| No Copyright intended All Rights Go To Respect Owners Full Story: For nearly 18 years, The West Memphis Three have been imprisoned for crimes they didn't commit. The three were condemned by their poverty, incompetent defense, Satanic panic and a rush to judgment by the media. It all began May 5, 1993 when three eight-year-old boys were found mutilated and murdered in the Robin Hood Hills area of West Memphis, Arkansas. Under tremendous pressure to find the killer despite physical evidence pointing to anyone, West Memphis officers coerced an error-filled "confession" from a mentally handicapped teenager, Jessie Misskelley Jr., questioning him for hours without counsel or parental consent, only audio-taping two 46-minute fragments. Jessie recanted his statement the same night but it was too late: Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Misskelley all were arrested on June 3rd, and have been incarcerated ever since. Local media said the murders were part of a satanic ritual; human sacrifices in the wooded areas of West Memphis, Arkansas. The police assured the public the three teenagers in custody were definitely responsible for these horrible crimes. There was no physical evidence, murder weapon, motive, or acquaintance with the victims so the State stooped to presenting Damien's black hair and clothing, heavy metal t-shirts, and Stephen King novels as "proof" the children were sacrificed to the devil. In early 1994, Echols was sentenced to death by lethal injection, Baldwin ... |
