2021-PRESENT

January 9, 2025

iHeart Media drops the first two episodes of the new season of its true-crime podcast The Real Killer. These ten episodes will focus entirely on Byron's case, including recorded interviews from the original homicide investigation as well as new ones conducted by the host, Leah Rothman. A new episode will drop every Thursday.

February 27, 2024

The Missouri Court of Appeals issues a two-paragraph denial of Byron's Motion to Recall the Mandate. His lawyers immediately begin adapting the issues from the motion for use in a habeas corpus petition.

February 6, 2024

An extensive front-page story by investigative journalist Katie Moore, focusing on the disputed existence of the Jackson County Prosecutors Office Conviction Integrity Unit, appears in The Kansas City Star. The article follows up on Ms. Moore's December story about Byron's motion to recall the trial court's mandate. It exposes the JCPO's CIU as being effectively nonexistent and points to CIUs around the country as examples of good law enforcement. Byron's entire legal team (Brian Russell, Nicole Gordon, Sean O'Brien, and Quinn O'Brien) is interviewed and photographed for the piece.

December 5, 2023

For the first time in more than a decade, Byron's case is back in court. His legal team has filed a motion to recall the mandate, detailing multiple ways in which the prosecution committed fraud on the trial court by withholding or otherwise concealing evidence, and knowingly allowed their star witness to lie on the stand. It's a 139-page document with hundreds of pages of appendices in support of the facts presented.

An article by journalist Katie Moore appears in The Kansas City Star that includes a history of Byron's case, a summary of the newly filed motion, and some information about Byron's prison life. Byron was interviewed, and several quotes from him also appear in the story.

October 4, 2022

The Supreme Court of Missouri hears arguments in the matter of Byron's formal complaint against Amy McGowan. It finds that there isn't enough evidence to establish a claim of professional misconduct on Ms. McGowan's part. Click here to read the November 9, 2022, letter from the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel

September 22, 2021

Responding to the bad news he received from the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole last week, Byron uses a blog post, over on pariahblog.com, to share his thoughts about being denied pardon after a decade of anxious anticipation.

August 31, 2021

After ten long years spent campaigning on all fronts to compel Missouri Governor Mike Parson to pardon Byron, Parson rejects our pleas for executive clemency. We're saddened, but not terribly surprised by the news. Governors rarely grant any form of executive clemency, pardons least of all.

Still, we had hoped that the facts of Byron's innocence, as Byron listed them in his application for executive clemency, as we present them in this site's detailed account of the case, and as John Allen breaks them down in his brutally honest new book, would convince the state's highest government official of the mistake made when a court wrongfully convicted the innocent Byron Case of first-degree murder and armed criminal action.

There are still many reasons to be hopeful. We're not giving up!

June 25, 2021

John Allen publishes a new book on Byron's case, Framed for Life, Volume 1. Looking deeply into the case of Anastasia WitbolsFeugen's death, the book reveals exactly how Byron ended up in prison. Mr. Allen previously wrote the Skeptical Juror series. The first title in that series was The Skeptical Juror and the Trial of Byron Case. Because of the new information Framed for Life presents, obtained through open-records requests, Mr. Allen says his previous book about the case is "obsolete."

Framed for Life exposes how the Jackson County Prosecutors Office didn't just know Kelly Moffett's testimony was a lie, they won Byron's wrongful conviction by manipulating case evidence and actively hiding the truth. With illustrations on every other page, the book supports its arguments very well, making a clear case for Byron's immediate release from prison.

Several copies of Framed for Life go out to investigative journalists and the Missouri Governor's Office. Its account of a crooked prosecutor violating the very laws she swore to uphold, and how that awful misconduct stole the freedom of an innocent young man, should raise at least a few eyebrows. Our hope is that it also sparks an investigation that helps win Byron his life back.

January 8, 2021

A slideshow of the Jackson County Sheriff's Department investigation of Anastasia's death, and how Byron found himself wrapped up in it, is now available for sharing. View this short presentation in Adobe Acrobat format now, then share the link and your thoughts about Byron's wrongful conviction on your social media!