What do you think about the West Memphis Three?

[herb4]

One thing I often think about is that they've been out, what now, 13 years? Seems odd to me that none of them had any trouble remotely close to what they were convicted of since then. ALL THREE. No violence at all and I think one DUI or something. So, I'm led to believe that they had all these psychopathic satanic violent tendencies at the ages of 16-18, murdered three kids, spent decades in the Arkansas correctional system (one on death row) and somehow got BETTER psychologically?

The recidivism rate for criminals is 25-35% flat across the board and that's within 3-5 years. That includes things like robbery, assault and drug use. But three teenagers spend their teenage and adult years for triple homicide in a max security prison then somehow improve enough mentally that they no longer have these deranged, psychotic impulses? If anything, they'd have gotten worse in jail and their mental health would have deteriorated, wouldn't it?

And just lol that the governor would agree to let three child murderers go free if he thought for an instant they were guilty.

 

[branmuffin]

I remember back in the late 80s and early 90s there was a lot of hysteria in the US, specifically, regarding satanic cults that were systematically assaulting children in daycares across the nation. The trials must have been reminiscent of the Salem witch trials in the 1600s when everybody and his brother could point a finger at someone and just that utterance alone would be a death sentence for the victim. I could never understand how something got so out of hand based on a tremendous lack of evidence but bolstered by fanciful statements of young children who had responded to suggestive and sexually charged questions.

At the time, I didn't realize the level of religious fervor that runs through the American population. It wasn't until the evangelical Christians touted Trump as being 'ordained' by God that I understood how easily it could be that hundreds of lives could ruined by a belief system that saw satan behind every door. So it followed that those poor young boys who were brutally murdered never got justice because it was easier to blame some otherworldly type of behavior like satanic rituals, Wiccan beliefs, sinister looking trench coats and a false confession by an intellectually challenged suspect.

I believe Stidham who thinks the killer is still alive. Based on the fact that at least two of those children were sexually assaulted by someone who should have had their best interests at heart. The only reason someone would snuff the life of those kids is someone who feared they'd be found out. One may just have been collateral damage. Now that is pure evil.

 

[herb4]

Found more interviews with Dan Stidham. WIth Imstilla.grandma permission, I'd like to make the book and the interviews into its own thread

https://paragouldpodcast.podbean.com/e/dan-stidham-talks-about-the-west-memphis-3-his-new-book-and-personal-grief/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWR6wRNIabc

 

[Willow Knight]

8-year-old Cub Scouts Steve Branch, Chris Byers and Michael Moore -- The Memphis Three Victims

The movie (Devil's Knot) watched years ago convinced me, at the time, that Hobbs did it along with his friend. I just don't think 3 young boys would hog tie their murder victims because that seems like an adult mentality conception. Also, the movie made it seem Hobbs was very jealous of his wife's adoration for and devotion to her son. MOO

APR 2024
"The hair found in the shoelace was consistent with Branch’s stepfather, Terry Hobbs, while hair found on the tree stump was consistent with the DNA of a friend of Hobbs, according to the documents. Police have never considered Hobbs a suspect and he maintains he had nothing to do with the murders."

“I thank the Arkansas Supreme Court for opening the DNA testing door that might finally reveal the truth about this case,” [Damien] Echols told CNN in a statement through his lawyer, Stephen Braga."

"Braga < > said their next step will be trying to reach an agreement with the prosecutor and “get this testing done in the most expeditious and reliable manner possible.”

There are so many theories to this crime. Many people look at TH, however LE does not appear to accept that route. However LE may have had tunnel vision.

Not certain we will ever get the truth, but this new testing may help. The way I look at it is if DNA from any of the three accused would be found in the knots, I think I am going to conclude they were guilty as charged. If none of the accused DNA is found, I'd believe they were wrongly convicted.

If any of DNA belonging to TH's friend then I would believe it was TH AND friend. The friend's hair on the tree doesn't hold much weight with me, he was out looking for the little boys that night.

Unidentified DNA in the knots would have me going to Bojangles.

 

[herb4]

Stidham is hinting at the perp being a serial killer that he can place in West Memphis during the time of the murders.

 

[DHT1339]

Stidham is hinting at the perp being a serial killer that he can place in West Memphis during the time of the murders.

scott erskine maybe? he murdered two boys in a somewhat similar fashion in san diego a couple months before the WM killings

i know he had ties to FL, but not sure why he'd be in WM

 

[imstilla.grandma]

‘West Memphis Three’ lawyer reveals chilling new theory behind horrific murder of 8-year-old boys

The saga of the “West Memphis Three” captured the nation’s attention and spawned the popular HBO documentary series “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills,&#8…

nypost.com

 

[dotr]

July 22 '24

WEST MEMPHIS THREE: Lawyer claims trucker serial killer murdered Cub Scouts

The 1993 horror murders of three Cub Scouts that sent the West Memphis Three to prison were by a serial killer, one of their lawyers claims.

torontosun.com

 

[herb4]

Interesting. I remember listening to a true crime podcast (Morbid, I think) that did an episode on a trucker/killer who was eventually caught. Wonder if it's the same person? It'd be easy to find out since, obviously, I would think they'd have that dude's DNA to compare.

Wait, nevermind. It was Robert Ben Rhodes and he was arrested in 1990 so not him.

If I have time, I'm going to make a dedicated thread to this since I think it deserves its own discussion. Anyone read the book yet?

 

[dotr]

Interesting. I remember listening to a true crime podcast (Morbid, I think) that did an episode on a trucker/killer who was eventually caught. Wonder if it's the same person? It'd be easy to find out since, obviously, I would think they'd have that dude's DNA to compare.

Wait, nevermind. It was Robert Ben Rhodes and he was arrested in 1990 so not him.

If I have time, I'm going to make a dedicated thread to this since I think it deserves its own discussion. Anyone read the book yet?

IL/TX/OR+ - ROBERT BEN RHOADES, "The Truck Stop Killer", 1970's-90's

Robert Ben Rhoades, a Houston trucker who kept a torture dungeon in the cab of his long-haul rig, accepted two life prison sentences http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/sns-ap-tx--serialkiller-texas,0,3734866.story Houston trucker already imprisoned in Illinois for murder avoids Texas...

www.websleuths.com

 

[Kennedy Jo]

Do you mean Damien had previously killed someone? What capability did he have?

Maybe his extensive mental health history? It is frightening if you have reviewed it.

 

[Marziaforevercherry]

This case was such a mess.

 

[SouthEnd]

I don't believe they reached guilty BARD, IMO. From when I was first introduced to this case, it seemed like the text-book coerced confession (young people with learning difficulties are the most likely to falsely confess), combined with the satanic panic, plus DE, who IMO came across as the most contrarian, smug, antagonistic person to have ever been accused of a crime.

...and honestly, who hasn't met a teenager who was exactly like that?

Unfortunately IMO it was the perfect storm. I don't think the jury got it right the first time around. I don't know who the real perpetrator is, I don't think the LE persued any other leads to a satisfactory degree. I wish there was justice for the boys who were so tragically murdered but unfortunately IMO the investigation was too botched and some bad actors are still preventing things like DNA testing from opening up new avenues of investigation.

tl;dr: I don't think the state proved their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and I have little hope that this lapse of justice will ever be corrected and a proper trial for whomever did it will ever happen. MOO

 

[IzzyBlanche]

Do you think they are guilty or innocent?

I'm late to the party but...

I initially thought they were innocent, but I now think they are guilty. The first Paradise Lost movie convinced me they were innocent, but since then I've learned that the movie wasn't as impartial as I thought it was.

<modsnip - no link, no post>

I think they are guilty.

 

[airportwoman]

I don't think the WM3 boys/men had anything to do with it. I do believe that a stepfather (Terry Hobbs, I think is his name) did it but did not act alone.

 

[herb4]

I'm late to the party but...

I initially thought they were innocent, but I now think they are guilty. The first Paradise Lost movie convinced me they were innocent, but since then I've learned that the movie wasn't as impartial as I thought it was.
<modsnip - no link, no post>

I think they are guilty.

What do you base this opinion on? What's the most damning piece of evidence you've seen to have this change of heart?

 

[IzzyBlanche]

What do you base this opinion on? What's the most damning piece of evidence you've seen to have this change of heart?

It's not any one piece of evidence, it's the totality of the circumstances. <modsnip - no link, no post>

 

[branmuffin]

Maybe his extensive mental health history? It is frightening if you have reviewed it.

Can you provide some insight into his extensive mental health history? And was that before the killings, after the killings while incarcerated and currently while being free for the last years? Thanks.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

Can you provide some insight into his extensive mental health history? And was that before the killings, after the killings while incarcerated and currently while being free for the last years? Thanks.

Before.

This is from a document apparently in response to some action by DE's lawyers.

Evidence -- mitigating circumstances -- jury did not
arbitrarily refuse to find that appellant Echols had no
significant history of criminal activity. -- The jury did not
arbitrarily refuse to find that appellant Echols had no
significant history of criminal activity where Echols admitted
on cross-examination in the penalty phase of the trial that he
had an altercation with his father in which a knife was
involved and the police were called; where he admitted that he
was hospitalized that same day and that when his father came
to the hospital, "I told him I would eat him alive"; where he
admitted that he tried "to claw the eyes out" of a student;
and where a psychologist who testified for Echols admitted
that Echols had "an all-powerful God-like image of himself,"
that his parents were concerned with his satanism or devil
worship, and that Echols's medical records included notations
of statements by Echols pertaining, among other things, to his
rage and the drinking of the blood of others.

Damien Echols v. State of Arkansas

Damien Echols v. State of Arkansas

law.justia.com

 

[branmuffin]

Before.

This is from a document apparently in response to some action by DE's lawyers.

Evidence -- mitigating circumstances -- jury did not
arbitrarily refuse to find that appellant Echols had no
significant history of criminal activity. -- The jury did not
arbitrarily refuse to find that appellant Echols had no
significant history of criminal activity where Echols admitted
on cross-examination in the penalty phase of the trial that he
had an altercation with his father in which a knife was
involved and the police were called; where he admitted that he
was hospitalized that same day and that when his father came
to the hospital, "I told him I would eat him alive"; where he
admitted that he tried "to claw the eyes out" of a student;
and where a psychologist who testified for Echols admitted
that Echols had "an all-powerful God-like image of himself,"
that his parents were concerned with his satanism or devil
worship, and that Echols's medical records included notations
of statements by Echols pertaining, among other things, to his
rage and the drinking of the blood of others.

Damien Echols v. State of Arkansas

Damien Echols v. State of Arkansas

law.justia.com

Which father? He's had several both biological and through marriage.