RIDGE:okay, when you initiating somebody new come into a cult what actually is done to initiate that person into a cult? RIDGE:They are sick okay. He is from 1975. [49] She further asserted that the police had implied that if she did not cooperate with them they would take away her child. [18], At the time of their arrests, Jessie Misskelley, Jr. was 17 years old, Jason Baldwin was 16 years old, and Damien Echols was 18 years old. GITCHELL: You didnt see a briefcase? RIDGE:Now these meetings, have they ever been violent, anybody gotten mad and got into a fight? And be truthful. JESSIE: They could run, they just had them tied, when they knocked them down and stuff, they could move (hold?) [10] The clothing was mostly turned inside-out; two pairs of the boys' underwear were never recovered. JESSIE: And then Damien, I heard Damien in the background saying we done it, we done it, what we gonna do now what about if somebody saw us. The crime and investigation. [9], Shortly after Misskelley's first confession, police arrested Echols and his close friend Baldwin. All three defendants pleaded not guilty. JESSIE: He called me and asked me if I could go toWest Memphiswith him and I told him, no, I had to work and stuff. RIDGE: Okay, so he kills an animal, you mentioned earlier that he may have to eat part of that animal, what part of the animal would he eat? His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. This would include running the results through the FBI's Combined DNA Index System database. When the bodies proved to have been discovered near where Aaron indicated, Bray asked Aaron for further details, and Aaron claimed that he had witnessed the murders committed by Satanists who spoke Spanish. Even if they were notinthe park at 9 a.m. it would not take three hours to walk from their homesorLakeshore, which is where, JESSIE: No . (Again,if the anal dilation evidence was at all ambiguous, this type of sodomy would cause obvious tearing and ripping; it wouldnt be a close call). Whose car where yall in? And Susie Brewer Boggan says she is now out of Jessie Misskelley's life. Trace amounts of sperm DNA were found on a pair of pants recovered from the scene. Jason Baldwin, 16, Jessie Misskelley, 17, and Damien Echols, 18, were ultimately convicted in 1994. RIDGE:And, what kind of blade did it have on it? Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family. RIDGE:Okay, has Jason and Damien talked to you since this happened? (You dont have to be a doctor to know that when someone is hit child or adult it doesnt bruise them up until much later. ", Following a 2010 decision by the Arkansas Supreme Court regarding newly produced DNA evidence and potential juror misconduct, the West Memphis Three negotiated a plea bargain with prosecutors. [64] Prosecutor Scott Ellington said the Arkansas state crime laboratory would help seek other suspects by running searches on any DNA evidence produced in private laboratory tests during the defense team's investigation. RIDGE: He didnt tell you that he hid it somewhere? A hearing on Echols' petition for a writ of habeas corpus was held in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. JESSIE: They took turns going up under the water. Charles Jason Baldwin[83] (born April 11, 1977) along with Misskelley and Echols, entered an Alford plea on August 19, 2011. [60], Under the deal, Judge David Laser vacated the previous convictions, including the capital murder convictions for Echols and Baldwin, and ordered a new trial. GITCHELL: Was uh, where you all close to the creek at that point? Examiners reported that both men's charts indicated deception when they denied involvement in the murders. RIDGE:They had already gotten them off. RIDGE:He doesnt have one, he didnt have one that night? , money, salary, income, and assets. Prosecution experts claim Byers' wounds were the results of a knife attack and that he had been purposely castrated by the murderer; defense experts claim the injuries were most likely the result of post-mortem animal predation. Present in the interview is Insp. According to his mother, Christopher was a typical eight-year-old. RIDGE:Since this crime took place. (There wasno evidence that Christopher Byers had been strangled with a stick or anything else. JESSIE: My dad woke me up this morning. [63] In 2011, supporters pushed Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe to pardon Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley based on their innocence. More, the children were hog tied, wrist to ankle, an improbable [at best] position to sodomize someone). [59] The three entered into unusual Alford plea deals. RIDGE:They havent talked to you about this? RIDGE:These blue jeans that Jason was wearing, designer jeans, or were they old jeans, wore out, holes. The court sentenced him to life plus 40 years in prison. [75], Many songs were written about the case, and two albums released in support of the defendants. JESSIE: No, hes been watching them, (How would Jessie know what Damien had done with the boys in the past?). [9][28], On May 6, 1993 (before the victims were found later the same day), Hutcheson took a polygraph exam by Detective Don Bray at the Marion Police Department, to determine whether or not she had stolen money from her West Memphis employer. RIDGE:Choking him? Christopher Byers had lacerations to various parts of his body and mutilation of his scrotum and penis. You dont need a PhD to figure this out a stick across a neck would cause very obvious linear damage. According to Jessies original statement, he is on the opposite side of the bayou, Ridge leads him to the side that aligns with the evidence). There was additional new evidence discovered in 2007 that I cannot now recall. RIDGE:When he called you on the phone, did he say that he had just got in? Byers initially claimed the knife had never been used. [86] Until August 2011, he was incarcerated in the Arkansas Department of Correction (ADC) Varner Unit Supermax. JESSIE: I dont know where they laid their bikes down at, cause I was behind Damien and nem, way way behind them, (But he just said he was up on the bank, not that close. On August 19, 2011, Echols, along with Baldwin and Misskelley, was released from prison after their attorneys and the judge handling the upcoming retrial agreed to a deal. Jessie's Alibi -- Timeline. Jessie Misskelley Jr., released from prison in 2011 in the infamous West Memphis Three case was jailed Saturday night after he was arrested on a slew of traffic citations. JESSIE: Damien had kinda of a big old stick when he hit that first one, after he hit him with his fist and knocked him down and got him a big old stick and hit him. (Jessie does not state the location of the crime scene; Ridge tells him, and Jessie repeats it. [59], Echols relocated to Salem, Massachusetts with his wife and has no intentions of returning to Arkansas. They got their GED in jail. RIDGE: Okay, so they were just messing around in the water. He said that the victims had died from a combination of blunt force trauma and drowning, in a crime which he believed was driven by personal cause. According to our Database, He has no children. RIDGE:Does that involve eating part of the penis of the animal? Only logical answer is that Jessie had no idea where the bikes were put down), JESSIE: When they hollered, when they seen them boys. HBO executives ordered them to return the knife to the West Memphis Police Department. Jessie Misskelley was born on July 10, 1975. Basically, when we went to trial the first time, they came in with ghost stories, rumors, "Arkansas Teen Found Guilty On Three Counts Of Murder,", Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three, "Youth Is Convicted In Slaying of 3 Boys In an Arkansas City", "Arguments conclude in 'West Memphis Three' appeals", "How Rockers Helped Free the West Memphis Three", "Fresh DNA evidence boosts defense in 1993 Arkansas slayings", "Damien Echols asks for new trial in West Memphis 3 murder case", "Pain tells how much life 3 slain boys had", "Police see progress in Ark. During the course of his interrogation, which lasted for several hours, Jessie was given a lie detector test and the police succeeded in securing a confession from Jessie of his own part in the murders of the three boys. RIDGE:What kind of shoes were you wearing? 18. 0:49 Jessie Misskelley Jr., one of the "West Memphis Three" convicted of killing three boys in the 1990's, faces a court appearance Monday after a weekend arrest for driving without a license,. RIDGE: Okay, one of them were cut on the face real bad, is that what you said? (I didnt see a briefcase), then ask the question again Jessie will come through for you . GITCHELL: Okay, what is, tell me some of the things that you all do typically in the woods, in being in this cult. JESSIE: Thats where I seen them going down at, and he was on his back. JESSIE:We usually skin it, then make a bon fire and eat it and stuff. His stated reasons for the removal are apparently contradictory. None was found to match DNA from Echols, Baldwin, or Misskelley. He has stated that he plans on enrolling in college to become a lawyer in order to help wrongfully convicted persons prove their innocence. 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM - Roofing with Ricky Deese and Josh Darby. (Hello? Their clothing was found in the creek, some of it twisted around sticks that had been thrust into the muddy ditch bed. RIDGE:okay, wearing blue jeans, he had on a metalica shirt, now this is a shirt thats got metalica across the front of it spelled out, and a mans name, or picture, is that right? She had a conversation with Misskelley, who was behind bars at the time, before he went to trial. RIDGE: Alright, you went home and about what time was it that all of this was taking place? RIDGE:Okay, the night you were in these woods, uh had you all been in the water? GITCHELL: What do you all do with the girls when youre out there? In 2011, Echols would reflect that, should investigators attempt to proceed to trial with the same evidence compiled in 1993 and with the external scrutiny which had not then existed, he and his co defendants would not have been brought to trial, stating: "They knew that there would be more people watching this, more attention on this case. [20] At the time of his arrest, Echols was working part-time with a roofing company and expecting a child with his girlfriend, Domini Teer.[9]. RIDGE:Did anybody see you leaving? Did they get into the water with you all? The episode premiered May 5, 2011, with extensive background information included on the show's page at the Investigation Discovery site. GITCHELL: Now youre talking about bottom, do you mean right here? RIDGE: Alright, where were they at? His mother was awarded custody and later married Terry Hobbs. (Echols and Lorri Davis . [19], Baldwin and Echols had been previously arrested for vandalism and shoplifting respectively, and Misskelley had a reputation for his temper and for engaging in fistfights with other teenagers at school. JESSIE: They need to be put away for awhile. His parents divorced when he was four years old & shortly afterward his mother married John Mark Byers, who adopted the boy. Jason Baldwin, along with Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. are known as The West Memphis Three, who are three men convicted in 1994 of the murders of three 8 year old boys, in West Memphis, Arkansas, in 1993. [34], Three weeks later, Echols and Baldwin went on trial. GITCHELL: Youre talking about the Byers boy again? He was an honor student. RIDGE: Alright, you know what a penis is? Damien Echols told Action News 5's Janice Broach that he worries about Misskelley. RIDGE: okay, now when its going on, when this is taking place, you under you saw somebody with a knife, who had a knife? Dilation of the anus is a normal post-mortem condition. 30 minutes or an hour? JESSIE:Everybody, and we have an orgee and stuff like that. (They have to make sure again that Jessie knows what a penis is? After a 12-hour police interrogation, one of the teenagers, Jessie Misskelley Jr., implicated the other two, Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin. RIDGE:Okay, these initiations, you say that they eat part of the leg meat? Why would they ask a question such as this of a teenage boy, does he know what a penis is?, if it was not obvious that he was functioning at lower level of intelligence?). Actor Johnny Depp, a longtime supporter of the West Memphis Three and personal friend of Damien Echols, was on hand to support the film in its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012. RIDGE:Besides just playing, the little boys, had they been in the water? RIDGE: Has he done things with them before? April 11, 1977, West Memphis, Arkansas, U.S.), and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. (b. July 10, 1975). JESSIE: Uh, the meat off of his leg. [8] Initial police searches made that night were limited. "[9], Brent Turvey, a forensic scientist and criminal profiler, stated in the film Paradise Lost 2 that human bite marks could have been left on at least one of the victims. Further testing of the knife produced inconclusive results about the source of the blood. [9] The initial autopsy report describes the drug as Carbamazepine and the dosage at a sub-therapeutic level. All rights reserved. Listen to the inflection in Ridges voice it is a clearinstruction, not a question and Jessie is plainly trying to give the correct answer, following it with right there behind it. However, there was no forensic evidence indicating that the murdered boys had been raped. A news story about Jessie Misskelley's curious behavior following his release from prison; avoiding media interviews and going into hiding. 5-10-102 (a) (2) (Repl. (You need to hear Jessies voice on his bottom Is a question, not a statement), RIDGE: On his bottom? When he first hit the boy, when Damien first hit the first boy, did they have their clothes on then? JESSIE: I was just wearing a regular one of my old greasy up t-shirt. Damien Echols was sentenced to death, Jessie Misskelley Jr. to life imprisonment plus two 20-year sentences, and Jason Baldwin to life imprisonment. Jessie Misskelley after his murder conviction. I had been shocked that the police did not find it with Stevie when they found his body. Good! Byers agreed to and passed a polygraph test about the murders during the filming of Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, but the documentary indicated that Byers was under the influence of several psychoactive prescription medications that could have affected the test results. [4], In July 2007, new forensic evidence was presented. GITCHELL: Now, did you say that the boys skipped school that day. RIDGE:Light blonde, or like a sandy reddish type blonde, do you know the difference? There was nothing of the kind on Chris neck. It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Jessie Misskelley Sr. of Marion, Arkansas, who passed away on February 21, 2021, at the age of 82, leaving to mourn family and friends. RIDGE:Are you scared of the police now? Misskelley, 42, is . After the initial investigation, the police failed to control disclosure of information and speculation about the crime scene.[38]. RIDGE: Alright, when did you go with them? Did they take like one picture of one boy. RIDGE:Okay, what about when you get with Jason by himself? [1][2][3], Due to the dubious nature of the evidence as well as the suspected presence of emotional bias in court, the case generated widespread controversy and was the subject of several documentaries. JESSIE:We go out kill dogs and stuff and then carry girls out there. Judge David Laser then sentenced them to 18 years and 78 days, the amount of time they had served, and also levied a suspended sentence of 10 years. (She had . These were compared to the alleged bite marks on Stevie Branch's forehead that had not been mentioned in the original autopsy or trial. JESSIE:They, Jason stuck his in one thems mouth and Damien was screwing one of them up the ass and stuff. Beebe said he would deny the request unless there was evidence showing someone else committed the murders. All three were released from prison that same day. Gitchell touched on a point, real close, now what clothes were Jason wearing that day? JESSIE: Right after I they beat up all three of them, and beat them up real bad. scout deaths", "New judge appointed for West Memphis appeals", "Deal Frees 'West Memphis Three' in Arkansas", "The Ropes & Gray Partner Who Helped Free the West Memphis Three", Prosecutor's statement on West Memphis 3 plea deal, "West Memphis Three Attorneys Discuss Alford Plea Details", "FLASH: West Memphis 3 freed in plea bargain", "West Memphis 3, locked up 18 years, together in NY", "Arkansas crime lab to study 'West Memphis 3' case DNA", "Father of Victim to Convicted Killer: "I'm Here for You", Victim's father wants West Memphis 3 set free, Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines Wins "West Memphis Three" Defamation Suit, "Professional profiler convinced of innocence of West Memphis Three", "Mindhunter: Former FBI unit chief recalls high-profile cases", "Metallica May Give Music To "Paradise Lost" Sequel", Untying The Knot: John Mark Byers and the West Memphis child murders, "Disturbed Release Benefit Single for West Memphis Three", "West Memphis Three 'Wrongully Convicted Episode Trailer White Light Productions' CNN iReport", "Decades without daylight: 'West Memphis Three' describe life in prison", "Johnny Depp Reveals Anguish Over West Memphis Three Injustice", "West Memphis Three drama 'Devil's Knot' with Reese Witherspoon sets release", "West Memphis 3 cases to receive hearing, possible new trial", "Q&A: Paradise Lost directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky", "Damien Echols may be troubled but he's not killer, some say", "Echols of West Memphis 3 talks about appeal, death row", "Defense Offers New Evidence in a Murder Case That Shocked Arkansas", "The Damien I Know The Architect and the Inmate", "CNN Larry King Live-Damien Echols Death Row Interview", Echols' Attorneys File New Motion Claiming Wrongful Conviction In 'West Memphis Three' Case, "Piers Morgan Damien Echols On The Death Penalty 02/08/2013", "Ex-Misfits Singer Rocks With West Memphis 3's Echols | Billboard.com", "Illusions Album: Michale Graves & Damien Echols", "L.A. Times article on Damien Echols art exhibit at Copro Gallery", "SALEM Exhibit of Echols' Artwork at the Copro Gallery", "DAMIEN ECHOLS ARTISTS ON ART MARCH 25 6:15 7:00 PM", "The Midnight Gospel: Damien Echols' appearance explained how the Netlfix voice actor escaped death row", The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture entry (The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies), Echols of West Memphis 3 talks about appeal, death row, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=West_Memphis_Three&oldid=1134318011, Echols co-wrote the lyrics to the song "Army Reserve", on, Echols and Michale Graves released an album titled, Echols began creating art while on death row as a "side effect of my spiritual, magical practice.
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