The West Memphis 3 Case

[Lady Cop]

more here at link below: Daily Mail UK.


The Victims





http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...cence.html

[HairOfTheDog]

I saw the Paradise Lost documentaries which were quite clearly biased in favor of the convicted's innocence and pointed suspicion and Mark Byers (one of the victim's stepfather; completely cleared now). For 2 years, Mr. Byers was the target of those who believed Echols, Misskelley, and Baldwin. For the last couple of years, suspicion has been firmly hovering over Terry Hobbs, the then-stepfather of one of the other victims. He was never considered a suspect by police, but he is clearly an SOB. After Mr. Hobbs shot her brother a few years back, his wife, Pam Hobbs began defending the West Memphis 3 and voicing suspicion regarding Mr. Hobb's involvement in the murder of her son and the other 2 victims. She, along with a list of celebrities who find Damien Echols' art and poetry intriguing (and think he was persecuted because he wore dark clothes and listened to heavy metal in the Bible Belt), have been fighting for new trials and freedom for the convicted murderers.

After watching a 48 Hours Special which included an interview with Damien Echols' wife and crusader, I was on the fence about guilt or innocence because I didn't have enough information to form an unbiased opinion. I decided to go back and look only at the facts of the case - propaganda and new personal vendettas in the families aside. This site has almost everything pertaining to the case:

http://callahan.8k.com/trial_transcripts.html

In my opinion, the right people were convicted, though I know I'm in the minority and it's an unpopular opinion. I'm fully aware of all the arguments in favor of their innocence and the passion of their defenders, which I respect but with which I disagree. In my opinion only, the facts of the initial investigation point to guilt. However, I do think the prosecution focused too much on the supposed Satanic motive and their expert on the subject was a joke. There may also have been some jury misconduct. I believe these are the reasons that the State will no retry this case, especially with the high profile brought about by the likes of Johnny Depp and friends.

The confessions of Jesse Misskelley are quite incriminating; the transcripts of which can be found at the site linked in this post. He has 2 lawyers present that are begging him not to talk over and over and the LE present repeatedly tells him he doesn't have to say anything. Each time, he says it needs to be told. There is no coercion, imo, and Mr. Misskelley is mentally capable of understanding what is happening and what he is doing. He revealed some details that were later verified by LE. Also incriminating are the statements and attitude of Damien Echols, before, during and after the trial. I believe he is a psychopath and don't trust a word he says, then or now, but that's jmo... Some of his writings and statements while jailed indicate, to me, that he may have a true mental illness. He had indeed been in treatment for such before the murders. Here is a link to a Larry King death row interview with Echols in 2007:

http://www.myspace.com/video/free-the-wm...1/42400543

The DNA of Terry Hobbs found at the sight and the lack of DNA of the Memphis 3 are compelling and I respect the opinion of those that think the West Memphis 3 were unjustly targeted. Imo, this is not evidence of innocence and does not override the case for guilt.

I hope to be wrong. These men are now back on the street. Whether they are guilty or innocent, I believe they will not likely be involved in something so horrendous again because of they have a lot of eyes upon them now. More likely, they, at least Echols and his wife, will be in front of the camera as much as possible.

JMO...

[Lady Cop]

excellent post Hairy. i really need to find time to do the research.

[QueenBee]

Interestingly, this is one of the first trials I ever watched on TV, I worked part time, mostly evenings so my days were free. At the time, I did not have the knowledge I do now, of DNA and other evidence..but I was pretty convinced they were guilty.
But over the years, especially when it came back to light due to people rallying for their innocence, I began to have doubts myself.
*
I have never heard of the alford plea before, so I do not feel I can comment much on it...but if what they are saying is that they acnowledge that the state has evidence they could use against them at trial..does this really mean they have evidence that could potentially prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt?
*
I know that many people were sure of guilt because of the satan worship thing. But I do not know, were they just judging based on negative feelings?

[Cracker]

Innocent people don't plead guilty.

[Cracker]

Again, I don't feel passionate about this case, just want to hear other people's opinions.

What the fuck is wrong with you?

(Passionate-LY, adverb, different than an adjective because it modifies a VERB. Rednecks do that shit, too.)

[HairOfTheDog]

CNN is reporting that the victims' families are divided on yesterday's Alford Plea and release of WM3.

John Mark Byers, originally the most vocal about the WM 3 being guilty (and once accused of being the killer by WM3 crusaders), was the stepfather of Christopher Byers. He did a total 180 after his odd appearances in the Paradise Lost documentary and subsequent cloud of suspicion was cast upon him by W3 supporters. He has been one of their strongest supporters in recent years and is happy about their release, but angry that the 3 had to plead guilty to be set free.

Pam Hobbs, victim Stevie Branch's mom, says she doesn't know what to believe. She just wants peace. Over the last couple of years, she has been pointing the finger at her ex-husband and Stevie's stepfather Terry Hobbs. Apparently Stevie's biological dad does not agree,

Steven Branch Sr. is Pam Hobbs' first husband and Stevie Branch's father. He believes the WM3 were proven guilty, are in fact guilty, and that Damien Echols should be executed and the other 2 convicted murderers should be in prison for life.

Victim Michael Moore's parents, Todd and Diana Moore, seem to stay out of the public eye. I didn't find any statements from them regarding yesterday's releases.

Reference:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/08/19/arka...?hpt=hp_t2


Chris--------------------------Michael---------------------------------Stevie

[Lady Cop]

tonight Sept. 17 at 10 Eastern on CBS

48 Hours Mystery
Episode: The West Memphis 3 - Free
NEW

Seventeen years after being convicted of murdering three young boys, three men are released from prison, where they were facing life sentences.

[dominokitty]

Sorry this is long, but I've posted excerpts below. Okay, I've gone back & forth for years in my opinion on this...most of the time thinking they were guilty. Then I saw interviews the day of release & Damien from interviews in the last few years and they came across so adamant about being innocent, I started to think maybe....

Then I read Jesse's 3^rd stmt (the one his atty begged him not to give) and this was after I had just read a summary of autopsy reports. Now I really believe they are guilty. Jesse stated a couple things he couldn't know correlated to the autopsy reports:
#1
Jessie Stmt: (excerpts)
DAVIS: Alright. Who did you grab?
MISSKELLEY: ..um.. the one that had a, a blue boyscout.

DAVIS: What about the boy that you'd been hitting on. What's he doing at that point?
MISSKELLEY: Nothing. He's unconscious.

DAVIS: Unconscious. Were you still holding on to him.
MISSKELLEY: Yea.

DAVIS: What did you, how did you have him held?
MISSKELLEY: By the hands.

DAVIS: Ok. Where describe to me what Ja, what you saw Jason do?
MISSKELLEY: He first he cut one of'm on a face on his left side just a little bit like a scratch. Then ..ah.. he went to the other one and got on top of him, started hitting him and then pull one of'm pants down and get on top of'm and cut'm.

DAVIS: What were you doing at this time?
MISSKELDAVIS: Ok. Could you see, did you ever see one of the boys get cut with the knife?
MISSKELLEY: After he cut through with'm then I noticed what'd he done.

DAVIS: What did you see?
MISSKELLEY: I saw that boy you know missing

DAVIS: If you worried when you saw that, describe to me what you saw Jason do and what you saw happened?
MISSKELLEY: Well when he was doing that I seen blood fly.

DAVIS: Ok. Well did he, where'd the blood go?
MISSKELLEY: Grass, I mean not grass but weeds, like <..inaudible> sling around.

DAVIS: What'd the boy do when that happened?
MISSKELLEY: He started hollering. And Jason put his shirt over his mouth.

DAVIS: What'd Jason do after that?
MISSKELLEY: Then he came over where I was at.

DAVIS: What'd he do then?
MISSKELLEY: He wanted to do that one I was hitting, he wanted to do him the same way and I wouldn't let'm.

DAVIS: What'd you say to'm?
MISSKELLEY: I told'm na, after I seen what happened he did to that other boy. I said naw you ain't doing this one like that.

DAVIS: What'd Jason do then?
MISSKELLEY: He looked at me real weird and showed me that knife and then just walked off.

compare w/autopsy results (link below)
http://www.jivepuppi.com/table_of_injuries.html
Michael Moore was the only one w/out injuries to his penis. Michael Moore had on the boy scout uniform.

#2
Jesse Stmt:
DAVIS: That's what, saw Damien do. What else was he doing?
MISSKELLEY: He grabbed one of'm by the ear, I don't know which one, he grabbed on of'm by the ear trying to pull his ear off or something. He grabbed'm pretty tight. It turned kind of red.

compare autopsy report:
Steve Branch left ear: "Entire ear contused with overlying fine linear abrasions.

#3
Jesse Stmt:
DAVIS: The, were the other two (2) boys still conscious. You said the one you had was unconscious, were the other two (2) boys still conscious at that point?
MISSKELLEY: Well the one who got castrated he wasn't moving that much no more. I figured you know he might be dead or whatever. I really didn't know.

DAVIS: What happens next you said you, Damien's still got the other one, Jason's got one and you got one. What happens next?
MISSKELLEY: Damien was messing the one little boy's penis.

CALVIN: Jessie, you need to speak up a little bit.

DAVIS: When you say he was messing with one of the boy's penis' what do you mean? What was he doing?
MISSKELLEY: pulling on it.

compare autopsy report:
Steve Branch: Midshaft of penis including glans diffusely red-purple with overlying very fine superficial scratches with clear band of demarcation showing proximal portion uninvolved. Blood vessel engorgement of head and shaft under microscopic analysis.
Also Jesse said Jason cut one boy on the left side of face (it was more than a "scratch" though, but on the left side) and then got THE OTHER BOY (Chris Byers) & cut his privates off. Stevie had a horrible slice to left side of his face, but "the other boy" Chris Byers was genitally mutilated.

To me this proves Jesse was there...he know details of injuries proved in autopsy reports? They did this. At least they spent 17 yrs in jail. Not enough but best parts of their lives are gone. They will have final justice one day.

[Lady Cop]

too detailed and accurate according to autopsies to be a false confession. i also always believed they were guilty. and that someday they will be repaid by the universe.

fucking celebritard bullshit. they are stupid. just plain stupid.

those poor boys, what they suffered makes me weep.

[ScientistsCanvas]

I don't understand how three teenagers could commit such a BRUTAL crime, in the dark, and not leave behind any definitive evidence. When the defense had all the evidence re-tested for DNA, and I mean pretty much any piece of evidence that might contain a trace of DNA, in 2007 - that made me think...either these guys are absolutely certain that they did NOT commit these murders, or they did it while wearing wetsuits. If there was no DNA found, aside from the victims, I could maybe understand. But that wasn't the case. There WAS DNA evidence, but none of it belonged to any of the three men convicted. Some pointed toward a step-father...but that's not enough to convict. And yet, it's more physical evidence than they had on the Three. I understand that DNA evidence isn't everything. But how can it be ignored when it fails to place any of the three men at the crime scene at all, let alone during the murders?
I cannot explain the confession(s). I don't get false confessions. But I'm curious; has anyone else ever been released from Death Row, for pleading "guilty"?
For the record: I wasn't there. I don't KNOW if these men are guilty or innocent. I BELIEVE they are innocent. I believe wholeheartedly that there was never enough evidence to convict them.

[Snoopy]

I have followed this case since it happened, and if you read "The Devil's knot" by Mara Leveritt, there is much information about everything and everyone, regarding this case.

Jessie's "confession" never matched from the beginning. He at first told the police officers that it happened around noon, but this could not be true because the boys were all in school until 3 o'clock. He said the boys were tied up with rope, but this of course was not true either. he also said the boys were raped, which is not true either.

At the time of the murders, all 3 teenagers (the accused killers) , lived on the other side of town, and none of them had access to a vehicle- or even drivers licenses Although that does not mean they could of reached this location, it does make it hard to transport bodies and as previously posted, there was almost no blood at the crime scene for such a brutal crime.It would be impossible to commit this type crime and leave almost nothing behind.
And as stated, not one shred of physical evidence was ever found, to tie these young men to the crime, no motive either.

Now, years later it turns out the stepfather, Terry Hobbs ( this has been in the media so I am using the name here) his DNA was found. In fact, one of the boys named Michael Moore, had one of Terry Hobb's hairs tied into the the shoestring used to bind him. Also, David Jacoby (also public record), Terry's best friend, had DNA left at the scene where the boys were discovered. Oddly enough, Pam was working that night that her son Stevie Branch and the other two boys were missing, and her husband Terry Hobbs, never mentioned it to her, until she got off work about 9:30 PM. When she asked why her son had been missing all day and he never told her, he said he did not want to bother her while she was working ( WTF???)

When the boys came up missing, Terry Hobbs said he had not seen them all day. Neighbors were not aware he made this comment to police until years later, but when they learned this, they went and made a statement. They lived 2 doors down and saw the boys playing that day. One of them even ran through their yard. The last time they saw the boys Terry Hobbs, was calling them over to come back to his house.

Another interesting fact, was the Pam Hobbs, the mother of Stevie Branch found Stevie's pocket knife, amongst a knife collection that Terry Hobbs had. This was years after Stevie had been killed it she reported this to police because the knife was a gift from Stevie's grandfather, and he never went anywhere without it. She assumed until then, that the knife had been lost when he was murdered.

The FBI behavioral Science unit profiled the crime, and said it was not cult related, but showed a parent that lost control and went over board.
Did Terry Hobb's have a temper? Well he shot Pam Hobbs brother, who did not die from his injuries until years later, but yes, he is very capable of violence.

I have never had a doubt from the beginning of this case, that 6 boys lost their lives not 3. I am happy to see that the people once convicted of this crime, intend to continue to pursue justice for these three boys.
The famous Medical examiner, Dr. Lee stepped into the case and along with some other well known experts to review everything once more, and it turned out that many of the injuries that were gruesome, were determined to be post mortem and due to animal activity, not sadistic ritual torture, which I thank god for, because the thought of what happened to these children is heartbreaking. But it also means, just it also lends weight to the FBI profile, that this was not satanic. In my mind, the killer of those kids is still free, and I pray they find him, with the all things considered, they probably have a good idea who he is, I know who I think it is!!!

[Duchess]

Hey, thanks for that! I appreciate reading the facts you posted & the fact you're not on a witch hunt!

[Snoopy]

You are an early bird Duchess, or up late! no witch hunt here!

The full interview was not listed in the above post, this link is the full interview. its very clear that when Jessie did not know the answers, they fed the information, and it shows he had the facts wrong when he was not led to the information. I can be found at :

http://freewestmemphis3.org/index.php?op...&Itemid=75

and the full information regarding some of the information I posted about Mr. Hobbs can be found at : http://www.jivepuppi.com/Terry_Hobbs.html

If you are interested in more of the facts around this case. It is a very tragic, and compelling case.

[dominokitty]

I was talking about his 3^rd confession (or Bible confession) that his lawyers did not want him to give. I'm going to try to link it here, but the only way I can find to "embed" is to cut & paste the http line. If it doesn't show as a clickable link, I will take it off here.

http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/img2/jm_2_8_9...ement.html

But you can google "Jessie Miskelley Bible confession" and it will show it. He talks about why his first stmts were off on some points during this third confession.

Terry Hobbs shot his bro-in-law in self defense. He had called the cops to come as he was being threatened, then went outside to get away from the guy, but he came out after him before cops got there & Hobbs shot him when the in-law grabbed him. I think Terry Hobbs is an ass, for sure, but that one hair could have been in the shoestring they took from Stevie's shoe to bind the boys. I know I have hairs & tobacco pieces (I roll my on cigs) and crap on my shoestrings after a few days of walking around the house in them. The friend of his was searching the woods for the kids, too. That could be why his hair was around the creek. I don't know, if Hobbs was mad at his stepson that is one thing, but why kill two other boys so violently?

I guess it is over, in any case. They are free. It would be refreshing if just once the people that are freed from prison who say they will look for real killers would do it. If they do that, then I would then to believe them more. They don't have to FIND the person, but somehow prove they are interesting in doing it and still looking for the killers, not just appearing on tv shows for money.

[ScientistsCanvas]

I think Terry Hobbs is an ass, for sure, but that one hair could have been in the shoestring they took from Stevie's shoe to bind the boys. I know I have hairs & tobacco pieces (I roll my on cigs) and crap on my shoestrings after a few days of walking around the house in them. The friend of his was searching the woods for the kids, too. That could be why his hair was around the creek.

That's exactly my problem with this case. If it's SO EASY for a hair to be transferred, to actually be found IN the ligature...why were there no hairs from any of the three convicted? Or any other piece of physical evidence to link them to the crime scene or the victims? Just doesn't make sense.

[Snoopy]

Terry Hobbs was not defending himself against an armed man, Pam called her brother to the house because Terry had been beating her and she needed help. When the brother showed up to the home, Terry and the brother got into a physical altercation- then Terry pulled a gun and shot him.
The brother did not have a weapon.

There was not a "second confession" the Bible confession as it is called, was just a couple of weeks before the trial of Baldwin and Echols. Jessie, originally said he never did, then after 12 hours of interrogation, exhausted and wanting to go home, he thought if he told them what they wanted to hear, he could leave. Keep in mind, his IQ is only 75, he was a minor, no parent was there, nor an attorney. He could not be expected to understand his rights or that "telling them what they wanted to hear" would have consequences. The original confession does not add up at all.

The "bible" confession, comes just around 2 weeks short of Damien and Jason's trial, by then much more information about the crime was public, very public. And in that confession, he still has many of the facts off.

Now even with a confession, there is still no evidence that these kids committed this crime. I do not consider Jessie a "confessing Sam" but they are plenty of them out there. Remember the strange guy that admitted killing Jon Benet Ramsey? Totally confessed to the whole thing, but the DNA did not match, so they marked him off as loon and sent him on his way. Why is that not the same for Jessie? And if we think its not possible for people to feel intimidated into confessing a crime they did not commit, then there are many cases that show that it can and does happen, like Michael Crowe, who confessed to killing his sister- Or Chris Ochoa, who implicated himself and his friend for killing a woman at a pizza hut. those cases and others can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_confession.
Both of them were sent to prison and sadly, his friend was severely beaten and has permanent brain damage.
The the true killer, confessed while in prison for another crime and DNA matched, so they were freed.

There is no way for any of us to know for a fact who did commit this crime, but there is some evidence. More may be found in time, since people plan to look for it. For years no one looked at any possibilities. Once these boys were arrested, the state looked no further. The DNA that is available is only there because the defense raised the money, and pursued it. Now that there is light shining on new possible suspects, perhaps more answers will come in time.

All the same, the confession Jessie gave, does not support any of the evidence. No one knew that back when the crime first happened, but we all know it now.

[Snoopy]

forgot to add- Terry Hobbs said he was in the woods with David Jacoby, but..." David Jacoby has declared in an affidavit that he was not in the woods with Terry Hobbs at this time and that his searching with Hobbs consisted of briefly driving around ".... and ... "David Jacoby, Hobbs friend, said that he only searched with Terry Hobbs briefly before dark. He also stated that when Terry Hobbs came to his house, he saw the three victims in the street behind him. Hobbs denied ever having seen the victims that evening and described repeated trips searching with Jacoby. " His friend is one of many people, who Terry's version of events that evening, conflicts with. Just saying.

[ScientistsCanvas]

"New Witnesses" in WM3 case point fingers at Terry Hobbs, Stevie Branch's step-father.

http://www.katv.com/story/16564511/west-...-team-says

[Snoopy]

http://www.todaysthv.com/news/article/19...hpt=ju_bn5

New Development In West Memphis regarding the deaths of Stevie, Chris and Michael.