What objects found at the crime scene would play a roll in the West Memphis Three trial?
The West Memphis 3 is the name given to three teenagers who were tried and convicted of the murders of three children in the Robin Hood Hills area of West Memphis, Arkansas, United States in 1993. Damien Echols was sentenced to death. Jessie Misskelley, Jr., was sentenced to life in prison, plus 40 years (he received two 20-year sentences in addition to the life sentence). Jason Baldwin was sentenced to life imprisonment. The case has received considerable attention. Their supporters believe the arrests and convictions were a miscarriage of justice and that the defendants were wrongfully convicted during a period of intense media scrutiny. The defendants remain imprisoned, but legal proceedings are ongoing. As of July 2007, new forensic evidence was being presented in the case. A status report jointly issued by the State and the Defense team on July 17 states, “Although most of the genetic material recovered from the scene was attributable to the victims of the offenses, some of it can
The West Memphis 3 were three people tried and convicted for triple homicide in the 1993 murders of three children in the Robin Hood Hills in West Memphis , Arkansas in the United States . The case has received considerable attention, and many critics charge that the arrests and convictions were a miscarriage of justice inspired by a misguided moral panic , and that the defendants were wrongfully convicted , Damien Echols , the alleged ringleader, was sentenced to death ; Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin were sentenced to life in prison. The Crime Three eight-year-old boys – Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore – were reported missing on May 5 , 1993 , by Chistopher Byers’ stepfather, Mark Byers. The next day, their bodies were found in a creek near Robin Hood Hills . They were nude and had been tied ankle-to-wrist with their own shoelaces. All had been severely beaten and abused, but Byers was most injured, suffering a fractured skull , stab wounds to his groin, being
The police began their investigation by canvassing the victims’ neighborhood. Early on, the possible involvement of a Satanic cult was taken seriously. Those interviewed in the search for the cult yielded contradictory or ridiculous stories. The investigation echoed an event of the more distant past, including the extensive amount of time chasing down rumors from children including wild stories about a local teenager, Damien Echols. Polygraphs directed the investigation, with individuals who passed being dismissed as suspects. A mysterious hitchhiker with a devil tattoo was noted, but never found. A child molestor with a disturbing history was interviewed. A pair of filmmakers who had recently moved to the area were also questioned. During the course of the investigation, twenty knives were taken into evidence, from the crime scene, from a lake behind where one of the arrested lived and from other suspects. Three sticks gathered from the crime scene would play a role in the trials. Sou
