But as recently as Sept. 10, the publication day of "She Said Yes," the News was running news articles presenting the story as fact. The paper actually ran two articles that day, one promoting the book's release and the other enthusiastically reporting on the surge in Christian youth recruitment inspired by the story. The first story explains early on that the book's title refers to 17-year-old Cassie's "final moments before dying." Toward the end of the article, it hedges slightly, with the following paragraph:

"According to some fellow students who survived the carnage in the Columbine library, one of the two gunmen asked Cassie if she believed in God. 'Yes,' she answered. The gunman asked, 'Why?' -- then pulled the trigger."

It offers no reference to dissenting views. The second story was unequivocal, repeatedly presenting the story as fact. "Bernall's answer to her killer -- 'Yes, I believe in God' -- has helped seed a harvest of youthful faith in Colorado and across the country," it reads.

Neither story presented the slightest hint that the paper had long been planning to shatter that claim.

Clearly, the story of what really happened to Cassie Bernall is a sensitive one in the Columbine community.

The Wyant and Bernall families had dinner together some time after the massacre. "Emily just kind of wanted to let them know that she was with her when she died," her mother said. She confirmed that Emily told the Bernalls the exchange about God between Cassie and her killer never happened. "Yes, she did tell them. She didn't volunteer that, they asked her."

But the Bernalls dispute that conversation. Chris Zimmerman, Misty Bernall's editor at Plough Publishing, released a statement saying: "[Wyant] was interviewed for "She Said Yes" and never disputed the original accounts of Cassie's death, as widely reported in the national media. Now, however, she says she doesn't believe Cassie ever exchanged words with her killer. Brad Bernall, Cassie's father, says, 'We are surprised at Emily's new account. It is inconsistent with the one we received from her and her parents earlier.'"

Wyant said Emily was torn for months over the escalating myth, and her parents tried to caution her against bearing the entire weight of a potential backlash. "She was in a tough position," her mother said. "So we were trying to guide her and help her, try and make the best choice. She doesn't know the ramifications that could come afterwards. She was just thinking about 'I want to tell the truth.'"

Emily expected the ordeal to end once she spoke to the Rocky Mountain News, and was surprised and frustrated that it didn't. "It was kind of like therapy for her to get it out," her mother said. "And she kept waiting to see it, but ..." she trailed off.

Wyant said that a News reporter told her the paper was conducting its own thorough investigation, compiling stories from every person in the library, putting them together into maps of where everyone in the room was, "to get an idea of what really happened."

By contrast, no one from the Denver Post contacted the Wyant family until Saturday night, asking for a reaction to the statement from Misty Bernall's publisher.

The Post's Evan Dreyer admitted to conflicted feelings about tackling the controversy over Bernall's martyrdom. "For a lot of these stories, it comes down to: We're the local media," he said. "We have to weigh lots of questions of sensitivity, caring and concern for the victims' families, more so than a lot of the national media does. "So, as local media, you think twice and three times and four times about whether that's a story you want to go with. But maybe we are erring too much on the side of concern and sympathy, and [Salon News] sort of forced the issue."

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