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West Memphis Three, three American men who in 1994, while teenagers, were found guilty of murdering three young boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, allegedly as part of devil worship. The men garnered national attention due to a series of documentaries and books that questioned their convictions as well as the vocal support of numerous celebrities. After the discovery of new DNA evidence, the three entered Alford pleas in 2011 and were released for time served. The West Memphis Three are Damien Echols Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr.
On May 5, 1993, Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Stevie Branch-all of whom were eight years old-went bike riding in West Memphis. Later that evening, their parents reported the boys missing. The following day, law officers found their naked and hog-tied bodies in a drainage ditch in a forested area known as Robin Hood Hills. The boys had been beaten, and Byers’s body showed signs of mutilation. The police believed that the murders were connected to Satan worship. Almost immediately they interviewed Damien Echols, an 18-year-old high-school dropout and self-proclaimed Wiccan who was considered a troublemaker. In addition, he had a history of mental issues, notably depression. Echols denied knowing the boys or being involved in their deaths.
Police, however, remained focused on Echols, and they soon received help from Vicki Hutcheson, whose 8-year-old child was friends with the victims and claimed to have witnessed their murders but was unable to identify the assailants. In a meeting with police, she was told that Echols had been interviewed, and she offered to “play detective” by meeting him. With the encouragement of law officers, she enlisted the help of Misskelley, a 17-year-old neighbour who knew Echols. According to Hutcheson, on May 19, 1993, she, Misskelley, and Echols attended a gathering of witches at a nearby field. She then claimed that the proceedings devolved into an orgy, at which point she asked Echols to take her home; Misskelley stayed. Hutcheson later related the events to the police and reportedly passed a polygraph test.
Armed with this information, police interviewed Misskelley, who reportedly had an IQ of about 72. Despite initially denying involvement in the crime, he eventually confessed, saying that he had helped detain the three young boys but left before Echols and 16-year-old Jason Baldwin, who were best friends, committed the murders. All three were arrested in June 1993, though no physical evidence connected them to the crime and each had alibis.
Jessie Misskelly was found guilty of first-degree and second-degree murder and was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Echols and Baldwin were found guilty of first-degree murder. Echols was later sentenced to the death penalty, and Baldwin was given life without the possibility of parole.
in 2007 a hair found in a knot on one of the victims was sent for DNA testing, the technology of which was not available in the 1990s. It was determined that the hair was not consistent with the hair of Echols, Misskelley, or Baldwin. However, it was consistent with the hair of Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of Stevie Branch. In addition, another hair found at the crime scene was consistent with the hair of a friend of Hobbs. However, Hobbs denied any involvement in the murders.
Based on this and additional evidence-including allegations that during deliberations in the trial of Echols and Baldwin, the jury foreman introduced Misskelley’s confession, which was inadmissable-a judge vacated all three convictions on August 19, 2011. Immediately thereafter, Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley pled guilty while maintaining their innocence; the rare legal maneuver is known as an Alford plea. They were released after each was sentenced to time served and received a 10-year suspended sentence.