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Hi crime junkies. I'm your host Britt Preyad >> and I'm Ash and we're switching it up
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today. Britt is taking over. I have been deep, you know, just trying to identify
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a serial killer. So, thanks. No big deal. >> No big deal. >> But the story I have for you today
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seemingly starts as a late '90s fatal teen romance. But a shocking confession and so many twists and turns later,
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you're going to be wondering if police got this one right. Now over 20 years later, I'm bringing you a crime junkie
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breakdown on what happened and digging into who could be responsible for murder.
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This is the story of Anastasia Whitfugan. [Music] It's almost 4:00 a.m. on October 23rd,
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1997 when Deputy David Eper with the Jackson County Sheriff's Department is patrolling through Kansas City,
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Missouri, and cuts into Lincoln Cemetery. He's looking for any sign of stolen vehicles. Apparently, it's a
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common place people leave them. And this cemetery is dark. He's just got his headlights shining ahead. And as he gets
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to a turnaround spot in the back of the lot, he comes upon someone lying on the ground. He doesn't know if they're drunk
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or hurt, but they're not moving. So, he gets out of his cruiser only to realize it's neither of those things. In front
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of him is a woman with dark hair lying on her back with a huge gunshot wound to the middle of her face. to Deputy
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Eperson. It looks like she was shot right there where she stood, point blank, and by someone else because
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there's no gun present. He calls for backup. And while he waits, he looks for anything that can help ID this woman.
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But there's nothing around her. No purse or anything. And the only thing they find in her pockets is a key and a
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cuckoo clock keychain. That's nothing that's going to immediately help IDing her. By the time the sun begins to rise,
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investigators have already looked the woman over and had her body removed for an autopsy.
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>> Is she like young, old? >> She's definitely young, but without an ID, there's really no way of knowing,
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right? And with the light, they now have a more thorough search of the cemetery that gets underway, looking not just for
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evidence, but also for witnesses. They don't seem to get anything from anyone at Lincoln Cemetery. But when they
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expand out their search and canvas radius to include the cemetery next door, one that's called Mount
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Washington, the property manager there says something interesting that helps police build out a potential timeline.
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He says that the night before there was actually a young woman hanging out alone
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in his cemetery. He saw her a little before 5:00 p.m. Didn't interact with her then. She wasn't up to anything or
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trespassing. It was fine for her to be there. But then when he was doing a quick patrol around,
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he saw her again. This time with two guys and a girl. Now, at that point, the cemetery was closing, so he pulled up
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behind them, flashed his lights, letting them know, "Hey, you need to get out of
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here." He never made contact with them, but it seemed like they took the hint and left. Now, he didn't know the girl
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or any of the people she was with, but he knows that whoever it was he saw, that girl's dad had been looking for her
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around 6:00 a.m. that morning. Like, you're talking about like like literally just a couple of hours ago.
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>> Yeah. A man comes up to the gates and asked him if he'd seen his daughter. This man shows the guard a picture and
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it was the same woman from the night before. He didn't have anything to offer this dad more than what he just told
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police. But that guy had left his number. So he hands the dad's number over to the officers. When they ring the
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guy, they find out that he's Robert Whitulls Fugan, who goes by Bob, and his daughter, who he'd been looking for, is
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18-year-old Anastasia Whitfugan. They don't tell Bob why they're calling or what they found. They just over the
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phone ask if he knows who his daughter's dentist is. >> Well, you I mean like he's got to know
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what they're looking for. Like you don't even need to be a crime junkie to know what the implication is.
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>> Well, if he didn't know, he's about to find out because while they track down
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her dental records, another officer drives over to Bob's house and tells him in person that they're working on
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identifying a young woman. and they ask if he could give a statement and I don't
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know if it's denial or their delivery because this whole thing has unfolded so backwards or what but he's like I don't
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know what you want me to give a statement about but the pieces eventually >> he's like not
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>> he's not connecting like all of the dots here but the pieces eventually fall into
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place the dental records confirm it's Bob's daughter Anastasia and her family helps put a further timeline together of
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what she was doing the night before. Bob says his wife, Anastasia's stepmom, dropped her off at Mount Washington
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Cemetery to meet up with her boyfriend, Justin Brutin, a little before 4:30 p.m.
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Why is she dropping off to the cemetery? Like, is her boyfriend dead? Like, I don't even So, they were into the goth
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subculture, and the cemetery fit that aesthetic. Anastasia would go there and write poetry and it was just like this
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quiet place to hang out for like the vibes, >> right? Okay. So, Bob says he got home
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around 9:30 p.m. and realized that Anastasia was still out and that Justin had tried to call the house before he
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got home looking for Anastasia. Bob calls Justin. It goes to voicemail, but by around 10 p.m., Justin called him
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back. And Justin told Bob that getting his call made him immediately worried because yes, they had been together at
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one point that night, but they gotten into a fight that led to Anastasia getting out of the car and walking off
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alone, and he hadn't heard or seen her since. Bob tells detectives that that's when he
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went out and started searching for her. But aside from talking to that property manager, he hadn't found any sign of
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her. So obviously police want to talk to Justin. A to figure out if his story is
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legit and B if it is legit, find out where she got out of the car and which direction she started walking off in.
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>> Right. That's like her last known movements. >> Right. But they run into problems right
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away. His story doesn't line up. >> No, they can't even get his story because Justin seems to be MIA. There's
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no answer when they call him. no one at his apartment when they go knocking. He's 20 and lives alone. So, it's not
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like they were expecting anyone but him to answer. Like, he could just be out because his two door blue green Honda
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seems to be missing from the apartment building's parking lot. So, they're kind of left with this question like, is it
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bad timing or is the boyfriend of our victim in the wind? >> Well, it's and it's super sus because
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like clearly he's calling her dad. like he knows he he's says he's worried, he knows dad is worried, and now all of a
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sudden he can't find you. Like >> Right. Like he knows that like her whereabouts are unknown. Right.
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>> Right. >> So look us, but they don't know what to make of it. And without him, it's making
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it harder to find out who else they were with that night. Cuz even though Justin
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hadn't mentioned other people to Bob, remember what that guy at Mount Washington said?
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>> Oh, that that she was with other people, right? She was like with two guys and a
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girl, >> right? So then if one of the guys was Justin, then there has to be at least
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two more people, right? And before they even begin to try to figure out how to solve this problem, the investigative
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heavens open up and these mystery friends just come to them. Honestly, it would be suspicious if they
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didn't. Like I mean, I imagine word is spreading fast about something like this.
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>> Yeah, that's exactly what happened. These two got when that Anastasia had been found and they came forward because
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I was with her last night. Like >> exactly. >> So the other guy is 18-year-old Byron
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Casease and the girl is his 15-year-old girlfriend, Kelly Moffett. They say that
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earlier in the night on October 22nd, Byron and Kelly were hanging out with Justin when Justin got a call from
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Anastasia. She was calling them from a pay phone at a Dairy Queen. Hello90s, which was across the street from the
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Mount Washington Cemetery. What they picked up from the conversation was that Anastasia was upset with Justin because
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apparently the two of them were supposed to meet at Mount Washington Cemetery to
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talk about their relationship, but Justin didn't show. He just like ghosted her. Yeah. So Anastasia asked them to
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pick her up and they tell police they got to the Dairy Queen at like 7:00 and they all went back over to Mount
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Washington within a couple of minutes. And this is when they're seen by that property manager who got them to leave.
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So they loaded up in Justin's car, drove off, but as they did, Anastasia and Justin, who was driving the car, started
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fighting, and she got out of the car at a stoplight about a block away and started walking into what Kelly tells
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police is a sketchy part of town. They just like, "Leave her." >> Yeah. >> All of them. Justin sped off and took
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Kelly and Byron back to his place where they just hung out until Kelly had to get home for her 9:00 p.m. curfew. Byron
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and Justin took Kelly to her house around like 8:30. Okay. >> They drop her off. And when they did,
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apparently Justin went in Kelly's house real quick to make that first call to Anastasia's house. And Byron tells
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detectives that Justin was getting worried. He didn't like that Anastasia just bailed from the car. and he wanted
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to check to see if she had called asking anyone else to pick her up since that's
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kind of what he assumed she'd do. He didn't think that there was any way that she was going to walk like almost 4
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miles back to her dad's house. It would have taken like an hour and a half. So, he made a quick phone call to see if
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Anastasia had called her house. Anybody there had heard from her. Whoever answered said no, she hadn't called. And
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that worried Justin. Yeah. I'm also like picturing her like when you talk about her hanging out a cemetery and like goth
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culture, I'm picturing her in like full like chunky black boots. Like you're not
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going for a 4-mile hike home in this. Like you would have had to have gotten a ride.
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>> Totally. And it's at no still out there. >> Yeah. At the time, Byron and Kelly
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didn't know anything was wrong. After dropping Kelly off, Justin took Byron home. He got dropped off around like
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10:00 that night at his mom's place where he lives, and he just went to bed. He had talked to Justin once more,
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though. He said the next morning, Justin called him saying he couldn't sleep. He
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said it was like 9:00 a.m. and that was far too early for Byron. So, he told him
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he'd call him back later. >> Is the insinuation that he's been like awake this whole time if he can't sleep?
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Yes. But Byron had no time for this. His sleep was important to him. When he finally does wake up, he tries calling
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Justin and Justin doesn't answer any of his calls. And it was after that when he
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found out about Anastasia being found and that kind of sent him into a little bit of a spiral. He still couldn't get a
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hold of Justin. He started worrying about him. So it's not like the cops have just like missed Justin. Nobody can
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find him. >> No one can find them. So even though these kids are telling a story that
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matches up with Justin, like this is all the more reason they need to lay eyes on
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him. It's now been a full day since they found Anastasia, and no one has heard a
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peep from him since he made that 9:00 a.m.ish call to Byron. The autopsy results had come back by now and showed
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Anastasia died from a gunshot wound to the head, and the gun had been pressed to her nose when the trigger was pulled.
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There was an exit wound, but no bullet found. And they don't know what kind of gun was used. They found a lead fragment
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in her scalp and set it out for testing, but it wasn't helpful at all in determining what type of gun could have
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been used. She had no defensive wounds or drugs or alcohol in her system, and there were no signs of sexual assault.
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Unfortunately, they can't determine a time of death for Anastasia. But once those initial autopsy results
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are back, police released a statement saying that they just want to talk to Justin about Anastasia's murder. one of
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the last people who were with her. Her friends came forward. >> He's not considered a suspect or
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anything. They just want to talk to him to line up this story, these timelines. So,
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>> the longer you're gone, the more sus it gets. >> Exactly. So, they put out a bolo for his
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car and officers are posted up in the area. And one of those officers is Deputy Eper, who remember is the officer
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that found Anastasia. So, he's posted up at the entrance of a third cemetery close to both Mount Washington Cemetery
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and Lincoln Cemetery. Cemeteries are like >> it's like cemetery town here, it seems.
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>> So, he's posted up there and Bob rolls up and asks to be taken to the place where his daughter was killed, which is
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super random because like he doesn't even know if they're working the case like these officers, but the officers
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are like, "We can't help you. contact the detective unit for that information and Bob leaves. But worried about Bob's
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wellbeing, the deputies go check to see if Bob actually went to Lincoln Cemetery. And sure enough, they find him
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there. In fact, Bob is standing in the exact spot where Anastasia's body was found.
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Bob notices the detectives show up and straight up says, "Am I close?" Wait, is there no crime scene tape up? I
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don't think they were processing the scene anymore at this point. So, it seems like you could just walk right up
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on it. And I don't know if there was still blood or anything that marked it, but he was close. All right. I mean,
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Epson didn't want to tell him, but he's right on the mark. And while he's there,
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the weight of everything must have kind of settled in because Bob says he remembers something from the night he
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went out looking for his daughter. Something he hadn't mentioned before. He says around 11:30 p.m. he heard a loud
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gunshot from what he thinks was a large caliber rifle. And somehow in that moment, he just knew
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his daughter was dead. I mean, first of all, feels relevant. >> Yeah. I don't understand. Like, so we
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know she's shot, right? So, like, this could make sense. But was she shot at 11? Did anyone else hear this gunshot? I
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mean, I feel like someone would. We know it's across from a Dairy Queen. So, no one reported hearing any shots. Not at
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11:30. Not at any other time, which >> to your point is kind of wild to me. But here's what else is wild. Speaking of
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not like crime scene taping anything off, Bob goes back to the scene another time and he comes to police after and
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he's like, "Uh, I was out there and I found some skull fragments today. Don't worry, I picked them up for you guys.
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They're over in my desk if you want to grab them." I'm sorry. He's just like, first of all, why are they there? And
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why is Bob picking them up and putting them in a bag? I mean, he didn't put them in bed. I don't know what he did
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with him, but like >> he has them in his desk somewhere, right? But get this. After looking over the investigative
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files, it doesn't seem like police do much with this like at all. Like >> like they don't like go test them.
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>> They don't even go get them. >> What? >> So, it's one thing to not get them the
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first time, but after he's like, "Hey, by the way, I have this." Do they >> Yeah.
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>> Okay. So, >> okay. This case popped on my radar after journalist Leah Rothman did a super deep
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dive into it on the third season of her podcast, The Real Killer. >> I love that podcast. I listened to the
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two seasons before this. Yes. >> Highly recommend. >> Yes. Thanks to her, we got access to a
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massive case file with all of these details. And she comes to the similar assessment about how the police's
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investigation could have been more thorough. And like >> you have to go listen to season 3 once
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you finish here. Anyway, even though everyone they talked to during their canvas didn't hear anything, they do
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find a witness who saw something. Police come across a mechanic who works nearby
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this area where the cemeteries are, and he thinks he saw Anastasia that night getting out of a car. He said the car
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drove off and Anastasia took off walking east, which from where he was would have
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been in the direction of both Anastasia's house and Lincoln Cemetery where she was found dead. like she would
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have had to walk past Lincoln Cemetery to get to her house. >> And what time is he seeing her?
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>> This is around 8:30 p.m. >> So like what's so like it seems like everything that Justin is telling or
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told Bob was like true. >> Yeah. Which is great, but they still want to confirm it with Justin himself.
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I mean, at this point, Justin's timeline is hearsay essentially. >> Yeah. Yeah. And they're still looking
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for him the next day on October 25th when they get word from an agency in Kansas about 30 m away that Justin's
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been found dead. What? Cause of death? Gunshot wound to the head. [Music] I am popping on to start a conversation
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about a case. I cannot get it out of my head. A true mind bender. a huge twist your way. You gut check all your
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assumptions cuz this is a case that starts like so many before. >> Hi, crime junkies.
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>> This other agency in Kansas had found Justin's car abandoned near an old warehouse. They ran the plates and
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learned that the owner of the vehicle was wanted for questioning in a homicide investigation in Kansas City, Missouri.
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So, they do a sweep of the area and as they were conducting their search, they found Justin on the ground lying next to
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the building. So, outside of his car, yes, unlike in Anastasia's case, police did find a shotgun next to Justin, and
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they know that it was the weapon used. Authorities quickly ruled his death a suicide and then informed the Jackson
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County Sheriff's Department of his death. Now, Justin's exact time of death is unknown, but he appears to have been
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dead for at least 18 hours before he was found on Saturday, October 25th, meaning
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he would have died around 700 p.m. on the 24th. And like, this is a timeline in my head.
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>> To keep this all in context, the timeline is super important. >> Yeah, cuz I'm like I'm trying to figure
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out like was he has he been dead this whole time he's been missing? So, police believe that Anastasia was shot the
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night of the 22nd and found the morning of the 23rd. And then they believe that Justin died the evening of the 24th and
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was found on the 25th. So, there's a gap, >> right? There's like a two-day gap. Where's he been for 2 days while
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everyone's been looking for him? >> Detectives have no idea. But I think they're wondering what did Justin do
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after 10:00 p.m. when he dropped Byron off, >> right? Like say Bob's account of hearing
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a gunshot around 11:30 near the cemetery is actually true. >> True. Yeah. >> Is there a way that Justin was with
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Anastasia and shot her? >> Like did he go back looking for her? >> Right. >> I don't remember what you said. Did they
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get a time of death for Anastasia? >> They the Emmy could never determine a time of death. So basically the last
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time someone saw Anastasia was around 8:30 p.m. >> That mechanic guy. >> Yeah. and Byron last saw Justin at 10:00
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and then Anastasia's body is found at 4:00. So there's like an 8hour window that detectives are working with and six
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of those Justin is unaccounted for. >> And they theorize just like you were that maybe Justin met back up with
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Anastasia alone, killed her, then took off and took his own life out of guilt. >> Yeah. And that would explain, at least
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to me, why there's like no gun found at Anastasia's crime scene. Like >> it could
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>> with him and then he used it, right? >> It could, but authorities from the other
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agency had found a receipt in Justin's trunk. The receipt is for the shotgun, and it's dated Thursday, October 23rd.
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And when investigators go to the gun store looking for surveillance footage, they see Justin buying it at 10:25 in
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the morning. So she's already dead by then. >> Yeah. So he would have what? Like he
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would have got rid of the gun he used on Anastasia, then went out and bought a different one to take his own life.
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That's what investigators need to find out. >> Like that doesn't even like make a lot
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of sense, >> right? So next they search Justin's condo for any information on why he
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possibly would have wanted Anastasia dead. collect his computer and other personal notes to go through. And they
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find a card from Anastasia. And in it, she apologized to Justin for how she acted and hope that they could still be
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friends. And this is dated September 19th, so a little over a month before this all happens.
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>> And when she talks about still being friends, so like are they at the time that this happens, are they together or
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are they broken up? >> It'd be great to talk to Anastasia or Justin to know for sure. I mean, they
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were going to meet up to talk about their relationship. It sounds like they were broken up in this note. But
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regardless, investigators are feeling more and more confident about this murder suicide theory with like each
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piece of evidence they find. Like a letter they found on Justin's hard drive that's seemingly written and edited by
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Anastasia just 2 days before her murder. Here's part of it. You remember when you
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said that you could beat me over the head with a bat and spray paint on my face? That you did it. and still
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tomorrow I would call up and ask for forgiveness because I believed that I caused it. Well, you're wrong. I may
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forgive you for a lot of things, including hurting me, but believe me, I have nothing holding me here. I never
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cared what anyone thought of me until I loved you. Then I only cared what you thought of me. Byron can go himself for
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all I care. You don't deserve my love. You don't care about my love at all. I am strong. stronger than you will ever
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know. You and Byron deserve each other because that seems to be the one you want. Someone who shares your brain and
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your thinking and so me. So that's the condensed version. The original note is long.
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>> Um I feel like this is new. What is this Byron and Justin stuff? Yeah, they've
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already started hearing rumors that Justin and Byron may have either been messing around or that Byron was
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enamored with Justin. Like, there's clearly more to this group than it seems on the surface.
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>> Yeah. Facebook status complicated. >> Yeah. So, detectives speak to more of Anastasia's friends and loved ones, and
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their assessments of Byron vary. Some say he was super upset by his friend's deaths. Others say he didn't seem that
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affected at all. And lots of people have no idea what they're talking about when
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they mention a love triangle or any kind of romantic connection between Byron and
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Justin, which >> Byron completely denies, by the way. >> So, I was going to say, "Yeah, we have
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Byron. Let's just ask Byron." >> Yeah. He says, "Absolutely not." >> Okay. >> So, somewhere along the way, detectives
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come up with this theory that maybe Justin and Anastasia's deaths were part of a quote goth suicide pact. that maybe
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>> tell me it's the '9s like >> right but that maybe Kelly and Byron just backed out of but like this pact
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was for the four of them >> but everyone they talked to was like no definitely not
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>> I could have told you no and not just because we're like halfway through the episode.
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>> Even though Byron and Kelly are still some of the last people to see Anastasia
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alive, there's nothing tying them to her murder. So police aren't able to do anything except keep coming back to the
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same people asking the same questions. And they do this a year out, even try to bring Byron back in for questioning. But
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now he's lawyered up. And it seems investigators have hit a wall. But that wall starts to crumble when Kelly walks
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into the police station and says she is ready to tell the truth about what really happened to Anastasia.
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[Music] Now 17 years old, Kelly tells detectives she's been lying for years, but she's
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ready to tell the truth as long as she gets transactional immunity. The hell is transactional immunity? Like, I thought
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there was just immunity. >> So, yes, but it's a little different. Transactional immunity offers her a
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broader protection from specific offenses related to her testimony. It's like a full pardon for whatever she
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says. And at this point, detectives have nothing. And since they've always been pretty sure that the key to this case is
00:25:10
locked up somewhere in what Kelly and Byron know, >> they're like the only two people left.
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Yeah. >> Right. Like they're like, "You know what? Sure. We're willing to play ball
00:25:18
with this transactional immunity thing." And so Kelly tells detectives how the night Anastasia was murdered really went
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down. Kelly starts by telling detectives that the whole thing, Anastasia's murder, was planned by Justin and Byron,
00:25:34
and that she, Kelly, had no idea what was going to happen. That day, Kelly got in the car, expecting them to just hang
00:25:41
out or whatever, but Justin and Anastasia were fighting again. They had a pretty rocky relationship, and Justin
00:25:47
was complaining about her. He looked at Kelly in the back seat and said, "Who's my biggest problem?" Kelly, not knowing
00:25:53
where he was going with that, was like, "I don't know." And he told her, "Annastasia, she's got to go." Kelly
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didn't really know what they meant, but as they drove around, they got to scheming. And ultimately, the guys made
00:26:08
Kelly call Anastasia before picking her up. Wait, I thought Anastasia called Justin from Dairy Queen. That was the
00:26:15
original story, but now Kelly's telling them that she made the call and it's been a couple years. She could be
00:26:22
misremembering. >> But I like that doesn't even make sense to me because like how would she know
00:26:26
that Anastasia was going to be at the Dairy Queen? >> I don't know. >> Well, I'm confused. Did anyone like pull
00:26:32
the phone records? >> That would have been great, wouldn't it? >> No. Are you kidding me?
00:26:37
>> Detectives never pulled any call logs. >> Not even early on when they like Not for
00:26:42
Kelly, not for Anastasia. Not for DQ. >> Like like even like the like Justin calls like did he meet up with her
00:26:49
later? Great question. I bet his call logs would have something. >> No call logs.
00:26:55
>> So Kelly continues her confession by saying that on their way over, Justin and Byron begin talking about what it
00:27:02
would be like to kill Anastasia. So the three of them pick her up around 7:00. They went to Mount Washington, then
00:27:09
ended up next door in Lincoln Cemetery. And it wasn't long before Justin and Anastasia began arguing about the
00:27:14
relationship and got out of the car. And Kelly and Byron were in the back until things started escalating between Justin
00:27:21
and Anastasia. And Kelly says that's when Byron got out, opened the trunk, pulled out a shotgun, walked up to
00:27:28
Anastasia, aimed the gun at her, and pulled the trigger. Byron? >> Yes. Then Byron threw the gun back in
00:27:38
the trunk and got into the car. And Justin completely lost it, but still managed to drive them out of the
00:27:43
cemetery. All the while, he was yelling at Byron, asking him if he'd heard him say, "Never mind." And Byron's like,
00:27:50
"No, I was focused on what I was doing." And they drove over to some train tracks
00:27:55
and threw the gun out. Once they'd fled the scene and dumped the weapon, they went back to Justice's place, came up
00:28:01
with a story to make sure they were all on the same page, and Kelly says she was
00:28:06
shocked by what had happened. And she remembers telling Byron, "You know this makes you a murderer, right?"
00:28:12
>> You think? >> And his response was, "So matter of fact, he said, "No, I did it because
00:28:19
Justin asked me to." And a murderer is someone who doesn't feel bad about what they did. I feel bad, but what's done is
00:28:28
done still makes you a murderer. >> Yeah. And this information helps things click into place for police. Byron's odd
00:28:37
behavior, his jealousy of Anastasia, it makes sense to them that he would kill Anastasia for Justin because he had
00:28:46
romantic feelings for Justin himself. But detectives need to know why now? Like, why is Kelly coming forward now
00:28:54
after almost 3 years have passed since that awful night in the cemetery? And specifically, episode 5 of The Real
00:29:01
Killer really gets into that. It kind of boils down to Kelly's trauma from witnessing Byron kill Anastasia sent her
00:29:08
down a dark path of substance use that she was now trying to turn her life around from. And she didn't really feel
00:29:15
like she could do that while still holding on to this. Also, you say this all the time, ties that bind weren't so
00:29:21
tight anymore. >> Usually takes longer, but a couple years it'll change things. >> She tells them that Byron had recently
00:29:28
moved to St. Louis and tried cutting all contact with Kelly and that had triggered her. She felt wronged by the
00:29:34
fact that Byron seemed to be doing fine while she was spiraling deeper into addiction. She'd been kicked out of her
00:29:41
parents' home and was experiencing homelessness before getting admitted to rehab. And she decided to finally tell
00:29:47
the truth to police after she admitted what happened to her rehab counselor. So, the story was huge for police, but
00:29:55
they were going to need more than a story if they hoped to solve this case and take it to court. It would basically
00:30:01
be Byron's word against Kelly's. >> So, hoping to find some substantial evidence, detectives take Kelly for a
00:30:08
ride to see if she can show them where they threw the gun that night. And she does show them to a few areas where it
00:30:15
could be. But 3 years out, I don't think anyone's surprised when they don't find
00:30:19
anything. Wait, where does she even say they got the gun to begin with? She doesn't. Detectives push her on her past
00:30:27
statements, and she previously told them that Justin had a shotgun or something like that, but Byron told her that he
00:30:33
had sold it. Today though, she's saying Byron made her lie about that, so it kind of make Justin look guilty since he
00:30:41
was already gone. Okay, so she's saying that he shot her. They all get back in the car.
00:30:49
Like I keep thinking like there was probably blood on the gun or like someone's Byron's clothes if he was the
00:30:54
one that was there or Justin's clothes if he was standing next to her >> and then they all get in the car, right?
00:30:58
>> Like there's no way they came out without some kind of like something on them. Like I feel like like did they
00:31:04
ever even check Justin's car? So looking back through the reports, police looked
00:31:08
at his car and noted that it was clean and tidy. They looked in his trunk too and nothing in their notes said there
00:31:14
was blood anywhere. Yeah, but like I mean we're like we have a window of time. Like you could have cleaned the
00:31:20
car before he died. You're right. And the car was towed to a secure lot for the Jackson County Sheriff's Department
00:31:27
to retrieve it, but I couldn't find anything in the police reports saying that they retrieved and processed this
00:31:34
car. >> Well, yeah, that too. Like if it like you would have to like look in detail.
00:31:38
I'm not saying they're like soaked in blood and if you don't just like if all you're doing is just scoping this car
00:31:42
and being like nothing to see here. Yeah, but that's pretty much all we have confirmed. We don't even confirm that
00:31:48
the agency in charge of Anastasia's case even retrieved the car, let alone processed it. And basically, they still
00:31:57
have zero physical evidence because this was a poor investigation from the start.
00:32:01
>> No kidding. A lack of evidence isn't stopping investigators, though, because they've set their sights on a confession
00:32:07
from Byron. >> But that's the only thing they're going to be able to get. Like they they have
00:32:12
literally there's nothing else. So, detectives tap Kelly's phone lines, hoping she can get Byron on the phone.
00:32:17
And eventually, on June 5th, 2001, Byron picks up. And we're going to play a snippet of their conversation that we
00:32:23
got from Leah. And fair warning, it's not great quality. And on top of that, Byron sounds kind of muffled, but here
00:32:32
it is. Why? Seriously, why did you have to kill her? What was the whole big deal? Could you explain that to me?
00:32:40
Because I don't get it. Seriously, Justin said dead for no reason. She's dead for no reason. They're still
00:32:47
selfdep. And for some reason, they're talking to me because you won't talk. So, I'm And
00:32:55
it makes me look horrible because everybody already knows that I'm a crackhead, that I'm a cokehead, that I'm
00:33:01
an alcoholic, and I don't remember. And if I try to talk to him, nothing's going to add up. So, I mean, if you
00:33:08
could seriously explain to me as to why you actually felt the need to kill her, then that would really help me feel
00:33:14
better about the whole thing. I mean, is there seriously any reason to all of this?
00:33:20
>> Talk about it. >> Why? >> We should [ __ ] off. >> Of course, we should. So, police think that that's a tacit
00:33:31
admission, which is when someone indirectly admits something without saying it. And police are like by saying
00:33:38
we shouldn't talk about this, he's admitting that he did kill her, >> that there's something to talk about or
00:33:44
the thing to talk about is the thing she's saying. >> But let's be honest, the audio quality
00:33:48
alone leaves a lot to interpretation. Like does he actually say we should talk about this?
00:33:55
>> Like we should [ __ ] off. >> Of course we should. >> It's almost impossible. Like I can see
00:34:01
your face. I didn't consider that it's impossible to put that out of your mind. But police have made up their
00:34:10
minds that he says, >> but I I also do feel like someone who like if this truly is coming out of
00:34:16
nowhere, right? Like their original story is she gets out of the car, they all have like a normal night. I feel
00:34:21
like if that's what happened, I'd be like, "What are you talking about?" Not like we should or shouldn't talk about
00:34:27
this. I'd be like, "Where is this coming from?" >> Right? And I mean, even if his response
00:34:33
is like, "Oddly, we shouldn't talk about this." Maybe he's not talking specifically about the murder, right?
00:34:38
Maybe it's just like we shouldn't talk about this incredibly traumatic thing that happened in our lives.
00:34:43
>> Fair. Yeah. >> But either way, police think that and Kelly's confession are enough. And 6
00:34:49
days later, Byron's arrested in his home and charged with firstdegree murder and
00:34:54
armed criminal action. Dude, this is what I'm talking about. But we see cases where like there's this w like huge
00:35:00
circumstantial case and they're like, "Oh, police like not enough. Prosecutors like not enough." Like I get someone's
00:35:06
telling you what happened and they were there, but this doesn't feel like enough. If I'm like I feel like I'm
00:35:10
losing my mind. >> Yeah. There's nothing else. And even the public defender he gets to represent him
00:35:17
knows the prosecution is reaching a little a little bit. >> Yeah. Yeah. You think
00:35:23
>> because in pre-trial, the prosecutors asked to be allowed to discuss Byron's goth lifestyle and his obsession with
00:35:29
death. >> It's like West Memphis 3. Like, please. >> They definitely want to use the tap
00:35:33
phone call as their proof of admission. And they have a clear objection to the defense's request to present Kelly's
00:35:41
medical records. The defense wants to show that Kelly is essentially an unreliable witness with a substance use
00:35:47
disorder. And they're like, "No, no, no. We don't need any details about her or how we got here. just what she's willing
00:35:51
to say about the night and who did it. So, all that gets put before a judge and the judge decides that Kelly's medical
00:35:58
records stay sealed. That's not going to get brought up in court. >> The recorded conversation is in and some
00:36:05
of the Goth lifestyle info is out, which means some of it's also in. Byron's trial begins April 29th, 2002. Kelly
00:36:14
testifies giving the same story she told police that Byron is responsible for killing Anastasia.
00:36:21
Byron takes the stand in his own defense maintaining I know and he maintains the
00:36:26
same story he originally told police. His defense calls Evelyn Casease Byron's mother and she testifies that Byron got
00:36:34
home at 10 p.m. that night. And in the days after Anastasia's murder, Evelyn never felt that Kelly was acting afraid
00:36:40
of Byron, and things seemed normal between the two. She says Kelly called her after Byron got arrested and told
00:36:47
her that she felt responsible, too, and that she should be in jail with him. The
00:36:52
jury deliberates for over 3 hours before coming back with a verdict. They find Byron Casease guilty of murder in the
00:36:58
first degree and armed criminal action and the judge sentences Byron to two concurrent life terms. And that's where
00:37:07
this story could end. But Byron still claims his innocence. In 2010, the Midwest Innocence Project looks into
00:37:15
Byron's case. Ultimately, they pass on taking it on. And we tried reaching out to them to ask why. I
00:37:21
>> was just going to say why. >> But they never got back to us. And it's actually a personal injury attorney
00:37:27
named Brian Russell who stumbles upon the free Byron case website in 2019. And he immediately goes down the rabbit
00:37:35
hole. He reads all the case files and court transcripts and decides to call Byron up and see if he wants a lawyer.
00:37:43
They have one meeting and Brian decides to take on the case to help clear Byron's name. Leah interviewed Brian
00:37:49
Russell for the real killer and he told her he wasn't even convinced Byron was innocent when he first offered to take
00:37:55
on this case. He just knew that he didn't get a fair trial. But the more they talked and Brian got to know him,
00:38:02
he says the more he became convinced of Byron's innocence. And like I can't vouch for that. Our team reached out to
00:38:11
Byron, but he said his attorneys didn't want him to talk to us. Regardless, Brian and his team feel confident about
00:38:17
their case, which is built not just on the things that they think went wrong and the lack of physical evidence
00:38:23
against Byron. They know that their burden of proof is much higher now that he's already been found guilty.
00:38:30
>> You don't have that like not that I I you know, in some cases you never get the like presumption of innocence.
00:38:35
Definitely not now. >> Yeah. But they don't have to prove if not Brian then who. But having an
00:38:42
alternative suspect sure wouldn't hurt. >> Yeah. >> And they put forward not one, not two,
00:38:50
but three alternatives. [Music] First up is Justin. Turns out Kelly herself wasn't even always consistent
00:39:00
with her story about Byron being the killer. Apparently, the night before Kelly went into rehab, she told her dad
00:39:08
that Byron did it. But while she was in rehab, she told her counselor Justin did
00:39:13
it. >> Um, but she later said she only claimed that in rehab because by that point
00:39:21
Justin was already gone, police were thinking he did it then and she thought he was just as guilty as Byron. And by
00:39:28
the way, prosecutors brought up her inconsistency at trial. This was >> this was not brand new information like
00:39:36
after Byron's conviction. And listen, like honestly, like there's things that don't piece together, but Justin makes
00:39:43
more sense to me than Byron. Well, and it could have been an accident, too. Bob told police that he heard secondhand
00:39:49
that Byron had given Justin a loaded gun. And Justin, not knowing it was loaded, aimed it at Anastasia, and
00:39:58
accidentally shot her. Which is possibly why Justin felt guilty if he really did
00:40:05
take his own life. I also keep coming back to like in my mind Justin didn't own the gun that killed Anastasia
00:40:11
otherwise like why go buy a new one still even even going and buying one like if you all dumped it together you
00:40:16
could have just gone back and get that I I don't know whatever but the thing I don't understand is like if it really
00:40:21
was Justin like she would just say Justin like there's no point in in ever pointing the finger at Byron. So like he
00:40:27
and he's like he's almost easier to point the finger at cuz he's not here >> right? Byron's team said that Kelly had
00:40:34
some sort of like grudge against him. Like I don't know her feelings right when this happened, but before she came
00:40:41
forward, apparently he just cut off all contact. I just have like a zillion questions. And like I I I keep coming
00:40:49
back to his suicide if that's what it really was. Like his death has to be involved. He had to have known something
00:40:57
more about what happened. It sure feels that way because there's never been any other explanation for his death. Like
00:41:05
there was no suicide note. As far as I know, he didn't say anything to anyone before.
00:41:11
If they're even like suggesting that it was Justin, why didn't Byron just say that ever? Like Byron's always, like you
00:41:16
said on the stand, he stuck to his original story about like going home and hanging out and nothing. Like same way
00:41:21
where I think it'd be easier for Kelly to point the finger at him. Like Justin is Byron's get out of jail free card and
00:41:27
Byron's the one who's been on trial. I don't know. They could have just walked into the police station after Justin
00:41:34
died and said, "Look, they killed her, then he killed himself, but that doesn't make it doesn't make sense.
00:41:40
>> But they don't. They walk in from like day one and say she walked away and we
00:41:44
never saw her again. This is driving me nuts." And like we also have the mechanic who saw her. Right.
00:41:53
>> Right. So, the mechanic saw her get out of the car and start walking. So, okay,
00:41:57
let's just say Justin did it. Okay, like we talked about earlier, what the police
00:42:01
were initially thinking, a murder suicide seems plausible. And clearly other people thought he did this. Well,
00:42:08
let me tell you, this is totally unrelated to this case, so bear with me. I promise it comes back to our story.
00:42:14
It's a short story. In 2008, a woman named April Wilkins filed an appeal against her conviction for first-degree
00:42:21
murder for shooting and killing her ex- fiance, Terry Carlton, on April 28th, 1998. April claimed she killed Terry
00:42:30
because she was experiencing intimate partner violence. And in her appeal, she said one of the reasons she was so
00:42:36
afraid of Terry was that he told her he had a nephew Justin that had recently killed his ex-girlfriend,
00:42:44
aka Anastasia. And Terry told her, quote, "That got what she deserved and said that she was
00:42:54
next." And maybe this was a baseless threat Terry was throwing around to scare April. Yeah. Because also like it's just
00:43:02
what everyone believed at the time. >> Or maybe Justin should have been investigated more than he was.
00:43:08
>> Yeah. Like investigating his death and processing his car. You mean? >> Yeah. Just those little things.
00:43:14
But for lack of effort because the evidence wouldn't have been there even if they went looking for it.
00:43:19
>> They just have nothing solid to back that up. There is this little like it's not even a full theory. I'll call it a
00:43:26
half theory that pops up too when they're speculating. It's one that Anastasia's dad Bob and her godfather
00:43:34
seem to think is plausible. That someone completely unknown, maybe someone in their friend group, maybe a total
00:43:41
stranger, shot Anastasia, then shot Justin later to keep him quiet. That maybe Justin's death could have been
00:43:50
made to look like a suicide. I mean, yes, I have so many questions about his death that don't make sense to me, but
00:43:56
to me, that only makes sense if we're back to Byron and Kelly. Well, take Kelly out of the equation for a second.
00:44:03
Byron still says nothing happened. I think they're saying that what if it happened after they all stopped hanging
00:44:10
out. Again, not a lot of meat to this theory to grab on to. And like I mean like do we know anything about her other
00:44:18
friends or like or like >> Ashley, we could spiral about this for days, but Justin is just the first
00:44:25
alternative theory. >> Okay, >> I brought up Anastasia's godfather. Let me introduce you to Patrick Rock.
00:44:33
He's another person Byron's team identified as someone worth looking into. He runs Anastasia's memorial
00:44:40
website.org or and he's close family friends with Bob. Apparently, Anastasia was known to
00:44:47
be comfortable enough to call him if she needed him. And allegedly, she knew his
00:44:52
number by heart. The theory from Byron's team is that if Anastasia had gotten out
00:44:58
of the car after her fight with Justin, then she would have needed a ride home and she could have called Patrick. We
00:45:05
know that the DQ pay phone is nearby like I told you earlier. Yeah, could have, would have, should have. You don't
00:45:10
have the records to show that she actually did though. >> Correct. >> And that doesn't even really feel like a
00:45:16
solid theory to me. Like, oh, she was close enough that she memorized his number. Like, it's the '9s. Like, I
00:45:22
still remember your home phone number. Like, >> you told it to me like the other day.
00:45:25
>> Yeah. I'm sure she had a lot of numbers memorized, not just his. Like, she probably had Justin's memorized from the
00:45:32
pay phone. She probably had Byron. She probably had Kelly's. Like, >> right. For me and seems like for you
00:45:38
too, there's nothing there. >> Yeah. Anastasia could have called anyone when slash if she got out of that car.
00:45:45
And despite what Byron's innocence team is trying to say, Patrick has never been
00:45:48
named a suspect. Our team reached out to him for a comment and he declined to talk to us. Honestly, Patrick's most
00:45:56
suspicious to me because of his friendship with Bob. So, after Justin and Patrick, another
00:46:04
alternative theory leads us back to Bob. >> He's dad Bob. Yes, he's been a grieving
00:46:10
dad, a persistent advocate for justice for his daughter. He's been relentless in making sure detectives were
00:46:16
investigating her case and taking everything seriously. But there's a few things that I left out. Bob was also out
00:46:24
here doing some strange is too nice of a word. He was straight up being suspicious. As I
00:46:34
mentioned before, in the days after Anastasia was found, Bob walked up to some deputies and asked them to take him
00:46:40
where she was killed. >> Yes. And when they said to call the detective unit for that, Bob started
00:46:46
going off about how his daughter was frisky and she would have put up a fight if she was attacked. And the officers
00:46:53
are like, "Okay." And then Bob leaves. >> This is when he goes to like her grave
00:46:59
or where she was shot at the graveyard. Okay. Then after detectives went to check on Bob and Bob realized they were
00:47:05
there. He went off on them again. He was like, "What are you guys doing following
00:47:08
me? I'm not the bad guy. You guys should be out looking for the bad guy." >> And this is when he tells him that he
00:47:15
hears the gunshot. Right. >> Yes. And he knew his daughter was dead. He clapsed his hands together and said,
00:47:20
"Boom. There goes the neighborhood." >> What does that mean? >> I don't know. But there's those
00:47:29
interactions plus him finding supposed skull fragments, remember? Downright creepy,
00:47:36
>> right? >> Weird sus. Which is like it makes me wonder, were they even skull fragments
00:47:44
now? Like where was he acting weird? And like police like were like, I'm not collecting this like weird piece of
00:47:48
plastic that you have like or or animal or did he have anything at all if they never even went to go get anything?
00:47:54
>> Right. And there's some things about Bob's past I haven't told you about yet either. Betsy Owens, Anastasia's mother,
00:48:01
talked to the police after Bob's home was searched. I was wondering like she hasn't come up in the story. So, she and
00:48:07
Bob had been divorced for about 10 years and she told detectives that Bob's behaved inappropriately with a young
00:48:15
child in his neighborhood. Oh. It's noted in the police report that she says there were claims that he exposed
00:48:21
himself to children and was being accused of molesting another child. I feel like that changes things.
00:48:30
>> No police reports were made at the time of these alleged incidents. So, nothing's done. And they definitely
00:48:37
should have done something about it because today Bob's serving a 7-year sentence in Missouri for statutory
00:48:44
sodomy of a minor. What? According to the Missouri Sex Offender Registry, his victim was a
00:48:50
15-year-old girl. There's no indication that Bob abused his daughters. Detectives asked Betsy as
00:48:57
much. But she did tell them that if he was inappropriate with Anastasia, that could explain why Anastasia moved in
00:49:05
with Justin for a little bit. Wait, when did she move in with Justin? I thought she lived with her her parents. So, I
00:49:11
don't know when she had moved in with Justin, but Anastasia was for sure back living with Bob before she died.
00:49:18
>> And they had broken up. So, maybe she like moved in with him and then when they broke up moved back home.
00:49:21
>> Yeah, maybe. And looking back, they do a search of Bob's house or at least Anastasia's room because I know they
00:49:28
collected like hard drives and stuff, but guess what they found on her bed? >> A stun gun.
00:49:36
>> A weapon. >> Yeah. Like what? What's she protecting herself against? Or like, well, who
00:49:43
from? >> Exactly. It doesn't seem like she was afraid of a stranger because like why
00:49:50
not take that with you when you leave the house to hang out in a cemetery at night?
00:49:54
>> Yes. >> Yeah. Then like what? Like it's it's at your home. >> Mhm. >> So, are you keeping it to protect
00:50:01
yourself from someone in your home? Mhm. >> Did they find anything else in her room?
00:50:06
Like or more specifically, like I'm wondering, we've got that note from Justin's hard drive, like did she write
00:50:12
anything on hers? Did she keep a diary about like maybe stuff that was happening in the home?
00:50:16
>> Nothing's ever mentioned about interesting items on her digital stuff. And it doesn't seem like she journaled.
00:50:25
Bull. Like I I'm sorry, but like you started this whole thing being like that she likes to go into the cemetery and
00:50:31
like she wrote there and she like like those are the vibes and she was a writer. Whatever. Whatever. She's
00:50:35
writing these like long letters to Justin. >> Mhm. >> I keep thinking about like 1990s. I
00:50:40
would bet the farm that she had a journal but what? It's not there or they just didn't collect it or
00:50:48
what? I wish I had answers. So throughout the investigation, Bob just kept doing weird. We got this huge
00:51:01
police report packet from Leah with over 2,000 pages. And there are so many emails from Bob to police and police
00:51:11
reports about Bob. In one of those reports, they wrote that Bob was rambling almost every time he talked to
00:51:19
them. I mean, literally, the police reports about Bob are endless. In another report, almost 6 months after
00:51:26
Anastasia's murder, Bob point blank asked the lead detective if he was a suspect. And the detective said, "No
00:51:33
one's been ruled out yet." And a couple months later, Bob came back and was like, "Well, if you need more people to
00:51:39
look at, I've got a list." And Ash, this is absolutely absurd. But Bob gave detectives a list of 31 cars to look
00:51:46
into with license plates and driver descriptions and everything >> from where? So he says the night he was
00:51:54
searching for Anastasia, he parked at the south gate to Mount Washington Cemetery and watched all 31 of these
00:52:01
cars go by in the span of like 10 to 15 minutes. And he's pretty sure that all those drivers either know what happened
00:52:09
to Anastasia or were directly involved in her death. Wait, he's doing this the night he's out looking for her.
00:52:16
>> Yeah. When he doesn't know anything's wrong yet. That's what I'm saying. That
00:52:21
makes no sense, >> right? >> Like you're Which And have you already heard the boom? Like if you heard the
00:52:27
boom and you think she's dead, why aren't you like going to look for her? Why are you just like taking down
00:52:31
license plate numbers? No. I like I don't even know what to say because like that's so wild. Yeah. It
00:52:38
kind of feels like maybe they were he was like making a list so they wouldn't look at him.
00:52:42
>> Yeah. Like it feels so weird to me because it's not like a list of names. >> It's cars.
00:52:47
>> It's cars and license plates where it's like it's like I'm giving you a name.
00:52:50
I'm giving you a chore >> and they all either know what happened or have something to do with it is what
00:52:56
he says >> because he was there. And like how many cases have you seen where like profilers
00:53:01
talk about or like detectives talk about like someone placing themselves there >> inserting themselves in the
00:53:06
investigation >> and not well inserting themselves like later on but like when they talk to
00:53:09
police they're like they put themselves at the scene when it happens. >> They have a a reason to be there that's
00:53:15
not the crime itself. >> It's weird. Yeah. So now knowing his criminal history and all of the
00:53:23
suspicious things happening with around him back in the '90s, it honestly just makes me question
00:53:30
everything. Like, yeah, >> it was a bad investigation from the start. >> We know that. Yes.
00:53:36
>> But now I don't know if we'll ever get to the truth. All that to say, despite
00:53:41
him being one of the three possible alternatives Byron's lawyers suggest, Bob has never been named a suspect in
00:53:48
Anastasia's case. Our team reached out to him as well, but he declined to comment. Regardless of what Byron's
00:53:54
innocence team is trying to convey, in the eyes of the justice system and Anastasia's family and loved ones,
00:54:00
including Bob and Patrick, the person responsible for Anastasia Whipples Fugan's death, is behind bars. But the
00:54:06
investigation and claims of a tacit admission leave a lot to be desired. The Jackson County Sheriff's Department is
00:54:14
no longer investigating Anastasia's death. Her case is closed and from what we know, Byron has exhausted all of his
00:54:22
appeals. Wait, so that's it for him? Yeah. And something that strikes me is how easy it is for Anastasia's story to get
00:54:33
lost amid all the theories and rumors and odd behavior. Like, we can't forget this is her story. She's at the heart of
00:54:41
why we're telling it. And at the end of the day, Anastasia was a young woman filled with so many emotions and she got
00:54:48
caught up in an emotionally volatile relationship, which is so easy to do as a teen. She had her whole life ahead of
00:54:55
her and she was passionate about sharing those feelings through her writing and poetry. But sadly, all of her future
00:55:01
stories were cut short. And I know we talked a bit about suicide in today's episode. So, it's important for you or
00:55:08
anyone you know who is thinking about suicide to be aware that emotional support can be reached by calling or
00:55:13
texting the suicide and crisis lifeline at 988. You can find all the source material for this episode at our website
00:55:19
crimejunkypodcast.com. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, CrimeJunk Podcast, and we'll be back
00:55:25
next week with a brand new episode. [Applause] [Music]