AUGUST 17, 2016
MTV's airs the premiere of its new docuseries, Unlocking the Truth, fronted by Ryan Ferguson, a man wrongfully imprisoned for nearly ten years.. Byron's story was chosen as one of three wrongful conviction cases profiled within its first season. Learn more about the show and its mission here. * * * DECEMBER 12, 2013 Podcaster Samuel House interviews Byron on his half-hour show, The Intended Life. Byron discusses writing, creativity and reads from his book, The Pariah's Syntax. The show is archived here. * * * NOVEMBER 20, 2013 Podcaster John Darlington interviews Byron for a second time on John Talk Radio. The two discuss Byron's book and the latest activity in the case. The show is archived here. * * * SEPTEMBER 17, 2013 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: La Grande, OR A Missouri man convicted of murder and sentenced to life without the possibility for parole, published his first book today with an independent Oregon-based press. Published by redbat books, The Pariah's Syntax: Notes from an Innocent Man is a collection of personal essays and poems written by Byron Case during his confinement at Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron, MO. Although the imprisoned writer's work has been published in literary journals, magazines, and anthologies, The Pariah's Syntax is the first book to list Case's name as its author. Case, now 34, was convicted in 2002 of first-degree murder and armed criminal action for the death of his friend, Anastasia WitbolsFeugen. Byron and Anastasia were both 18 years old at the time of the crime; a shooting that took place at a Blue Summit cemetery in Missouri on October 23, 1997. Anastasia's boyfriend, 20-year-old Justin Bruton, was also Case's best friend. He shot himself later that same day. In a pending application for pardon, Case maintains his innocence, asking Governor Jay Nixon to free him on the basis of exculpatory forensics and information withheld from the jury during his trial. That application develops a theory originally held by Jackson County Sheriff's Department investigators—that Bruton killed WitbolsFeugen as part of a murder-suicide. An editorial on the St. Louis news website stltoday.com ("Why hasn't Gov. Jay Nixon used his power to pardon?" April 15, 2013) indicates that Case is among more than 2,000 applicants for executive clemency—pardons, commutations, and remissions of fines—now awaiting a decision by Governor Nixon. Pardons are rarely granted. Case's supporters (centralized online at freebyroncase.com) are currently raising funds to mount an appeal on the basis of newly discovered evidence they say can exonerate Case. In addition to organizing the "Break for Justice" benefit pool tournament earlier this year, along with the ongoing sales of "Free Byron Case" T-shirts, those campaigning for Case's freedom report that all royalties of The Pariah's Syntax will go toward the author's legal expenses. The Pariah's Syntax is available through the redbat books website (redbatbooks.com), as well as Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com and the Ingram Distribution Network. *FOR QUESTIONS SPECIFIC TO THE PUBLICATION OF THE PARIAH'S SYNTAX, CONTACT KRISTIN SUMMERS AT [email protected] OR (541) 962-7176. **FOR QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FREE BYRON CASE CAMPAIGN, OR TO REQUEST A TELEPHONE INTERVIEW WITH BYRON, CONTACT [email protected] * * * FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TO PITCH.COM: Missouri—September 17, 2013 "In prison you box yourself in to survive," writes Byron Case in "When Justice Fails," an essay from his debut collection, The Pariah's Syntax: Notes from an Innocent Man, published today by redbat books. Case, now 34, knows about survival in prison. He's spent the past twelve years confined at Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron, where he is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the October, 1997 cemetery murder of his friend Anastasia WitbolsFeugen. Writing has kept him busy in purgatory. "I was a thin twenty-two-year old, hardly a paragon of masculinity," Case writes of his arrival in prison. "[I was] more at home with the pseudo-intellectual discussions at my local coffee hole than with the unchecked barbarism on the inner-city streets." But in a sense, he was accustomed to being an outsider. Before his 2001 arrest and subsequent trial, Case frequented Westport coffeehouses where his all-black wardrobe and guy-liner declared his comfort with oddball status. There's been a lot of discussion about what Case refers to in The Pariah's Syntax as his "androgynous, post apocalyptic-funeral aesthetic." Under oath, the ex-girlfriend, whose accusation prompted the charges for 18-year-old WitbolsFeugen's murder, associated Case's dark clothing and affinity for goth bands with what she said was a sinister desire to kill someone. Prosecutors, too, repeatedly spoke at trial about the black trench coat Case was wearing on the last night of WitbolsFeugen's life. Case doesn't shy from the subject. In one of his book's essays, "Alone in the Dark," he explores his reasons for cultivating this monochromatic dress code. His essay concludes, "It's funny: it took me almost twenty years to figure out that clothes don't necessarily define the wearer, which was exactly the lesson I spent my persecuted youth wishing everyone else would hurry up and learn." Through the forty autobiographical essays and poems that make up The Pariah's Syntax, Case reveals his unconventional life in increments, beginning with a handful of tender accounts of his childhood spent traveling with globetrotting parents, then moving on to tales of absurdist teenage shenanigans (in one, "A Casual Pitchforking," we learn at last how that chicken came to be impaled on the hood of his old Chrysler, as mentioned in the May 16, 2002, "Pitch" profile of Case, "Cemetery Plot"). These contrast starkly with his vivid descriptions of prison existence. The book's second half includes witty observations on the bustling penitentiary cigarette trade, offers bittersweet meditations on the lure of nostalgia, and evidences Case's steadfast refusal to accept lifelong imprisonment as his fate: "You downplay hope for fear of failure (hope not being hope until all grounds for hope are gone), but it's irrepressible and, so, still there as appeals go out and denials come in. Each time the courts deny you, you look ahead to next time, like a runner crashing through hurdles, failing but determined. You write brave letters full of bromide like, 'Better luck next time; justice must prevail!' " "The Pitch" mentioned Case's writings once before, reporting on a MySpace page he maintained, by proxy, from the confines of his prison cell ("This Murderer Needs a Friend," May 21, 2007). The blog from which a few pieces in The Pariah's Syntax are reprinted got its start on that social network. His current web presence has its own domain, pariahblog.com where he expounds on his preoccupation, reviews the books he reads, shares his poetry, and links to some of the anthologies and literary journals that have published his writings in print form. In his book's introduction and acknowledgments, Case credits a former cellmate, now living free, for initially setting him up with an online platform. But is isn't just prison pals who stand by Case's side. For years, free-world supporters have remained vocal about what they insist is a miscarriage of justice. Author Davy Rothbart, editor of FOUND Magazine and frequent contributor to NPR's This American Life, tells the story of his friendship with Case in "The Strongest Man in the World," an essay from his own recently published collection, My Heart Is an Idiot. (Rothbart's December 2012 "Pitch" interview about My Heart and his thoughts on Case's conviction can be found at pitch.com.) A book about the legal aftermath of the crime, The Skeptical Juror and the Trial of Byron Case, by J. Bennett Allen, cast fresh doubts on what Case's detractors believe to be the settled matter of his guilt. The website freebyroncase.com also reveals a growing community of people campaigning for Case's freedom. With the publication of The Pariah's Syntax, the condemned man's own voice gains a boost in volume. Curiously, though, Case doesn't use his book as a soapbox. Beyond its subtitle, Notes from an Innocent Man, the author doesn't seize the opportunity to argue his proclaimed innocence. You'll find no proselytizing here. Case has saved all of that for the pardon application that's now being considered by Governor Nixon (and is available to the public on Case's supporters' website). That document makes use of newly discovered forensics, and of information withheld from the jury at trial, to support the original theory of Jackson County Sheriff's Department investigators—that WitbolsFeugen's death was the first part of a murder-suicide. Justin Bruton, who was WitbolsFeugen's 20-year-old boyfriend and Case's best friend, killed himself with a shotgun on the same day WitbolsFeugen's body was found. Case's supporters have started an online petition (accessible through freebyroncase.com) and are asking for signatures endorsing his immediate release from prison. As with their "Free Byron Case" T-shirts, and the artwork sold through their website, all royalties of The Pariah's Syntax will go toward Case's legal expenses. The Pariah's Syntax is available through the redbat books website (redbatbooks.com), as well as Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com and the Ingram Distribution Network. *FOR QUESTIONS SPECIFIC TO THE PUBLICATION OF THE PARIAH'S SYNTAX, CONTACT KRISTIN SUMMERS AT [email protected] OR (541) 962-7176. **FOR QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FREE BYRON CASE CAMPAIGN, OR TO REQUEST A TELEPHONE INTERVIEW WITH BYRON, CONTACT [email protected]. |