbearably loud, but now she
could barely hear it.
(35:14):
She could see the lightflashing out in the hallway.
Eric's legs turned.
Brie Pasquale was sitting thereright out in the open, a few
steps away, beside the nexttable over.
It had been jammed with kidswhen she got there.
She couldn't fit, so she satdown next to it on the floor.
Bree was a bit farther fromCassie than Emily, the next
(35:35):
closest person, but she had awider view.
She had also seen Eric walk upwith the shotgun in his right
hand, slap Cassie's table twicewith his left and say peekaboo.
He squatted down, balancing onthe balls of his feet, still
holding on to the top tabletopwith his free hand.
Cassie looked desperate,holding her hands up against the
(35:59):
size of her face.
Eric poked the shotgun underand fired.
Not a word.
Eric was sloppy with that shotA one-hander and an awkward half
squat.
The shotgun kicked back and thebutt nailed him in the face.
He broke his nose sometimeduring the attack and that's the
(36:19):
moment investigators believe ithappened.
Eric had his back to Bree so shecouldn't see the gun hit his
nose, but she watched him jumpback on the pump handle and
eject a red shell casing.
It dropped the floor.
She looked under the table.
Cassie was down, blood soakinginto the shoulder of her light
(36:41):
green shirt.
Emily appeared unhurt.
Bree was exposed just a few feetfrom Eric, but she couldn't
take it anymore.
She laid down and asked the boybeside her, who was just barely
under the table, to hold herhand.
He did.
Bree was terrified.
She did not take her eyes offEric.
(37:02):
He stood up after rejecting theround and turned to face her.
He took a step or two towardher, squatted down again and
laid the shotgun across histhighs.
Blood was pouring out of hisnostrils and he yelled I hit
myself in the face.
He was looking at her butcalling out to Dylan.
(37:26):
Eric took hold of the gun againand pointed it in Bree's
direction.
He waved it back and forth in asweeping motion.
He could shoot anyone he wantedand it came to rest on her.
That's when Dylan's gun wentoff.
Bree heard him laugh and make ajoke about what he had done.
When she looked back at Eric,he was staring her straight on
(37:49):
the face and Eric asked do youwant to die?
She said no.
He asked once more and shepleaded for him to spare her.
No, and she pleaded for him tospare her.
No, no, no, no, no.
And Eric seemed to enjoy that.
The exchange went on and on.
(38:09):
He kept the gun right to herhead the whole time.
She said don't shoot me, Idon't want to die.
Finally Eric let out a biglaugh and he told her everyone
is going to die.
And Dylan yelled shoot her.
And Eric replied no, we'regoing to blow up the school
(38:34):
anyway.
Then something distracted him.
He walked away and continuedkilling.
Bree looked back at Cassie'stable.
The other girl, emily, was onher knees now still facing
Cassie's crumpled body.
(38:56):
There was blood everywhere,scare, and Brie kept an eye on
that girl.
And when the explosions movedout into the hallway, brie
figured the killers had gone andshe called to the girl to come
(39:18):
join her group.
But Emily couldn't hear much.
But Brie noticed that all shewas doing was biting her hands.
So Brie started waving herhands and Emily finally saw her
and crawled over.
She was not about to stand up,so she sat next to Brie and
(39:41):
leaned against some bookshelves.
Time got blurry for Emily then.
Later she couldn't recall howlong she had sat there.
Emily and Bree knew Cassie nevergot a chance to speak.
They gave detailed accounts toinvestigators.
Bree's ran 15 pagessingle-spaced, but the police
(40:03):
reports would remain sealed fora year and a half.
The 911 tape provedconclusively that they were
correct.
Other of the murders was playedfor families but withheld from
the public as too gruesome.
Emily and Bree waited for thetruth to come out.
Emily Wyans was sad and shewent to counseling every day.
(40:27):
April 20th had been horribleand now she was saddled with a
moral dilemma.
She did not want to hurt theBernals.
Nor did she want to embarrassherself by shattering Cassie's
myth because the whole thing hadgotten so big so fast.
But by keeping quiet Emily feltshe was contributing to a lie.
(40:52):
So she felt that she was in atough position.
Emily had told the cops, butthey were not sharing much with
the media anymore Definitely notthat bunch of Emily wanted to
go public, but her parents wereafraid the martyrdom had turned
(41:12):
into a religious movement.
Taking that on could be risky.
She didn't know theramifications that could come
afterwards.
She just she was just thinkingabout.
I want to tell the truth.
Her parents were torn too.
They wanted the truth to comeout, but not at the expense of
(41:33):
their daughter.
Emily had already faced morethan any child should and this
might be too much, don't doanything drastic, her parents
advised.
It's a wonderful memory forCassie's family.
Let's not aggravate anything.
(41:55):
In early May the phone rang andit was the Rocky Mountain News.
Dan Lusatherd was one of thebest investigative reporters in
the city and he was sorting outexactly what happened in the
library.
And they were tracking down allthe library's survivors and
most were cooperating.
Emily's parents were worriedbecause her situation was
(42:19):
different.
The reporter showed the Wyanssome of the maps and timelines
they were building and thefamily was impressed and the
team seemed conscientious.
The work looks like it was verythorough and detailed.
So the family agreed to talkand Emily would tell her story
(42:43):
and the Rocky could quote herbut not identify her by name and
her mother said we didn't wanther to be some national
scoundrel.
So after the interview Emilywas glad she had participated
and she had.
She felt a relief to get thatoff her chest so she waited for
(43:04):
the story.
The Rocky editors felt theyneeded more because it could get
ugly.
They wanted somebody on therecord.
Emily kept waiting and herfrustration grew.
The Rocky Mountain News waswaiting too.
They had conducted theirinvestigation and had an
(43:25):
incredible story to tell.
Much of the public perceptionabout Columbine was wrong.
They had the truth.
They were going to debunk allthe myths, including Jock's,
goth's, the Trench Co Mafia andCassie's murder.
All they needed was a news peg.
The story would travel muchfurther if they timed it right.
(43:49):
They were waiting for Jeffco tofinish its final report.
A week or two before the release, the Rocky planned to stun the
public with surprisingrevelations.
It was a good strategy.
Misty Bernard had been hit hard.
Telling Cassie's story made itmore bearable.
(44:11):
Someone suggested a book, soReverend McPherson introduced
her to an editor at the tinyChristian publisher named Plow.
Misty was apprehensive at firstbecause profiting of Cassie was
the last thing on her mind, butshe had two terrific stories to
(44:32):
tell.
Cassie's long fight forspiritual survival would be the
primary focus and her gunpointproclamation would provide the
hook.
A deal was struck in late Mayand it would be called she said
yes the unlikely martyrdom ofCassie Bernal.
The family had no idea thatRocky was or had discovered that
(45:01):
that title was untrue.
Misty, who had gone back towork at Lockheed Martin as a
statistician, would take a leaveof absence to write the story.
To reduce expenses, mistyagreed to forego an advance in
lieu of a higher royalty rate.
Plough also agreed to set up acharity in Casey's name for some
(45:24):
of its proceeds.
Plough Publishing foresaw itsfirst bestseller and it planned
a first printing of 100,000copies, more than seven times
larger than its previous record.
On May 25, something unexpectedhappened.
Police opened the school up sofamilies of the library victims
(45:47):
could walk through the scene,and this served two functions
Victims could face the crimescene with their loved ones, and
revisiting the room might jarloose memories or clarify
confusion.
Craig Scott, who had initiatedthe Cassie story, came through
(46:07):
with several family members.
He stopped where he had hiddenand he retold his story to his
dad.
A senior detective listened.
Craig had sat extremely closeto Cassie, just one table away
facing hers, but when hedescribed her murder he pointed
in the opposite direction.
(46:28):
It happened at one of the twotables near the interior, he
said, which was exactly whereVal had been.
When a detective said Cassiehad not been in that area, craig
insisted and he pointed to theclosest tables to Val's and said
well, she was up there then andthe detective said no, and
(46:52):
Craig got agitated and he saidshe was somewhere over there.
He said and he pointed again toher Val's table.
I know that for a fact anddetectives explained the mistake
.
So Craig got sick.
The detective walked him outand Craig sat down in the empty
corridor to collect himself andhe apologized for getting ill
(47:14):
and he was okay now but he wouldwait for his family out there
because he didn't want to goback to the library.
Library In the meantime friendsof the Bernals said that the dad
, brad, was struggling much morethan the wife.
(47:34):
Brad looked broken.
Misty took Greg Solas and thebook she was writing because it
gave her purpose.
It gave meaning to Cassie'sdeath.
Investigators heard about thebook deal and they decided that
they owe it to Misty to alerther to the truth.
So in June lead investigatorKate Baton and another detective
(47:55):
went to see her.
Misty described the meetingthis way, quote they say don't
stop doing the book.
We just wanted to let you knowthat there are different
accounts coming out of thelibrary.
End, quote Baton said sheencouraged Misty to continue
with the book, but without themartyr incident.
Cassie's transformational storysounded wonderful, baton said.
(48:21):
She made the details ofCassie's murder clear and later
played the 911 tape for Brad andMisty.
Misty and her Plough editor,chris Zimmerman were concerned,
they went back to theirwitnesses Three witnesses stuck
by their story that it wasCassie.
Good enough, the martyr scenewas going to be a small part of
(48:41):
the book anyway.
Misty wanted to focus on Cassieovercoming her own demons.
Misty lived up to her word.
That was the book she wrote.
She described Cassie as aselfish and stubborn on occasion
known to behave like a spoiledtwo-year-old.
Misty also agreed to run adisclaimer opposite the table of
(49:03):
contents.
Misty also agreed to run adisclaimer opposite the table of
contents.
It referred to varying ordifferent recollections and
stated that the precisechronology, including the exact
details of Cassie's death, maynever be known.
(49:23):
Emily Wine was getting moreapprehensive.
Her parents continued urgingcaution.
They had a dinner with theBernals.
Brad and Misty asked Emily ifshe had heard the exchange, and
Emily was a bit shy aboutanswering, but she said no.
Cindy Wyant felt that Emily hadmade herself clear, but
(49:45):
afterward the Bernals recalledno revelation.
Cindy later surmised that theyhave taken Emily's response to
mean she didn't rememberanything.
Vosner's family was uneasy too.
Investigators had briefed themon the evidence and told them
about Craig Scott's discovery inthe library.
(50:05):
Val and her parents wonderedwhich was worse hurting the
Bernals or keeping quiet.
So they also went to dinnerwith the Bernals and everyone
felt better after that.
Brad and Misty seemed sincereand utterly distraught with pain
.
The Snurs were lessunderstanding with the publisher
(50:26):
.
The editor attended the dinnerand Shari asked him to slow down
.
Her husband followed up with anemail and he says if you go
ahead and publish the book, justbe careful.
There's a lot of conflictedinformation out there.
He suggested that Ploughdelayed publication until the
authorities issued the report,but Plough publications declined
(50:50):
.
In July the Wall Street Journalran a prominent story titled
Marketing a Columbine Martyr.
The publishing house wasobscured but Zimmerman had
called in a team of heavyhitters For public relations.
The firm hired the New Yorkteam that had handled Monica
Lewinsky's book.
(51:11):
Publication was two months awayand Misty had already been
booked for the Today Show in2020.
The William Morris Agency wasshopping the film rights around.
A movie was never made.
An agent there had sold bookclub rights to a unit of Random
(51:31):
House.
He said he was marketingvirtually everything you can
exploit, but he said I mean thatin a positive way.
Thank you for listening to theMurder Book.
Have a great week.
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