there's been a "break" in the case against the west memphis 3 - even though they've all been sitting in jail for 14 years. jason baldwin & jessie misskelly are in prison, and damian echols is on death row.
a new defense team, reportedly "high powered" (finally! it's about time those boys had an adequate defense team on their side) has uncovered new DNA testing from the crime scene; DNA from the 3 victims was present, and from other sources, presumably the person or persons that committed the murders, but NO DNA from the convicted men sitting in prison was present. they were convicted and sentenced with no evicence. no material evidence, no witnesses; sketchy if not completely absurd circumstantial evidence and the most rediculous "confession" from jessie misskelly, a functionally retarded 17 year old with an IQ of 72. the coerced confession was given after eleven excruciating hours of brow-beating and the promise from detectives that jessie would recieve the $35,000 reward and become part of the circle of "good guys". the confession that jessie gave, just incidently, was not only forced, but also completely fabricated. none of the events he described jived with what actually happened. he said they raped one of the boys; evidence proved no rape occurred to any of the victims. jessie confessed that they had bound the boys together with a thick, brown rope; the victims were tied together with their own shoelaces.he said they committed the murders in the morning; they occurred at night. he said they strangled one of the boys with a stick; the medical examiner could find no evidence that anything remotely akin to this had occurred. he was asked questions then fed the answers, over and over. it is particularly questionable as well that of the eleven hours that jessie misskelly was interrogated, only TWENTY MINUTES of his interrogation was recorded: the coerced confession was all that was taped.
i've been somewhat obsessed with this since i first watched paradise lost: the child murders in robinhood hills on HBO back in 1996. i went into it thinking i was going to watch a documentary about three monsterous teenagers who brutally murdered three second graders in west memphis, arkansas. i started out having already convicted them in my mind. about twenty minutes into the documentary, i changed my mind. i wasn't so sure anymore. it's THE most compelling documentary i've ever seen and i highly recommend it, as well as it's companion documentary, a sequel called paradise lost 2: revelations.
there has long been a school of thought that the stepfather of one of the boys had committed the murders; john mark byers, the stepfather of christopher byers. he has a long history of criminal activity and arrests, which would convict him of nothing. but his behavior was erratic and highly suspicious, and he and his wife loved to use the cameras filming the documentary as their soapbox. their bravado and melodrama are embarrassing. one understands they've just lost a son less than a year earlier and must still be grieving, but there's no explanation for behavior like that which they exhibited. seriously, it's something you'll have to watch for yourself as it defies description. he loves to preach and spout scripture (and he even makes up his own gospel from time to time) like a preacher at a tent revival. his behavior is anything but that of the good christian that he portrays himself to be. here's a little bit of video showcasing his erratic behaviors and some of his best "performances". and for another, click this link. this last link contains one of my favorite of byers' performances; at about the 6 minute mark, the scene in the cemetery after his wife died of a "broken heart" according to byers. oscar calibre. seriously - rent the DVD of both documentaries. (his wife melissa byers' death was ruled an "accidental overdose" by the coroner.)
likewise, he acted as a criminal police informant for undercover narcotics officers; the day after he murders, 2 local drug dealers that he admits to being friends with, left town under suspicious circumstances. he said they had told him they were moving to california, but they were never located. you'll have to watch the documentaries and judge for yourself. however, now terry hobbs, the stepfather of one of the other victims (stevie branch) is in question and is being asked for DNA. he's no longer married to stevie branch's mother, and has been accused by her out of what could be anger and bitterness or sincere doubt as to his innocence. he's never been able to prove his whereabouts on the night of the murders.
we'll see.
FREE THE WEST MEMPHIS 3!
