The West Memphis Three: A Chance for Freedom

The case of the West Memphis three is a very unusual one to say the least. In May 1993, three 8 year old boys were found bound and beaten to death in a wooded area of West Memphis known as Robin Hood Hills. They were nude in a drainage ditch, their clothes pushed down in the mud with sticks. Panic enveloped the town as days went by with no leads and finding no real evidence. The police soon set their sites on one teenage boy.

He was just different. Damien Echols, a 17 year old at the time, wore mostly black and listened to heavy metal music. He was considered "weird" by other youths and kept to himself most of the time. He had been in minor trouble before, but had been questioned for dozens of other crimes he did not commit. He was considered a trouble maker by the police. Soon authorities had taken on a "satanic panic" mentality about the case and word was spreading that the killings were that of a satanic cult. They questioned Damien outside his house a few days after the boys' bodies were found.

A woman whom was already in trouble for check fraud, urged another town youth, Jessie Misskelly, to go to the police and say that he had witnessed Damien take part in the killings. initially the police were going for a witness statement. They questioned 17 year old Jessie for 12 hours unknown by his father. They soon had coherced a confession out of him. He said that he had participated by running after one of the boys and bringing him back to the killers, Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin. Jason was Damien's best friend. He was slight for his age and also wore black t-shirts and listened to heavy metal. Jason was 16 and thought it was a joke when the cops "busted" in on he and Damien.

HBO came to West Memphis to do a documentary on the killings. The crew was allowed into the court rooms for the trials and also interviewed the three accused, their parents, and the parents of the victims. The documentary was first meant to be a look at three cold blooded killers in the heart of America. What they found were three wrongly accused teens in the heart of a witch hunt.

Damien and Jason were both arrested along with Jessie Misskelly and charged with triple capital murder. Jessie's trial was first. His confession was used in the trial. As it was played for the jurors he hung his head at the defense table. An expert in false confessions was called to testify. He testified that Jessie had a very low IQ and was susceptible to giving a false confession. People with low IQ's and no knowledge on how the system works will tell the police whatever it is they want to hear to get out from under the immediate pressure, not realizing what they are saying is a serious confession. It does happen more than anyone would believe. The jury was shown no hard evidence. No blood, fingerprint or DNA evidence. Jessie was convicted of three counts of capital murder and was sentenced to life plus forty years.

In the next trial Damien and Jessie were tried together, with individual lawyers, and with Damien being portrayed as the ring leader. The state brought into evidence writings and drawings of Echols as well as books he owned including titles by Alister Crowley and Stephen King. They also allowed Jessie's confession and offered him a deal if he testified in person which he did not accept. Instead they played the tape of his confession. The two teens seemed to be in a daze not knowing what serious consequences lie ahead for them.

In one of the documentaries titled "Paradise Lost 2 " Damien told HBO " I didn't even realize the situation was that bad, that they could put you in prison when you haven't actually done anything wrong."

Jason Baldwin was sentenced to life in prison. Damien Echols was sentenced to death.

In the years since the verdicts, a support group called the Free the West Memphis Three has sprouted. Thousands of people all around the world believe that the men were wrongly convicted. There is a denfense fund and t-shirts to buy to show your support. This case goes far deeper than what is discussed here and has so many facets that it would be hard to cover them all.

In October of this year the defense teams brought to light new finding that new DNA tests have shown. No DNA tested matched any of the three convicted. Also experts have concluded that most of the wounds on the boys bodies were from animal activity, not from a knife brought into evidence in the trials.

On October 29 of this year the defense teams filed a Second Amended Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus providing evidence that the three have been wrongly convicted. They ask the court to grant a new trial or overturn the verdicts and set them free. For more information go to www.wm3.org.