The West Memphis Three
Charlie99z28
Published
09/27/2011
To be totally honest, I have no idea why I am submitting a blog entry. I've never done it before, and I'm not even sure that what I want to say wil be taken seriously by half the cretins here that get off on letting hatred spew from their mouths like a busted sewer pipe spills excrement into the streets , but regardless of that fact I am going to type this out because it's important to ME, and to hell with the rest of you who don't care. So, if you like it, let me know and I will be obliged to you. If not, or you don't completely agree, why not just let it go? Thanks! But I digress, so without further distractions or disclaimers here we go...
Some of you may be aware of a trio of young men from a small town in Arkansas called West Memphis that were convicted of the atrocious triple homicide of three second grade boys that took place in 1993. If you are not familiar with this story, i highly suggest you take the time at least read more about it than i can (or have the time to) write about it here.
A young man, 17 years old, named Jessie Misskelley Jr. was lured into telling police about what he "witnessed". This was done by the mother of a friend of Jessie who wanted a $30,000 reward for information given about the crimes,so she looked at Jessie as a gullible kid who could tell the cops what they wanted to hear, and convinced him to go to the police with "what he knew". The West Memphis Police Dept. held Jessie for 12 straight hours without being given the right to call his parents or an attorney. Now keep in mind that although Jessie was a 17 year old boy at the time, he was considered to be borderline mentally retarded due to his very low IQ score of 72. Imagine being a poorly educated, 17 year old who had never had a problem with authorities in the past, and held in a small room while strangers are coming in and out to ask you questions and showing you pictures from a crime scene that you thought were only real in horror movies, and expecting you to confess to doing it! Eventually, Jessie fabricated a story that the police wanted to hear, although majority of the statement given did not match the facts found at the crime scene, and furthermore Jessie had incriminated two others in the murders... Damien Echols, and 18 year old who had a few problems with the law involving misdemeanors, and Jason Baldwin, 16 years old.
Jessie, Damien, and Jason were all arrested on June 3rd, 1993. Yeah, that's right, Jessie was interrogated by police for 12 hours without being named as a suspect, and I should add that in those 12 hours, little more than 45 minutes of his statement were actually recorder on audio tape! In a small, predominately Christian town, rumors began to spread about Satanic rituals, and occult like worship services led by Damien himself, and that only people like him would be capable of being the mastermind of such an unspeakable act. As far as the "unspeakable act" I will only say that the bodies were cut, and sexually mutilated. If you want the gory details you'll have to watch the documentaries or read the case files. "Satanic Panic" they called it. When a small group of people highly submerged in Christian beliefs are exposed to horrible truths have no other explanation than "it must be the Devil's work".
Without any formal investigation, lack of evidence collected from from the crime scene, and basing their whole case on, "Satanic panic", the fact that the three suspects wore black clothing, and listened to bands like Metallica (this is way before Marilyn Manson) all three boys were convicted in court by a jury that was already brainwashed by the media reports surrounding the case, and the fact that they themselves were of the Christian persuasion that were pointing fingers in the beginning. There was never any evidence tying the suspects to the crime. Very little was collected at the crime scene because the lead investigator had never been part anything of this magnitude and decided to overlook or dismiss much of what was presented. Blood evidence was collected, although at the time adequate DNA testing was not available. In a nutshell there was no evidence that could incriminate the three suspects beyond a shadow of a doubt.
A coerced confession, lack of evidence, and information pertaining to the case that didn't involve any of the three suspects did not stop the jury from finding all three young men guilty, and the state from sentencing Jessie Misskelley Jr. to life plus 40 years, Jason Baldwin to life without parole, and Damien Echols received the death penalty.
15 years later in 2008, and with new DNA evidence from the original blood samples that proves that not a single cell of genetic material from the crime scene can connect the convicted men to the murders, the Arkansas State Supreme Court ordered that new hearings be held to examine the findings, and examine the probability of the suspects not receiving adequate legal counsel during the original trials. The hearings also presented new information that was not known at the time of the original trials or to the original trial attorneys. It was also revealed by a forensic psychologist that Jessie Misskelley (IQ of 72) was not competent enough to stand trial, and that he was never properly questioned by police, not to mention all the holes in his story and the fact that a lot of what he had told police was just not true.
Three men were condemned by their poverty, poor defense teams provided by the state, Satanic panic, and a rush to judgement fueled by local and statewide media.
On August 19th, 2011 the "West Memphis Three" reached a plea agreement with prosecuters. All three men were allowed to enter what is called an 'Alford Plea' meaning that a person will plead guilty and acknowledge evidence that could possibly convict him/her, but still assert and maintain innocence, and ensures that they can not sue the state for wrongful imprisonment if the verdicts are ever overturned. Smells funny right? Well, anyway, the plea agreement allowed all three men to walk free due to time already served. Let me break this down simply for those of you who are still dumbfounded right now... They are all innocent, and the State of Arkansas knows it! The problem is that the state is to damn embarrassed and proud to admit that they kept three guys locked up, robbed them of life, and now know that because of their own ignorance the suspects are not guilty after all, and will release them, but don't want them to sue when their names are cleared of the crime.
Now after nearly two decades of captivity, the WM3 can walk freely, and work with more resources to finally clear their names once and for all. The evidence is there, the facts have always been there, and their are many supporters who will help fuel the cause! Lets hope that justice will finally prevail and these boys, now men, will be recognized as completely innocent of all charges!
Their is much much more to this case than i can discuss here as I said in the beginning... You can visit WM3.ORG to read anything and everything about the case, and find out about the many celebrities that have supported the cause for years. Some of them include Eddie Veder of Pearl Jam, Johnny Depp, Henry Rollins, and many many more. Their are also two documentary films from HBO entitled "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills" and "Paradise Lost 2: Revelations" with a 3rd installment entitled "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory" to be released in the very near future. I encourage all of you to watch the documentaries, and read the info on the for-mentioned website as it will open your eyes to the great injustice that i have talked about here. Thanks for reading my first blog entry!!
Some of you may be aware of a trio of young men from a small town in Arkansas called West Memphis that were convicted of the atrocious triple homicide of three second grade boys that took place in 1993. If you are not familiar with this story, i highly suggest you take the time at least read more about it than i can (or have the time to) write about it here.
A young man, 17 years old, named Jessie Misskelley Jr. was lured into telling police about what he "witnessed". This was done by the mother of a friend of Jessie who wanted a $30,000 reward for information given about the crimes,so she looked at Jessie as a gullible kid who could tell the cops what they wanted to hear, and convinced him to go to the police with "what he knew". The West Memphis Police Dept. held Jessie for 12 straight hours without being given the right to call his parents or an attorney. Now keep in mind that although Jessie was a 17 year old boy at the time, he was considered to be borderline mentally retarded due to his very low IQ score of 72. Imagine being a poorly educated, 17 year old who had never had a problem with authorities in the past, and held in a small room while strangers are coming in and out to ask you questions and showing you pictures from a crime scene that you thought were only real in horror movies, and expecting you to confess to doing it! Eventually, Jessie fabricated a story that the police wanted to hear, although majority of the statement given did not match the facts found at the crime scene, and furthermore Jessie had incriminated two others in the murders... Damien Echols, and 18 year old who had a few problems with the law involving misdemeanors, and Jason Baldwin, 16 years old.
Jessie, Damien, and Jason were all arrested on June 3rd, 1993. Yeah, that's right, Jessie was interrogated by police for 12 hours without being named as a suspect, and I should add that in those 12 hours, little more than 45 minutes of his statement were actually recorder on audio tape! In a small, predominately Christian town, rumors began to spread about Satanic rituals, and occult like worship services led by Damien himself, and that only people like him would be capable of being the mastermind of such an unspeakable act. As far as the "unspeakable act" I will only say that the bodies were cut, and sexually mutilated. If you want the gory details you'll have to watch the documentaries or read the case files. "Satanic Panic" they called it. When a small group of people highly submerged in Christian beliefs are exposed to horrible truths have no other explanation than "it must be the Devil's work".
Without any formal investigation, lack of evidence collected from from the crime scene, and basing their whole case on, "Satanic panic", the fact that the three suspects wore black clothing, and listened to bands like Metallica (this is way before Marilyn Manson) all three boys were convicted in court by a jury that was already brainwashed by the media reports surrounding the case, and the fact that they themselves were of the Christian persuasion that were pointing fingers in the beginning. There was never any evidence tying the suspects to the crime. Very little was collected at the crime scene because the lead investigator had never been part anything of this magnitude and decided to overlook or dismiss much of what was presented. Blood evidence was collected, although at the time adequate DNA testing was not available. In a nutshell there was no evidence that could incriminate the three suspects beyond a shadow of a doubt.
A coerced confession, lack of evidence, and information pertaining to the case that didn't involve any of the three suspects did not stop the jury from finding all three young men guilty, and the state from sentencing Jessie Misskelley Jr. to life plus 40 years, Jason Baldwin to life without parole, and Damien Echols received the death penalty.
15 years later in 2008, and with new DNA evidence from the original blood samples that proves that not a single cell of genetic material from the crime scene can connect the convicted men to the murders, the Arkansas State Supreme Court ordered that new hearings be held to examine the findings, and examine the probability of the suspects not receiving adequate legal counsel during the original trials. The hearings also presented new information that was not known at the time of the original trials or to the original trial attorneys. It was also revealed by a forensic psychologist that Jessie Misskelley (IQ of 72) was not competent enough to stand trial, and that he was never properly questioned by police, not to mention all the holes in his story and the fact that a lot of what he had told police was just not true.
Three men were condemned by their poverty, poor defense teams provided by the state, Satanic panic, and a rush to judgement fueled by local and statewide media.
On August 19th, 2011 the "West Memphis Three" reached a plea agreement with prosecuters. All three men were allowed to enter what is called an 'Alford Plea' meaning that a person will plead guilty and acknowledge evidence that could possibly convict him/her, but still assert and maintain innocence, and ensures that they can not sue the state for wrongful imprisonment if the verdicts are ever overturned. Smells funny right? Well, anyway, the plea agreement allowed all three men to walk free due to time already served. Let me break this down simply for those of you who are still dumbfounded right now... They are all innocent, and the State of Arkansas knows it! The problem is that the state is to damn embarrassed and proud to admit that they kept three guys locked up, robbed them of life, and now know that because of their own ignorance the suspects are not guilty after all, and will release them, but don't want them to sue when their names are cleared of the crime.
Now after nearly two decades of captivity, the WM3 can walk freely, and work with more resources to finally clear their names once and for all. The evidence is there, the facts have always been there, and their are many supporters who will help fuel the cause! Lets hope that justice will finally prevail and these boys, now men, will be recognized as completely innocent of all charges!
Their is much much more to this case than i can discuss here as I said in the beginning... You can visit WM3.ORG to read anything and everything about the case, and find out about the many celebrities that have supported the cause for years. Some of them include Eddie Veder of Pearl Jam, Johnny Depp, Henry Rollins, and many many more. Their are also two documentary films from HBO entitled "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills" and "Paradise Lost 2: Revelations" with a 3rd installment entitled "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory" to be released in the very near future. I encourage all of you to watch the documentaries, and read the info on the for-mentioned website as it will open your eyes to the great injustice that i have talked about here. Thanks for reading my first blog entry!!
5 Comments