Byron Case

Before his arrest and conviction for murder, Case self-published a number of essays and fiction online. In 2007 while serving his sentence, he started to blog via MySpace,{{Cite news|last=Barton|first=Eric|url=https://www.pitch.com/news/article/20577393/this-murderer-needs-a-friend|title=This Murderer Needs a Friend|work=Kansas City Pitch|date=May 21, 2007|access-date=December 5, 2017|language=en}} however this was later taken down. In May 2011, several of Case's blog posts were republished in issue 27 of Meridian, the semi-annual journal of the University of Virginia.{{cite web |title=Contributor Search |url=http://uva.readmeridian.org/contribsearch.suphp?lname=Case&mtitle=&mgenre= |website=Meridian |access-date=June 12, 2019}} Case's first book was a hybrid work entitled The Pariah’s Syntax: Notes from an Innocent Man.

Case has been convicted of three felonies, Felony Stealing, committed in 1996 (guilty plea in 1998), First Degree Murder, and Armed Criminal Action, both committed in 1997 (conviction in 2002).

In 1998, Case pleaded guilty to a charge of Felony Stealing in Clay County, Missouri, receiving a suspended sentence and probation.{{cite news | last = McFarland | first = Darla | title = Defense says witness lied | newspaper = Independence Examiner | location = Independence, Missouri | date = May 2, 2002}}

On May 2, 2002, Case was convicted of first-degree murder{{cite news | last = Lambe | first = Joe| title = Jury finds Byron Case guilty of killing 18-year-old college student in 1997 | newspaper = Kansas City Star | location = Kansas City, Missouri | date = May 3, 2002}} for the shooting and killing of Anastasia Witbols Feugen, a former classmate 18 years of age and off and on again girl friend of his best friend Justin Carlton Bruton (who was considered a person of interest in Anastasia's death and who died of suicide shortly after), inside Lincoln Cemetery in Jackson County, Missouri, on the night of October 22, 1997.{{cite news | last = Kozlowski | first = Kim | title = Body of student found in cemetery| newspaper = Kansas City Star | location = Kansas City, Missouri | date = October 24, 1997}}{{Cite web|title=LOOKING DOWN THE BARREL: UNLOCKING THE TRUTH ZEROES IN ON A DISPUTED MURDER WEAPON|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2934628/unlocking-the-truth-byron-case-weapon/|url-status=dead|website=MTV News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923175134/http://www.mtv.com/news/2934628/unlocking-the-truth-byron-case-weapon/ |archive-date=September 23, 2016 }} Case maintained his innocence, but was found guilty on both counts. The judgment was based upon a single uncorroborated eyewitness testimony, his ex-girlfriend. On June 28, 2002, Case received concurrent sentences of life without parole,{{Cite news|last=Johnson|first=Allie|url=https://www.pitch.com/news/article/20613341/cemetery-plot|title=Cemetery Plot|work=Kansas City Pitch|date=May 16, 2002|access-date=December 5, 2017|language=en}}{{cite news | last = McFarland| first = Darla| title = Case gets life in prison| newspaper = Independence Examiner | location = Independence, Missouri | date = June 29, 2002}} and is currently an inmate of Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center.{{cite news |last1=Case |first1=Byron |title=The Surprisingly Nomadic Lives of Prisoners |url=https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/02/14/the-surprisingly-nomadic-lives-of-prisoners |work=The Marshall Project |date=15 February 2019}} Case has exhausted the appeals for his conviction{{cite news |last1=Donnelly |first1=Matthew Scott |title=Unlocking The Truth: Is This Man Behind Bars Because Of A Vengeful Ex? |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2928891/unlocking-the-truth-byron-case/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909174231/http://www.mtv.com/news/2928891/unlocking-the-truth-byron-case/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 9, 2016 |work=MTV News |date=July 9, 2016 |language=en}} and has written a Petition for Executive Clemency, Non-Capital Case to Missouri Governor Jay Nixon.{{Cite web|url=http://freebyroncase.com/what-went-wrong/documents/ByronPetition.pdf|title=Petition for Executive Clemency, Non-Capital Case by the Honorable Governor Jeremiah Nixon}}

Case's trial was the subject of one book in a series titled The Skeptical Juror{{Cite book|title=The Skeptical Juror and the Trial of Byron Case|last=Allen|first=J. Bennett|publisher=Allen & Allen Semiotics, Inc.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tr0JRAAACAAJ|year=2010|isbn=978-0984271603}} and was also featured in episodes of two television shows: Investigation Discovery's On the Case with Paula Zahn broadcast an episode titled "Betrayal and Regret" in 2014, and MTV's Unlocking the Truth covered the case in 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/tv-shows/on-the-case-with-paula-zahn/videos/betrayal-and-regret|title=Betrayal and Regret - On the Case with Paula Zahn {{!}} Investigation Discovery|website=www.investigationdiscovery.com|language=en-us|access-date=December 5, 2017}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/shows/unlocking-the-truth|title=Unlocking The Truth {{!}} Season 1 Episodes (TV Series) {{!}} MTV|website=MTV|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202002800/http://www.mtv.com/shows/unlocking-the-truth|archive-date=December 2, 2017|access-date=June 14, 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Young |first1=Sage |title='Unlocking The Truth' Finds Byron Case Behind Bars |url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/182481-is-byron-case-still-in-jail-unlocking-the-truth-investigates-his-murder-conviction |access-date=June 12, 2019 |work=Bustle |date=September 7, 2016 |language=en}} In 2021, the supporters of April Wilkens, an incarcerated woman in Oklahoma convicted for killing her abusive ex-fiancé Terry Carlton (Justin Carlton Bruton's uncle), released evidence dating back to 2008 that Terry Carlton and the Bruton/Carlton actually family believed that Justin Bruton killed Anastasia and then himself.{{Cite web|date=July 2, 2021|title=RE: APRIL'S CONNECTION TO BYRON CASE AND JUSTIN BRUTON.|url=https://aprilwilkensblog.wordpress.com/2021/07/02/re-aprils-connection-to-byron-case-and-justin-bruton/|url-status=live|website=Free April Wilkens|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117194927/https://aprilwilkensblog.wordpress.com/2021/07/02/re-aprils-connection-to-byron-case-and-justin-bruton/ |archive-date=November 17, 2021 }}{{Cite web|date=February 7, 2021|title=2 KILLINGS, 1 TULSA CAR DEALERSHIP FAMILY: APRIL WILKENS CONNECTION TO BYRON CASE|url=https://aprilwilkensblog.wordpress.com/2021/02/07/2-killings-1-tulsa-car-dealership-family-april-wilkens-connection-to-byron-case/|url-status=live|website=Free April Wilkens|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207215007/https://aprilwilkensblog.wordpress.com/2021/02/07/2-killings-1-tulsa-car-dealership-family-april-wilkens-connection-to-byron-case/ |archive-date=February 7, 2021 }} Terry used WitbolsFeugen's death to intimidate Wilkens, according to her legal documents.{{Cite web |date=July 2, 2021 |title=RE: APRIL'S CONNECTION TO BYRON CASE AND JUSTIN BRUTON. |url=https://aprilwilkensblog.wordpress.com/2021/07/02/re-aprils-connection-to-byron-case-and-justin-bruton/ |website=Free April Wilkens}}{{Cite web |date=February 7, 2021 |title=2 KILLINGS, 1 TULSA CAR DEALERSHIP FAMILY: APRIL WILKENS CONNECTION TO BYRON CASE |url=https://aprilwilkensblog.wordpress.com/2021/02/07/2-killings-1-tulsa-car-dealership-family-april-wilkens-connection-to-byron-case/ |website=Free April Wilkens}} This information was not allowed in court during her trial.{{Cite web |last=Panic Button |date=16 August 2022 |title=The Other Murder {{!}} 8 |url=https://panicbuttontheaprilwilkenscase.podbean.com/e/the-other-murder-8/}}

• April Wilkens

{{reflist}}

• http://freebyroncase.com/
• http://www.stasia.org/case_against/

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Category:Living people

Category:People from Lenexa, Kansas

Category:American male poets

Category:American people convicted of murder

Category:21st-century American poets

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:21st-century American male writers