Medical examiners were split on whether the three boys died the night they went missing or the morning after, and the bite marks wouldn't even be noticed until photographs were examined years later. Well, it minimizes the package a little bit and makes it easier to control after they're dead.. West Memphis Three Neither Climer nor Bly would be considered competent witnesses at the eventual trial. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Echols interest in the occult as an outlet led him to Wicca, and he was a reader of Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey and English occultist Aleister Crowley. He was sentenced to life plus 40 years. Workers at the Bojangles restaurant just a mile from the crime scene reported that at 8:42 p.m., a Black male had entered the premises and went into the women's bathroom. West Memphis Three | Background & Trial Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three hitType: 'event', Attorney Patrick Benca, who represents defendant Damien Echols, wrote in a Wednesday statement that he located evidence from the case after being granted access to the police department through an Arkansas state court order, according to WREG. The West Memphis Three In contrast, others contend he remained severely mentally ill and an immature teenager. But in the process, the West Memphis Three get blamed for the crime they didn't commit. Opinion remains divided on whether the right men were convicted or if the actual killers still walk the streets of West Memphis. He has now resigned, and we know that none of the evidence was destroyed. 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.". The documentary was filmed on 79 days over ten months up to the point of the West Memphis Three's conviction. Until 2007, when the discovery of new forensic evidence reopened the case and a new statute permitting post-conviction testing of DNA evidence came about. Jul. The condition of the bodies led to the initial belief the three had been raped and then killed. Misskelley was found guilty of one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder. One individual on the police radar was convicted pedophile James K. Martin. However, the matter was sent to appeal, and Burnett was elected to the Arkansas State Senate, with his replacement being David Laser. 1:53 Digital Original Motivations For Investigating The West Memphis Case 1:05 Preview During the filming, cameraman Doug Cooper would be given a folding hunting knife by John Mark Byers, Christopher Byers' stepfather. Then read about the woman who was convicted for locking her deaf sister in a room for seven years. From the murder of Shanda Sharer to the Columbine massacre, there was little that wasn't blamed on this new devilish culture. In statements under oath, the three witnesses say that Michael Hobbs told them, "My uncle killed three boys in West Memphis." Who Killed In statements under oath, the three witnesses say that Michael Hobbs told them, "My uncle killed three boys in West Memphis." It became humiliating, something I'd do everything I could to hide from the rest of the world. He was also charged in 1990 for stealing $65,000 in jewelry from a store where he previously worked, and in 1992 for "conspiring to sell cocaine and with carrying a dangerous weapon.". However, a hair "not inconsistent with" Steve Branch's stepfather, Terry Hobbs, was found, and crucially it was tied into the knots of the bindings that had hogtied one of the children. ga('ads.send', { Baldwin meanwhile has ambitions to become a lawyer and began work for a construction company, with Misskelley getting engaged to his high school girlfriend and training as a mechanic. West Memphis Three released from prison after West Memphis Three Some believe the police immediately thought there was some level of occult involvement in the triple homicide, yet this isn't the case. "I can't understand why exactly people are glossing over the obvious when it comes to Byers and the death of Melissa Byers and all the things that Byers has said and done since this trial," he said. They were 17, 16, and 18 years old respectively. killed The 'West Memphis Three' Murders Increasingly alarmed, searchers saw a black shoe floating in a muddy creek that afternoon. Adding, "Then, uh, Jason pulled out a knife. Despite claiming to know Echols well, she denied knowing his close friend Baldwin. Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers were best friends. We are one of the worlds fastest growing 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. Efforts to release the West Memphis Three would be aided in 2003 when Vicki Hutcheson ultimately recanted her testimony, telling the "Arkansas Times" that everything she told police was a lie. if(document.querySelector("#ads")){ In 1994, in what was widely believed to be a miscarriage of justice, three teens, 18-year-old Damien Echols, 17-year-old Jessie Misskelley Jr., and 16-year-old Jason Baldwin, were convicted in connection to the deaths of Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Steve Branch the previous year. 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' 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. 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 There is a strong Christian identity, and crime is an issue, but the behavior of Echols, in particular, would have drawn comment everywhere. When they didn't, the first phone call would be made to police not long afterward, John Mark Byers raising the alarm with police close to 8 p.m. West Memphis police brought Terry Hobbs in for questioning in June 2007, and coverage soon led to a widespread examination of the original verdict, with Hobbs even telling police that some of his relatives suspected him in the killings. Meanwhile, Byers himself had a long history of drug use and violent criminal behavior, including domestic violence and threats to kill. If they thought they could trust the person who was the actual threat, then that person could get close enough to them to control them so that they couldn't run away," he told Ruff. "But I didn't wear hats back then; my hair could have blown around anywhere.". True crime: The tragedy of the West Memphis Three Memphis Toggle dark mode Echols, 36, had been on death row, while Baldwin, 34, and Misskelley, 36, were serving life sentences. West Memphis Three Meanwhile, at the Marion Police Department, Detective Don Bray was attempting to administer a polygraph test to Vicki Hutcheson, who had recently moved to the city. Who Killed 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. But what is the purpose of that? 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. It doesn't take much effort to get him to say or do anything at all.". Serving as professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California, it was expert testimony. He quickly retracted the statement, and police aren't believed to have considered them suspects any longer than the period of their arrest. When three boys turn up murdered, a small town is desperate to find the killer. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), Who killed Stevie Judge Laser vacated all previous convictions and ordered a new trial where the West Memphis Three would be allowed to make the plea, sentencing them to time served. ADVERTISEMENT Due to marital problems stemming from Stevies death, the couple divorced in 2004, reported CNN. Messed Up Truth About The West Memphis Three Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers were best friends. Hobbs, who had previously been under the police scanner for the murders because of inconsistencies in his story, had later been cleared of any wrongdoing but found himself being verbally abused by Byers in front of cameras outside a courtroom. Who Killed Stating that he was "scared of the police," Misskelley confessed to murder. 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. Candy-Land idealism is quietly suffocated in the relentless humidity. One such suspect was none other than Byers. Standing 6-feet-5-inches tall and weighing 238 pounds, Byers was an imposing and threatening presence. WebDevil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three is a 2002 true crime book by Mara Leveritt, about the 1993 murders of three eight-year-old children and the subsequent trials of three teenagers charged with and convicted of the crimes.The names of the three teens convicted - Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley - would come to be