West Memphis Three

"WM3" redirects here, for the professional wrestling event see WrestleMania III

The West Memphis 3 is the name given to three teenagers who were tried and convicted of the murders of three children in the Robin Hood Hills area of West Memphis, Arkansas, United States in 1993. Damien Echols was sentenced to death. Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin were sentenced to life imprisonment.

The case has received considerable attention. Their supporters believe the arrests and convictions were a miscarriage of justice and that the defendants were wrongfully convicted during a period of intense media scrutiny. The defendants remain imprisoned, but legal proceedings are ongoing. As of July 2007, new forensic evidence is being presented in the case.

A status report jointly issued by the State and the Defense team on July 17 states, "Although most of the genetic material recovered from the scene was attributable to the victims of the offenses, some of it cannot be attributed to either the victims or the defendants." On October 29, 2007, the defense filed a Second Amended Writ of Habeas Corpus, outlining the new evidence.

In September of 2008, Judge David Burnett (Circuit Court) denied Echols' application for a hearing on the new DNA evidence. Hearings for Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley are scheduled for September 23rd through October 1st.

Damien Echols' next stage in the legal process is an appeal to the Arkansas Supreme Court. Unless that court reverses the conviction, he will proceed to federal court on his pending writ of habeas corpus.

Crime

Three eight-year-old boys — Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore — were reported missing on May 5, 1993. The first report to the police was made by Christopher Byers's adoptive father, John Mark Byers, at about 7:00 pm. The boys were last seen together entering the Robin Hood Hills at about 6:00 pm by a neighbor. Initial police searches made that night were limited. Friends and neighbors also conducted an impromptu yet unsuccessful search that night, which included at least a cursory visit to the location where the bodies were finally found.

A more thorough police search for the children began at about 8:00 am on the morning of May 6, aided by Crittenden County Search and Rescue personnel. Searchers canvassed all of West Memphis, but focused primarily on the Robin Hood Hills, a frequent playground for children, and the last location where the boys were reported. Despite a human chain making a shoulder-to-shoulder search of the Robin Hood Hills, searchers found no sign of the missing boys. Search and Rescue personnel broke for lunch at 1:00 pm, but police and others continued searching.

At about 1:45 pm, Juvenile Parole Officer Steve Jones spotted a boy's black shoe floating in a muddy creek that led to a major drainage canal in the Robin Hood Hills. A subsequent search of the ditch found the boys' bodies. They were stripped naked and had been hog-tied with their own shoelaces: their right ankles tied to their right wrists behind their backs, the same with their left limbs. Their clothing was found in the creek, some of it twisted around sticks that had been thrust in the muddy ditch bed. The clothing was mostly turned inside-out; two pairs of the boys' underwear were never recovered. All of the boys had been severely beaten on their heads and faces, and Byers further had a fractured skull. Chris Byers had deep lacerations and injuries to his scrotum and penis.

The original autopsies were inconclusive as to time of death, but stated that Byers died of blood loss (from either stab wounds or a deep head wound), and the other boys drowned. A later review of the case by a medical examiner for the defense attorneys determined the boys had been killed between 6:00 pm and 10:00 pm on May 5, 1993.

The official interpretation of the crime scene forensics for the case remains controversial. Prosecution experts claim Chris Byers' wounds were the results of a knife attack and that he had been purposefully castrated by the murderer; defense experts claim the injuries may have been the result of animal predation. Police suspected the boys had been raped or sodomized; later expert testimony supported this finding. Police believed the boys were assaulted and killed at the location they were found; current Defense expert John Douglass confirms this.

"It is my opinion the victims came into the woods of Robin Hood Hills by the most common method and that was by crossing the wood and pipe make-shift bridge. It is inconceivable that they carried their bikes across this very narrow width bridge. Nor is there any evidence they entered Robin Hood Hills at another location or were killed somewhere else and disposed of in Robin Hood Hills. It required much balance crossing the bridge and the chances of falling off the bridge while carrying their bicycles was high. It is my opinion the victims left their bicycles hidden in the tall grass and weeds before they each walked across the pipe bridge. This is an important aspect of the crime to consider, because the offender in all probability threw the bikes into the bayou after crossing back over the pipe bridge walking in the same direction where both he and the victims lived."

Christopher Byers was the only victim with drugs in his system; he had been prescribed Ritalin in January 1993, as part of an attention-deficit disorder treatment. (The initial autopsy report describes the drug as Carbamazepine.) The fact that the dosage was found to be at sub-therapeutic level is consistent with John Mark Byers's statement that Christopher may not have taken his prescription on May 5, 1993.

"Mr. Bojangles"

Sighting of a possible black male suspect was implied during the beginnings of the trial, at which time the possibility of conviction of the initial suspects seemed slim. According to local West Memphis police officers, during the evening of May 5, 1993, at 8:42 pm, workers in the Bojangles' restaurant about a mile from the crime scene (a direct route through the bayou where the children were found) in Robin Hood Hills reported seeing an African American male "dazed and covered with blood and mud" inside the ladies' room of the restaurant. Defense attorneys later referred to this man as "Mr. Bojangles."

The man was bleeding from his arm and had brushed against the walls. The man had defecated on himself on the floor. The police were called, but the man left the scene. Officer Regina Meeks responded (by inquiring at the drive thru window) about 45 minutes later. By then, the man had left and police did not enter or examine the bloodstained bathroom on May 5.

The following day, when the victims were found, Bojangles' manager Marty King, thinking there was a possible connection between the bloody, disoriented man and the killings, called police twice to inform them of his suspicions. After the second telephone call police gathered evidence from the restroom. Police wore the same shoes and clothes from the Robin Hood Woods crime scene into the Bojangles restaurant bathroom. Police detective Bryn Ridge later stated he lost the blood scrapings taken from the walls and tiles of the bathroom. A hair identified as belonging to an African American was later recovered from a sheet which had been used to wrap one of the victims.

Investigation

There has been widespread criticism of how the police handled the crime scene. Misskelley's former attorney Dan Stidham cites multiple substantial police errors at the crime scene, characterizing it as "literally trampled, especially the creek bed." The bodies, he said, had been removed from the water before the coroner arrived to examine the scene and determine the state of rigor mortis, allowing the bodies to decay on the creek bank, and to be exposed to sunlight and insects. The police did not even telephone the coroner until almost two hours after the discovery of the floating shoe, resulting in a late appearance by the coroner. Officials failed to drain the creek in a timely manner and secure possible evidence in the water (the creek was sandbagged after all three bodies were pulled from the water). Stidham calls the coroner's investigation "substandard." There was a small amount of blood found at the scene that was never tested. After the initial investigation, the police failed to control disclosure of information and speculation about the crime scene.

According to Mara Leveritt, investigative journalist and author of Devil's Knot, "Police records were a mess. To call them disorderly would be putting it mildly." Leveritt speculated that the small local police force was overwhelmed by the crime, which was unlike any they had ever investigated. Police refused an unsolicited offer of aid and consultation from the violent crimes experts of the Arkansas State Police, and critics suggested this was due to the WMPD being investigated by the Arkansas State Police for suspected theft from the Crittenden County drug task force. Leveritt further noted that some of the physical evidence was stored in paper sacks obtained from a supermarket (with the supermarket's name pre-printed on the bags) rather than in containers of known and controlled origin.

Leveritt also mistakenly presumed that the crime scene video was shot minutes after Detectives Mike Allen and Bryn Ridge recovered two of the bodies, when in fact the camera was not available for almost thirty minutes afterwards.

When police speculated about the assailant, the juvenile probation officer assisting at the scene of the murders speculated that Echols was "capable" of committing the murders, stating "it looks like Damien Echols finally killed someone."

One expert, in the film Paradise Lost 2, stated that human bite marks could have been left on at least one of the victims. However, these potential bite marks were first noticed in photographs years after the trials and were not inspected by a board-certified medical examiner until four years after the murders. The defense's own expert testified that the mark in question was not an adult bite mark, which is consistent with the testimony of the list of experts put on by the State who had concluded that there was no bite mark. The State's experts had examined the actual bodies for any marks and others conducted expert photo analysis of injuries. Upon further examination, it was concluded that if the marks were bite marks, they did not match the teeth of any of the three convicted.

Police interviewed Echols two days after the bodies were discovered. During a polygraph examination, he denied any involvement, but the polygraph examiner claimed that Echols' chart indicated deception. When asked to produce the record of the examination, he indicated that he had no written record. Officer Durham, who administered the polygraph, also did not keep any record of the test. Recently, the report was found and is featured on the West Memphis Three Official Website, under the Evidence Archive.

On May 10, 1993, four days after the bodies were found, Detective Bryn Ridge questioned Echols, asking Echols to speculate as to how the three victims died. Ridge's description of Echols' answer is abstracted as follows:

He stated that the boys probably died of mutilation, some guy had cut the bodies up, heard that they were in the water, they may have drowned. He said at least one was cut up more than the others. Purpose of the killing may have been to scare someone. He believed that it was only one person for fear of squealing by another involved.

At trial, Echols testified that Ridge's description of the conversation (which was not recorded) was inaccurate. At the time that Echols had allegedly made these statements, police thought that there was no public knowledge that one of the children had been mutilated more severely than the others. This contradicted John Mark Byers' (the stepfather of victim Christopher Byers) statement to reporters only minutes after the three bodies were found, "that two boys had been badly beaten and that the third had been even worse." At that time, Det. Gitchell had not released that information. Gitchell later said he had told John Mark Byers some details of the scene first, before the official release to the media. Leveritt also demonstrates that the police leaked some information, and that partly accurate gossip about the case was widely discussed among the public.

Throughout the course of the trial and after, many teenagers came forward with statements regarding being questioned and polygraphed by the local police; they said that Durham, among others, was at times aggressive and verbally abusive if they did not say what was expected of them. After the test, when asked what he was afraid of, Echols replied, "The electric chair."

After a month had passed, with little progress in the case, police continued to focus their investigation upon Echols, interrogating him more times than any other person, but claiming he was not regarded as a direct suspect but a source of information.

On June 3, police interrogated Misskelley. Misskelley, whose IQ was reported to be 72 (making him borderline mentally retarded), was questioned alone; his parents were not present during the interrogation. Misskelley's father gave permission for Misskelley to go with police, but did not explicitly give permission for his minor son to be questioned or interrogated. Misskelley was questioned for roughly twelve hours; only two segments, totaling 46 minutes, were recorded. Misskelley quickly recanted his confession, citing intimidation, coercion, fatigue, and veiled threats from police. During Misskelley's trial, Dr. Richard Ofshe, an expert on false confessions and police coercion and Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley, testified that the brief recording of Misskelley's interrogation was a "classic example" of police coercion. He has further described Misskelley's statement as "the stupidest fucking confession I've ever seen." Critics have also stated that Misskelley's "confession" was in many respects inconsistent with the particulars of the crime scene and murder victims, including (for example) an "admission" that Misskelley "watched Damien rape one of the boys." Police had initially suspected that the boys were raped due to their dilated anuses, but forensic evidence later proved conclusively that the murdered boys had not been raped at all, and their dilated anuses were a normal post-mortem condition.

Subsequent to his conviction, a police officer also alleged that Misskelley had also confessed to her. However, once again, no reliable details of the crime were provided.

Misskelley was a minor when he was questioned, and though informed of his Miranda rights, he later claimed he did not fully understand them. The Arkansas Supreme Court determined that Misskelley's confession was voluntary and that he did, in fact, understand the Miranda warning and its consequences. Misskelley specifically said he was "scared of the police" during his first confession. Portions of Misskelley's statements to the police were leaked to the press and reported on the front page of the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper before any of the trials began.

Shortly after Misskelley's original confession, police arrested Echols and his close friend Baldwin.

Misskelley's attorney, Dan Stidham, who was later elected to a municipal judgeship, has written a detailed critique of what he asserts are major police errors and misconceptions during their investigation.

James Martin Sr.

James Martin Sr., a new resident in the area and a known child molester, offered his testimony as an expert into the criminal mind. With the exception of John Mark Byers, he currently has the largest file (57 pages) at www.wm3.org and has often been thought to be the leading suspect, especially early on in the case. Why he was removed from the suspect list eludes many people. In addition to failing the polygraph test, he also described the crime in great detail, with much information that had not been released to the public at the time of his interview (including the fact that the boys had been tied with their own shoelaces). He presented obvious signs of Antisocial Personality Disorder, and had at one time been hospitalized and incarcerated for sexually assaulting both his stepson and stepdaughter. He currently lives in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Vicki Hutcheson

Vicki Hutcheson, a new resident of West Memphis, would play an important role in the investigation, though she would later recant her testimony, stating her statements were fabricated, due in part to coercion from police.

May 6, 1993 (the day the murder victims were found), Hutcheson was given a polygraph exam by Detective Don Bray at the Marion Police Department to determine if she had stolen money from her West Memphis employer. Hutcheson's young son, Aaron, was also present, and proved such a distraction that Bray was unable to administer the polygraph. Aaron, a playmate of the murdered boys, mentioned to Bray that the boys had been killed at "the playhouse." When the bodies proved to have been discovered near where Aaron indicated, Bray asked Aaron for further details, and Aaron claimed that he had witnessed the murders committed by Satanists who spoke Spanish. Aaron's further statements were wildly inconsistent, and he was unable to identify Baldwin, Echols or Misskelley from photo line-ups, and there was no "playhouse" at the location Aaron indicated.

A police officer leaked portions of Aaron's statements to the press, potentially contributing to the growing belief that the murders were part of a Satanic rite.

On or about June 1, 1993, Hutcheson agreed to police suggestions to place hidden microphones in her home during an encounter with Echols. Misskelley agreed to introduce Hutcheson to Echols. During their conversation, Hutcheson reported that Echols made no incriminating statements. Police said the recording was "inaudible", but Hutcheson claimed the recording was audible.

On June 2, 1993, Hutcheson told police that about two weeks after the murders were committed, she, Echols and Misskelley attended an Esbat in Turrell, Arkansas. Hutcheson claimed that, at the Esbat, a drunken Echols openly bragged about killing the three boys. Misskelley was first questioned on June 3, 1993, a day after Hutcheson's Esbat confession. Hutcheson was unable to recall the Esbat location, and did not name any other participants of the purported Esbat.

Hutcheson was never charged with theft. She claims that she implicated Echols and Misskelley to avoid facing criminal charges, and to gain a reward for the discovery of the murderers.

Suspects' background

At the time of their arrests, Misskelley was 17 years old, Baldwin was 16, and Echols was 18.

Baldwin and Misskelley had previous records for minor juvenile offenses (for vandalism and shoplifting, respectively) and Misskelley had a reputation for being hot tempered and engaging in frequent fistfights. Misskelley and Echols had dropped out of high school, but Baldwin earned above-average grades and demonstrated a talent for drawing and sketching, and due to encouragement from a school counselor, was considering studying graphic design in college. Echols and Baldwin were close friends, due in part to their similar tastes in music and fiction, and due to a shared distaste for the prevailing cultural climate of West Memphis, which was politically conservative and strongly Evangelical Christian. Baldwin and Echols were acquainted with Misskelley from school, but were not close friends with him.

Echols' family was very poor, with frequent visits from social workers, and he rarely attended school. His tumultuous relationship with an early girlfriend culminated when the two ran off together. After breaking into a trailer during a rain storm, the pair were arrested, though only Echols was charged with burglary.

Police heard rumors that the young lovers had planned to have a child and sacrifice the infant; Based on this story, they had Echols institutionalized for psychiatric evaluation. He was diagnosed as depressed and suicidal, and was prescribed the antidepressant imipramine. Subsequent testing demonstrated poor math skills, but also showed that Echols ranked above average in reading and verbal skills.

Echols spent several months in a mental institution in Arkansas, and afterwards received "full disability" status from the Social Security Administration. During Echols' trial, Dr. George W. Woods testified (for the defense) that Echols suffered from:

"... serious mental illness characterized by grandiose and persecutory delusions, auditory and visual hallucinations, disordered thought processes, substantial lack of insight, and chronic, incapacitating mood swings."

At the time of his arrest, Echols was working part-time with a roofing company and expecting a child with his new girlfriend, Domini Teer.

Trials

Echols and Baldwin were tried together; Misskelley was tried separately. Misskelley was convicted of the slaying of the two boys in 1994.

Misskelley's statement

Misskelley stated that in the early morning hours of May 5, 1993, he received a phone call from Jason Baldwin. Baldwin asked Misskelley to accompany him and Damien Echols to the Robin Hood area. Baldwin stated that Misskelley agreed to go and said that they went to the area, which has a creek, and were in the creek when the victims rode up on their bicycles. Baldwin and Echols called to the boys, who came to the creek. The boys were severely beaten by Baldwin and Echols. At least two of the boys were raped and forced to perform oral sex on Baldwin and Echols. According to Misskelley, he was merely an observer.

Misskelley claimed that while these events were taking place, Michael Moore tried to escape and began running. Misskelley chased him down and returned him to Baldwin and Echols. Misskelley also stated that Baldwin had used a knife to cut the boys in the facial area and that the Byers boy was cut on his penis. The defense forensics experts disputed this claim, giving testimony that the wounds were not caused by knife, but by animal predation. All three boys had their clothes taken off and were tied up.

According to Misskelley, he ran away from the scene at some point after the boys were tied up. He did observe that the Byers boy was dead when he left. Sometime after Misskelley arrived home, Baldwin called saying, "we done it" and "what are we going to do if somebody saw us." Echols could be heard in the background. Misskelley was asked about his involvement in a cult. He said he had been involved for about three months. The participants would typically meet in the woods. They engaged in orgies and, as an initiation rite, killing and eating dogs. He noted that at one cult meeting, he saw a picture that Echols had taken of the three boys. He stated that Echols had been watching the boys.

Misskelley then went into further detail about the sexual molestation of the victims. At least one of the boys had been held by the head and ears while being accosted. Misskelley claimed that both the Byers boy and the Branch boy had been raped, and that all the boys were tied up with brown rope. These statements, among others, cast doubt on the validity of Misskelley's confession. Although the medical examiner could not absolutely rule out sexual assault, he could not find any conclusive evidence to suggest that the boys were raped. Also, it is well documented that they were all tied with their own shoe laces, not brown rope.

Misskelley was interrogated for in excess of three hours off camera and off-tape. He was then tape recorded giving a statement during which his interrogators were instructing him on crime details (such as the time of day that the crime occurred) and correcting him on vital details when Misskelley's statements did not align with the evidence. The confession included allegations that Misskelley had witnessed the boys being raped—even though the prosecution's forensic expert would later testify that none of the boys had in fact been raped. Although his statement was played for the jury only in the Misskelley trial and was deemed inadmissible in the Echols/ Baldwin trial, jurors would later admit that they had heard and been deeply influenced by Misskelley's statement. Critics of the convictions note that because the statement was inadmissible yet widely published, the jury never heard about its inconsistencies.

Anthony and Narlene Hollingsworth

Narlene Hollingsworth was well acquainted with Echols and testified that she saw Echols and his girlfriend, Domini Teer, walking after 9:30 on the night of the murders near the Blue Beacon Truck Stop, which is near Robin Hood Woods where the bodies were found. She testified that Echols had on a dark-colored shirt and that his clothes were dirty. This testimony placed Echols in dirty clothes near the scene at a time close to the murders. Although not material to this point, other evidence established that Domini Teer might be confused with Baldwin as both had long hair and were of slight build.

Narlene's husband, Anthony Hollingsworth was seated next to her in the car. He disputed her identification of Damien Echols.

Christy VanVickle and Jodie Medford

Twelve-year-old Christy VanVickle testified that she heard Echols say he "killed the three boys." Fifteen-year-old Jodie Medford testified that she heard Echols say, "I killed the three little boys and before I turn myself in, I'm going to kill two more, and I already have one of them picked out." The testimony of these two independent witnesses was presented as direct evidence of the statement by Echols. These witnesses were cross-examined by Echols' counsel. Upon cross-examination, the two girls testified that they did not hear anything before or after these alleged statements, that they were unsure of how far away they were, and that they could not identify any of the others allegedly surrounding Echols, besides Baldwin.

Lisa Sakevicius

Lisa Sakevicius, a criminalist from the State Crime Laboratory, testified that she compared fibers found on the victim's clothes with clothing found in Echols's home, and the fibers were microscopically similar. She also testified that many fibers are microscopically similar and that this comparison alone proved nothing.

Lisa Sakevicius stated that Byers' white polka-dot shirt had blue wax on it and that the wax was consistent with candle wax. Subsequent forensic testing demonstrated that the wax was in fact not candle wax.

Knife wound claim

Dr. Frank Peretti, a State Medical Examiner, testified that there were serrated wound patterns on the three victims. Believing Byers' wounds to have come from a knife, he also testified that whoever castrated Byers had to have some skill with a knife, and plenty of light and time to do it. Critics have since argued that Peretti's statement was inaccurate, and that Byers' injuries indicated no special skill, and were likely inflicted in a matter of, at most, a few minutes.

On November 17, 1993, a police diver found a knife in a lake behind Baldwin's parents' residence. The large knife had a serrated edge and had the words "Special Forces Survival II" on the blade. Peretti testified that many of the wounds on the victims were consistent with, and could have been caused by, that knife. The knife was presented to the jury as the murder weapon, even though Misskelley's statement had claimed a "folding type knife" had been used.

Deanna Holcomb testified that she had seen Echols carrying a similar knife, except that the one she saw had a compass at the end of its handle. James Parker, owner of Parker's Knife Collector Service in Chattanooga, Tennessee, testified that a company distributed this type of knife from 1985-87. A 1987 catalog from the company was shown to the jury, and it had a picture of a knife similar to the one found behind Baldwin's residence. The knife in the catalog had a compass on the end, and it had the words "Special Forces Survival II" on the blade.

Griffis' testimony

The State's theory of motive was that the killings were done in a satanic ritual. Prosecutors presented evidence suggesting that Echols and Baldwin were devil worshipers. On cross-examination, Echols admitted that he was deeply interested in occultism and non-Christian religions, and considered himself a Wiccan. Various occult-related items were found in his room, including a funeral register upon which he had drawn a pentagram and inverted crosses and had a copied magical spell. Among the evidence seized were black T-shirts and lyrics from Metallica songs. Echols testified that he wore a long black trench coat even when it was warm. One witness, Jerry Driver, said he had seen Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley together six months before the murders, wearing long black coats and carrying long staves. Peretti testified that some of the head wounds to the boys were consistent with the size of two sticks that were recovered by police.

Dale Griffis was presented to the jury by the State as an expert in occult crimes. The judge took into consideration his several degrees, including a degree from Heidelberg College. He had worked with cases of non-traditional groups since 1969, at the time had been a police officer for 26 years and had previously testified as an expert in the field. Griffis testified in the State's case-in-chief that the killings had the trappings of occultism. He testified that the date of the killings, the day before a pagan holiday Beltane which actually falls on May 1 not May 6, was significant, as well as the fact that there was a full moon. He stated that young children are often sought for sacrifice because "the younger, the more innocent, the better the life force." He testified that there were three victims, and the number three had significance in occultism. Also, the victims were all eight years old, and "eight is a witches' number". He testified that sacrifices are often done near water for a baptism-type rite or just to wash the blood away.

The fact that the victims were tied ankle to wrist was significant because this was done to display the genitalia, and the removal of Byers's testicles was significant because testicles are removed for the semen. He stated that the absence of blood at the scene could be significant because cult members store blood for future services in which they would drink the blood or bathe in it.

Griffis testified that the "overkill" or multiple cuts could reflect occult overtones. Griffis testified that there was significance in injuries to the left side of the victims as distinguished from the right side: people who practice occultism will use the midline theory, drawing straight down through the body. The right side is related to those things synonymous with Christianity while the left side is that of the practitioners of the satanic occult. He testified that the clear place on the bank could be consistent with a ceremony. In sum, Griffis testified that there was significant evidence of Satanic ritual killings.

Bryn Ridge

Detective Bryn Ridge testified that Echols said he understood the victims had been mutilated, with one being cut up more than the others, and that they had drowned. Ridge testified that when Echols made the statement, the fact that Christopher Byers had been mutilated more than the other two victims was not known by the public. The victim's stepfather, John Mark Byers, told reporters that one child "had been even worse", though he did not specify what made his wounds worse.

When Echols was asked about his statement that one victim was mutilated more than the others, he said he learned the fact from newspaper accounts. His attorney showed him the newspaper articles about the murders. On cross-examination, Echols admitted that the articles did not mention one victim being mutilated more than the others, and he admitted that he did not read such a fact in a newspaper. Mark Byers, the stepfather of victim Christopher Byers, had been informed by the police that one of the victims had been hurt much worse than the others, and many details of the crime were circulating in West Memphis.

Metallica lyrics from the suspect's notebooks, Stephen King novels, and Echols' interest in heavy metal music and Wicca were also presented in court as evidence against the teenagers.

Sentence

In 1994, all three had been convicted of the murders. Echols was sentenced to death by lethal injection, Baldwin received life without parole, and Misskelley received life plus 40 years.

Aftermath

Today, although some West Memphis police personnel continue to insist the West Memphis Three are guilty, many critics continue to call for further investigation into the verdict. The biological father of Christopher Byers, Rick Murray, described his doubts in 2000 on the West Memphis Three website.

In August 2007, Pamela Hobbs, the mother of victim Steven Branch, and John Mark Byers, adoptive father of Christopher Byers, joined those who have publicly questioned the verdicts, calling for a reopening of the verdicts and further investigation of the evidence.

Legal status

The convictions were upheld on direct appeal. Echols case recently petitioned for a retrial based on a statute permitting post-conviction testing of DNA evidence due to technological advances made since 1994 might provide exoneration for the wrongfully convicted. However, the original trial judge, Judge David Burnett, has disallowed hearing of this information in his court.

It is expected that a reversal of Echols' conviction would result in the vacating of the Baldwin and Misskelley convictions.

In July, 2008, it was revealed that Kent Arnold, the jury foreman on the Echols / Baldwin trial, had discussed the case with an attorney prior to the beginning of deliberations and advocated for the guilt of the West Memphis Three as a result of the inadmissible Jessie Misskelley statements. The resulting juror misconduct claim is expected to result in a reversal of the convictions by 2009.. Legal experts have agreed that this issue has the strong potential to result in the reversal of the convictions of Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols. If their convictions are reversed, the State is expected to retry them.

In October, 2008, Attorney (now Judge) Daniel Stidham, who represented Jessie Misskelley in 1994 testified at a postconviction relief hearing. Stidham testified under oath that, during the trial, Judge David Burnett approached the then-deliberating jury in the Misskelley matter at approximately 11:50 a.m. and advised them they would be breaking for lunch. When the foreman answered "we may almost be done", Judge Burnett responded "well, you'll still have to return for sentencing." When the foreman asked "what if we find him not guilty?" Judge Burnett closed the door without answering. Stidham testified that his failure to request a mistrial based on this exchange was ineffective assistance of counsel and that Misskelley's conviction should therefore be vacated. Legal experts have agreed that this issue has the strong potential to result in the reversal of the conviction of Jessie Misskelley. If his conviction is reversed, the State is expected to retry him.

John Mark Byers' knife gift

John Mark Byers, the adoptive father of victim Christopher Byers, gave a knife to cameraman Doug Cooper, who was working with documentary makers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky while they were filming the first Paradise Lost feature. The knife was a small utility-type knife, manufactured by Kershaw. According to the statements given by Berlinger and Sinofsky, Cooper informed them of his receipt of the knife on December 19, 1993. After the documentary crew returned to New York, Berlinger and Sinofsky reported to have discovered what appeared to be blood on the knife. HBO executives ordered them to return the knife to the West Memphis Police Department. The knife was not received at the West Memphis Police Department until January 8, 1994.

Byers initially claimed the knife had never been used. Blood was found on the knife, and Byers then stated that he had used it only once, to cut deer meat. When told the blood matched both his and Chris' blood type, Byers said he had no idea how that blood might have gotten on the knife. During interrogation, West Memphis police suggested to Byers that he might have left the knife out accidentally, and Byers agreed with this. Byers later stated that he may have cut his thumb. Further testing on the knife produced inconclusive results, due in part to the rather small amount of blood, and due to the fact that both John Mark Byers and Chris Byers had the same HLA-DQα genotype. The 2007 joint status report submitted to the Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed that there was no DNA at the scene from Echols, Baldwin, Misskelley, nor John Mark Byers, a fact many observers equate with exoneration of all four suspects.

Possible teeth imprints

As documented in Paradise Lost 2, Echols, Misskelley and Baldwin submitted imprints of their teeth (after their imprisonment) that were compared to apparent bite-marks on Steve Branch's forehead, originally overlooked in the original autopsy and trial. No matches were found. According to the film, John Mark Byers had his teeth removed in 1997—after the first trial. He has never offered a consistent reason for their removal; in one instance claiming they were knocked out in a fight, in another saying the medication he was taking made them fall out, and in yet another claiming that he had long planned to have them removed so as to obtain dentures. After an expert examined autopsy photos and noted what he thought might be the imprint of a belt buckle on Byers' corpse, the elder Byers revealed to the police that he had spanked his stepson shortly before the boy disappeared. He also had a 1988 conviction for terrorist threats that arose from an incident involving his ex-wife, Sandra Byers. Melissa Byers had contacted Christopher's school a few weeks before the murders, expressing concerns that her son was being sexually abused. A fact not revealed until after the trial was that John Mark Byers had acted as a police informant on several occasions. His prior conviction for the 1988 incident had been expunged in May, 1992, upon the completion of probation, despite the fact that other criminal charges against him should have invalidated his probation.

Vicki Hutcheson recants

In October 2003, Vicki Hutcheson, who played a part in the arrests of Miskelley, Echols and Baldwin, gave an interview to the Arkansas Times in which she stated that every word she had given to the police was a fabrication. She further asserted that the police had insinuated if she did not cooperate with them they would take away her child. She noted that when she visited the police station they had photographs of Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley on the wall and were using them as dart targets. She also claims that an audio tape the police claimed was "unintelligible" (and eventually lost) was perfectly clear and contained no incriminating statements. However, Hutcheson did not testify at the Echols/Baldwin trial.

DNA testing and new physical evidence

In 2007, DNA collected from the crime scene was tested. Results from the DNA testing suggests the three convicted could be possible donors. "The State stands behind its convictions of Echols and his codefendants." It was also revealed that the stepfather of one of the victims, Terry Wayne Hobbs could not be ruled out after hair found at the crime scene was also tested.

On October 29, 2007 papers were filed in federal court by Damien Echols' defense lawyers seeking a retrial or his immediate release from prison. It was denied based on the DNA evidence not being able to exonerate Echols. On September 10, 2008 Circuit Court Judge David Burnett denied the request for a retrial, citing the DNA tests as inconclusive.

John Mark Byers

In late 2007, John Mark Byers, adoptive father to Christopher Byers, announced that he now believes that Echols, Misskelley and Baldwin are innocent. "I believe I would be the last person on the face of the earth that people would expect or dream to see say free the West Memphis 3," said Byers. "From looking at the evidence and the facts that were presented to me, I have no doubt the West Memphis 3 are innocent." Byers is writing a book, and a film biography is being considered for production. Mr. Byers has been speaking to the media on behalf of the convicted and has expressed his desire for "justice for six families."

Documentaries and studies

Two films, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills and Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, have documented this case, as have the books Blood of Innocents by Guy Reel and Devil's Knot by Mara Leveritt. The documentary films and Leveritt's book were strongly critical of the verdict, and argue that the suspects were wrongly convicted. Some have been critical of the filmmakers' omission of Echols' history of mental illness. Echols published an autobiography entitled Almost Home. Paradise Lost 3 is currently in production and listed as being slated for release in 2009.

Tributes and support

The case has seen interest from celebrities staging fund-raisers.

• Metallica allowed their songs to be used in the films for no charge.
• Actress Winona Ryder has supported the attempts to obtain a retrial.
• Under the direction of Henry Rollins, various hip-hop, heavy metal, punk, and other musicians came together to record Rise Above, a collection of cover songs originally performed by Black Flag. All profits from the record and the supporting tour were donated to the suspects' defense funds.
• Another benefit album was 2000's Free the West Memphis 3 featuring artists such as Steve Earle, Tom Waits, The Supersuckers, Joe Strummer, Killing Joke, Eddie Vedder and L7. This album was organized by Eddie Spaghetti of The Supersuckers.
• Zao featured a song named "Free the Three" on their 2002 album Parade of Chaos and on their greatest hits album Legendary.
• In 2003 a benefit exhibition titled Cruel And Unusual was held at the Los Angeles art gallery sixspace which was hosted by Winona Ryder and included artwork by Raymond Pettibon, Shepard Fairey, Marilyn Manson and others. The exhibition also included a series of talks by lawyers involved with the case and public figures such as Jello Biafra.
• In 2004, Leviathan released "West Memphis Three" on their album "Internal Inferno".
• Alkaline Trio has a song titled "Prevent This Tragedy" on their 2005 album Crimson about the West Memphis Three. The group also has a song titled "Do You Want To Know?" on their latest album Agony and Irony which is a further commentary on the WM3's current situation.
• Hip-hop artist, Sage Francis references both the West Memphis 3 and the Paradise Lost documentaries, on the track Slow Down Gandhi on his 2005 album A Healthy Distrust, with the line "The West Memphis Three lost paradise, it's death penalty versus Suicidal Tendencies"
• Comedian and political activist Margaret Cho has spoken out in support of the West Memphis 3 on several occasions on her blog. She has also posted correspondence with Damien Echols as well. In 2004 she posed for an American Library Association poster holding a copy of Almost Home: My Life Story Vol. 1 by Damien Echols.
• On May 12, 2006, Skeleton Key, an art auction with artists including Damien Echols, Cinquain, Norman Reedus, Jay Mueller, Mick Rock, Bob Gruen, Erik Rose and Lorri Davis, premiered "An Art Auction Benefiting the West Memphis Three" which presented Damien Echols' art along with all the above named artists at 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco. Auctions are on-going with all proceeds going to the defense fund.
• The Cure's Robert Smith sported a Free The Memphis Three sticker on his guitar during the band's European Festival in 2005.
• The Undead members Bobby Steele and Joel Gausten have publicly supported the West Memphis Three and have performed benefit concerts on their behalf.
• Hank Williams III has a "Free The WM3" sticker on a red guitar used during his Assjack sets.
• On July 21, 2006, State Radio debuted a song entitled "Unfortunates", which is about the West Memphis 3. The song is featured on the album Year of the Crow and can be seen performed live here: "Unfortunates".
• Skateboard company Zero Skateboards released three skateboard decks in support of the West Memphis 3 with a percentage of the profits going toward their defense fund.
• In November 2007, Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines started speaking out in support of the West Memphis Three by appearing at rallies and providing information on the band's websites. In 2008, Terry Hobbs brought suit against the band, claiming libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress, amongst other accusations.
• Former Misfits singer Michale Graves is a supporter of the West Memphis Three, and had Damien Echols contribute the lyrics to several songs on his 2007 album Illusions with Damien Echols.
• At the MTV Movie Awards in 2000, upon winning the award for Best Musical Performance for the song "Uncle Fucka", South Park creator Trey Parker, shouted at the end of his acceptance speech "Free the West Memphis 3!"
• Hip Hop project xReign Of Terrorx makes reference to the case in the song "Dear Martyr"
• On May 12, 2008, actor Will Ferrell was photographed wearing a t-shirt reading "FREE THE WEST MEMPHIS THREE".
• Mike Portnoy has been known to wear a t-shirt reading "FREE THE WEST MEMPHIS THREE". The photo can be seen at the top of his website.
• John Gray, Skeleton Key, and Texas Fear Fest ran a silent auction the weekend of March 7-9, 2008 to support the WM3 legal defense fund. Texas Fear Fest is a Dallas, Texas based horror convention and featured items from horror celebrities Michale Graves, Kane Hodder, Robert Englund, and the entire cast of Fright Night.
• American illustrator/storyteller Gris Grimly made a “Free the wm3” t-shirt to support the cause in 2008.
• Echols also co-wrote a song on Pearl Jam's Pearl Jam album with Eddie Vedder called Army Reserve.
• In the Season 5 Finale of "Dawson's Creek", after using the PA system to stop Audrey from getting on a plane, Joshua Jackson's character Pacey says: "Free the West Memphis Three."

References in other media

• The case was the basis for a 2005 mini-series starring the comic book character Daredevil titled Daredevil: Redemption, by David Hine and Michael Gaydos. In this story there was only one victim but there are many similarities, for example, a suspect of below average intelligence is coerced into giving a confession by the police and the father of the victim removes his teeth after bite marks come into evidence. Matt Murdock is hired to defend the accused and while he is not able to get them acquitted or prevent the execution of one of them, he is eventually able to bring the true murderer to justice and thus exonerate his remaining clients.

• The "Thrill Kill" episode of the TV show Cold Case, which aired on September 23, 2007, was based on the West Memphis 3 case. In the episode, detectives are asked to look into a 1994 murder case in which three teenagers were convicted of killing three young boys. The detectives find new evidence and determine that the father of one of the murdered boys was the actual killer.

External links

• WM3Hoax
• The WM3Blackboard
• WM3 Support Group
• Australian Support Group
• West Memphis 3 Audio Interview on Santa Cruz Indymedia
• West Memphis 3 at the Court TV Crime Library
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• Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills at IMDb
• Paradise Lost 2: Revelations at IMDb