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The Murder Book: A True Crime Podcast
Each week, The Murder Book will present unsolved cases, missing persons, notorious crimes, controversial cases, and serial killers, exploring details of the crime scenes and the murderer's childhood. Some episodes are translated into Spanish as well. The podcast is produced and hosted by Kiara Coyle.
The Murder Book: A True Crime Podcast
Unraveling the Columbine Tragedy: Stories of Deception, Survival, and Faith Part X
Did you know that the relentless efforts of Wayne Harris to help his son, Eric, began just 48 hours after Eric's arrest? Join us as we unravel the story of a father's desperate attempts to address his son's mental health challenges by seeking professional help from Dr. Kevin Albert. Despite these interventions, Eric's violent tendencies persisted, leading to a narrative that contrasts his path with Dylan's turbulent emotional journey. Explore how Wayne Harris's determination to clear his son's record through a Juvenile Diversion Program was overshadowed by the chilling reality of Eric's fixation on mass murder.
Discover the unsettling web of deception and missed warnings that could have altered the course of history. Insights from Judy and Randy Brown highlight the bureaucratic inaction that overlooked substantial evidence against Eric. We also delve into the profound grief experienced by Cassie's family and the poignant remarks from her pastor. By examining the personal letters found in her room, we shed light on Cassie's struggles and the broader implications of failed warnings, leaving lasting emotional scars.
Lastly, we bring to light the compelling stories of Cassie Bernal and Val Schnur. While Cassie's narrative of faith and martyrdom gained fame, Val's survival story remains less recognized, leading to feelings of community rejection. Misty Bernall's quest to honor her daughter's spiritual journey through a book unfolds amidst conflicting accounts, challenging public perceptions. With firsthand experiences shared by Emily Wyant, we navigate the complexities of truth and myth in the wake of the Columbine tragedy.
Welcome to the Murder Book. I'm your host, kiara, and this is Part 10 of Unraveling the Columbine Tragedy, part 10. Let's begin. Eric needed professional help. His father made that determination within 48 hours of his arrest. That determination, within 48 hours of his arrest, wayne picked up the stenopath that had sat idle for nine months and he began writing again like six pages, and in the to-do list he put see psychologist, see what's going on, determine treatment. And Wayne also gathered names and numbers for several agencies and services, added bulleted items to them like anger management, life management, professional therapist, mental health center, school counselor, juvenile assessment center, family adolescent team, juvenile assessment center, family adolescent team. And he also documented several conversations that he had with lawyers and he wrote the words probation, take any chances for reformation. And he also wrote the word diversion and underlined it. He checked out half a dozen candidates for therapists. The rates were between $100 to $150 an hour, so he settled on Dr Kevin Albert, who was a psychiatrist, and he made an appointment for February 16th. Wayne logged page after page of calls to cops and lawyers, prosecutors. He was working through all the options. The doing our diversion program sounded ideal because it was a year of counseling, community service, along with fines, fees and restitution. If Eric completed it successfully and kept clean for an additional year, the robbery would be expunged from his record. But the DA's office had to accept him. Eric told Dr Albert that he had anger problems and that depression was an issue and he had contemplated suicide. He apparently did not mention the bombs that he took to the park, and so Dr Albert started him on Soloft, which is a prescription antidepressant. Eric continued meeting with him bi-weekly and Wayne and Kathy began occasional sessions as well.
Speaker 1:At home the boys received similar punishments. Each was grounded for a month. They could not contact each other. Eric also had his computer access revoked, so what he did was that he went and worked, went to work on his pipe bombs. On February 15th, the day before Eric's first appointment with Dr Auburn, someone in the neighborhood stumbled upon his work. They found a duct tape, pvc pipe in the grass with a red fuse protruding, and it was in a suburban park in Jeffco. The Jeffco cops sent out an investigator from the bomb squad and sure enough, it was a homemade pipe bomb. Officers didn't find a whole lot of those around here, so they defused the bomb.
Speaker 1:Followed report Eric and Dylan. They didn't tell any of their friends about their arrest. They made excuses about their restrictions and then finally they began to come clean. Eric fessed up to a girl at Blackjack, where they work, and were traveled to Nate. Dykeman and Nate couldn't believe Dylan has been hiding it from him and after work leaked, eric told friends it was the most embarrassing moment of his life. Both boys were humiliated and Eric was raging mad.
Speaker 1:Dylan's response was more complex because three days after his arrest Dylan pictured himself on the road to happiness with Harriet. He sketched it out in his journal as a two-lane highway with a road sign of one shoulder and a dashed stripe down the center. His road led off to a majestic world of mountains with a giant heart guiding him onward and he wrote it's so great to love. He was a felon now, but he was ecstatic and he wrote half the page with drawings and exclamation I love her and she loves me. Anger boiled up with the ecstasy Dylan was beginning to see, at Eric's way, the real people and they call them gods are slaves to the majority of zombies. But we know and love being superior, either ill commit suicide or ill get with Harriet and it will be MBK for us my happiness, her happiness, nothing else matters. And this is what he wrote. So suicide or murder, the pattern solidified, homicidal thoughts, occasionally self-destruction. On every page he wrote also, and I'm going to quote If, by love's choice, Harriet didn't love me, I would slit my wrist and blow up Atlanta strapped to my neck. Atlanta was the name of one of the pipe bombs.
Speaker 1:Wayne Harris kept working the phones, but early March he secured an evaluation with Andrea Sanchez, a counselor with the Juvenile Diversion Program. Sanchez placed calls to Eric and Dylan to prescreen them. They passed. She sent a dozen forms, set up appointments and each boy would come to her office with a parent and a stack of paperwork, and both intake sessions would take place on March 19. For two months, wayne Harris worked to get his son into diversion to keep his record clean. Eric was busy too, because at that moment, while his father was doing all this work, he was detonating his first pipe bombs and he boldly posted the breakthrough on his website.
Speaker 1:Mfr blew big. Flipping thing was heart-pounding, gut-wrenching, brain-twitching, ground-moving, insanely cool. His brothers have not found a target yet, though. This time Eric was producing to kill. Content had been the undercurrent in his I hate rants. Now he made it explicit. Morons had nerve to judge him. He said to call him crazy just for envisioning mass murder. Empty morons standing in judgment. If you've got a problem with my thoughts, come tell me and I'll kill you. And then he posted in capital letters Dead people don't argue. God damn it. I am pissed. As Eric embraced murder.
Speaker 1:Dylan retreated After the arrest. He had the one brief outburst in his journal and then he dropped all mention of it. For nearly a year His focus shifted dramatically toward love and he wrote entire pages with 10-inch hearts surrounded by choirs of smaller fluttering hearts. Eric had no use for love Sex maybe. He shared none of Dylan's desires for truth, beauty or love. Eric's only internal struggle concerned which stupid bastard was more deserving of his wrath.
Speaker 1:Eric's dreams changed after his arrest. Human extinction was still his aim. After his arrest, human extinction was still his aim, but for the first time he made the leap from observer to enforcer. He posted on his website, quote I don't care if I live or die in the shootout, all I want to do is kill and injure as many of you pricks as I can. End, quote but it was too much for Dylan. Kill Everything Apparently not. He made a stunning move behind Eric's back. He told the worst possible person, brooks Brown.
Speaker 1:Brooks knew about the petty vandalism and his parents saw Eric as a young criminal, but they had no idea how serious it was. On the way to class, dylan handed Brooks a scrap of paper. Just one line was written on it a web address, and Dylan said I think you should take a look at this tonight. And Brooks said anything special. And he said well, it's Eric's website, you need to see it and you can tell Eric. I give it to you. So Brooks pulled up the site that night and he saw Eric threatening to kill people. He threatened to kill Brooks personally in three different places. Dylan leaked the URL to Brooks the day before their admission interviews for the diversion program. If Brooks told his parents and Dylan knew he told Judy everything the Browns would go straight to the cops and Eric would be rejected and imprisoned for a felony. Dylan probably would be too. He took that chance. Brooks did tell his mom and Randy and Judy called the cops. Jeffco investigators came out that night and they follow up the file reports but they did not alert the DA's office.
Speaker 1:Eric and Dylan proceeded into diversion. Only one parent was required at the diversion intake meeting. So Tom and Sue Klebold both attended because they considered it important. They filled out an eight-page questionnaire about Dylan. He did the same and then Andrea Sanchez walked them through the results. The Klebolds were in for a few surprises.
Speaker 1:Dylan copped two 5 for 6 drunken bouts, starting at age 15, and they were not aware of all of it. Apparently they were unaware. His nickname was Vodka. Dylan claimed he had quit drinking. He didn't like the taste and said it wasn't worth it. He had tried pot too and rejected it for the same reasons. His parents were stunned about marijuana too. Tom and Sue were candid and it was the only ethical course. It was the only ethical course. They wrote a line about disrespecting authority figures and then they crossed it out and then said what teachers had reported, that he didn't listen or take correction. Well, eric was more cautious. He revealed just enough to appear confessional. He said he had tasted alcohol three times, he had never gotten drunk and had given it up for good. He wrote exactly what a parent wanted to hear. He understood how his parents thought and in no time he had read Andrew Sanchez and in the first meeting he turned an admission into a virtue. He lied about part two he claimed he had no interest. The alcohol admission gave the claim credits.
Speaker 1:Wayne and Kathy both attended their session as well. Their surprise came in the mental health section On a checklist of 30 potential problem areas they marked three boxes anger, depression and suicidal thoughts. Eric had told them about those three and he discussed them with Dr Albert. He was getting help. Everyone agreed that Soloft was helping too. It was common for an adolescent to check several boxes. Eric picked 14. He marked virtually everything related to distrust or aggression. He checked jealousy, anxiety, suspiciousness, authority figures, temper racing thoughts, obsessive thoughts, mood swings, disorganized thoughts. He skipped suicidal thoughts but he checked homicidal thoughts.
Speaker 1:Wayne and Kathy worry about Eric suppressing his anger. They admitted that he would blow up now and then lashing out verbally, hitting an object. He never tried it in front of his dad but they have gotten reports back from work and school. It didn't happen often but they were concerned. Eric responded well to discipline. They have control his behavior. But how could they contain his moods? When he really got mad Eric said he would punch a wall. He said that he had thought about suicide, never seriously, mostly out of anger. He got angry all the time, he said, and almost anything he didn't like. So the partial confession was his favorite con of all. He could turn over half his cards and still pull off the bluff.
Speaker 1:He posted his actual thoughts about the legal system on his website at around the same time and this is what he wrote, quote my belief is that if I say something, it goes. I am the law. If you don't like it, you die. End quote. He described going to some random downtown area in some big city, blowing up and shooting up everything he could. He assured us that he would feel no remorse, no sorrow, no shame. Yet there he sat, submitting. He bent to their will. He filled out the degrading form. Laughing on their inside was insufficient. He would make them pay. Miss Sanchez worried about the boy's failure to accept full responsibility. Eric was sticking to his story that the break-in was Dylan's fault. Dylan thought the whole thing was a little overblown. Ms Sanchez noted her reservations but recommended them for enrollment. The final decision was up to the court.
Speaker 1:A week later, on March 25th, eric and Dylan stood before Jeffco magistrate John DeVita during a joint hearing. Their father stood beside them and that impressed DeVita. Most of the juveniles appear alone or with just a mom, but having the dads present. That was a good sign and these dads appeared to be taking control of the situation. Magistrate DeVita was impressed by the way the boys presented themselves Dressed up, well-behaved, differential, yes, your Honor, no, your Honor. They respected the court and its show. Devita pecked Dylan as well. The B's and C's on his report card were a joke and DeVita told him I bet you're an A student if you put that brainpower to the paperwork. Devita gave them a lecture and then he approved them for diversion. This pair was going to do just fine, he thought.
Speaker 1:Forty months later, after the murders, devita lamented how convincing the boys had been and he said, quote what's mind-boggling is the amount of deception, the ease of their deception, the coolness of their deception. End quote Judy and Randy Brown kept calling the cops and they were sure Brooks was in danger. Their other son was so scared he slept with a baseball bat. After two weeks of their pestering, the case was bumped up to investigator John Hicks, who met with Julie On March 31st. He sat down with two other investigators, mike Guerra and Glenn Grove, to discuss it. The situation looked pretty bad, bad enough for investigator Guerra to type out a two-page affidavit for a search warrant duly sworn upon.
Speaker 1:Oath Ngera did good work. In the affidavit he dramatically outlined all the crucial elements of the case against this kid. He detailed the specificity of Eric's plan, his methods and his ordinance. He quoted liberally from Eric's website to provide proof. But, most important, guerra drew the connection to physical evidence. A bomb matching dose and Eric's descriptions had recently been discovered near his home. The Harris house was to be searched for any literal turnouts or physical material related to the construction of explosives, as well as all email correspondence, presumably to include the website.
Speaker 1:The affidavit was convincing. It was filed. It was not signed or taken before a judge. It was not acted upon in any way. A plausible explanation for inaction was never provided. Years later one official said Guerra was drawn away to another case and when he returned the affidavit was as written, lacked the timeliness required to take it to the judge.
Speaker 1:The Brown said that Investigator Hicks also knew about Eric's arrest for the van breaking. There was no indication that he or anyone from the Sheriff's Department ever relayed their damning evidence about Eric to the diversion officers. Magistrate DeVito was provided no indication before he approved them for the program. Senior officials from the Sheriff's Department, the DA's office, the criminal court were unaware of one another's actions concerning Eric, but Eric apparently knew what they were all up to. Eric got wind that the Browns were on to him so he took his website down for a while. There's no indication he ever learned of Dylan's betrayal. There's no sign that he suspected Eric was getting serious about his plans now and he would not risk posting anything about them on the web again. He pulled out a spiral notebook and began a journal For the next year. He would record his progress toward the attack and thoroughly explain his motives. We'll be right back.
Speaker 1:Let's talk a little bit about one of the victims' funeral. Her name Cassie. Her pastor proclaimed at her funeral that she was going to be in the Martyrs' Hall of Fame. This pastor predicted that Cassie could become the first officially designated Protestant martyr since the 16th century and he said that that was quite extraordinary, that that was quite extraordinary. In the Weekly Standard she was compared to the 3rd century martyrs Perpetua and Felicity and the tales of the thousands of early Christians who went joyously to their death in the Roman Colosseums to their death in the Roman Colosseums. And he foresaw the person that wrote the article foresaw a generation of kids rising up to recast our cultural landscape, he said, and he later described a national change of heart, trembling on the cusp of breaking forth.
Speaker 1:And it was a great story because it gave the parents, brad and Misty, relief. The enemy had taken on their little girl before and in the first round the enemy had won. It had been position, pure and simple. And that's how Misty, the mother, saw it. The enemy had crept into her house a decade earlier but remained hidden until the winter of 1996. She discovered his presence just before Christmas. She had just quit her job as a financial analyst at Lockheed Martin in order to be a better full-time mom, and this had been a tough transition.
Speaker 1:And Misty went looking for a Bible for inspiration and she found it in her daughter, cassie's room. But she also found a stack of letters that were disturbing. Also found a stack of letters that were disturbing and the letters documented a vigorous correspondence between Cassie and a close friend and the friend was complaining about a teacher and then suggested want to help me murder her. And the pages were filled with hardcore sex talk, occult imagery, magic spells and they hammer a persistent refrain kill your parents, make those scumbags pay for your suffering. Murder is the answer to all of your problems. So Misty found only the friends' letters, but they suggested a receptive audience. Black cocktails, vampires appear throughout and descriptions. There were even illustrations. A teacher was shown stabbed with butcher knives, lying to her own blood in her own blood, and figures labeled Ma and Pa were hung by their intestines and there were daggers, bloody daggers, that were lodged in their chest, and there was even a gravestone inscribed Pa and Ma Barnau so mystical.
Speaker 1:Brad, her husband and the sheriff. And they waited for Cassie to come home. First Cassie tried to downplay the letters and then she got angry and she hated them. She said she admitted to writing letters in kind. She screamed, she said she would run away, she threatened to kill herself. Reverend Dave McPherson, the youth pastor at West Bowes, counseled Brad and Misty to get tough and he told them you need to cut her phone, lock the door, pull her out of school, don't let her out of the house without supervision. And that's what they did. They transferred Cassie to a private school. They let her leave the house only for youth group at the church. They let her leave the house only for youth group at the church.
Speaker 1:There was a struggle that followed, because she despised them at first and she would threaten to run away and launch into wild graphic screaming fits. Cassie caught her wrist, she bludgeoned her skull. She would lock herself in the bathroom and bash her head against the sink counter alone in her bedroom. She beat it against the wall with her family. She was sullen and spoke in monosyllables.
Speaker 1:Cassie described the ordeal in a notebook her parents found after her death and she talks about. She says I cannot explain in words how much I hurt. I didn't know how to deal with this hurt, so I physically hurt myself. Thoughts of suicide obsessed me for days, but I was too frightened to actually do it. So I compromised by scratching my hands and wrists with a sharp metal file until I bled. It only hurt for the first couple of minutes, then I went numb and afterwards, however, it stung very badly, which I thought I deserved anyway.
Speaker 1:So suddenly, one night, three months later, casey shook the enemy free. Casey shook the enemy free and it was after sunset at a youth group praise and and worship service in the Rocky Mountains. Cassie got caught up in the music and suddenly broke down crying and she started blubbering hysterically to a friend who couldn't make out half of what she said. So when the mother, misty, picked her up from the retreat, cassie rushed up, hugged her and said Mom, I have changed. I have totally changed. Brad and Misty were skeptical at first, but the change took. She left that angry, vengeful, bitter young girl and came back brand new.
Speaker 1:After the conversion, cassie attended youth ministry, supported a WWJD bracelet I think that's what it means. What would Jesus do, I think Bracelet volunteer for a program that helped ex-convicts in Denver. And the following fall Brad and Misty allowed her to transfer to Columbine High School, but she struggled with social pressures right up to her last days. She did not attend prom. That last weekend. She did not believe that kids liked her. The day before Cassie was killed, the leaders of her youth group gathered for a staff meeting and one of the items on the agenda was how do we get Cassie to fit in better? Brennan Misty Barnard was forthcoming about Cassie's history.
Speaker 1:A few weeks after the massacre. It was widely reported in the media. But then two other martyr stories surfaced. There was Valene Schnur's account, who was very similar to Cassie's, except for the chronology and the outcome. Val was shot before her exchange about God. Dylan pointed his shotgun under her table and fired several rapid bursts and this is when Lauren Thompson got killed and it injured Vow and another girl. Vow was riddled with shotgun pellets up and down her arms and torso and Dylan walked away and Val dropped to her knees, then her hands, and there was blood streaming out of 34 separate wounds that she had and she started praying oh my God, oh my God, don't let me die. And Dylan turned around and said God, do you believe in God? And she wavered and maybe she should not say something, but she did. She would say yes, I believe in God. And he asked why? And she said because I believe and my parents brought me up that way. Dylan reloaded but something distracted him and he walked off and Val then called for shelter. Once she made it out, val was loaded into an ambulance, transported to St Anthony's in Russia to surgery, and her parents, mark and Shari, were waiting for her when she came to and Val started blurting out what had happened almost immediately. She was able to make a full recovery and her story never buried.
Speaker 1:Numerous witnesses corroborated her account. Baal's story emerged at the same time as Cassie's, the afternoon of the attack. It took a week longer to reach the media and it never caused much of a ripple there, and it never caused much of a ripple there. If the timing had been different, bob might have been an evangelical hero the brave girl who felt the brunt of a shotgun blast and still stood up for her Redeemer. She proclaimed her faith and he saved her. What a message of hope that would have been, and the hero would have been alive to spread the good news.
Speaker 1:But it didn't work out that way. Val was seen more often as an usurper. People thought that she was a copycat and they thought that she was just following the bandwagon. A lot of people just didn't believe her story. The bigger Cassie's fame grew, the more Val was rejected. An evangelical youth rally was particularly disturbing. She told her story to a crowd gathered to honor Cassie and Rachel Scott and she got a very cold reception. Val's parents were supportive but it wore on her. They said you know it gets frustrating because you know in your heart where you were and what you said, and then people doubt you, and that's what bothers me the most.
Speaker 1:Cassie's fame, on the other hand, grew. Reverend Kirsten embarked on a national speaking tour to spread the good news and Kristen embarked on a national speaking tour to spread the good news. By summer's end the local youth group Revival Generation had blossomed from a few local chapters to an organization with offices in all 50 states. The organizer put on national touring shows with Columbine High survivors. Cassie's name sent teenage girls storming to the stage. Fame could be intoxicating and brad and misty were already celebrities in the world. Blessed parents of the martyr, they resisted the temptation and carried on as humbly as before.
Speaker 1:Emily wyant watching disbelief as the story mushroomed and she asked her mother why are they saying that Emily had been under the table with Cassie? They were facing each other. Emily was looking into Cassie's eyes when Eric fired his shotgun. Emily knew exactly what had happened. Emily was supposed to be in science class when the shooting happened, but they had a test schedule and because she had missed class the day before, she wasn't ready. Her teacher sent her down to the library to look over her notes. She pulled up a seat by the window at a table with just one girl, cassie Bernal, who was studying Macbeth. They heard some commotion outside and some kids came to the window to check it out, but it dissipated. Emily stood up for a look, saw a kid running across the soccer field and sat down returning to her notes. A few minutes later, patty Nielsen ran in screaming and ordered everyone to get down.
Speaker 1:Cassie and Emily got under the table and tried to barricade themselves in by pulling some chairs around their tiny perimeter. They made them feel a little safer. Cassie crouched by the window side of the table looking in toward the room, and Emily got down at the other end, facing Cassie two feet away. They could keep in contact with each other that way and collectively maintain a view of the whole room. The chairs created a lot of blind spots, but the girls were not about to move then. That was the only protection they had.
Speaker 1:Emily heard shots coming from down the hallway, one at a time, not in bursts. They were getting closer. The doors opened and she heard them coming. They were shooting, talking back and forth and shouting stuff like who wants to be killed next. Emily looked over her shoulder to watch. She saw a kid near the counter jump or go down. The killers walked around a lot taunting and shooting and Emily got a good look at them. She had never noticed them before she was a sophomore but was sure she could pick them out again if she ever saw them again. The girls whispered back and forth. Dear God, dear God, why is this happening? And Cassie said I just want to go home. And Emily's answer I know we all want to get out of here.
Speaker 1:Between exchanges, cassie prayed very quietly. Eric and Dylan passed by several times, but Emily never expected one of them to come under the table and shoot. Eric stopped at their table at Cassie's end. Emily could see his legs and his boots pointing directly at the right side of Cassie's face. Cassie didn't turn. Emily didn't have to. She was facing perpendicular to Eric's stance so she could look straight at Cassie and see Eric just to her left. At the same time, eric slammed his hand on the table and then squatted halfway down for a look and he said peekaboo.
Speaker 1:Eric pulled his shotgun under the table rim as he came down. He didn't pause long or even stoop down far enough for Emily to see his face. She saw the saw-off gun barrel. The opening was huge. She looked into Cassie's brown eyes. Cassie was still praying.
Speaker 1:There was no time for words between them and Eric shot Cassie in the head. Everything was muffled. Then the blast was so loud it temporarily blew out most of Emily's hearing. Loud. It temporarily blew out most of Emily's hearing. The fire alarm had been unbearably loud, but now she could barely hear it. She could see the light flashing out in the hallway. Eric's legs turned. Brie Pasquale was sitting there right out in the open, a few steps away, beside the next table over. It had been jammed with kids when she got there. She couldn't fit, so she sat down next to it on the floor.
Speaker 1:Bree was a bit farther from Cassie than Emily, the next closest person, but she had a wider view. She had also seen Eric walk up with the shotgun in his right hand, slap Cassie's table twice with his left and say peekaboo. He squatted down, balancing on the balls of his feet, still holding on to the top tabletop with his free hand. Cassie looked desperate, holding her hands up against the size of her face. Eric poked the shotgun under and fired. Not a word. Eric was sloppy with that shot A one-hander and an awkward half squat. The shotgun kicked back and the butt nailed him in the face. He broke his nose sometime during the attack and that's the moment investigators believe it happened.
Speaker 1:Eric had his back to Bree so she couldn't see the gun hit his nose, but she watched him jump back on the pump handle and eject a red shell casing. It dropped the floor. She looked under the table. Cassie was down, blood soaking into the shoulder of her light green shirt. Emily appeared unhurt.
Speaker 1:Bree was exposed just a few feet from Eric, but she couldn't take it anymore. She laid down and asked the boy beside her, who was just barely under the table, to hold her hand. He did. Bree was terrified. She did not take her eyes off Eric. He stood up after rejecting the round and turned to face her. He took a step or two toward her, squatted down again and laid the shotgun across his thighs. Blood was pouring out of his nostrils and he yelled I hit myself in the face. He was looking at her but calling out to Dylan.
Speaker 1:Eric took hold of the gun again and pointed it in Bree's direction. He waved it back and forth in a sweeping motion. He could shoot anyone he wanted and it came to rest on her. That's when Dylan's gun went off. Bree heard him laugh and make a joke about what he had done. When she looked back at Eric, he was staring her straight on the face and Eric asked do you want to die? She said no. He asked once more and she pleaded for him to spare her. No, and she pleaded for him to spare her. No, no, no, no, no. And Eric seemed to enjoy that. The exchange went on and on. He kept the gun right to her head the whole time. She said don't shoot me, I don't want to die. Finally Eric let out a big laugh and he told her everyone is going to die. And Dylan yelled shoot her. And Eric replied no, we're going to blow up the school anyway. Then something distracted him. He walked away and continued killing.
Speaker 1:Bree looked back at Cassie's table. The other girl, emily, was on her knees now still facing Cassie's crumpled body. There was blood everywhere, scare, and Brie kept an eye on that girl. And when the explosions moved out into the hallway, brie figured the killers had gone and she called to the girl to come join her group. But Emily couldn't hear much. But Brie noticed that all she was doing was biting her hands. So Brie started waving her hands and Emily finally saw her and crawled over. She was not about to stand up, so she sat next to Brie and leaned against some bookshelves. Time got blurry for Emily then. Later she couldn't recall how long she had sat there.
Speaker 1:Emily and Bree knew Cassie never got a chance to speak. They gave detailed accounts to investigators. Bree's ran 15 pages single-spaced, but the police reports would remain sealed for a year and a half. The 911 tape proved conclusively that they were correct. Other of the murders was played for families but withheld from the public as too gruesome.
Speaker 1:Emily and Bree waited for the truth to come out. Emily Wyans was sad and she went to counseling every day. April 20th had been horrible and now she was saddled with a moral dilemma. She did not want to hurt the Bernals. Nor did she want to embarrass herself by shattering Cassie's myth because the whole thing had gotten so big so fast. But by keeping quiet Emily felt she was contributing to a lie. So she felt that she was in a tough position. Emily had told the cops, but they were not sharing much with the media anymore Definitely not that bunch of Emily wanted to go public, but her parents were afraid the martyrdom had turned into a religious movement.
Speaker 1:Taking that on could be risky. She didn't know the ramifications that could come afterwards. She just she was just thinking about. I want to tell the truth. Her parents were torn too. They wanted the truth to come out, but not at the expense of their daughter. Emily had already faced more than any child should and this might be too much, don't do anything drastic, her parents advised. It's a wonderful memory for Cassie's family. Let's not aggravate anything.
Speaker 1:In early May the phone rang and it was the Rocky Mountain News. Dan Lusatherd was one of the best investigative reporters in the city and he was sorting out exactly what happened in the library. And they were tracking down all the library's survivors and most were cooperating. Emily's parents were worried because her situation was different. The reporter showed the Wyans some of the maps and timelines they were building and the family was impressed and the team seemed conscientious. The work looks like it was very thorough and detailed. So the family agreed to talk and Emily would tell her story and the Rocky could quote her but not identify her by name and her mother said we didn't want her to be some national scoundrel. So after the interview Emily was glad she had participated and she had. She felt a relief to get that off her chest so she waited for the story.
Speaker 1:The Rocky editors felt they needed more because it could get ugly. They wanted somebody on the record. Emily kept waiting and her frustration grew. The Rocky Mountain News was waiting too. They had conducted their investigation and had an incredible story to tell. Much of the public perception about Columbine was wrong. They had the truth. They were going to debunk all the myths, including Jock's, goth's, the Trench Co Mafia and Cassie's murder. All they needed was a news peg. The story would travel much further if they timed it right. They were waiting for Jeffco to finish its final report.
Speaker 1:A week or two before the release, the Rocky planned to stun the public with surprising revelations. It was a good strategy. Misty Bernard had been hit hard. Telling Cassie's story made it more bearable. Someone suggested a book, so Reverend McPherson introduced her to an editor at the tiny Christian publisher named Plow. Misty was apprehensive at first because profiting of Cassie was the last thing on her mind, but she had two terrific stories to tell. Cassie's long fight for spiritual survival would be the primary focus and her gunpoint proclamation would provide the hook. A deal was struck in late May and it would be called she said yes the unlikely martyrdom of Cassie Bernal. The family had no idea that Rocky was or had discovered that that title was untrue. Misty, who had gone back to work at Lockheed Martin as a statistician, would take a leave of absence to write the story. To reduce expenses, misty agreed to forego an advance in lieu of a higher royalty rate. Plough also agreed to set up a charity in Casey's name for some of its proceeds. Plough Publishing foresaw its first bestseller and it planned a first printing of 100,000 copies, more than seven times larger than its previous record.
Speaker 1:On May 25, something unexpected happened. Police opened the school up so families of the library victims could walk through the scene, and this served two functions Victims could face the crime scene with their loved ones, and revisiting the room might jar loose memories or clarify confusion. Craig Scott, who had initiated the Cassie story, came through with several family members. He stopped where he had hidden and he retold his story to his dad. A senior detective listened. Craig had sat extremely close to Cassie, just one table away facing hers, but when he described her murder he pointed in the opposite direction. It happened at one of the two tables near the interior, he said, which was exactly where Val had been. When a detective said Cassie had not been in that area, craig insisted and he pointed to the closest tables to Val's and said well, she was up there then and the detective said no, and Craig got agitated and he said she was somewhere over there. He said and he pointed again to her Val's table. I know that for a fact and detectives explained the mistake. So Craig got sick. The detective walked him out and Craig sat down in the empty corridor to collect himself and he apologized for getting ill and he was okay now but he would wait for his family out there because he didn't want to go back to the library.
Speaker 1:Library In the meantime friends of the Bernals said that the dad, brad, was struggling much more than the wife. Brad looked broken. Misty took Greg Solas and the book she was writing because it gave her purpose. It gave meaning to Cassie's death. Investigators heard about the book deal and they decided that they owe it to Misty to alert her to the truth. So in June lead investigator Kate Baton and another detective went to see her. Misty described the meeting this way, quote they say don't stop doing the book. We just wanted to let you know that there are different accounts coming out of the library. End, quote Baton said she encouraged Misty to continue with the book, but without the martyr incident. Cassie's transformational story sounded wonderful, baton said. She made the details of Cassie's murder clear and later played the 911 tape for Brad and Misty.
Speaker 1:Misty and her Plough editor, chris Zimmerman were concerned, they went back to their witnesses Three witnesses stuck by their story that it was Cassie. Good enough, the martyr scene was going to be a small part of the book anyway. Misty wanted to focus on Cassie overcoming her own demons. Misty lived up to her word. That was the book she wrote. She described Cassie as a selfish and stubborn on occasion known to behave like a spoiled two-year-old. Misty also agreed to run a disclaimer opposite the table of contents. Misty also agreed to run a disclaimer opposite the table of contents. It referred to varying or different recollections and stated that the precise chronology, including the exact details of Cassie's death, may never be known.
Speaker 1:Emily Wine was getting more apprehensive. Her parents continued urging caution. They had a dinner with the Bernals. Brad and Misty asked Emily if she had heard the exchange, and Emily was a bit shy about answering, but she said no. Cindy Wyant felt that Emily had made herself clear, but afterward the Bernals recalled no revelation. Cindy later surmised that they have taken Emily's response to mean she didn't remember anything. Vosner's family was uneasy too. Investigators had briefed them on the evidence and told them about Craig Scott's discovery in the library. Val and her parents wondered which was worse hurting the Bernals or keeping quiet. So they also went to dinner with the Bernals and everyone felt better after that. Brad and Misty seemed sincere and utterly distraught with pain.
Speaker 1:The Snurs were less understanding with the publisher. The editor attended the dinner and Shari asked him to slow down. Her husband followed up with an email and he says if you go ahead and publish the book, just be careful. There's a lot of conflicted information out there. He suggested that Plough delayed publication until the authorities issued the report, but Plough publications declined. In July the Wall Street Journal ran a prominent story titled Marketing a Columbine Martyr. The publishing house was obscured but Zimmerman had called in a team of heavy hitters For public relations. The firm hired the New York team that had handled Monica Lewinsky's book. Publication was two months away and Misty had already been booked for the Today Show in 2020. The William Morris Agency was shopping the film rights around. A movie was never made. An agent there had sold book club rights to a unit of Random House. He said he was marketing virtually everything you can exploit, but he said I mean that in a positive way. Thank you for listening to the Murder Book. Have a great week.
