Viable suspect: Damien Echols

[Mrs G Norris]

Damien Echols beaten by guards on death row

He talked about being beaten by guards for 18 days when he was sent to a maximum security prison and how he did not see sunlight on death row for 10 years.

http://www.thv11.com/news/article/2...kansas-for-first-time-since-leaving-death-row

Echols, who recently published a book called "Life After Death," did his best to describe an experience that felt incomprehensible to those in the audience. "It's the most cold, soulless environment you can imagine," he said, one where the guards' idea of an initiation was to "beat the hell out of me for 18 straight days. You realize when something like that happens, you're not living in the world anymore."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-hogan/damien-echols-west-memphis-three_b_2093391.html

And here in an interview with MyFox Memphis: http://youtu.be/leEtbjm2uHI?t=11m14s

Has this ever been corroborated or denied?

 

[Mrs G Norris]

Damien accuses Jerry Driver of using stand-over tactics with teenage boys for sexual favours

He accuses Jerry Driver of coming through the neighbourhood, picking up teenage boys and telling them unless they gave him oral sex he was going to take them to jail and press charges against them.

http://youtu.be/leEtbjm2uHI?t=5m50s

Has this been corroborated or denied?

 

[reedus23]

Damien accuses Jerry Driver of using stand-over tactics with teenage boys for sexual favours

He accuses Jerry Driver of coming through the neighbourhood, picking up teenage boys and telling them unless they gave him oral sex he was going to take them to jail and press charges against them.

http://youtu.be/leEtbjm2uHI?t=5m50s

Has this been corroborated or denied?

Wasn't this the guy that got arrested? Something about him creeps me out. Don't buy Echols' claims, but something about him makes my skin crawl.

And for whatever it's worth, which isn't much, I personally don't care what Echols has or has not said about other people. I'm not here to defend Echols.

 

[UdbCrzy2]

West of Memphis:
More Lies and Deception from Damien Echols

I have no doubt that the actual killer is John Mark Byers. He had the knife with his son’s blood on it, not to mention the fact that he could never keep his alibi straight. It was also proven in court that whoever killed those children had the skill of a surgeon and Byers was a jewel cutter. There was also testimony that his knife could have made the wounds on the children because the blade was consistent with the cut pattern.

http://beforeitsnews.com/movies/201...d-deception-from-damien-echols-2-2437044.html

 

[kyleb]

Yeah, he's like Winona Ryder in The Crucible, a witch who cries wolf.

 

[Ausgirl]

Wasn't this the guy that got arrested? Something about him creeps me out. Don't buy Echols' claims, but something about him makes my skin crawl.

ME TOO! I am glad I am not the only one, lol. I was just thinking this last night!

 

[gloomy]

Damien Echols beaten by guards on death row

He talked about being beaten by guards for 18 days when he was sent to a maximum security prison and how he did not see sunlight on death row for 10 years.

http://www.thv11.com/news/article/2...kansas-for-first-time-since-leaving-death-row

Echols, who recently published a book called "Life After Death," did his best to describe an experience that felt incomprehensible to those in the audience. "It's the most cold, soulless environment you can imagine," he said, one where the guards' idea of an initiation was to "beat the hell out of me for 18 straight days. You realize when something like that happens, you're not living in the world anymore."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-hogan/damien-echols-west-memphis-three_b_2093391.html

And here in an interview with MyFox Memphis: http://youtu.be/leEtbjm2uHI?t=11m14s

Has this ever been corroborated or denied?

That interview with MyFox - it's just too much...:floorlaugh::facepalm: I'm sorry but it's very hard for me to believe DE.

Awesome thread!

 

[Mrs G Norris]

I've noticed he gets a funny look on his face when he's about to tell a whopper .. which is nearly all the time.

 

[kyleb]

Yeah, I figure that's why he likes his dark glasses, they help him hide his tells.

 

[Mrs G Norris]

Damien accuses his public defenders of being so 'incompetent' that they didn't even want to call the witnesses to the stand to corroborate his alibi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFWsls-kVWc

Really? I thought his 'alibi' completely fell apart.

 

[UdbCrzy2]

Damien Echols put in isolation

TUCKER, Ark. - Convicted child-killer Damien Wayne Echols was placed in punitive isolation Friday for having a homemade knife in his death row cell.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/1994/sep/10/damien-echols-put-isolation/




'Shank' found in Echols's cell

Prison officials at the Tucker Maximum Security Unit north of Pine Bluff conducted a routine search of Echols's cell on Tuesday and found the 8-inch piece of sharpened metal that inmates call a "shank."

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/1994/sep/09/shank-found-echolss-cell/

 

[Ausgirl]

Damien accuses his public defenders of being so 'incompetent' that they didn't even want to call the witnesses to the stand to corroborate his alibi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFWsls-kVWc

Really? I thought his 'alibi' completely fell apart.

Didn't one of the alibi girls speak up regarding the fact she was never called as a witness? I glimpsed an article on it the other day, wish I'd kept the link.

 

[UdbCrzy2]

Video interview with KATV

He's telling the interviewer:

About a 'coverup'

Not wanting the DNA to come out

He had to eat with his hands because he forgot how to use a fork.

He had to learn how to walk again

He was blind, but later in the interview he is showing artwork and talking about all of his books

Claims he wasn't getting decent medical care or nutrition

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HXqtAnZTcg"]WM3 on KATV (Part 2) - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Mrs G Norris]

Had to learn how to walk again and eat with his hands? Was Damien a like a feral child lost in the Black Forest, running with wolves on all fours scavenging for food? No he was in prison in Arkansas.

Hilarious!

I'm amazed he and the reporters can keep a straight face.

BTW: His claims that prison made him blind are my favorite. I'm amazed he hasn't sued them yet.

 

[Ausgirl]

Hey Mrs G - I'm not saying this just to be contrary, promise, but some years ago I was good friends with the world's only (back then..) blind film maker (he's not hard to find on Google). I met him through an online writing group, and didn't believe he was something like 80% blind at the time, with that progressive retina disease. He wrote, he read, he made films.. all through a field of vision just a few millimeters wide.

There's blind -and there's vision impaired, and legally blind. I know vitamin deficiencies can affect vision, and 18 years of bad prison food would sure help that along, is my bet.

The problem with Echols is, we can't tell when he's lying and when he's not. But before I poke fun at a person I think is lying about being blind- I'd want to make sure he's really not blind. It isn't a nice to be wrong about things like that.

Pity he's such a BS'er. I find it easier to not give much regard to anything he says at all.

 

[Mrs G Norris]

There is no comparison between a real visually impaired person and Damien.

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

There is no comparison between a real visually impaired person and Damien.

In your opinion...

IT makes sense to me, that all that time in prison would affect the eyes especially if he had some other eye condition.

 

[Cherry]

Why is everyone bashing DE in this thread? I mean really what is this about?

 

[Miranda!]

I am at a loss as to why you are digging way back to find old, much discussed elements of the case and the people involved when everyone else has moved on. The three young men are out now. That is IT. Now the focus is on getting the investigation re-opened

What is important is that the new investigation reveals enough evidence for the state to try the real killer or killers who are still walking free.

Had to learn how to walk again and eat with his hands? Was Damien a like a feral child lost in the Black Forest, running with wolves on all fours scavenging for food? No he was in prison in Arkansas.

Hilarious!

BTW: His claims that prison made him blind are my favorite. I'm amazed he hasn't sued them yet.

Learning to walk again. Well, aside from pacing a small cell on DR, he was always in shackles when ever out of his cell. This mean both length of stride is effected as is the weight. So if you find that funny then try putting some weights in your footwear and tieing your ankles so that you can only take short steps. Something tells me you would not laugh much unless you have a very peverted sense of humour.

Learning to eat in a civilised manner again. Maybe you should try and do some research on what prison life is like, especialy death row. Food is not served with anything that could in any way be used to contrive a weapon of any sort to either harm the inmate or another. Basically, this means no knives or forks; Even spoons can be adapted!! Then, take into account that he had very little experience of 'eating socially with others' during his incarceration.

In effect he had been 'institutionalised' over a long period of time. Even small things like making a decision about what he would like to eat would have been very hard for him when first out! For all that time he had no control over things like that. We all make choices all the time without thinking twice about them. He has been deprived of that.

Lasty, you amusement at his poor eyesight. First off a poor diet effects general health and this can be detrimental to 20/20 vision. Then he was never exposed to natural light. Plus doing a great deal of reading as a way to keep busy, with no direct light source for the page.

Lastly, distance vision needs certain muscles to work in a certain way in the eye for focusing. Very fine motor skills involved for this. Over the length of time he was incarcerated he never had the need to look at things any further than his cell length, so these muscles may well have atrophied through lack of use.

His sun glasses were a critical necessity after being deprived of naturally bright light for so long.

I admit I do not know if he was ever in total darkness during his time inside, but would imagine that prison guards would leave some lights on all the time, just varying the level of light.

Lastly being deprived of a healthy diet is detrimental and why 'waste' money on medical treatments when they were planning to execute him at some point?

All of this together comes pretty close to a form of torture and in a so-called civilised country that actually has used torture to try to extract information from possbile terrorists, treated like 'political prisoners', rather than prisoners of war. Furthermore, prisoners in the US are not protected by any statutory duty of care. Nor is America a signatory to the International Civil Rights agreement.

Whilst I will fight for the right of Echols to have had a fair trial, which in my view he did not get, I do not have to 'like' the person. Basic human and civil rights should apply for all humans!

I hope that, with a bit of thought, you will not be so amused at the long term effects of incareration.

 

[UdbCrzy2]

I just want to clear something up about Echols claims he experienced in prison.

We've never seen any filings of abuse or neglect lawsuits filed on his behalf for what he's claiming. I'm using common sense to come to the conclusion that it's just not true. If anyone knows of any please post them otherwise we can say that his claims are nonsense.

Is it possible that his claims were part of his mental illness? Could be, but we don't have access to those files to check it out.


I happen to know several people who work in corrections which is totally different than being in a local jail. This is what I know that inmates receive:

• 
  3 square meals per day - no cooking or dishes required from inmate. A typical meal is roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, bread and desert.

• 
  All clothing supplied and laundered.

• All medical, prescription drugs, dental and vision at no expensive to the inmate including prescription drugs.

• Air conditioner and/or fan in each cell

• TV's and radios in their cells

• Exercise into the yard with other inmates 3X daily or if in protective custody or death row exercise is usually 1 hour per day

• Access to a phone and daily visits according to their prison

Some of these guys have never received this kind of care before they were incarcerated. People who are in prison usually have made this choice of doing so.