West Memphis Three Forensic Experts Meet in Little Rock
According to Leveritt, DNA was not the focus of the meeting, but rumors that the focus of the investigation has shifted away from the three have been widely circulated.
The West Memphis Three -- Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jesse Misskelley -- were convicted in the 1993 slayings of Michael Moore, Stevie Branch and Christopher Byers.
Pam Hobbs, the mother of Branch, believes the right men are in prison, but in an interview with local news station KATV, expressed doubts that the three worked alone. "I feel like the ones that killed my son, the three that were tried and convicted they are guilty but I am like everyone else, was there someone else out there other than those 3?" Hobbs said.
According to an anonymous defense source, recent DNA testing has not produced "any matches to our guys." The source wouldn't comment on whether the testing has produced a link to another suspect. The source also claims that the forensic experts controlled the meeting, "We wanted to let our science people get with their science people and let the lawyers get out of the way. We want the science to be leading the lawyers, instead of the opposite."
Critics have charged that the investigation was botched and that no evidence tying the three to the crimes was ever found. The convictions hung on the confession of Misskelley, a mentally handicapped then-17 year old who was questionsed for 12 ours without a lawyer or parent present. The crimes gave inspired two documentaries, numerous CD compilations featuring artists as diverse as Pearl Jam, Steve Earl and Henry Rollins.
Mara Leveritt is a prize winning reporter and author. She was named 1994 Arkansas Journalist of the Year, and her book "The Boys on the Tracks" won Arkansas's Booker Worthen Prize in 1998. Her book "Devil's Knot" is the most in depth analysis of the West Memphis Three case. It, too, won the Booker Worthen Prize in 2003.
June 3 is West Memphis Three Worldwide Awareness Day. The date marks the 14 year anniversary of the arrests of Echols, Misskelley and Baldwin. Scheduled events include am assembly at the Crittendon County Courthouse in Marion, Arkansas, where the original trials were held and screenings of the Paradise Lost I and II at Miss Kitty's Grape Escape in Galena, Illinois.
Source: Mara Leveritt ," WM3 Defense Team Meets With State; Lay Scientific "Cards on the Table"
KATV DNA Evidence Being Examined in Case Against West Memphis Three
Published by Kari Livingston
Kari Livingston is a freelancer writer living and loving life in the foothills of the Arkansas Ozarks. She specializes in local restaurants, attractions and family events. Her work has appeared on HubPages,... View profile
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10 Comments
Post a CommentI live in Arkansas and recently saw the documentary.I also used to work in a state prison. I've said it before and I'll say it again if you have a court appointed attorney defend you you might as well have the dog, Lassie.Poor people go to prison. When you see somebody getting hard time they are probably poor.
I am so glad to have found this article, i just talked to Ira Mency at her baltimore home and she told me all about this case, how she is donating some art and time to raise money for their campaign. now I'm reading up on it too and I have to say, I think they are innocement.
I and many others in Melbourne attended a recent 'Free the West Memphis 3' benfit gig held by local metal bands. All I can say is if the whole world is aware of this serious miscarriage of justice, and believe that the 3 being held prisoners are innocent, the people who live in the location of the murders (who STILL believe they are guilty in some way) should just look at this fact and reconsider - If the population of the world were the jury in this case, three innocent young adults (who have unfortunately already had the best years of their lives taken from them) would be free right now, and the perpetrator of this crime (Mark Byers) would be in jail, getting his own dose of justice. The evidence speaks for itself.....
It's so obvious that the stepfather (Mark Byers) is guilty of the murders. I only hope the the public can get over the fact that not all people that look different are criminals. For those that still believe the 3 are guilty, look at the evidence!
I knew pam hobbs and terry hobbs as they were our neighbors shortly before the murders took place and have serious doubts that they were in any way involved other than bereaved parents.I also knew Mark Beyers and knew well of his drug problems and his quickness to temper.His wife did also die of overdose to prescription drugs. I believe that he is the killer of all four!
I live here in west memphis now and knowing how these police are now I have my questions if the boys are innocent or not but the majority of the people that I know here are convinced that they had something to do with it but also believe the step father did as well
what a horrible miscarriage of justice. now three boys and their families have all sufferred tragedy too. our legal system should be ashamed. so many lives ruined and that freak of a stepfather is still running free.
The step father did it! I cannot believe the courts have failed us this badly! He removed his teeth! This guy deserves to be castrated and tortured the same way he tortured these poor boys. He did it. Bottom line.
I feel that the step-father of one of the murdered children is the one who is responsible for the whole situtation, and the fact that his wife(the mother of one of the boys) died in the step-fathers words, she died of a broken heart! I feel that she knew or found out and he had something to do with what happened to the 3 little boys and the Mother of the one child that died. He will catch what is coming to him. I feel deeply that the boys convivted are innocent!! So, FREE THE MEMPHIS THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!
FREE THE WEST MEMPHIS THREE!
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