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Scott protests: "I won't take that at face value. [Battan] told me that this was not a Christian thing, but all I heard on that tape was Christianity f—ing this and f—ing that." He adds that the Rachel named on the video was linked to a teen named Nick. "He is the young man [Rachel] went to prom with." The killers mocked Rachel for her love for Jesus and made derisive references to the WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) trend. Rachel Scott wore a WWJD wristband. "All of that points to Rachel Scott."

Another point that has received little attention from the sheriff's department is a statement by Harris on the video that he wanted to shoot Christians in the head. Rachel Scott was killed by a gunshot wound to the head, as were at least two other students known for their Christian leadership. "My personal opinion from the beginning," says Scott, "has been that these kids were targeted because they were Christians."

"I'm not disagreeing with that possibility," says Kathleen M. Heide, professor of criminology at the University of South Florida, who has interviewed over 100 children convicted of murder or attempted murder. "But when you're talking about students at high school, I don't know that I would make that leap."

Heide has not been active in the Columbine investigation. But, Heide adds, if kids were killed after being asked if they believed in God, then "the connection is more clear and the point of their religion is more significant."

During the past year, more details about the day of the shooting have emerged through the news media and the sheriff's department. But parents and shooting survivors say both investigators and journalists have done a disservice by not disclosing the full truth about Columbine to the public.

On September 23 the Web-based publication Salon.com posted an article by Dave Cullen challenging several "myths" attached to the Columbine shooting. The article was prompted by investigator Battan's breaking "five months of virtual silence." According to Cullen, Battan and other investigators told him "not a scrap of evidence supports [the] conclusion" that the killers targeted Christians, or any group, in their rampage.

However, the most controversial aspect of Cullen's piece was his publicizing investigators' doubts about Cassie Bernall's confession of faith in God at gunpoint. These doubts were based upon conflicting testimony from witnesses in the library, most notably that of student Emily Wyant, who was under the table with Bernall.

Wyant said the exchange between Cassie and her killer did not occur. "[K]ey investigators made it clear that an alternate scenario is far more likely," Cullen wrote. "The killers asked another girl, Valeen Schnurr, a similar question, then shot her and she lived to tell about it. Schnurr's story was then apparently misattributed to Cassie." The Denver Post followed up on September 25, reporting that investigators doubt whether the conversation with Cassie took place.

A week later on September 30, Cullen wrote in Salon.com: "As the Rocky Mountain News reported Sept. 24, Wyant and Bernall were studying alone together in the back of the library. After the gunmen rushed in, the girls crouched beneath a table together, and Cassie began praying aloud: 'Dear God. Dear God. Why is this happening? I just want to go home.' Dylan Klebold suddenly slammed his hand on the table, yelled 'Peekaboo,' and looked underneath. He shot Cassie without exchanging a word. Wyant's mother confirmed that the Rocky Mountain News correctly reported the details of her daughter's account. Salon News reported last Thursday that investigators believed the famous exchange actually took place between Klebold and Valeen Schnurr.

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April 3 2000, Vol. 44, No. 4