WEBVTT - The Real Killer Season 3: Ep. 7, Bad, Better and Blank 0:00:00.600 --> 0:00:01.120 A warning. 0:00:01.800 --> 0:00:06.439 This episode contains depictions of violence and conversations about suicide 0:00:06.760 --> 0:00:11.280 that may be disturbing and triggering for some listeners. If 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:14.960 you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please fast forward to 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:17.320 the end of this episode to find out where help 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:18.080 is available. 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:25.639 I saw him from behind. He was like, he was so. 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:29.960 Stoic, sitting there in his suit. He was like, it's like, 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:31.760 I still remember. 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:32.440 It so well. 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:40.199 God, he just saw his body just kind of collapsing. 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:45.479 That's Evelyn Case. Byron Case's mother describing the moment her 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:50.040 son is found guilty of killing Anastasia Whipples Fugen lapsing. 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:52.519 And when they took him out of the room, you know, 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:58.800 it was horrible. My body's shaky, just the memory of it. 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:03.400 All, Evelyn says, from that moment on, her mission in 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:18.440 life is clear to prove Byron is innocent. I'm Leah Rothman. 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:31.760 This is the real killer. Episode seven, Bad, Better and Blank. Okay, 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:34.399 So show me some of the photos that you have 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:35.240 of Byron. 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:37.080 Oh, so many. 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:39.880 Photos, so many, so many chimneys. 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:44.280 Look at my little boy. We had a chimney sweep business. 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:46.319 Because you know, I'm from Germany and I always believe 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:48.360 chimney sweeps brought good luck, any. 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:50.640 Cute Halloween or no. 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:54.600 No, we were chimney sweeps who he had a little 0:01:54.640 --> 0:01:55.520 outfit for him. 0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:59.160 I meet with Evelyn at her home in Kansas City, 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:03.440 where she lived with her best friend and canine companion, Airbender. 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:07.880 This is cute to look at us. That's us. That's 0:02:07.880 --> 0:02:12.960 how we traveled to the backpackers. Yes, we were backpackers. 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:15.040 Is that Dale and by that's Dale and Byron. 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:19.040 I think they were in Texas. 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:21.720 This was when we were divorced. 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:25.240 That wasn't his lover, but they were all friends because 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:26.680 we had a lot of gay friends. So that's what 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:29.280 they did to his room. And they had all the 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:31.760 legos and this is Byron's room. 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:35.040 Yeah, there was. Oh so they decorated Byron's room. They 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:37.800 did really they did good with him. I mean they 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:39.960 you know, he was loved. 0:02:41.400 --> 0:02:45.720 Evelyn is warm and funny and quite the character, and 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:49.800 her eclectically decorated craftsman style house is a direct reflection 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:54.600 of that. It's full of lush plants, art, pottery, and 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:58.600 mementos from her many travels, as well as several photos 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:02.120 of the most important person in the world to her, Byron. 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:06.400 Well, these are not my favorites, but this is what 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:10.359 don't you love about these photos? Well, that's the goth 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:13.720 the look on his face like I'm tough for something 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:15.800 I don't know. I don't know where this was in 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:20.040 the coffee shop, but he's got mescara on. And that 0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:22.799 didn't bother me because there's a lot of musicians that do. 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:24.600 That, so that really didn't bother me. 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:28.639 Is this Byron when he moved to Saint Louis? Does 0:03:28.680 --> 0:03:30.480 he look unhappy? Does he look like he would have 0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:33.919 killed somebody? He left because of Kelly. He says, I've 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:35.960 got to get out of here, and he did, and 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:36.600 he was happy. 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:41.640 Evelyn and I talked for three hours about Byron's childhood, 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:45.560 her ex husband, Byron's father Dale, and of course the 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:49.560 events of October twenty second, nineteen ninety seven, the night 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:52.800 Anastasia was killed. But wait a minute, So he comes 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:54.040 home around what time. 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:55.160 Ten or ten? 0:03:56.280 --> 0:03:59.040 I know Kelly had curfew at nine and he brought 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:01.000 her home. And then he came home right after that 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:07.240 and Justin brought him. Robert kept saying he saw Byron's cars. Well, 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:08.560 Byron's car was in the shop. 0:04:09.520 --> 0:04:14.760 Evelyn is referring to Robert whitbolsfugen Anastasia's father. Remember, Bob 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:18.720 told Sergeant Gary Kilgore he saw Byron's car with the 0:04:18.760 --> 0:04:22.599 morbid license plates and the caravan of cars going down 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:25.720 Truman Road the night of October twenty seconds. 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:30.560 Because when Byron came home that night, when this supposedly happened, 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:34.520 there was nothing different about him. I mean, I can 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:38.320 tell things. There was nothing different. He came home at 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:41.920 ten o'clock, give or take, and so maybe a few 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:45.040 minutes after and you know, goes to refrigerator, and then 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:48.840 he had two cats, and he had his room. There 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:50.880 were times that he would then spend the night over 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:53.840 at Justin's. They were playing video games and this and that. 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:56.080 But I knew where he was at, and his room 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:58.039 was always there when he came home. And then sometimes 0:04:58.040 --> 0:04:59.760 he was gone for three days or something, and I go, 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:04.359 it's nice to see you, you know, But when do 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:07.000 you let go of your children? You have to let 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:12.240 them experience life. But you it's the sad part. You 0:05:12.279 --> 0:05:17.880 can have the best childhood and then something like this happens. 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:22.880 You know, he was raised, non violent, non racist, non sexist. 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:26.039 Why would you want to. I mean the things that 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:29.640 Kelly came up with. Sure, maybe they were talking weird 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:32.400 stuff at times, but that doesn't mean you're going to 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:35.880 do something. You know, he was doing good things, always 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:37.080 doing good things for people. 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:40.359 Do nobody saw that. It's just always gotten, you know 0:05:40.440 --> 0:05:43.440 what we were hippies or this or that. Everybody's something. 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:49.080 That doesn't mean you know, you know, devil worshippers or 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:52.000 whatever they came up with, that's not it. He loved, 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:54.359 he loved wearing black, and he had his trench coat 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:58.200 and his Doc Martin boots, and and then what he 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:01.440 did out there, I have no idea them boys, but 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:03.120 no killing somebody. 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:03.400 No. 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:07.400 So he comes home around ten, he goes into the kitchen. 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:09.360 Yeah, because we were watching the movies. 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:11.320 But he was happy, he was happy to be home, 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:14.880 greeted us, and everything was there was nothing tense or anything, 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:18.120 and so I just left it at that. 0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:21.839 Did you notice anything odd about his appearance? Did he 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:25.840 looked like he had been crying or upset, or did 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:26.800 he have any boy. 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:28.640 I would have said something then, oh my goodness. 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:32.120 You know, if I spot something like this, then I 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:34.720 asked questions, But I had no questions to. 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:38.720 Ask no blood on him, No, hardly. Oh my god. 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:43.120 Then I would have freaked out for sure. So imagine 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:46.599 so he goes to his room. Yeah, did Byron go 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:47.640 back out that night? 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:48.400 No? 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:50.000 Would you have heard him? 0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:53.960 Yeah? Oh yeah. His bedroom was right next to me 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:55.280 and you can hear the doors, you know, it's the 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:56.240 old apartments. 0:06:56.760 --> 0:06:58.840 Yeah, no he did. Would you help with home? 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:02.160 And I mean Napoleon would be a witness on that too, 0:07:02.279 --> 0:07:04.599 you know, he's there with me. 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:10.120 And did police ever talk to Napoleon? I don't think so. 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:14.840 Napoleon Perez was Evelyn's boyfriend at the time. They eventually married, 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:19.840 then later divorced, but today remain friends. After Byron mentioned 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:22.480 Napoleon being there that night, I looked through the case 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:25.520 file I was sent from the Jackson County Sheriff's Department 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:29.760 again and saw nothing that said Napoleon was ever interviewed 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:33.920 by law enforcement. I ask Evelyn if she was ever 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:37.360 interviewed Sergeant Kilgore, Huh did you have any interactions with 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:38.120 Sergeant Kilgrere? 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:42.400 Think so? I really don't think so so. 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:47.320 But the only documentation I have regarding Evelyn as an 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:51.560 interoffice memo dated May fifteenth, two thousand so that was 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:56.000 about four months before Kelly comes forward. The memo is 0:07:56.040 --> 0:08:01.240 from Sergeant Kilgore, written to his superiors. Kil Gore says 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:07.400 he was contacted by Assistant Prosecutor Jeff Busher because Anastasia's dad, Bob, 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:12.160 wanted to review the homicide case file. Bob was unhappy 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:15.120 with how the investigation was being conducted by the Jackson 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:20.080 County Sheriff's Department, so Assistant Prosecutor Buscher was instructed to 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:24.760 review the file himself. Busher did, and afterwards said the 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:29.240 investigation up until that point had been conducted quote thoroughly 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:33.800 and appropriately. Busher did share with kil Gore that he 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:37.679 didn't believe Bob observed that caravan of cars the night 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:41.520 of the twenty second the way he described one suggestion 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:45.280 was made to kill Gore, though Busher thought Evelyn Case 0:08:45.440 --> 0:08:49.640 should be contacted to quote determine if she could verify 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:53.200 the times mister Case was at her apartment the evening 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:56.520 of ten twenty two ninety seven and the early hours 0:08:56.559 --> 0:08:59.880 of ten twenty three, ninety seven. I have no real 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:05.440 ports or memos that show Kilgore ever followed through with this. Okay, 0:09:05.800 --> 0:09:09.440 back to the night of October twenty second. Evelyn says, 0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:12.840 after she and Napoleon finished the movie, they go to bed. 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:17.280 Nothing else to report, really until the following morning. 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:23.600 The next morning, the phone rings and it's Justin and 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:28.400 he says, can I talk to Byron? I says, I said, 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:32.520 he's still asleep, And he says, could you wake him up? 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:36.120 And I said, okay, just a minute. So I got 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:38.320 Byron up, and this is what happened. 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:40.080 He told me. 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:41.760 He says, oh, Justin wanted me to go out to 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:43.920 breakfast with him. He said he couldn't sleep last night. 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:49.599 He wanted me to go down to breakfast and and 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:50.520 and he said. 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:51.640 No, I'll catch up with you later. 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:56.040 Within an hour or so of that call, Justin buys 0:09:56.040 --> 0:10:00.760 a shotgun. Two days later, on October twenty fifth, Justin 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:04.600 has found dead, having taken his own life. 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:07.559 Have you ever known Byron to have a gun? No? 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:10.920 Have you ever known Byron to go hunting? No? 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:15.720 Did you ever know Dale, your ex husband, Byron's father, 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:17.120 to ever own any guns? 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:17.240 No? 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:21.959 Did he ever go hunting? No? Did he ever display 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:23.480 any guns on his wall? 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:23.880 No? 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:29.439 Have you ever known Byron to be violent? No? Never? Never. 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:34.120 He's like his dad. His dad do you know that man? 0:10:34.160 --> 0:10:37.160 And I never argued? His father and I never argued. 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:43.920 Did you hear the rumors that Byron and Justin were lovers? 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:44.360 Yeah? 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:51.360 I heard that too, Yeah, they weren't stupid. 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.440 I wonder what Evelyn thought about Byron's account of that 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:59.240 evening that the last time he saw Anastasia was when 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:02.480 she got out of Dustin's car on Truman Road at 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:06.640 the I four thirty five possible? Did you believe him? 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:10.440 Did you know? I mean, as a mother, you know 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:14.280 when your kid is lying. What was the tailtale signs? 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:16.000 When Byron wasn't telling you the truth? 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:19.840 I don't remember him not being truthful very often in 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:22.200 his life. To be very honest, I don't think. I 0:11:22.280 --> 0:11:25.920 really don't, unless I'm just I don't think he lied 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:29.520 to me. I can't, would you ever? I mean, because 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:34.600 people might think a mother would cover for their son. No, 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:40.199 I believe in the truth. Might have been my Catholic upbringing. 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:42.680 I don't go to church eater. I mean that dog. 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:45.240 I was cramped down my throat too, But no, I'm not. 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:49.600 I wouldn't do that. No, And if he would have 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:52.640 done it, then everything would be different, because I wouldn't 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:55.720 have fought for twenty years. The way I was fighting 0:11:55.720 --> 0:11:58.680 tooth and nail, tooth and nail. I got myself in 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:03.000 trouble at times, going up to the law school, Young KC. 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:07.400 Law School and plastering flyers all over the place. 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:11.520 Yeah, and just no, I would not be fighting like this. 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:11.960 No. 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:18.120 In the years following Byron's conviction, Evelyn posts free Byron 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:22.000 flyers at the local law school and around town. She 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:26.840 writes letters and talks to even chases down anyone who'd listen. 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:31.480 It is safe to say she was obsessed with clearing 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:36.200 her son's name. Around twenty ten, the Midwest Innocence Project 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:39.400 looks into Byron's case. Remember you heard about them in 0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:45.800 season one. They represented Rodney Lincoln, but ultimately MIP passes 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:50.200 on taking Byron's case. After that, Evelyn redoubles her efforts. 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:54.960 She helps Byron petition Governor j. Nixon for an absolute pardon, 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:59.080 which is eventually denied. She goes to Washington, D C. 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:03.240 And addresses members of Congress. She meets one on one 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:07.959 with US Senator Claire mccaskell of Missouri. She shares with 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:11.480 people the book Byron wrote from prison, The Pariah Syntax 0:13:11.679 --> 0:13:14.920 notes from an innocent man, as well as the Free 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:20.440 Byron website and Facebook group. Over time, she accumulates ten 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:26.800 bankers boxes of investigative documents, reports, transcripts, and audio recordings, 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:30.280 but she has no one to go through them. 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:36.120 Crickets. Then out of nowhere, I get this call, we 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:41.360 want to help you. Do you think I'm going to 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:42.960 say no, we don't want to. 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:45.280 I was plated. 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:55.480 I was elated. 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:00.760 My name is Ryan Russell. 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:04.959 Shortly after graduating from the University of Missouri Kansas City 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:08.840 Law School, Brian Russell, an Army vet, and two friends 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:13.319 formed the firm Meyer, Chord, Russell and Hurdott. And what 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:14.640 kind of law do you practice? 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:18.440 We do all personal injury, basically any type of case 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:22.280 where someone has been hurt by someone else doing something 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:25.880 wrong and trying to help them get money to make 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:27.160 up for what they had to go through. 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:30.640 Brian first hears about Byron's case in the summer of 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:35.280 twenty nineteen, about seventeen years after Byron was convicted. 0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:39.480 When I was doing research on a completely unrelated matter 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:43.400 and just happened to stumble across his website. It was 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:47.040 freebyroncase dot Com and he had a lot of the 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:51.040 primary documents on there and reports and trial transcript and 0:14:51.240 --> 0:14:55.080 so one afternoon I didn't have the impulse control to 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:58.680 ignore it and went down the rabbit hole and just 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:02.240 started reading all this stuff and doing my own research 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:03.840 on some of it. I saw that he didn't have 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:06.200 a lawyer, so I picked up the phone and just 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:08.560 called him and asked him if he was interested in 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:10.960 having a lawyer, and went out and met with him. 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:12.640 And what was that first meeting? 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:15.360 Like? It was a good meeting. I think before when 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:18.640 I signed him up, I wasn't even I wasn't one 0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:21.920 hundred percent convinced that he was innocent. I knew that 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:24.760 he did not get a fair trial, but I wasn't 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:27.560 sure that he was innocent. And as I talked with 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:31.760 him more, you know, I was like, I don't I 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:35.360 don't see how this guy could have murdered somebody. Doing 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:38.920 injury work generally, you know, we don't get paid. We 0:15:39.160 --> 0:15:42.000 get paid on a contingency fee. I mean, my clients 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:43.920 never pay me out of their own pocket, and they 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:47.000 only ever pay me if I get money for them. 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:51.480 This is very similar to that. You have to be 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:56.800 willing to put a lot of time, energy and money 0:15:57.200 --> 0:16:02.280 into a case with, you know, a hope and a 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:04.880 prayer that it works out. And I wouldn't want to 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:08.680 do that if I wasn't firmly convinced that we had 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:11.440 at least a shot. So yeah, I asked him if 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:13.480 you did it? And because I didn't want to represent 0:16:13.560 --> 0:16:15.880 someone that couldn't say no, I didn't do it. 0:16:16.200 --> 0:16:19.840 A lot of people, though in prison, say that they're innocent. 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:21.520 A lot of them are, but a lot of them 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:21.800 are not. 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:24.920 I'm kind of this is a saying from the Army trust, 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:30.240 but verify, and that's how I've That's how I and 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:33.240 the rest of our team have approached this whole investigation 0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:37.080 is how can we prove that Byron did this without 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:40.600 Byron's side of things, you know? Or how can we 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:44.120 because if it comes down to believing Byron or not, well, 0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:47.920 a jury already heard Byron's story and they didn't believe them. 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:53.280 For me, it was more the asking him wasn't because 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:57.200 that's what matters improving his innocence. It was more just 0:16:57.360 --> 0:17:00.920 from my own where you're really in it as partners 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:03.840 with your client, and I don't want to be partners 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:07.360 with someone I don't trust. However, our brains. Figure out, 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:10.159 we can trust somebody just the way he told me. 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:11.120 I trusted him. 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:16.280 So for Brian, the trust is there. Now it's time 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:19.480 to get to work. He reaches out to Evelyn, who 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:23.040 happily hands over the ten boxes of evidence she's collected. 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:25.639 I then had a moment of clarity of wait a minute, 0:17:25.640 --> 0:17:29.320 I've never represented a criminal defendant, let alone got an 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:32.920 innocent person out of prison. But I'm confident that I'm 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:38.639 a hard worker and you know, reasonably intelligent. But Sean 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:41.239 O'Brien was one of my professors in law school, and 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:44.840 if he was one of my favorites, if not my 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:48.280 favorite professor. So after I had gotten all that stuff, 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:51.240 I called him up and said, hey, you know, are 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:54.320 you Is this something you could maybe use for one 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:56.560 of your innocence classes. Helped me go through some of 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:57.000 this stuff. 0:17:57.280 --> 0:18:00.600 So I was going to be teaching this class in 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:05.000 the spring semester of twenty twenty. So when Brian talked 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:08.600 to me, I said, yes, I need a case for 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:10.560 my investigation class. 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:14.360 For those of you have listened to seasons one and 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:17.760 two of The Real Killer, you are already familiar with 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:21.920 Sean O'Brien. A quick reminder. He's a full time professor 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:26.040 at UMKC Law School. He was one of Rodney Lincoln's lawyers, 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:30.080 but he's probably best known for the landmark Supreme Court 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:32.680 case on innocence Sloop versus Di Lo. 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:36.399 I'm not an innocence project. I do not screen my 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:41.560 cases for guilt or innocence. I just the next interesting case. 0:18:41.600 --> 0:18:44.200 If my caseload will allow it, I'll do it. And 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:47.320 I knew enough about this case to know that it 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:52.119 would be a really interesting case to use to teach 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:56.920 my investigation class. And Quinn and I, my daughter, teach 0:18:56.960 --> 0:19:00.639 this class together. She's an investigator with a journalism background, 0:19:00.720 --> 0:19:01.600 which is great. 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:05.760 Quinn O'Brien was also in our first season. She was 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:08.879 one of the investigators who worked on Rodney Lincoln's case. 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:13.760 Turns out Quinn was already familiar with Byron's case because 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:16.480 in twenty ten she spent some time looking into it 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:20.680 at the Midwest Innocence Project. Later that year, she left 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:25.440 MIP and Byron's case behind to pursue other endeavors. 0:19:26.160 --> 0:19:27.720 There were things that I wanted to work on that 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:31.760 didn't involve innocence, like early release and parole projects. So 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:34.719 I decided to leave the project and hang my own shingle. 0:19:35.200 --> 0:19:36.800 I can't take a case with me because I'm not 0:19:36.840 --> 0:19:41.040 a lawyer. I'm just the investigator that can be really 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:44.760 frustrating sometimes. And I guess the case just languished until 0:19:45.320 --> 0:19:48.360 I got a text from my dad it's like, hey, 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:50.520 you worked on the Byron. 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:52.840 Case case, right? Yes? 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:54.040 Why? 0:19:55.000 --> 0:19:58.680 And I think I remember like looking at that text, 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:01.679 like texting back like yeah, and then getting in the 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:04.320 car and I was actually on seventy one. I remember 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:06.720 where I was when I got this phone call from 0:20:06.800 --> 0:20:11.080 my old buddy Brian Russell. It's like, hey, Quinn, like 0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:14.119 I hear that you were familiar with the Byron case 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:17.280 case and I wanted to pick your brain. I still 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:20.000 remember being on the freeway, holding onto the steering wheel, 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:23.200 being ready to cry, like yes, yes, you can pick 0:20:23.240 --> 0:20:29.240 my brain, Like yes, I want to help you. I 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:32.680 don't care, I don't care how like what I will. 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:35.400 I will help you. You tell me what you need 0:20:35.400 --> 0:20:37.480 from me, and I will help you. I have been wanting. 0:20:37.960 --> 0:20:42.280 So Quinn, Sean and Brian are on board. Then one 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:46.439 more person joins the team, a brand new lawyer named 0:20:46.520 --> 0:20:49.679 Nicole Gordon, who went to law school later in life. 0:20:50.680 --> 0:20:53.080 Back in the spring of twenty twenty, Nicole is in 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:55.800 her second year of law school when she takes Sean 0:20:55.880 --> 0:21:00.399 and Quinn's investigation class and learns about Byron's case. What 0:21:00.920 --> 0:21:04.400 are some of your early thoughts or feelings about it? 0:21:04.880 --> 0:21:09.000 And I wasn't convinced of his innocence right off the bat. 0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:13.159 After finishing the investigation class, Nicole is the only student 0:21:13.200 --> 0:21:15.840 who continues working with Brian and Quinn on the case 0:21:15.960 --> 0:21:18.280 in Shawn's Wrongful Convictions Clinic. 0:21:19.119 --> 0:21:21.840 That's when I really dived into the case and learned 0:21:21.840 --> 0:21:25.639 more about it and became more and more convinced that 0:21:26.440 --> 0:21:27.320 Byron's innocent. 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:31.960 The team is made up of Nicole, Quinn, Sean, and Brian. 0:21:32.560 --> 0:21:36.600 Each has their marching orders and they're ready to go 0:21:36.680 --> 0:21:37.320 to war. 0:21:38.720 --> 0:21:39.399 For the record. 0:21:39.680 --> 0:21:42.240 When I decided to take on this story for the 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:45.880 third season of the podcast, I told Byron's legal team, 0:21:46.240 --> 0:21:50.439 especially Sean and Quinn, whom I've worked with before, I 0:21:50.480 --> 0:21:53.680 am treating this case like any other. If I find 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:56.560 something that points to Byron's guilt, I am not going 0:21:56.640 --> 0:21:59.960 to bury it. My only allegiance is to the true. 0:22:11.720 --> 0:22:15.480 If you had to sum up the investigation in a word. 0:22:15.280 --> 0:22:18.400 Or sloppy. 0:22:18.560 --> 0:22:20.680 Oh wait, I should have let you finish. 0:22:20.680 --> 0:22:23.120 That's okay, the investigation was sloppy. 0:22:23.840 --> 0:22:27.439 If I had to summarize the trial in one word, 0:22:27.640 --> 0:22:30.199 it would be fast. 0:22:31.280 --> 0:22:33.760 Right out of the gate. Attorney Brian Russell has some 0:22:33.800 --> 0:22:38.160 strong feelings about the way Byron's case was handled well. 0:22:38.320 --> 0:22:42.760 So when I was first digging into everything, I kept 0:22:42.800 --> 0:22:46.879 waiting for there to be more. I was just like, 0:22:47.119 --> 0:22:52.040 surely they didn't convict him based on Kelly's clear fabrication 0:22:52.440 --> 0:22:54.320 that doesn't even line up with the other evidence. 0:22:54.520 --> 0:22:57.440 Is there any physical evidence tying Byron case to the 0:22:57.520 --> 0:22:59.359 murder of Anastasia Whippolsfugen. 0:22:59.600 --> 0:23:03.159 There is no physical evidence tying Byron case to the 0:23:03.240 --> 0:23:08.199 murder or the death of Anastasia Whipples Fugen. Now the 0:23:08.240 --> 0:23:11.080 only evidence of his involvement is Kelly Moffett. 0:23:12.680 --> 0:23:15.880 Examining everything about Kelly Moffatt is one of the first 0:23:15.960 --> 0:23:19.120 things Brian and the team set out to do. They 0:23:19.119 --> 0:23:22.560 dissect her original story, the story she told at trial, 0:23:23.119 --> 0:23:27.400 her character, and her possible motivations for coming forward almost 0:23:27.560 --> 0:23:32.400 three years after Anastasia's murder, and in no time they 0:23:32.400 --> 0:23:36.320 make a discovery. It's related to something Kelly said under 0:23:36.359 --> 0:23:41.240 oath during her deposition about a month before trial. During 0:23:41.280 --> 0:23:45.440 that deposition, Kelly is asked, quote, do you have any 0:23:45.480 --> 0:23:50.240