16 Years of Injustice: How 3 Teens Were Falsely Convicted – The West Memphis Three
Visualize for a moment, if you will, not being able to have lived out some of the best years of your life.
Your graduation…
Your first rock concert…
Getting your driver’s license…
Being there for the birth of your child…
If you can even grasp this, then you might have a tiny percentage of an idea of what it has been like for the three men known as The West Memphis Three. The WM3; Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley; were adolescents during the time of their conviction, which was predominantly focused on their musical interests and their clothing, and based upon accusations of Satanism.
Over 15 years after the Robin Hood Hills murders, these men are now in their thirties, having missed a majority of what most of us take for granted as “the best years of our lives”.
Several might say, “Well, so what? They were convicted! They’re criminals!” The trouble with that statement is that there is no DNA evidence that ties the West Memphis Three to the crime or the victims.
Reported missing on May 5, 1993, Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers, were the fatalities of the Robin Hood Hills murders – all of them 8-year-old boys. The community of West Memphis, Arkansas was shaken to the core – it was (and still is) a horrible and unfathomable crime… who would murder three young children?
The West Memphis police force began investigating the crime; and in the years since the murders, have been harshly criticized for the conduct in which they handled the crime scene and continued the investigation. Evidence from the investigations was mismanaged and went missing. At the crime scene, the bodies of the young boys were moved before the coroner arrived (who was not called until approximately two hours after they were found).
Furthermore, these are only a sample of the criticisms. The WMPD had been offered support from the Arkansas State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the case; support which they turned away. The police began zeroing in on Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin as their prime suspects. Both teenagers denied having any involvement in the murders.
Jessie Misskelley was seventeen years old at the time of the investigation. He was interrogated alone, by police, without consent from his parents. The questioning continued uninterrupted for about 12 hours; but only 46 minutes was recorded; a recording that was claimed to be Misskelley’s declaration of guilt that implicated Echols and Baldwin as the murderers. The problem with the recording and the confession is that it conflicts with a lot of the facts from the case itself. Jessie later recanted his confession citing police intimidation. Later on during trial, an expert on police coercion and false confessions from Berkeley, Dr. Richard Ofshe testified that Jessie had been pressurized into making the confession, and that the confession was very inconsistent with the specifics of the crime.
Utilizing the coerced confession as their “smoking gun”, West Memphis police arrested and charged Damien, Jason, and Jesse for the Robin Hood Hills Murders. The media commenced coverage of the arrests with a slanting portrayal of the case. Despite the fact that in the United States, the accused are innocent until proven guilty, it was important to note that many perceived the teenage boys, at the time, as being blameworthy.
The trials that followed became an exercise in “Satanic Panic”. The prosecution constructed their case on the boys being Satanists, practicing witchcraft, and listening to that ‘evil’ Heavy Metal music. No irrefutable physical evidence tied any of the West Memphis Three to the victims or the crime scene – but the case was brought ahead as the deaths having been “killing in the name of religion”, namely that of some Satanic ritual.
Additionally, several ‘witnesses‘ who testified that the WM3 were involved in the occult and had ‘overheard‘ Echols speaking of the slayings, later came forward and recanted their testimonies as fabrications influenced by police coercion. In 2008, it was revealed that Kent Arnold, the jury foreman on the trial for Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols had discussions with a legal representative prior to the beginning of the court case, and was vocally of the opinion that the West Memphis Three were accountable. The jury misconduct that followed clearly influenced the outcome.
In the years since their incarceration, some DNA evidence has arisen that may tie one of the parents of the victims to the crime. Additionally, more than a few of the parents (including the very vocal John Mark Byers) have come forward and publicly stated their certainty that the WM3 were wrongfully convicted. Along with the followers in support of the West Memphis Three, they pursue the freedom for three, and justice for six.
Numerous media sources are available that examine the case of the Robin Hood Hills Murders and the investigation and court case of the West Memphis Three. The two most well known are the HBO documentaries, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (that follows the events of the trials during 1994), and Paradise Lost II: Revelations (which examines the aftermath following the trials six years later). An additional investigative resource, the novel Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three by Mara Leveritt scrutinizes the case in great detail.
2009 has seen some significant developments for the West Memphis Three. Presently, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley are seeking a new trial under claims they had ineffectual counsel in 1994. Eyewitnesses have also come forward and supplied sworn affidavits that they saw Terry Hobbs, stepfather of one of the murdered boys, with all three of the victims just before their disappearance. DNA evidence also connects him to the crime scene.
But these new developments in the case of the WM3 do not change the fact that these boys grew to manhood incarcerated. They missed the end of high-school transition to college years and employment. They missed settling down with families, and taking for granted many of the freedoms you and I do.
Sixteen years put away for crimes that have no physical evidence tying them to the victims or the crime scene. Not one molecule.
For more information about The West Memphis 3, you can go and check out WM3.org and The WM3 Mixx Community.
Social Blend Podcast: West Memphis Three
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