They drew pentagrams, skulls, and snakes on art materials and surprised those at a football game by arriving dressed in black with black tears painted on their faces. However, the matter was sent to appeal, and Burnett was elected to the Arkansas State Senate, with his replacement being David Laser. However, once again, Misskelley claimed Baldwin pulled out a knife, despite the evidence presented by experts that no knife had ever been used. He also theorized that the killer knew the victims because he was able to control three victims without any help.. They wanted to overwhelm us, convict us, condemn us and sweep us under the rug.". It took them 18 years to clear their names. }); I developed an overwhelming sense of being excluded from everything. His prior history of domestic violence didn't reflect well either. Watch: Man connected to 'West Memphis Three' learns evidence connected to the case is missing By Dominique Dillon, FOX13memphis.com July 08, 2021 at 5:53 pm CDT WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. All three were charged and accused of committing a Satanic murder. Local community members also rallied in support of the three, believing that their initial trial was unfair and handled incorrectly. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Then, after determining the boys final movements, Bob meets with a DNA expert to discuss new technology that might break the case wide open. hitType: 'event', WebSeason 1 Episode 1 Preview: Host and investigator Bob Ruff explores the flaws from the original ""West Memphis Three"" case to lay the groundwork for his evidence-driven investigation. However, police thought they had their culprits and were willing to ignore Ricky Climer and Avis Bly's severe mental illnesses. Misskelley confessed during the interrogation but later took rescinded it, stating that he did it out our fear and intimidation. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function(event) { The West Memphis Three were charged with the murder of three boys in 1994. While they showed the bravado and sense of adventure associated with many scouts, they were still innocent, with Byers said by his mother to still "[believe] in the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.". Who Is The Real Killer Behind The 'West Memphis Three' Murders? The story will be familiar to many working-class American youths, with Echols' poverty and mental health struggles disconnecting him from society, writing that "As I grew older I learned to be ashamed of being poor, too. Jul. It took them 18 years to clear their names. The Story Of The West Memphis Teens Wrongfully Imprisoned 18 Years For Satanic Murder. There were even witnesses who placed Misskelley at his trailer until 6:30 p.m., the time the boys went missing, with one revealing he picked him up to go wrestling around 7:30 p.m. It was a fact, leading investigators to believe he had inside knowledge of the case. With John Mark Byers ruled out, revelations in 2007 would point in a new direction equally close to home. }); YoutubeMugshots of the West Memphis Three. However, it wasn't just about the music with many embracing rebellious philosophies that were inherently offensive to the traditions of Christianity, respect and patriotism that have always defined small-town rural America. Investigators found the bottle exactly where he said it would be. Hutcheson was accused of settling from her employer and forced to bring her young son, Aaron Hutcheson, to the interview. Byers submitted dental records that showed the marks on the body didn't match his original teeth and subsequently passed a polygraph during the documentary's filming. Who killed Stevie Goths, punks and skaters were in the ascendency, and Middle America was horrified. When investigators found the boys bodies on May 6, 1993, they had been jammed into the muddy ground of the bayou, and their clothes had been submerged in the water with sticks. Who Is The Real Killer Behind The 'West Memphis Three' Murders? Over the nine years since their release, there have been dozens of theories that pointed to other suspects who could have been behind the deaths of Christopher, Michael, and Steve. However, he was far from the only person of intense interest with two other teenagers, Chris Morgan and Brian Holland, attracting early interest. Echols, one of the West Memphis Three, and his legal team have hit another obstacle as they try to get the court's permission to test newly found evidence for DNA. Attorney General Griffin expects Echols' legal team to refile in Craighead County, but he said that it won't make a difference in the long run. So if the West Memphis Three aren't the real killers, who is? "The chief of police was not truthful," Echols tweeted on Wednesday. Many pointed to the irony in that insult, since Byers himself was considered by many to be complicit in not just the boys' murder, and the death of his second wife as well, who had passed away three years after her son's killing. Their trial, which included The inherent belief in that line of thought eventually led to the arrest of 18-year-old Damien Echols, 17-year-old Jessie Misskelley Jr., and 16-year-old Jason Baldwin, three out-of-sorts teens who became popularly known as "The West Memphis Three.". Yet, it is a giant leap toward murder. Who killed Stevie Watch: Man connected to 'West Memphis Three' learns evidence connected to the case is missing By Dominique Dillon, FOX13memphis.com July 08, 2021 at 5:53 pm CDT WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. He was sentenced to life plus 40 years. Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers were best friends. In addition to the offender being a male who had a relationship with one or more of the victims, Clemente thinks the suspect was from the neighborhood, theorizing that he hid the bodies in order to give himself enough time to establish an alibi. A polygraph indicated some level of deception in his statements to police, yet it should be noted that a heart condition may have affected the results. 'Feels Like Home:' electrical failure from a light fixture caused December fire that killed 1, Shelby County reporting an increase in drug-related overdoses, largely due to fentanyl, Severe weather threat is over | Prepare for a sunny weekend, Daylight saving time starts soon. My attorney was in the evidence room this morning and saw it with his own eyes. When West Memphis teens Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr. were tried and convicted of the murders of three 8-year-old boys in 1994, many in the community felt confident that investigators had put the right men behind bars. Moore. They seem to me to be more practical ligatures, Clemente said. Police detective Bryn Ridge would later testify he somehow lost the samples from Bojangles' wall. Despite suspicion eventually falling away from Byers, Jason Baldwin praised the "Paradise Lost" documentaries as essential to their case, telling the "National Podcast of Texas" in 2019 that "The documentary saved my life, saved Damien's life, and saved Jessie's life. So if the West Memphis Three aren't the real killers, who is? Their clothing was found tied to sticks implanted into the creek bed, with two pairs of underwear missing. No ritual paraphernalia or markings were found at the scene, and many in the police believed those responsible had been sexual predators or strangers from outside the town. Yet, few could give details. WebThe West Memphis Three are three men convicted as teenagers in 1994 of the 1993 murders of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, United States. If the judge makes the decision to deny the state's request for dismissal, then Attorney General Tim Griffin will get a chance to respond to that decision. The 'West Memphis Three' were exonerated following the advent of improved DNA technology (West Memphis Police Department) John Mark Byers, who was suspected in the deaths of three West Memphis children in 1993, died in a car crash earlier this week, officials in Tennessee revealed on Friday, June 19. Police almost immediately turned their attention to Baldwin, Echols and Misskelley and suspected them of killing the boys. Echols, one of the West Memphis Three, and his legal team have hit another obstacle as they try to get the court's permission to test newly found evidence for DNA. ET. MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) A former Memphis Fire Department emergency medical technician told a Tennessee board Friday that officers impeded patient care by refusing to remove Tyre Nichols ' handcuffs, which would have allowed EMTs to check his vital signs after he was brutally beaten by police. Hobbs retrieved a .357 magnum pistol from his truck and shot Jackie Hicks, Pamela Hobbs' brother. On the evening of May 5, 1993, three 8-year-old boys disappeared from the streets of West Memphis, Ark. After being told that she was questioning his involvement, Hobbs is alleged to have replied, "I could skin a man alive, I could cut him up.". That changed on May 5, 1993, when three second-grade boys were reported missing. They allowed police and other workers to walk through the creek, trampling possible evidence such as footprints, and equally failed to drain the water quickly to preserve other evidence. Whose blood was on the knife was uncertain as it matched both Byers and the victim, both having the same HLA-DQ genotype. This was a result of getting enraged, going too far, and then having to basically clean up the mess," he said. Notifications can be turned off anytime from browser settings. Jul. Moore was the group leader and, like his best friends, a proud cub scout, wearing his uniform even when not at meetings. Classmates at Weaver Elementary School, the three were active in their Cub Scout troop and responsible enough to be trusted to roam their neighborhood without JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. The truth is, the ongoing debate over whether Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley were guilty has often clouded the undoubted fact that justice remains elusive for the other West Memphis Three, Steve Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore. Clemente noted there was no indication, forensically, that theres more than one offender involved because what happened to each of the victims was consistent. Misskelley was found guilty of one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder. On one occasion, she said she was with her son all day; on another that he left home around 4 p.m. The police were called, but he had left by the time they arrived, and nobody from law enforcement entered the bathroom until the next day after the discovery of the bodies. "We are planning to move ahead and test this evidence using the latest DNA technology available to hopefully identify the real killer(s) of the three children in 1993, and exonerate Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jesse Misskelley.". During the filming, cameraman Doug Cooper would be given a folding hunting knife by John Mark Byers, Christopher Byers' stepfather. John Mark Byers, stepfather of Chris Byers and initially the subject of considerable suspicion himself, is shown calling Terry Hobbs a "baby killer" outside an Arkansas courtroom. There is a strong Christian identity, and crime is an issue, but the behavior of Echols, in particular, would have drawn comment everywhere. Baldwin would later say that he had been resistant to the plea as a matter of principle, but turning it down would have kept Echols on death row. The West Memphis Three had trials in 1994, with Echols and Baldwin tried together and Misskelley tried separately. It became humiliating, something I'd do everything I could to hide from the rest of the world. Jul. ga('ads.send', { Serving as professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California, it was expert testimony. 31 2021, Published 3:16 p.m. Terry Hobbs, meanwhile, still believes in the guilt of the West Memphis Three, telling Memphis ABC affiliate WATN in 2019 that "I still believe in my heart that Jessie, Jason, and Damion Echols are responsible for what happened to our children.". By Benjamin H. Smith Who Killed The Forgotten West Memphis Three? if(document.querySelector("#google_image_div")){ But in 2011, the West Memphis Three walked free. Damien Echols was sentenced to death, Jessie Misskelley Jr. to life imprisonment plus two 20-year sentences, and Jason Baldwin to life imprisonment. How the three died wasn't the same, with Moore and Branch being killed by multiple injuries and then drowning, with Byers dying of blood loss and not being drowned. The first of that evidence emerged during the filming of HBO's 1996 documentary on the case: 'Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills.'.