In July 2002, about a month after Byron Case's sentencing for murder, a student newspaper of a local community college ran an article titled "Re-examining the Case: Mother of Byron Case Insists Her Son's Case Is Not Closed".¹ The story was written using Evelyn Case as its sole source; it checked no other sources, sought no opposing viewpoint, and repeated unverifiable slander against the trial's prime witness, Kelly Moffett. One of the central points of the story is this statement:

"Friends of Case and Moffett say she was very bitter over the break-up. They heard her say she was going to make Case's life a 'living hell.' Case would tell you from where he sits, behind bars and sentenced to life in prison without parole, that in that, she succeeded."

On the witness stand at his trial, Byron Case made a number of unverifiable statements about Kelly Moffett being his "traditional psychotic ex-girlfriend",² but made no claims and presented no evidence at any time during the trial that Moffett had threatened him in any such a manner, nor did he produce any witness to such a threat.

In fact, it is unlikely that there ever were "friends of Case and Moffett", as Case kept his relationship with Moffett separate from the rest of his life. Other than Anastasia, who did become friends with Moffett, none of Case's friends could testify that they knew her at all. The "friends" who were said by the Spectrum story to have alleged Moffet's "threat" never existed, as Case's web site soon rewrote the accusation to the effect that Moffett's threat had been made directly to Case, eliminating the need for corroborating witnesses, but leaving unexplained the change of story.

However, when pressed to explain why this threat was never documented and why it was not raised in court, Case and some of his supporters evaded the latter question and excused the lack of documentation thus:

"Unfortunately, we are unable to provide a document referencing this quote. This is a matter that would not have been documented in the public record, unless, perhaps, Byron was a suspect in the investigation before Kelly changed her story."

Case, having been one of the three people last seen with Anastasia on the night she died, having been interviewed twice by police (and having resisted and refused further interviews), and having already admitted that he knew he was a suspect in the murder,³,4 cannot reasonably claim now that he did not know he was a suspect "before Kelly changed her story". His story is a lie, plain and simple.

The truth is that Case was aware he was a suspect from the start, and that if Kelly Moffett had actually made such a threat to him when he was that vulnerable, he would have made a point of making sure everyone knew right away.

The truth is that Byron Case always made a point of holding Kelly Moffett apart from his other friends and acquaintances, and told them unverifiable stories about her when she was not present; he told his mother (among others) that Kelly's father was a violent alcoholic who beat her,⁵ but never once had Kelly confirm the story. Anastasia reported in her diary that when she first met Kelly that Case had told her Kelly was a "smack whore" at 13 and that he was trying to "rescue" her; Anastasia quickly came to disbelieve that story.

In short, no, Kelly Moffet made no such threat against Byron Case; the story that she did was entirely Case's own creation, believed and promulgated only by his most evangelical supporters and followers.