The Real Killer Season 3: Ep. 1, Murder in the Cemetery

Published Jan 9, 2025, 8:03 AM

When 18-year-old Anastasia WitbolsFeugen is found brutally murdered in a cemetery just outside Kansas City, Missouri, the intense search for her killer is on. Armed with the original 1997 Jackson County Sheriff’s case file, as well as some never before heard recorded interviews with the lead detective, journalist Leah Rothman delves into the investigation, which begins with two of Anastasia’s friends, who may have been the last to see her alive. Do they know what happened to Anastasia?

A warning.

This episode contains depictions of violence and conversations about suicide that may be disturbing and triggering for some listeners. If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please fast forward to the end of this episode to find out where help is available. We're back for season three, and I'm back in Missouri, not in Saint Louis. Like for Melissa and Rodney's story in season one, this time I'm four hours away in Kansas City. This season's story involves the gruesome murder of a young innocent woman, a lengthy investigation that seems to stall until an incredible break in the case, and a deep seated division between those who believe one person is very guilty and those who say they have evidence which proves that person is not. This season has me pulling my hair out A lot doesn't add up. But what's very different from last season and Keith Lamar's story is that this time I have hundreds and hundreds of pages of investigative documents, reports, transcripts, emails, and audio taped police interviews which have never been heard before. You are about to be thrust into the original investigation, almost step by step. What people say and when they say it is going to become very important. Why are they talking and who is telling the truth? Listen closely. You might even need to go back and listen again. As they say, the devils in the details when it comes to our investigation into the original one. I'm telling you right now, the twists and turns are going to keep you up at night. Just when you think you know what happened in this case, something or someone will change your mind. At the end of it all, will what is uncovered point to innocence, guilt or something much much messier. I'm Leah Rothman. This is the Real Killer. Episode one. Murder in the Cemetery Thursday, October twenty third, nineteen ninety seven, three forty four am. David Epperson, a Jackson County Sheriff's deputy, is on a routine patrol when he turns into Lincoln Cemetery. Lincoln Cemetery sits in a small, unincorporated pocket between Independence, Missouri and Kansas City, Missouri. It's pitch black as Deputy Eperson slowly drives down the narrow one lane road. His headlights illuminate something lying on the ground in the distance. It's a body. As Deputy Eperson gets out of his patrol car and approaches the triangular shaped grassy island. He soon realizes lying there is a young woman. The young woman is fully clothed. She has a large wound around her nose and mouth. Her left eye is wide open. Eperson checks a victim for vital signs and finds no pulse. She is bluish, gray, and cool to the touch. Deputy Epson radios in his disturbing discovery to dispatch. Because Lincoln Cemetery is in this unincorporated area, the Jackson County Sheriff's Department will take the case. Multiple units respond and secure the crime scene. By five am. Sergeant Gary Kilgore arrives. He will be named the lead investigator on the case. Reading from Sergeant Kilgore's report, here is some of his initial assessment. The victim is dressed in black jeans, a tan corduroy jacket, what appears to be a gray pullover shirt, black low cut shoes, and gray socks. The body appears to be that of a white female in her late teens, approximately five to four and one hundred and fifteen pounds. The victim is lying on her back, her arms stretched out extending over her head. Her head is tilted slightly to the right and her hair is fanned out outward. There appears to be a gunshot wound to the tip of her nose. Blood from this wound is observed to have flowed downward and to the right side of the face. Pulled blood is observed underneath the head and shoulders of the victim. There appears to be an exit wound in the back of the victim's head, and a small piece of the victim's skull is observed on the ground about four feet away. Sergeant Kilgore believes the victim was shot while standing up, she fell backwards and remained in that position until found. He notes the victim has no identification on her but in her left front pants pocket he finds a single key on a keychain, and on that keychain is a medallion in the shape of a cuckoo clock. Photographs are taken, her hands are bagged and she is transported to the medical Examiner's office for autopsy. It's barely daybreak, but the investigation unit is searching the scene collecting evidence. There's not a lot. There are tire tracks observed nearby as well as some broken headlight glass and paint found at the base of a tree a short distance from where the body was found. Both are photographed. At eight fifty five am, a man approaches a Sheriff's deputy who is guarding the entrance to Lincoln Cemetery. That man identifies himself as Glenn Caliver, the manager at Mount Washington Cemetery. Just so you know, the back of Mount Washington Cemetery is across the street from the main entrance to Lincoln Cemetery. Mister Cliver tells the deputy. Just a few hours before, around six am, when he arrived to open the gate to Mount Washington, a man was there waiting. The man told mister Cliver he was looking for his daughter, who didn't come home last night. The father showed mister Calliver for a photo of his daughter. Mister Caliver recognized her. He had seen her around five pm the night before, sitting on the steps of the Nelson Mausoleum at Mount Washington Cemetery. Then a couple of hours later, mister Cliver saw her again. He says, at seven o five he saw car lights going towards the Nelson Mausoleum, so he went to investigate. That's when he saw the same young woman getting into a bluish green two door Honda. Caliver believes that Honda had two white males and one white female inside. He wrote down the license plate number and the car drove away. The concerned father left his name and phone number with mister Caliver, who is now sharing it with the deputy, and thereafter.

The call from the Sheriff's department asking it while I was looking for my daughter as a missing person. It's kind of surprised that they would be calling me because I didn't stop at the Sheriff's department to make a call or anything.

And that's Robert Whipples Fuchen, father of five daughters. I speak with Bob over the phone.

He says, we're gonna We're gonna send somebody out to your house to talk to you.

Okay, that's good.

Now that's not good, you know what to think. It was pretty pretty upset. Knew that I wasn't going to go to work that day. So not too long afterwards, a Sheriff's department car was up in front of my house. Gentleman comes in and then ask in terms that he's at the right place, and yes, can you can you get hold of your daughter's gentle records?

Ship?

Really, are you kidding me? Did she have a scar on her chin? And I'm thinking that yes, she had a little scar on her chin that she got when she was five years old, and she was jumping up and down on the bed and launched herself into the nightstand. I don't remember how long it was, but it wasn't that long afterwards, they maybe nine nine party in the morning comes back to the house, confirmed that the individual that we found in the cemetery there where away was with your daughter.

That it is pretty hard, so I'm so sorry.

Yeah, it's now in less than twenty four west than twelve hours, twelve hours, eighteen hours, shortly after finding out that the daughter's missing. Hoping for the best, the worst octipal scenario on situation.

The worst has been confirmed. The victim found in Lincoln Cemetery is Bob's eldest daughter, eighteen year old Anastasia Whipples Fuchan. A heartbreaking tragedy for all who knew and loved her.

Not knowing anything more, I didn't say anything about how she died. That I was thinking, excuse me, that you needed gentle records to identify her. I had a picture of her. You know, no, we'll need gentle records. I think, oh my god, terrible death. So yeah, it wasn't. It wasn't the really that she had been down quickly university, or that they needed gentld records to again a tiver after I shall a recent picture to the depth or whatever. He was in a higher rank. But he was just a more a brown paper bag to me and very cold and said, yeah, we know, Truebell.

The family is devastated, but finding out who committed this heinous crime is critical, so Bob agrees to give a voluntary statement. According to police reports, Bob tells Sergeant Ron Kellogg he called his wife Diane around six pm the night before to let her know he was going to a meeting after work and would be home later than usual. That's when Diane, Anastasia's stepmom, told him she had dropped Anna Stay off at Mount Washington Cemetery to meet up with her boyfriend Justin Bruton. But when Bob speaks with his other daughter, fifteen year old Francesca, he learns that Justin had actually called the house after Anastasia left and told Francesca he wasn't going to be able to meet Anastasia after all. Worried that Anastasia was out there all alone, Bob asks Diane to go look for her. According to Bob, Diane says, quote no, the cold walk back here will do her good. Bob says, when he gets home later that night, Anastasia's not there. Around nine thirty ten, Bob calls Anastasia's boyfriend, Justin and leaves a message. Soon, Justin calls Bob back and says he last saw Anastasia about an hour and a half before, around eight thirty. Justin tells Bob he and Anastasia had a disagreement and she got out of the car on Truman Road and Interstate four thirty five, and that was the last time he saw her. Bob tells Sergeant Kilgore Justin did seem concerned that Anastasia hadn't made at home yet. Bob says he went out looking for Anastasia. Then, around ten thirty or eleven, he went to the Independence Police Department and filed a report. He was then referred to another precinct, where he was told they couldn't do anything until she'd been missing at least seventy two hours. Bob says he stayed out looking for Anastasia until around one am, traveling up and down Truman Road at least six times. Bob shares that Anastasia and Justin's relationship had been rocky for a few months. Anastasia had been living with Justin, but she moved back home around July. Sergeant Kellogg asks what kind of car does Justin drive, and Bob tells him a Honda Green topaz in color. Sergeant Kellogg also speaks with Bob's wife, Diane. Diane tells Sergeant Kellogg she drove Anastasia to Mount Washington Cemetery around four twenty that afternoon to meet Justin and some friends. Diane says Anastasia was wearing a tan corduroy jacket and jeans, probably black jeans because Anastasia generally wore black. Diane says after Bob called concerned, she did go back out to look for Anastasia, but couldn't find her. When asked if Justin would hurt Anastasia, Diane says she doesn't know, but what she does know is that Justin was the whole focus of Anastasia's existence. The next morning, October twenty fourth, about thirty hours after Anastasia's body is found, two people who may have been some of the last to see Anastasia alive arrive at the Jackson County Sheriff's Department. Do they know what happened to her? Eighteen year old Anastasia Whipplesfugen Is found shot in the face at Lincoln Cemetery in the early morning hours of Thursday, October twenty third, nineteen ninety seven. The next day, eighteen year old Byron Case and his girlfriend, fifteen year old Kelly Moffatt, are at the Jackson County Sheriff's Department about to share what they know. In their audio taped interviews, you'll hear Sergeant Gary Kilgore asking most of the questions, with Sergeant Ron Kellogg jumping in from time to time. By the way I spoke with Sergeant Kilgore, he declined to be interviewed. Kellogg has since passed away.

Spect you anything, Kelly Anne Wilson. The data births October eighteenth, nineteen maybe two.

Dude, you know an individual by the name of justin Brutan?

Yeah, okay, what is your relationship.

To I've been farming for about a year. How'd you get to move down in Westport on a coffee house?

This I start talking one day?

Okay, do you also know an individual by the name of did you goes by name of Stacey Anastasia?

Oh? Yeah, okay?

And what is your relationship to Anna Stasi?

Well?

I met her through because I was going to jump and when they started dating, as we started coming out and Dell makes fun, you're.

Aware that Anastasia with Chill Fielding?

Then you know why you're here today conkying with us and report. Would that reason be?

Probably just to find out what happened, because as far as I know, no one has out of the years claim, including me and Byron and everybody else.

When's the last time you saw Ani Stadium?

There would probably be Wednesday night at like seven thirty or so. We had picked her up at it was we Dairy Queen justin brae En Byron case.

And then when we picked her up at Dairy Queen, we.

Just planned to pick her up there.

Yeah.

Well, the plans were kind of straight up theod Yeah, I mean she called them specifically to ask.

To pick up with Dry Queen.

Okay, well, tell me about how the arrangements were made and what were the plans?

What were you going to do?

It was it was kind of a mess.

But as far as I understand, she had made plans with Justin to me and I at the Washington Memorial.

Cemetery because she just like wanted to talk to one.

Okay, why are they not Washington Cemetery.

I don't know.

They were always going, well, I know Justin on air stage, it's kind of like cemeteries. I'm really not sure that hugely. I mean, it was really pretty there, and she had.

This one monthly on that she liked, like going like righte poets.

For that, I'm sorry, write poetry, okay, okay, And so she and Justin had plans to get together, and were you and Byron included in those plans?

No.

That was part of the problem was she had canceled them because she was going to go out like with our family. Then I guess she got the okay that she didn't have to go. So she calls back with Justin and goes, well, now I can't go, but he had already he just made plans with me and Byron.

So she was upset about that.

You know, She's like, well, you've made plans with them first, and they kind of had a fight about you know, He's like, you can't.

Just cancel plans and they.

Get them back and like expect them to be able to So she's like, well, look i'm cold, I had no way home. Just got pick me up at dary Quayne. She's like, I'll be willing to talk to you with them there.

Okay.

Where was she at when she was calling?

She was a day Layne, like right across the street.

That's something, Okay. Was justin when she called?

She was at home?

Were you there also?

Yeah?

I mean with us okay, And then what happened?

Then we left to go pick up up.

It was dry Justin at was this car.

So it was me Burne and Justin.

We went to go pick her up. It took us a while to find the gary Quin, but we found it.

You know.

When in the daughter and she still kind of wanted to go to the cemetery like Washington, So we had.

Planned for her and Justin like to go off and talk.

I mean, Barne would go like Stait elsewhere because she kind of wanted to talk to them alone.

So we went in there.

But then I think it was the carekeeper like brown keeper person kind of followed us out because it was after hours, so we were just kind of had to like scratch that because we weren't allowed to be there. So we just kind of drove around, and we had just decided to go back to Justin's place so.

That they could call, did you go back to Justin?

We didn't like make it there.

We were going I'm not sure where it is, but right by like a lotic city and like those kind of like sleepy places.

We were driving past there. R and Justin who did like fighting in.

The car what about She was just like thanks a lot, you know, the weight, I'm cold.

Just the usual stuff.

They were always just fighting and all stuff like that. So like at the stoplight, they like continued fighting. Justin's kind of he was just always kind of ignored when they fight.

She's like, you don't understand this time.

I'm like really serious, She's like, and she used to always just kind of like storm out of his house or like.

Get out of the car. So she just like got up. She's like, just screw it, I'm gonna get out of the car.

So she got out.

And Justin's like he's like quipping a baby, like, get the hell back in the car.

How are you gonna get home?

She's like, I'll just call my mom.

So she like slammed the door and walked off.

And where was this right by?

Like, I mean, I don't drive, so i'm streets. It was right by. See, it was like, yeah, it was like a pretty big there's like the road pretty big.

They spend some time trying to nail down where Anastasia got out of the car. Kelly eventually says she believes it was on Truman Road near the I four thirty five. By the way, you'll hear a lot more about this area and it's significance as.

We along, because there was no way to get out by.

Would you know that location? Yeah, okay, anything else, dude, you know the thing a school or anything over here?

No, not really. There was just a bunch of buildings. I wasn't okay like looking out that way.

I was more conscientous she actually got out.

Of the car, because yeah, she got out of the car like the stop light after the growth.

Okay, about what time was it?

Let me see, I'm probably around like seven fifteen, seven thirty because we got back to Justin's condo with like eight and usually took about forty five minutes or Soay, she got out of the car and Justin and he was like, he's like, you know, quit it, quit being a baby.

Just go back here and talk. You don't need to like storm off. And she was just like.

Yelling like stuff back at him, and like what well, it was basically she was just like fuck off.

You know, you're the one that made me mad all though.

She's like, don't get all you know, upset now, and all of a sudden, like this happened like all of him so farinently He's like, you know, I'm not gonna put.

Up with this anymore. So he's like, let's just go back to my condo and I'll call her from there.

And so you left him.

Yeah. Well, and also Justin was like, you know, she's us all the time, and like I said, there was gas stations.

And stuff that he thought she just go there to call and h could you tell what she was doing when he left?

I mean, did you look back in the city anything.

Yeah, she was just well when I looked back, she was just kind of staying on the side of the road waiting.

To like cross over.

Did you ever see hercross the road?

Well, she was still waiting, but yeah, I saw her start like across the road.

Okay, did you see her get to the other side?

Word's gone by then? Okay, because Justin was kind of bad and kind of set off.

Okaying, after you left there, then where did you go?

We went right back to Justin and then where y'all did? And see Byron was like playing video games and stuff. Justin was kind of like, you know, upset about the whole thing. He's well, at first he was kind of angry, you know, he's like she always does this. He's kind of bitching about it. Then he got like kind of worried and.

Let me see, I think must he got paid. Byron called his.

Friend Abraham, and he wanted him to go over to his ex girlfriend Terror's house and drop off some of her stuff that he still had and pick up some of his stuff because they still.

Lived together.

Sarah and Byron called her.

No, Abraham called him to come pick up. He goes, come pick up.

I have some terrrist stuff, and I made up a list of stuff of mine that she still has. The pud you like, dump drop that off. So we decided to leave because I had to be home at nine. That's like my school mind, that's my curfew. So we went back over to Abraham's house, picked up the back of her stuff and.

The list Byron is address. Well, it's not where he lives, it's where he's on the house.

Sitting Abraham, me and Justin and Byron. But we just ran up to the door, got like her bag of stuff and left. You and Bron No, Justin went too to the door. We all three went up to the door. We talked to Abraham for like a couple of minutes and then left. But by then it was pretty late, so we had to go, which is pretty really home. Probably it was about like eight thirty eight forties, because I remember he was like, well, if we're going to get you.

Home by night, and we need to leave now. So we went back.

To my house and they said that they would just get this stuff from Tara, like on the way.

Back, and they dropped me off.

But by then and Justin were kind of worried because Anastasia, like he knew.

That if she she probably would have.

Paid Byron, like if she still was mad or if she didn't a ride, so like when we got to.

My house, he asked if he could use.

The phone, and he called up her family and asked if she was home, and about what was yeah, probably like nine nine fifteen, ohad, Yeah, So he called her up. He talked to her sister Brian, and she was like, no, she's not home yet. So Justin got like kind of freaked out, and he was like, he's like, well, he goes, we gotta go.

He's like, so they just went.

From there, got the stuff from Terror's house, and then he just took Byron home because he's like he goes.

He's like, I'm not in the mood to do anything.

He's like, I'm just gonna go home and Callina Stage's family, yeain and.

Go to play. Okay, and where does Byron live?

Well, now he's something with his mom's house, like done.

West ward.

After a day lay up Byron and Justin.

Did you have any contact with either one of those individuals that that night?

Yeah? Let me see. Oh.

I was still kind of like worried about like Anna Stator because I had tried to call Justin and I couldn't get ahold of them. So I paid Byron. It was probably about like midnight or so, and he called me back and that was just about it. I was like, did you know what happened with you know, justin.

Ana station And he's like, I'll probably, you know, stayim all with fame.

So we just talked about like other stuff, and then I got I'm pretty tired because I had school the next day.

Went to death, Kelly says. Instead of going to school the next day, she spends the day with her mom, visiting her grandmother. When she gets home, she speaks with Byron.

And I got back and Byron said to page him like when I got back, so I paid him and he and his friend Abraham called me on three Way, which I thought was kind of strange. And I was like, well, hi, you know, and he's like, Abraham's on three Way and I was like why is Abraham on three Way? And Byron was upset and he's like, well, Abraham is better color. And he's like, hey, did you watch the news? And I was like now, and he goes, well, I watched Channel four news and he was like, based down and she's a dead like in independence And as for.

I mean, I didn't like believe him. He's like no.

He goes just watched the news like a like.

Five or six.

So I watched it and I thought, and then Byron called him back and just it was just really strange. And then Abraham said that the second that he thought on the news, he tried to call Justin and nobody Pickture.

I got a dangers you know, we're justin.

Down and has no idea. We've been like calling him.

We went by the house, me firing his mom and his mom's boyfriend and his car wasn't.

Gonna Justin have any gun.

Well, he bought one, like.

I don't know what kind of it was just like a shotgun at Walmart, like about a month ago.

Did you ever see this gun? Yeah, once when he first got it. What did it look like?

I don't really know anything.

It was just it kind of looked like just a bigger BB gun, but it was.

Like a real gun, well, a handgun.

No, it was like long.

It was like a shotgun.

It had one of those like big like big wood things that you hold.

Oh no, it was pretty long.

Done.

He goes, No, he's like, I brought it up Walmart.

He goes, but I'm thinking it was kind of like a waste of money. So he goes, yeah, I'm just gonna get.

Rid of it.

Okay. Do you know him killed Anastasia?

I have no idea.

It was just like a complete shot because last time I saw her, I just assumed she was watching.

How and so did you understand him actually fight?

Yeah?

I saw him fight, but it always kind of seemed like one that they fight, like anasays were yelling at him and he was just kind.

Of always going well.

I remember he told me a story how they were engaged for a while and when she moved out of his bad used to live together.

When she moved out, she like threw the engagement right now. But that was all I ever heard of.

What your feeling about Justin? Tell then?

But with Justin Kilder, well, I I can't like imagine.

He just seemed like, I don't know, he was kind of like a big kid. I mean, even though he was twenty, Like, we.

Used to always tease him because basically what he did was like watching.

Movies and play video games and stuff.

I do you think he's capable of doing that?

I don't.

I hope not.

I don't think so, because every time I was around him, I mean, he didn't even he wouldn't even like fight bad with her or anything. I couldn't really and I don't think.

So do you have anything you'd like to add?

Not really, but well, actually this whole thing with Justin kind of ripped, and I know that that night he was like really upset when he called it enough Stage's house back. And also I think her sister was like yelling at him. She's like, how would you let her go out of the car? And he got like really upside that's only.

You were a conversations can tape recorded if your mother was going to stay in here during the course of the interview, but just prior to at the beginning, she decided not to be prett and miss Greg Yeah, okay, now that was with your approval, Craig.

Okay.

Kelly's interview concludes her boyfriend Byron Case is up next. How similar or different will his story be? Fifteen year old Kelly Moffatt was just interviewed by Sergeants Kilgore and Kellogg at the Jackson County Sheriff's Department. Her boyfriend is.

Up next, say John Byron Case.

Eighteen year old Byron Case will now share what he knows about the night Anastasia Whitbulsfugen was murdered.

New you know an individual I knew of justin Bruton. Yes, what's your relationship with Jeff? He's an old friend?

Well how long have you known?

Uh?

I guess it's been a little over a year. And now yeah, it's been about a year. And how did you do?

Yeah?

We originally we met at a coffee shop, just sure happenstance, We started up the conversation.

Then we've truk about movies, okay, became a pretty good friend.

Yeah, we were pretty close. You know his friend of his first name of Anastasia.

Yeah, her and I have actually known each other for about five years.

We went to school together eighth grade and my freshman year in high school.

And where was it in Lincoln College Preparatory gun So you know Anastasia and her say about five hundred dollars? Yeah, we haven't been We haven't actually we started. I mean I just knew her originally friends, right you think until later you are where the Anastasia has been killed?

Yeah?

And how did you find out?

That day?

Actually, my friend Abraham called me Abraham's last nicely. He actually paged me and basically told me flat.

Out that Pennessation had been shot. He had seen it on the news. I guess.

So when's the last time that you saw justin? That would be the day before yesterday. We're been about ten o'clock okay, waiting to day.

Yeah, on St. Claudem ten o'clock in the Union, that was the last time staring did you see? Were you with him prior to that ten o'clock time? Yeah, we pretty much spent the entire day together. Okay, when did you first get with him that day? I don't really remember.

I think I may have spent the night there, actually stayed over when it was just something that we do a lot, Okay, So I was we pretty much just like woke up.

I remember we were going to go out that afternoon and take care of some things.

That that was just a.

Day, like okay, did you make any plans to do anything?

Uh? Not really.

He had just he had actually just come back from Tulsa and visiting his parents. He had brought back some an old Nintendo and we're going to go to fun Go Land and trade for the games and okay, and that was We're pretty much the only plans of the day.

Did you ever leave Byron says around three pm, he and Justin went to Funko Land, a video game store just over the state line in Kansas. Then around four pm they drove to Kelly's house in nearby Lenexa, Kansas.

Yeah, yeah, it was how did those plans?

Theater?

And we were just thinking that, you know, we wanted something to do that afternoon. I was like, well, you know, we can't pick her up? Is ha somebody else to hang out?

Yeah, what'd you guys do?

We picked Kelly up and we went We went back to the Justin's condo after that to play the new games way on and then I don't know, it was probably well, Justin and Anastasia made plans, kind of made plans for that evening. At about five thirty, I gain and it was five o'clock.

We got what kind of plans?

That didn't?

Maybe they always had weird relationship issues that.

They were both like Anna station was so insistent about talking about.

So she was always wanting pretty.

Much to be with him and talk to him about whatever the latest problem was.

You know what the latest problem was.

It was pretty much the same ongoing thing about she would ask him, like, you know, well, you know, why, why don't you love me? Things like that. He was never and Justin Justin was really I don't know, he's really apathetic. He doesn't really take a hard stance on anything. So him being indecisive.

About how I felt about her.

Wasn't a real big issue. And I mean to me, but to her it was a big deal. So that's usually what the arguments involved. I mean, just you know, them bickering back and forth about like.

Why he didn't care for her as much as she cared for him and that sort of thing. Okay, and so what were the plans for them to get together? Basically they were just going to talk. Uh, I don't know what they were going to talk about that they couldn't talk about anywhere else.

But she wanted to meet him at I guess Mount Washington Cemetery, and because it's like close to her house, so that was gonna be at like five o'clock, she couldn't get a ride out there, so we just left. That's when we went and traded in the games. But it was basically, you know, we didn't think.

Anything of it. It was just no big deal.

He didn't really care either way whether or not we went to see her, but she, I guess, called while we were gone and said that she had found right after all, and she was going to be there at five. She left a message on the answering machine. It was by the time I got back, it was after five anyways, Like, oh, no, it was actually fifteen till five.

I think back to Jeff. Yeah, when he got back to his condo, and you den I assume many he played the message, had heard it.

Yeah, yeah, he heard the message. There was nothing he could do because she had already left. I think he may have called her, but I.

Don't really remember for sure. I wasn't really paying much attention.

And she already called at her house, and I think he did actually, and he talked to her sister. She said that, you know, Anastagia already gotten right. So I guess it was a little while. I don't know how long, you know, how much time passed, But eventually she called back to the condo from a payphone, saying, you know that she was up there.

She wanted him to pick her up. They did. They talk on the phone. Yeah, they talked on the phone for for quite a while.

And about what time did she call him? I have no idea it was. It was probably almost six or a or thereabouts. I'm not really sure. I mean, I've got a horrible concept of time. But uh yeah, So and they were on the phone for probably.

A good twenty minutes half an hour. So just he's like, you know, he kept it reintegrating that, you know. He uh, you know, he would.

Come out to pick her up, but you know, me and Kelly would be with him if if we went out there, and so if she wanted to talk to private, well, you know, she's pretty much how to walk.

She said, she didn't have a problem with that. So we finally just packed up, you know, everything that we were doing, and then left. We went to go packed up. Oh, we just put away the name dead and everything. So we drove out there.

She was she called us from like the dairy Queen I guess, I don't some twenty four highways right across from Mount Washington Cemetery because she had been waiting.

At the cemetery I guess for a while.

Well, so we picked her up there and she was just in a really bad mood. You know, she was giving me the dirty look and she was given justin a dirty look.

They get in, we get in the car.

They started just bickering like they usually do, you know, back and forth and back and forth.

And you left the dairy queen, right where did you go?

We?

Uh, we were gonna actually follow through the original plan. We drove over to Mount Washington. There were I think, I don't know. Justin was like there was a car that had come around the corner, and I guess since it was after hours, you know, he didn't want to be in the cemetery after hours and get in trouble for that. I mean, we stopped at one point and we're about to get out of the car, but then the car, the other car came.

Up behind us.

We assumed it was a groundskeeper and we were like, okay, well let's just leave that.

Were they out of the car or worked there to be out of the car?

Yeah, or yeah, we'd all gotten out of the car at least for a second. I mean it was probably like for quite honestly under thirty seconds that we were outside of the.

Car, and then we saw the car the cart with it.

After dark? Yeah, remember about what time it might be.

I have no idea.

I hadn't. I didn't have I don't have to watch or anything. But so we drove.

We left out Washington like pretty much immediately, and then we were just driving. We came to that was when we came to four thirty five or what I assume it is. It's about two blocks west of Yeah, two blocks west of Broodic City.

That's like the only landmark that I can think of. There's like a gas station up there too.

But I don't have the name of it.

So we were at the stop light.

We're waiting on the light and Anastasia just says, chuck it, I'm getting out of the car basically, and she just tried to get out of the car justin you know, was saying, you know, you're being a baby. Stop it, you know, get back in the car. She was like, no, I'm just going to leave, and she closed the door and walked up. She does that a lot though, I mean, she just like leaves. I mean, I've borne witness to this, like, you know, a lot before. So it wasn't a big deal really. I mean we didn't think, you know, that it was a bad part of town or anything. We didn't think that well, you know, she could like we just didn't think about it. At all and U And that was pretty much it.

I mean, we didn't consider anything. We just said, well, she does this a lot. Earlie's going to call her parents, get her right home, no big deal, and we just drove home or actually go back to Justin's. Yeah, we did.

We went back to Justin's for a little while, probably about half an hour so place morningintendo I called my friend Abraham of a Page met and he was just you know, wanting me to stop by his ex girlfriends to pick up some stuff for him. So Kelly has to be home at nine o'clock. So we figured, well it's eight thirty.

We left.

We took Kelly home, We drove back into town. We stopped at Abraham's ex girlfriend's house. I dropped off a pair of her pants and a letter from Abraham.

We were there for like.

Fifteen minutes, and then Justin took me home. That was about ten o'clock when you were at Kelly's.

House And did you go into house?

Yeah, yeah, we both, Justin and I both went in and he called He called on the stage's parents from there and asked, like, you know, she had called yet, just you know, to be sure that she was okay. And her parents.

We want to know, all right.

No, actually I think she talked to I think he talked to her sister and she was like, well, no, she hasn't called yet.

He explained what had happened, and and then you know, there's no big feel I mean.

We still didn't think about it too much. I mean I was kind of concerned. Justin was concerned as well, you know, but we we still didn't really think about it. We figured she'd probably gone somewhere brood or something. Okay, when you when you said, Jeff, and he explained what had happened? Did he explain it to Francesca and her sister? Did he explain what you have explained to that?

Yeah?

Got out of the car, all yeah, And after you left there, then you went to where after we left telling you, then we went over to h Tara, that's Abraham's girlfriend's place. We went over to her house and I dropped out some stuff and picked up the key Abraham's car from.

Her and from there you went.

From there, I went home. Dustin dropped me off and about what time it was about ten.

O'clock, remember glancing at the clock on the dashboard just to see what time it was going to come back.

Okay. Did he say anything about what he was going to do. He said he was just going to go home and go to sleep. He didn't say he was going to try of Finanda stage.

No, okay, I mean that's yeah, it was. It was a bit unusual. I thought for Justin to go to sleep at ten. He usually goes stays up till like two or so or sometimes three in the morning.

So okay.

And when the next time that you spoke with just I talked to Justin the next morning at about nine, and it was about nine. He woke me up, which again is pretty unusual because you know, he keeps such.

He woke you up.

He called you on the telephone. Yeah, okay, yeah, actually, or did he page me? I don't I don't really remember. I think he called me that.

And it's just like early in the morning. I didn't pick that, but and it was. It was.

It just kind of struck me as odd. I was like, you realize what time it is. He's like, yeah, it's five o'clock. It's like, well, why are you up? He's a lot I had trouble sleeping last night. I don't remember what the conversation was about because I was just so tired. I was like, well, you know, couldn't call me back later. He's cool, I'll call you back this afternoon. And I tried to call him later because he didn't called me at and I haven't been able to talk to him since, and I've tried. I tried like eight or nine times yesterday alone just to get a hold of it. I think I tried to call him this morning too, or no, I talked to his dad this morning.

Actually, okay, when did you call his dad?

Yeah?

I called his dad last night after I hear everything. I got the number from Kelly, like last night when Kelly and I were well, my mom dropped us, me and Kelly off.

At her house yesterday.

Because I had to go in for a job interview and Kelly came with me for it. So she dropped us off at Kelly's house and from there I.

Called his because she had a number. I called his dad at.

Also, okay, and what did you and just a bad time man.

I basically told him about the situation. I left a message saying that, you know, I was wondering if he had contacted them at all. I was kind of concerned because it seemed really odd that, you know, Anastasia turned up dead and he was gone for like such a long period of time.

So I just told him, you know, what had happened to, you know, the story of the news that i'd seen, what i'd heard from, you know, my friend Abraham, because I hadn't yet seen the news. So I mean that that was basically only had to go on.

But there have no just every any handgn not.

No, he never had any any handguns as far as I know. I mean, he had a he bought a shotgun a while back.

He sold that about a month ago, I guess, or not a month ago, about three weeks ago, I guess, which is temporal.

With all he's around Anathasia had arguing and everything, did you ever seen him physically get involved?

Oh no, No, Justin's like one of the most passive people that I know. I mean, he, like I said, I mean, he's.

Just really apathetic about everything.

It seemed like he.

Never you know, he never hit her. She was usually she was actually the violent one in the relationship. I mean she you know, if she got upset with him, she'd throw things at him or hit him or something like that he would never do anything back. You know, he would trainer sometimes to keep from keep her from hitting him.

But that was pretty much that you saw her hifore. No, I never have.

I just heard, you know, I've heard about her. Okay, So the shotgun at you said you sure.

Was a shotgun?

No, yeah, yeah, it was like I don't know what it was. I didn know it was like a Rennington and it was black.

Why did he buy it?

He never really said, I.

Mean I never really asked either he was. I mean, it wasn't a really big deal. I didn't think of it. I guess I don't know. I would assume that it was probably, you know, just for sport.

I have no idea that. I mean, like I said, I never spoke with him of it and did say why he's old. No, he's basically didn't want it anymore. So I remember he's I remember he bought it for three hundred dollars. It was like from Walmart.

He bought it for three hundred dollars and he sold it for one hundred and fifty, and so he was obviously I guess he didn't care because it's his parents' money.

Anyway, you think, judge, him big papers. Do you think Judin big Caper does something.

I personally don't think so.

I mean, Justin's Justin's like he's five years old.

I mean he's he's just a kid at hard.

I mean, I never think he went at ten o'clock that night after he dropped you all, well.

I mean I assume you went home. I mean, I can't imagine what was the attraction to cemetery. I mean, we've all of us kind of had it.

I mean Anastasia had it, you know, she just I don't know, it's just quiet, you know, it's a nice place to go and think.

Just never talking about compete s this night.

I never thought he would. He just seemed to.

I don't know, he really didn't have any convictions about anything. It seemed like, I mean, he couldn't stick to one thing for very long. So, I mean he would talk about it occasionally. I know he had attempts in the past, quite a few. You actually, and last night he did. After Anasthesia got out of the car, he I don't know, we were driving down Truman Road or going over I guess it was like railroad tracks or something. I don't know, But and he was mentioning out like gee, and I don't know, you know, I'm thinking about, like, you know, tonight, if I could just kill myself.

I just thought he.

Was, you know, being silly whatever you say there.

I don't know. I guess he was upset about what happened.

It was the only medication that you know, he had been.

He had a prescription to prozac. I don't know what the dosage or anything was, but he he'd actually, I think he'd stopped taking that about two months ago or a month and a half ago.

And then he had a prescription for sleeping pills because he always had trouble sleeping.

But that's it.

Sergeant Kellogg wants to know more about Justin and Anastasia's relationship.

Was she more lack of pain than his dad?

That he's yeah, fell the better pretty much. I mean he was.

He was always talking about, you know, how annoying she was, and I mean I kind of considered her the same way. I mean, because she would always call me at you know, weird hours and you know, ask me about just you know, stuff that basically could have waited until she knew that I was going to be awake. You know, it was usually about Justin when she when she called, but I mean, yeah, I mean she was just everybody that talked to her pretty much thought that she was kind of annoying.

I don't think Justin laugh, you know.

I mean I think if anything, he would have just like put her on a call block or just ignored her.

I mean, I don't. I hardly think that he would do something like that.

You know, we're just in there right now.

I have no idea. I stopped by.

I stopped by the condo last night before going into my job interview at seven, so it was probably about six forty I guess.

When I stopped either and his car was gone as they were talking about going anywhere.

Oh yeah, he wants he just he has this basically, he wants to spend the.

Rest of his life in in uh like Europe. He wants I think he.

I mean, he's talked about Berlin, you talked about France, and he's talked about.

The UK.

If you hear from him, will you you, Oh.

Yeah, definitely. I mean I under know that. I mean, I'm definitely.

I'm pretty scared for him, actually, I mean because I know that, you know, this is just so weird.

You're where our conversation thing kape recording? Yeah, any included proct on eleven nine hours.

Kelly and Byron are free to go. They leave with Kelly's mom, Deborah, who drove them there. What strikes me about both interviews is that neither Byron nor Kelly really have any emotion when talking about their friend Anastasia, who had been found murdered just thirty hours ago, or their friend Justin, who seems to be missing. Despite that, instigators at least now have more details about the hours leading up to Anastasia's murder, but many questions still remain unanswered, like what happened after Anastesia got out of Justin's car? And where is Justin? This season on The Real Killer.

When they started to have problems, she wasn't willing to accept that it was going to be over on his terms.

Have you talked to anybody that's giving you any indications they were present when she was killing? Yeah? I did. And this is like the day after all of the activity around the crime scene.

The crime scene tape is down, but he's right there on the exact spot.

You know, that's really suspicious.

I cannot pretend to know what his motive was.

He could be trying to attaint the investigation.

He applied the ghost by gass and he musted. Come out of the cemetery scared.

Why does a sheep? I can't have her any more information.

You don't even know my questions?

Are you afraid to attack me?

Anastasia's family had said at the time that if she called for a ride, she would have called them. He changed his phone number the day after her body was found.

And it makes me look horrible because everybody already knows that I'm a fucking crackhead, and I'm a coke hab and I'm an alcoholic and I don't remember it.

Did you kill Anna Stasian? Did you kill Anastasian?

No, she trusted these people and she shouldn't have.

Out of nowhere, I get this call, we want to help you.

I wasn't one hundred percent convinced that he was innocent, and as I talked with him more, I was like, I don't see how this guy could have murdered somebody.

Issues of goth in a cemetery, drug use.

You know, there's a lot in there, But at the end of the day, the evidence still holds. What do you say to the people out there who think you are murdering. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals participating in the podcast. If you, or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts or a crisis, please no help is available. Call or text nine to eight eight, or chat online at the Suicide and Crisis Lifelines website at nine eight eight lifeline dot org. To see photos, maps and documents related to this season's story, follow The Real Killer podcast on Instagram and at TRK podcast on TikTok. The Real Killer is a production of AYR Media and iHeartMedia, hosted by me Leah Rothman, Executive producers Leah Rothman and Elisa Rosen for AYR Media. Written by Leah Rothman, editing and sound design by Cameron Taggy, mixed and mastered by Cameron Taggi. Production coordinator Andy Levine, Audio engineer Justin Longerbeam studio engineer Graham Gibson. Legal counsel for AYR Media, Gianni Douglas, executive producer for iHeartMedia. Maya Howard

The Real Killer

One autumn night in 1997, 18-year-old Anastasia WitbolsFeugen is found brutally murdered, her body d 
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