In this correspondence, Case takes the offensive in the first paragraph, accusing Anastasia's father of a "selfish
attitude" towards his "mourning", cites his father's recent death, and mocks her father's grief.
He offers his explanation that "none of us expected" Anastasia to get out of the car and storm
away, while continuing to insist that this was typical behavior for her, and that said behavior had become "annoying".
Case then gives his timeframe for when they picked Anastasia up at the Dairy Queen.
Finally, Case asserts that he has done everything he can (which is to be taken to mean "everything he plans to do")
to help in the murder investigation, and takes a last shot at Anastasia's relationship with
her family and friends, while claiming that his own relationship with her was one of close friends and confidants.
Subject: Re: Father's concern about your reply
Date: Mon, 29 Dec 1997 22:38:12 -0600
From: Byron Case
To: Robert WitbolsFeugen
The unjustified spite that you and your family harbor toward myself and others involved wears thin my patience
and respect. Not that you care, but our recent dialogue has done nothing but serve to upset me, especially
considering my father's passing away on Christmas Eve ... one day before his birthday, and the act of vandalism which
caused me to be indefinitely without transportation. Your selfish attitude towards mourning shows that any attempts I
make to explain what has gone before are in vain. Simply because someone you care deeply for is gone, does not grant you
the right to impose your ill-conceived suspicions upon innocents. The universe, as they say, does not revolve around
your sadness. I shall answer your questions, but only because my fight against ignorance is not limited to the religious right.
>> You could have waited until she got to a lighted area
>> or to a phone, maybe in a couple of minutes she would
>> have cooled off. Yet, you seem unconcerned enough to
>> give it even the slightest hesitation and leave to
>> have some fun afterwards.
First off, you apparently fail to grasp this: none of us expected her to get out of the car. It was not the type
of situation in which one would have been able to do much about it even if it HAD crossed our minds to do so. (I
speak for everyone in the car at the time, simply because I believe our thoughts on the issue to have been similar)
As for being unconcerned, certainly. I personally wasn't terribly worried about her, simply because of what was
mentioned in the earlier E-mail about her outbursts having become a mere annoyance.
>> What did the four of you do for the hours preceding her
>> departure from the group?
There were not hours, but one single half-hour period of time during which time we were in her company. We did not
meet her at Mount Washington Cemetery, as originally planned, she called Justin from a Dairy Queen pay phone, and we left
the condominium at about six thirty. It took us about fifty minutes to get there ... do the math.
>> How did you show your concern for Anastasia at the time
>> of her departure?
Frankly, I didn't. As I mentioned before, it was simply an annoyance to everyone present at the time.
>> Is it just a coincidence that Anastasia's evening should
>> start and end at a cemetery and without a ride from and
>> to her home?
Yes.
>> What did you do with the time between Anastasia's death
>> and Justin's death to deserve the label 'closest friend'?
Nothing. Had anything productive actually been possible, I would have done it. I didn't find out about Anastasia
until a friend called me after the story aired on the news. The first thing I did after that was call Justin, who wasn't
home. I certainly don't appreciate the tone with which you use the words "closest friend". The next time someone close
to you is murdered, remind me to debunk your relationship (of which I know nothing) and see how much it hurts you.
I have questions for you as well. I have spoken with two of the people who acted as close
confidants to her after she moved out of Justin's, and both have noted that they are/were being given the cold
shoulder by the family. This is odd because those who had taunted, betrayed, and ignored her are being given not only
possessions by which to remember her, but also credit as being her "good friends". People who were there for
her when no one else would be ... people who consoled her when family wouldn't do ... people who could listen and
speak to her without fear of judgement on either side ... these are the ones you ignore and toss aside. I speak for
them, as well as myself, when I say that you have a very distorted view of your daughter's life.
Contemptuously,
Byron C. Case
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