One of the consistent claims made by Byron Case’s supporters is that the prosecution in his trial failed to show a motive for murder. While it is not required in a murder trial to determine a motive, Case supporters are incorrect in their assertion that no motive was given; they simply don’t accept the motive given, and demand a higher standard of a logical motive.

There are in truth nearly as many motives for murder as there are murders. Byron Case’s motives were both simple and complex, obvious and mysterious. For those who do not know him well, especially those who met him after his conviction, those motives are difficult to accept; for those who knew him before the murder, they are easier to understand.

Evidence contained on this web site concerning Case's personality and behavior before and since the murder are not presented in an effort to prove him guilty; they are presented to show that the face that he shows to his current supporters, that of a sensitive, innocent man caught in a web of others' deceit and rage, is false. The evidence here will not show that he is guilty of murder, but it will show that he was certainly capable of it.

Jurors got a taste of the animosity Case felt toward Anastasia with discussion of his pager's announcement, both from prosecution witness Kelly Moffett,⁽¹⁾ and defense witness Tara McDowell.⁽²⁾ They also heard Kelly Moffett's testimony of the reasons given her by Justin Bruton only hours before the murder.⁽³⁾ The jury was prevented from seeing the letter that Anastasia left on Justin Bruton's PC barely 36 hours before her murder,⁽⁴⁾ which by itself could have provoked Case to great anger, had he not had homicidal tendencies.

What the jury also did not see were facts of Case's lifestyle that matched Kelly's description of his "weird fascination with death", specifically his autopsy computer screensavers⁽⁵⁾

Did Byron Case have a logical motive for murder? Of course not. Murder is not generally a logical action. But Case's supporters do not get to predefine the terms here. The prosecution established a motive for Case, that he had a strong dislike for Anastasia, and that he wanted to know what it was like to kill someone.

Was Case the kind of person who could kill? Ask one of his current supporters, and they would say that Byron Case is a caring, sensitive man, a writer and an artist, without a malignant thought in his head. They have no idea how arrogant he was with police during the investigation,⁽⁶⁾ nor how boorishly he behaved toward Anastasia's family immediately after the murder.⁽⁷⁾ They believe that he was good friends with Anastasia, and do not know the truth of that relationship.⁽⁸⁾ Many of them are unaware of Case's prior criminal record,⁽⁹⁾ and know nothing of his own suicidal behavior.⁽¹⁰⁾ Or do they just choose to ignore such things?