Chris's Crime Forum

Damien Echols Speaks

Little Rock - It has been 15 years since Damien Echols was sentenced to die for the murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis.

He claims he and the other two convicted of the heinous killings have what they need to prove they are innocent. Surrounded by guards in Arkansas' only super-max prison, Damien Echols is shackled at the hands and feet.

(Damien Echols, Death Row Inmate) "Every single morning for the past 15 years I've had to wake up in a prison cell knowing I should have never been there in the first place. They took from me the entire decade of my 20's. I'm now in my 30's. They are taking my 30's. I've lost 15 Christmas', 15 Thanksgivings... my son has had to grow up without his father."

Treated as one of the most dangerous criminals in the state, Echols is one of only about 40 inmates on Arkansas' death row.

(Echols) "I can take exactly 4 steps from the back of the cell to the front of the cell. Everything is made out of concrete except for the door which is steel. ."

Now 15 years after being locked up, as he spends day in and day out in solitary confinement, Echols believes he is the closest he has ever been to getting a new trial.

(Echols) "Ever since the minute I was arrested 15 years ago, I've tried to tell them that I did not do this and they just weren't interested in listening. They said well that's what everyone says. And that's why for me the dna evidence is so important now because finally there is concrete forensic evidence that I can point to and say look I told you."

But it remains to be seen if the forensic evidence will help set him free. His case is now being appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court which has previously upheld his conviction.

Echols was 18-years-old when he, his best friend, 16-year-old, Jason Baldwin, and an acquaintance, 17-year-old, Jessie Misskelly were arrested for the murders of three 8-year-old boys.

It was May 5th, 1993, when Chris Byers, Steve Branch and Michael Moore disappeared. They were last seen riding their bikes. The next day their lifeless bodies were found submerged in a drainage ditch in a wooded area near their homes in West Memphis, Arkansas. The second graders were naked and hog tied with their own shoelaces. All three had been murdered. An autopsy revealed Moore and Branch died of multiple injuries with drowning. The medical examiner revealed Moore and Branch died of multiple injuries with drowning. The medical examiner determined Chris Byers died before being put in the water and had been castrated with a sharp instrument.

It took one month, but on June 3rd 1993, police announced they had solved the case. Echols, Baldwin and Misskelly, now known around the world as the West Memphis three, were taken into custody.

Prosecutors would later tell jurors the murders were part of a satanic ritual. A jury came back with a death sentence for Echols and life without parole for Baldwin. Misskelly who was tried separately and was sentenced to life plus 40 years.

(Pam Hobbs, Victim's Mother) “For years I thought they were punks. I said they did it. I couldn't wait for Damien to die. I did hate those three men. I hated them with a passion."

The death of Pam Hobb's son, Steve Branch is still fresh on her mind. As she visits her son's grave, she remembers his smiling face and his bright future that was cut short.

(Hobbs) "Stevie loved life, he loved people... he could have been the president or he could have worked in a gas station. Whatever he would have done I would have been proud of him. I was robbed that chance so I will never know."

What she wants to know is who really killed her son and his two friends?

(Hobbs) "Do I think Damien, Jason and Jessie done it? At one time, yes I really did believe in my heart. I had to believe in the justice system."

Now in light of new forensic tests and DNA evidence, she's not sure.

(Hobbs) "There wasn't a lot of evidence, to me, that would have been 100% proof, solid evidence that they did it. I don't even know if they were involved. I'm not sure."

Dozens of articles from the crime scene were tested for DNA and late last year the results were made public.

(Echols) "They found dna at the crime scene 15 years ago, but they didn't have the ability to test it. Now they've tested it."

Echol's wife, Lorrie Davis, says the results prove the wrong men are behind bars.

(Lorri Davis, Echol's Wife) "There was absolutely no dna that matches any of the convicted that was found at the crime scene or anywhere associated with the victims."

The findings are spelled out in Echol's motion for a new trial which says: (page 45 of petition), none of the genetic material recovered at the scene was attributable to Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelly. Genetic material recovered from Steven Branch was contributed by a person other than any of the victims or defendants. A hair found in the ligature used to bind Michael More was consistent with Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of Steven Branch. And a hair recovered from a tree root or stump at the crime scene was consistent with the hair of one of Mr. Hobb's friends who had been with Hobbs on the day the crimes occurred.

We tried to talk to Terry Hobbs and his friend, but both declined to be interviewed. Hobbs would only tell us that he believes as he always has that Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelly are guilty.

But the tests results were enough to change the mind of Chris Byers' father, who early on was convinced the West Memphis three were responsible for his son's death. Now he believes they are innocent.

(Mark Byers, Victim's Father) "I want to see the West Memphis three set free as soon as possible. I believe this is going to be made right."

On Wednesday, hearings will resume for Balwin and Misskelly in Jonesboro. They claim they did not have adequate representation at their trials. The judge has issued a gag order in the case. More from Echols and forensic experts who dispute the state's theory Tuesday on nightside.

http://www.katv.com/news/stories/1108/570813.html

Damien Echols Speaks Part II

Tuesday Channel 7 continued our look at one of Arkansas's most notorious murder cases.

Fifteen years after three 8 year-old boys were killed in West Memphis. The three men charged with their deaths are hopeful new DNA and forensic evidence will set them free. And death row inmate Damien Echols is speaking out.

They are known around the world as the West Memphis Three.

Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley are serving life sentences while Damien Echols spends day in and day out on death row.


(Channel 7’s Heather Crawford) "Did you have anything to do with the murders of those three little boys? (Damien Echols, Death Row Inmate)"I had nothing whatsoever but even being asked that is something you don't get used to. I've been asked that question by a lot of people over the past 15 years and you never get used to it. Every time someone asks you that it's like being kicked in the stomach."


Echols not only maintains his innocence he says he didn't even know the three second graders he is accused of killing--Chris Byers, Steve Branch and Michael Moore. So why was he arrested and convicted of their murders?


(Echols)" I think when I was younger I was pretty odd considering the small town I was from and just the way I looked. The music I listened to. I didn't really fit in to the place where I was and I think me standing out drew attention to me in a negative way."


A high school drop out, Echols grew up poor in a Marion mobile home park.

At his trial prosecutors used the music he listened to, the books he read, and the black clothes he wore to convince jurors he was part of a satanic cult. This something Echols adamantly denies.


(Echols) "During this time you had this same thing happening in other parts of the country too that they now in hindsight they call it satanic panic. That was pretty much the only thing prosecutors could come forward with to make this plausible was to say that we were part of some redneck, trailer park devil cult that for some reason or another killed these children. And it was odd at the time considering the things they would bring forward at the time as evidence of that like the things we listened to Metallica or read Stephen King novels or things of that nature."

(Lorri Davis, Echols’ wife) "I can honestly say from people we talked to in this investigations that it was a frenzy, people were scared, scared for their lives. And scared that there were actually people running around killing people in the name of Satan."


The prosecution's case centered around a theory that the victims were sacrificed as part of a satanic ritual and the wounds found on the boys bodies were inflicted by a knife--one victim even said to be castrated.



A serrated knife believed to be the murder weapon was found several months after the crimes in a pond behind Jason Baldwin's home at the Lakeshore Trailer Park in Marion.


("Paradise Lost", Courtesy of HBO)"If you take this knife you can see it leaves a space and open space."




In November 2007 defense attorneys gathered a team of forensic experts who dispute the state's theory.


(Davis) "Without an exception they all came back saying it was post-mortum animal predation, the wounds on the kids, except for head wounds.: meaning that after the children died animals got to them in the ditch. They were found in a drainage ditch."





(Dr. Werner Spitz, Forensic Pathologist) "None of the injuries were caused during life and none were caused by a serrated knife or any knife for that matter."


The defense maintains the marks on the victim's bodies were not the result of a satanic ritual.


(Dr. Richard Souviron, Forensic Odontologist) "Give me a break. That is the most ridiculous statement I've ever heard anybody make. To sell that to a jury is unconscionable in my opinion. These are scratch marks that are from claws from some type of an animal carnivore."


But medical examiners at the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory--where the autopsies were performed wrote in a letter dated May 30th "Physical examination of the penetrating wounds showed a lack of soft tissue bridging typical of wounds caused by tearing or biting. These wounds did show clearly incised edges, indicating they were caused by a sharp instrument."

Many believe it wasn't just the state's theory that helped get a conviction.

In the court of public perception many Arkansans at the time of the trial were convinced the West Memphis three were guilty in part because of the way Echols acted, often appearing arrogant to the cameras that followed him in and out of the courtroom.


(Crawford) "How do you explain the attitude you portrayed during the trial? (Echols)"That I was a child, I was a teenager when this was going on and I was in a tremendous amount of shock going through an incredible amount of trauma."


Pam Hobbs thinks that attitude is what swayed the jury.


(Pam Hobbs, Victim Steve Branch’s mother) "They didn't have a lot of evidence to get these guys. Damien convicted himself when he got on the stand and he was asked how do you think the killer or killers felt. I think Damien convicted himself when he said they felt like a God, they felt like they were in control. that's what convicted Damien and I believe that's the only thing that really convicted him. It wasn't evidence."


Hearings to determine if Jason Baldwin and Jissie Misskelley had ineffective counsel when they were tried are set to resume Wednesday in Jonesboro before the original trial Judge David Burnett.

Meanwhile--Damien Echol's case is being appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court.

http://www.katv.com/news/stories/1108/571146.html

My opinion..as DNA is helping catch murderes...
i hope that these three are released if their DNA has not been found.

this is what DNA testing is for!

I will watch..

An interesting article

In our THV Extra, we take a look back at one of the state's most haunting multiple murders. Sixteen years ago, Arkansans learned of the brutal killings of three children in West Memphis.

Three teenagers were later convicted, but in recent months the case has been brought back into the spotlight and thousands across the world now believe the killer is still out there.

We've told you about new witnesses coming forward, appeals being filed and new evidence the defense claims clears the convicted. So over the next three nights, we'll dig deeper. Monday, we start from the beginning when the accused were sent to prison. It could have all ended there, but for some that moment was just the beginning.

http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/sto ... 10&catid=2