On May 6, the boys' battered bodies were found in a drainage ditch in Robin Hood Hills. The relevance of Morgan's recanted statement would later be debated in trial, but it was eventually barred from admission as evidence. By then, the man had left, and police did not enter the restroom on that date. All three had been stripped naked and hogtied with their own shoelaces. [73], A website by Martin David Hill, containing approximately 160,000 words and intending to be a "thorough investigation", collates and discusses many details surrounding the murders and investigation, including some anecdotal information. 1. Two more films followed, Paradise Lost 2: Revelations in 2000 and Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory in 2011 because, as the filmmakers and the various critics of basically every step of the investigation and the treatment of the defendants along the way suspected—mistakes had been made. [21], Police officers James Sudbury and Steve Jones felt that the crime had "cult" overtones, and that Damien Echols might be a suspect because he had an interest in occultism, and Jones felt Echols was capable of murdering children. Stidham made similar comments during a radio show interview in May 2010. [66], In 2010, district Judge Brian S. Miller ordered Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of victim Stevie Branch, to pay $17,590 to Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines for legal costs stemming from a defamation lawsuit he filed against the band. HBO executives ordered them to return the knife to the West Memphis Police Department. [6], On May 5, 1993, three eight-year-old boys (Steve Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers) were reported missing in West Memphis, Arkansas. On Aug. 19, 2011, Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley entered Alford pleas—a plea of innocence while acknowledging that there's evidence to convict them in a court of law—and after spending more than 18 years in prison, were sentenced to time served plus 10 years suspended. Asked the same question, Echols replied, "No, sir." This would include running the results through the FBI's Combined DNA Index System database. A hearing on Echols' petition for a writ of habeas corpus was held in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Under the "Bruton rule", Misskelley's confession could not be admitted against his co-defendants; thus he was tried separately. [24][40] In June 1996, Misskelley's lawyer, Dan Stidham, was preparing an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. His stated reasons for the removal are apparently contradictory. He moved to New York City after his release. The counsel representing the men said they would continue to pursue full exoneration. [3][9] Misskelley's father gave permission for Misskelley to go with police but did not explicitly give permission for his son to be questioned or interrogated. "[48] Pamela Hobbs' May 5, 2009 declaration in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas, Western Division indicates that "one hair was consistent with the hair of [Terry's] friend, David Jacoby" (Point 16), and:[49]. Beebe said he would deny the request unless there was evidence showing someone else committed the murders. He has been married to Lorri Davis since December 3, 1999. 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. That existence was Damien Echols' reality on death row for 18 years. [71] A biography of John Mark Byers by Greg Day named Untying the Knot: John Mark Byers and the West Memphis Three was published in May 2012. [9] In 1996, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that Misskelley's confession was voluntary and that he did, in fact, understand the Miranda warning and its consequences. He has stated that he plans on enrolling in college to become a lawyer in order to help wrongfully convicted persons prove their innocence. He is in a relationship with a woman who befriended him while he was in prison. He had never told me that he had it. His psychosis dominated his perceptions of everything going on in court, Woods wrote. [3][9] Misskelley specifically said he was "scared of the police" during this confession. [87] Hospital records for his treatment in Little Rock 11 months before the killings show a history of self-mutilation and assertions to hospital staff that he gained power by drinking blood, that he had inside him the spirit of a woman who had killed her husband, and that he was having hallucinations. But the town was ready to see these three go straight to hell. They were released with 10-year suspended sentences, having served 18 years. All three defendants pleaded not guilty. 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 filming the first Paradise Lost feature. Whatever became of Damien Echols’ child, the little boy with Domini’s ears we saw him cradling in court during his trial? [62] Ellington said that, although he still considered the men guilty, the three would likely be acquitted if a new trial were held because of the powerful legal counsel representing them now, the loss of evidence over time, and the change of heart among some of the witnesses. In 2017 he moved to Texas, where he co-founded Proclaim Justice—a nonprofit dedicated to overturning wrongful convictions—in Austin. Under the terms of the Alford guilty plea, Echols and his co-defendants accepted the sufficiency of evidence supporting the three counts of first degree murder while maintaining their innocence. The police did not telephone the coroner until almost two hours after the discovery of the floating shoe, resulting in a late appearance by the coroner. Stidham overheard Judge Burnett discuss taking a lunch break with the jury foreman and heard the foreman reply that the jury was almost finished. ), Here's How 100 Women Use Their Voice Today, Watch an Exclusive First Look at Oxygen's New True Crime Special, Your True Crime Obsessions: The Latest Case Updates You Need to Know About, Dave Darnell/The Commercial Appeal/ZUMAPRESS.com. Police said the recording was "inaudible", but Hutcheson claimed the recording was audible. © 2020 E! [6] Baldwin pleaded guilty to three counts of first degree murder while still asserting his actual innocence. On the recording, he told police that he watched his buddies beat and rape two of the boys and castrate one of them, and that he helped subdue one of the kids when he tried to get away. [44] John Mark Byers had his teeth removed in 1997, after the first trial but before an imprint could be made. ", Following a 2010 decision by the Arkansas Supreme Court regarding newly produced DNA evidence and potential juror misconduct, the West Memphis Three negotiated a plea bargain with prosecutors. [9], Echols' family was poor and received frequent visits from social workers, and he rarely attended school. On April 28, 2011, the band Disturbed released a song entitled "3" as a download on their website. King gave the officers a pair of sunglasses he thought the man had left behind, and the detectives took some blood samples from the walls and tiles of the restroom. Arrested in Oceanside on May 17, 1993, Morgan and Holland both took polygraph exams administered by California police. Belief is the psychic equivalent of an article of second-hand clothing, worn out and passed down. [18], Baldwin and Echols had been previously arrested for vandalism and shoplifting, respectively, and Misskelley had a reputation for his temper and for engaging in fistfights with other teenagers at school. He has been married to Lorri Davis since December 3, 1999. [42] However, the original trial judge, Judge David Burnett, disallowed presentation of this information in his court. Hutcheson was never charged with theft. [86], Echols' mental stability during the years immediately prior to the murders and during his trial was the focus of his appellate legal team in their appeal attempts. Misskelley ignored this advice and went on to detail how the boys were abused and murdered. Misskelley agreed to introduce Hutcheson to Echols. [32], Three weeks later, Echols and Baldwin went on trial. Aaron, a playmate of the murdered boys', mentioned to Bray that the boys had been killed at "the playhouse." Their clothing was found in the creek, some of it twisted around sticks that had been thrust into the muddy ditch bed. Michael Moore was the son of Todd and Dana Moore. ", "The documentary saved my life, saved Damien's life, and saved Jessie's life," Baldwin said on The National Podcast of Texas podcast in 2017. The prosecution called Dale W. Griffis, a graduate of the unaccredited Columbia Pacific University, as an expert in the occult to testify the murders were a Satanic ritual. Baldwin and Echols were acquainted with Misskelley from school, but were not close friends with him. Moore enjoyed wearing his scout uniform even when he was not at meetings. [23], Though he was informed of his Miranda rights, Misskelley later claimed he did not fully understand them. In 2000, The album Free the West Memphis 3 was released by KOCH Records. A hair "not inconsistent with" Stevie Branch's stepfather, Terry Hobbs, was found tied into the knots used to bind one of the victims.
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