West Memphis Three: Did Satanist kill three little boys?

[Douglas Carpenter]

Is anyone here familiar with the case of "The West Memphis Three" ?

I've only recently learned some horrible details about how one of the most heinous domestic crimes of the 20th century appears to have evolved into a heinous miscarriage of justice.

I remember hearing of the crime many years ago. But at the time I didn't give it much attention. Then recently I saw the DVD/movie of "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders of Robin Hood Hills". You can check it out on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AYEIY0/103-4114994-3128646?v=glance&n=130

Basically on 5 May 1993 three eight-your-old boys were savagely murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas. The following day the three children's bodies were found naked, beaten and bludgeoned. One of the boys has been castrated.

A little less than one month later, three teenagers were arrested and charged with this monstrous crime with the police claiming that the small children were victims of a satanic human sacrifice ritual carried out by the three devil-worshiping teenagers.

However, there seems to be little credible evidence of the involvement of these three teenagers or of the existence of any satanic-cult. Still the police, the prosecutors and the community of rural Arkansas had pretty much made up their minds. The arrest was based on the heavily coerced confession of a borderline mentally retarded teenager (IQ of 72 - mental age of 5 or 6) who originally thought he was helping the police and hoping he might share in the reward money. His "confession" contained numerous glaring factual errors and he unwittingly implicated himself.

The forensics surrounding this case are at most inconclusive and certainly do not fit the scenario laid out by the police and the prosecutors.

All three of these teenagers were found guilty in January/February 1994. The oldest of the them was sentenced to death by lethal injection and has been on death row since the end of the trial.
The other two are serving a sentence of life in prison without any change of parole.

for a neutral view of this case see this link put out by Court TV:

http://www.crimelibrary.com/classics/westmemphis/

for info on an organization advocating on behalf of "The West Memphis Three" and a vast resource for info (both advocacy and neutral)-- see this link:

http://www.wm3.org/splash.php


I'm wondering if anyone else here on DU has followed this case.

[Cats Against Frist]

1. I saw the documentary on HBO in like 1995, or something

I don't know what the hell happened, but the lead kid creeps me out, regardless -- and I've hung out with my fair share of Robert Smith wannabes. The story is pretty interesting, though.

[Douglas Carpenter]

4. of the three -- he is the only one who makes me wonder

but still, there is little or no credible evidence that he did what he was accused of. Having read as much as I could of the details, I had to arrive at the conclusion that he is innocent.

Damien Echols is still on death row and he is on his last chance of appeal to the federal courts--If this fails he will almost certainly be executed.

[Douglas Carpenter]

2. oh yes, here is a book about the subject

Devil's Knot : The True Story of the West Memphis Three--available on Amazon on this link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743417607/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_5/103-4114994-3128646?%5Fencoding=UTF8

[southlandshari]

3. I've followed it very closely

and do not believe the three convicted of the crime are guilty. I definitely believe that John Mark Byers had something to do with the deaths of his stepson and the other two. Creepy beyond belief.

I've seen both HBO documentaries and read the two books I found on it (Blood of Innocents - not bad; Devil's Knot - excellent), and visit the wm3 site regularly for updates.

You'll find some threads on this in the True Crime group, too!

:hi:

[Douglas Carpenter]

5. thank you, I will have to check out the True Crime group

I rarely take an interest in crime stories. But, this one just stunned me. I suppose I feel the most sorry for Jessie Misskelly Jr. because he really was clueless about what was going on.

Yes, I believe they are innocent too. And I am certainly suspicious of John Mark Byers.

I've just discovered the WM 3 site and have been spending hours and ends reading the details.

[southlandshari]

6. That case is what sparked my interest

in true crime in general. I saw the first HBO documentary (Paradise Lost) not too long after it came out by chance. I was stunned. That was ten years ago. I am still stunned by the facts of that case.

:wow:

[Douglas Carpenter]

8. I have one question about the case

I've noticed that advocates of the guilt of Damien Echols and the West Memphis 3, keep mentioning something about a necklace. I've searched and searched and all I found was that it was excluded by the judge in the trial. Is there some source for info about that matter?

[southlandshari]

10. I have no idea

unless it is a reference to a pentagram necklace Echols might have owned. Pretty flimsy as far as evidence to prove someone committed a savage triple murder, yes?

[Douglas Carpenter]

12. oh, I finally found it

here is the link:

http://www.wm3.org/live/evidence/evidenceanalysis.php?page=15

"Nothing more determinable than common blood types were found due to the minute quantities of genetic material present. One spot on the pendant was consistent with the blood type of Damien, and a second spot was consistent with the blood type shared by both Jason and Steven Branch -- as well as 11% of the rest of the Caucasian population. (67)

It is fair to point out that a wide variety of causes unrelated to criminal conduct can account for microscopic amounts of blood being found on an object worn against the exposed skin of teenage boys. Moreover, new information has entered the public record in the yeas since the original trial that Jason Baldwin also wore Damien's Indian pendant. During Echols' Rule 37 (or ineffective counsel) Post-conviction Hearing in June of 1998, his trial attorney Val Price testified that "As a matter of fact, that necklace that came up at the end of the trial -- that necklace at one time had been worn by Jason Baldwin. And one of the police photographs shows Jason wearing that particular necklace." (68)

If Jason ever wore the pendant, then it can not be said there is any lesser chance of the blood coming from him than from Steve Branch. Any argument made that someone with a known cause to be actively bleeding -- in other words, Steve Branch -- would be a more likely candidate for depositing the blood type, is undermined upon remembering that the State's experts were reporting that Damien's blood type was found on the object as well, and in Lt. James Sudbury's report about meeting with and questioning Damien regarding the homicides on May 7, 1993 (where at least two pictures were taken of Damien under sunlight without a shirt on), no mention is made of seeing any scars or wounds upon his body. (69)"

[LostInAnomie]

7. Whether they did it or not...

... does not matter (even though I think they are innocent). Their trial was a disgrace to the judicial system. It was a witch hunt in a fundamentalist Christian town. They were convicted because of what they read and the music they listened to.

I've had a link to their site in my sig line for about a year hoping that people click on it to find out about the case.

[southlandshari]

9. I noticed that.

:thumbsup:

[Douglas Carpenter]

11. ya, that's great

sorry to admit it, but until about one month ago, I didn't know anything about the case. I remember hearing something about it years ago when it was happening.

But, since I saw the film, I cannot get it out of my mind.