Recent Developments

[Kaybug]

Fresh DNA evidence boosts defense in 1993 Arkansas slayings

LITTLE ROCK, Ark (Reuters) - Newly tested DNA evidence in the 1993 killings of three 8-year-old Cub Scouts in Arkansas has failed to link the crimes to the men convicted in the murders, including one on Death Row, advocates for the men said on Wednesday.

http://news.yahoo.com/fresh-dna-evidence-boosts-defense-1993-arkansas-slayings-024349854.html

 

[joe jones]

for all 3 men to take the chance of asking for all available evidence to be tested to see what DNA results may be found shows to me that they were certain none of it would come back to them, for if even one speck of DNA matched any of them then all the years of protestations of innocence would have been for nought,

no longer would they be able to protest innocence so strongly, and it would be so easy for the state to say look we got it right and there is no need for a new trial

I think that this evidence gives a much needed boost for there request for a new trial, and I also think a new look at the investigation and any other possible suspects needs looking at,

 

[Cappuccino]

I agree. These DNA tests are making the prosecution's case look like a joke. To believe the prosecution we would have to believe the wm3 cleaned the crime scene completely of their own DNA, while simultaneously cleaning it selectively enough to leave behind all the DNA picked up by the children throughout the day by innocent transfer. In the dark. In the woods. While drunk.

 

[Compassionate Reader]

I'm not sure if the "Hand on the Bible" statement has been on Callahan's all along or not, but it has recently been discussed on other boards. So, I'm thinking it's new. (I don't remember seeing it before.) This is the statement that Jessie made to Stidham, post-conviction, with his hand on the Bible.

He basically parrots back the State's theory (that he had just heard in his trial) and tries to convince Stidham that he is guilty. IMO, it is obvious that the State had been trying to get him to testify against Damien and Jason, and he is, once again, attempting to say what he believes that everyone wants to hear. This statement, too, is error-filled. (One example is that Jessie says that Damien, after ejaculating on the ground, wiped himself off with a pair of the little boys' pants. However, since no semen was found on any of the little boys' pants, this is totally bogus.) Here's the link to the statement:

http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/img2/jm_2_8_94_statement.html

It's a pain in the butt to open up each page and read. So, if anyone knows how to convert it to pdf, please feel free to do so. It's interesting to read it and see just how hard Jessie tries to get it right this time. Once again, however, he fails miserably, especially in light of the forensic testimony of the certified forensic pathologists at the Rule 37 hearing. (BTW, he recanted this statement, too. This was just nine days before the infamous "second confession" - also recanted - of February 17, 1994.)

 

[justthinkin]

Nice try at damage control, CR.

If anyone can't spare 15 or 20 mins. to read Jessie's bible confession to his own attorney, page 2 sums up, in Jessie's own words, why he had been lying not only to his own attorneys, but why he lied to the police.

When Jessie puts his hand on a bible, and because Jessie believes in God, Jessie tells the truth, before God, and to his attorney.


http://callahan.8k.com/images3/jm_2_8_94_statement/jm_2_8_94_statement_002.jpg

 

[Compassionate Reader]

Damage control? So, you believe that Damien wiped off on a pair of the little boys' pants after ejaculating? Remember, there was no semen found. You believe that in one hour Jessie could walk from Marion to West Memphis (approximately 5 miles), do all the things he described and walk back to Marion (Highland Trailer Park) to be picked up for wrestling? A normal walking rate (not jogging) is between 3 and 4 miles per hour. At 4 miles per hour, it would take more than an hour to walk 5 miles, let alone 10 (round trip, you know). Even at an astronomical rate of 5 mph, it would take an hour one way! And, according to Jessie, he had already been drinking some of that Evan Williams whiskey. These things just scratch the surface of the problems with this statement.

Jessie's story in this statement is just as error-filled as any of his other statements. He lies to try to get out of whatever situation he finds himself in, believing that he can fix it later, but when "later" comes, he usually tries to "fix" it with more lies. This is simply his defense mechanism and, as Dr. Derning pointed out in the Rule 37 Abstracts, the way that people in that IQ range react to problems.

In this statement, as in the February 17, 1994, statement, Jessie's story is as close as he can make it to the prosecution's theory just presented at his trial. The prosecution worked on him for three days (beginning with the ride to prison on Feb. 4, 1994) before this *advertiser censored*-and-bull story came out on Feb. 8, 1994, and for several additional days (against Stidham's express wishes, but who listens to attorneys anyway) before the Feb. 17, 1994, statement. Jessie did a pretty good job, considering his IQ, of parroting the prosecution's theory. The big problem is the prosecution's theory was flawed from the start.

When one compares Jessie's statements with what we now know, from certified forensic pathologists and other witnesses with nothing to gain, all of his statements fall apart. When one also considers the fact that no physical evidence conclusively linking the WM3 to the crime has even been produced, while physical evidence with a strong link to another person has been found, it should give one pause. As the DNA results excluding the WM3 continue to come in, it will become harder and harder for the State to make a case. With as much DNA as has survived, how is it possible that none of it came from the WM3? I believe that many questions will be answered at the hearing in December. Hopefully, all questions will be answered, the WM3 will be freed, and the WMPD will begin to investigate the real killer so the little boys and the WM3 can receive justice.

 

[Cappuccino]

When Jessie puts his hand on a bible, and because Jessie believes in God, Jessie tells the truth, before God, and to his attorney.

That's highly eccentric behaviour for a Satanist. :waitasec:

 

[DIXIECAT]

Has anyone considered that there may have been ADDITIONAL PEOPLE involved in the murders? JM's confessions are either 100% true, 100% false... or, a mixture of true and false. The WM3 may have been part of a larger group of people at the crime scene... therefore, the presence of "unknown" DNA....
MOO

 

[Compassionate Reader]

It's possible that more than one person was involved, but, if the WM3 were involved, why was none of their DNA found at the discovery ditch? There seems to be a veritable wealth of DNA (most of which seems to belong to the victims) at the scene, but none has been matched to any of the WM3. That fact needs a logical explanation if the WM3 are guilty. Sheer luck just won't get it.

Additionally, why would Jessie not implicate whatever "others" might have been there? I agree that Jessie's story is either 100% true or 100% false. Therefore, if you find one incorrect or inconsistent fact, you have a false statement. Jessie's statements, all of them, are literally filled with inaccuracies and inconsistencies.

Remember, the first statement the police took (6/3/93) was so riddled with inaccuracies and inconsistencies that the judge who was asked to issue arrest warrants (Pal Rainey if memory serves) refused to do so without further "clarification" that was more consistent with the evidence. And, a reasonably intelligent person would assume that the first statement would be the most accurate. Instead, Jessie's statements get more accurate as time goes by and as his trial (at which he hears the prosecution theory expounded) progresses.

If you wish, I can point out these inconsistencies and inaccuracies, but I believe that you have read enough to have seen them for yourself. Also, as has been stated before, Judge Laser's gag order has severely restricted the normal flow of information about the findings. Again, I am convinced that December will be a real eye opener (and hopefully a cell door closer on the real killer).

ETA: I may have mentioned this before, but I believe that some of the "unidentified" DNA probably belongs to classmates with whom the little boys interacted on May5th.

 

[justthinkin]

That's highly eccentric behaviour for a Satanist. :waitasec:

If you had read Jessie's bible confession then you would know he wasn't a Satanist.

excerpt:

Stidham: Do you know what devil worshiping is, Jessie?
Misskelley: It's Satan.
Stidham: Did you believe in this stuff or were you just out there?
Misskelley: I was just out there just - just drinking and having fun.
http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/img2/jm_2_8_94_statement.html

 

[Cappuccino]

I've read all of Jessie's confessions, including the Bible confession. Jessie claimed to have been a member of a Satanic cult which met regularly up in the woods and engaged in orgies, dog killing and eating, and that one of the older members of this cult stalked and photographed local children, including the three who were murdered. He names Domini Teer as a member of this cult.

So thanks for pointing out yet another contradiction in Jessie's statements. Also, if there was a murderous Satanic cult operating in West Memphis, there should have been more murders after the wm3 were arrested, and the police should have been out hunting for that older guy who was stalking children and telling the younger members to drink their blood to get power. Domini Teer should have been arrested too - for dog killing and public sex, if nothing else.

As none of that happened, I doubt the WMPD believed Jessie any more than I do, they just wanted to close the case and get the public and press off their backs.

 

[claudicici]

yeah the same cult that an 8 year old witnessed involved smurf attacks.
The case against the three was so maddening and sickening.
I haven't read the trial transcripts in years but I just read them again and can't wait for December.
I will never ever forget the images of these beautiful three little boys beaten to death.
Thinking about that two of them suffered so much in their short lives by abusive step (and adoptive) fathers.

There's one thing I never hear discussed much however and I don't know where to bring it up and I'd like to see everyone's take on it (supporters and non)
The estimated time of death of the children was actually between 1AM and 5AM and that doesn't really match any of the common theories?

 

[Compassionate Reader]

I don't think that the boys were dead when placed in the discovery ditch. I believe that they were very near death, but not yet dead. I believe that the bodies were placed in the discovery ditch sometime between 3 am and 5 am (probably closer to 5 am) and died very shortly after that. I believe that, when they were placed in the ditch, they were unconscious and the breathing was so shallow that it might not have been observed. I believe that the killer thought that they were already dead. I believe that the real killer thought that they were dead after his initial attack, which I believe occurred sometime between 7 pm and 8 pm. I believe that they were rendered unconscious at that time and never regained consciousness. I believe that the manhole in which they were killed is where the animal predation (or at least most of it) occurred.

 

[claudicici]

that's so horrible to think of but it makes sense.
is there any information about the manhole you think was the crime scene?
what I also don't understand is if I think it was Chris supposedly bled to death there had t have been a crime scene with a lot of blood evidence?
Of course the TH residence and DJ residence was never checked.
I wished they would hypnotize AH,I think that poor girl may have a lot of repressed memories ,not only involving the sexual abuse....

 

[Cappuccino]

I hope they don't hypnotise anybody, hypnotism can cause false memories as well as genuine ones. The last thing we need in this case is more junk science and hocus pocus. Stick to hard science like DNA and fibre analysis, its more likely to produce the truth than hypnotising someone who seems to already have a fair amount of psychological problems.

 

[Compassionate Reader]

First, as to the most suspected manhole, it's a "volcano" style manhole, and it recently got a semi-facelift. The irregularities on the outside (which might have been matched to some of the abrasions on the boys) were re-cemented and smoothed out. However, a missing chunk of concrete near the top was not replaced or repaired. Strange, don't you think?

As to hypnotism, I agree with Cappuccino. I did a little research on the subject, thinking that hypnotizing the WM3 could prove their innocence once and for all. What I found out was that the use of hypnotism for obtaining evidence in crimes has been very unbeneficial. As Cappuccino pointed out, it has often led to false memories, like in the McMartin pre-school case. Even if, under hypnosis, the WM3 all profess their innocence, I don't believe that a strong enough proof of its efficacy exists to make it helpful.