West Memphis 3 Argumentative Paper

West Memphis 3: Wrongfully Accused?

On May 5th, 1993 three eight year old boys were reported missing in West Memphis, Arkansas. The boys were found the next day, hog tied in a wooded area called “Robin Hood Hills”. After the case had been “thoroughly” investigated, the West Memphis Police announced on the news that they had found the murderers, pointing fingers at Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin, three teenagers who were different from the norm in West Memphis, making it easy for them to be accused. I believe the boys were wrongfully accused of this crime because there is a lack of evidence in the case pointing to the boys, and the crime just seems to convenient for these three to actually pull off.

During the investigation several fibers and two hairs were found on the boys, one negroid hair and one Caucasian hair.(Sauls) None of these hairs or fibers could be linked directly to any of the three boys. This evidence was also somewhat just tossed aside and overlooked for the remainder of the case… I wonder why?

During the police investigation, it was said that the crime could have been some sort of sexual assault by a serial killer, but there was no trauma on the boys anuses found by the coroner. Most of the clothes were found in the water next to the bodies, but instead of being torn all of the clothes were turned inside out. Two of the three pairs of underwear were never found, nor were Christopher Byers missing parts. It’s said that serial killers usually take something of the victims, but I’m not convinced Echols, Baldwin or Misskelley would do anything like that. Also at the scene, no blood or weapons were found anywhere around the area. The day after the bodies were discovered, Damien Echols was questioned.

A juvenile probation officer was on scene when the three bodies were discovered in “The Robin Hood Hills”. The officer said he had been following the actions of Damien Echols, a local student, stating that it was possible that he could be responsible for the act.(Sauls) After hearing about Damien, the police drew the idea that the crime could be related to Satanistic rituals or some sort of cult sacrifice. They went from having no suspects, to jumping on the bandwagon with the first possibility mentioned, it seems.

Damien was different from a lot of the kids in West Memphis. He had black hair and listened to hard rock, which made it easy for him to be the scapegoat. He admittedly agreed he had been interested in “Wicka” a study somewhat similar to witchcraft. During the questioning, Damien pleaded his innocence and volunteered hair and blood samples for evidence. How many guilty criminals are willing to give up their DNA, this would mean that Damien knew for a fact that he was flawless in the killing of the boys, leaving nothing behind. I feel that instead of focusing on the case and evidence at hand, the prosecution turned the juries focus on the fact that Damien could be labeled “weird” or different from everyone else in West Memphis. It’s a good tactic and seemed to work well. Another reason that leads me to believe that the three are innocent is the false confession by Jessie Misskelley.

A few weeks later, Jessie Misskelley Jr. was picked up at around 9:30 on June 3rd and taken to the police station to be questioned. Misskelley, 17 at the time, was questioned without a parent or lawyer in the room.(Paradise Lost) He was questioned and probably harassed by the officers, with no recordings for around 12 hours. He denied having anything to do with the murders, but they kept persisting. They encouraged him to give them information, offering Jessie reward money, and saying that he would be able to go home after he gave a statement.

The only recorded conversation was when Misskelley “confessed” hours later, after having been shown pictures of the dead boys bodies. Misskelleys lawyer later stated that this “confession” was unfair considering Jessie was illegally questioned alone, and that none of the questioning had been recorded besides the confession. He also made it a point that Misskelleys IQ was a 72, almost qualifying him as mentally retarded.(Paradise Lost)

In Jessie’s “confession”, he stated that he saw Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin rape and murder the three boys.(Stidham) This could be the true confession, or nothing more then a slow boy’s fear coming out. The strange thing about the thirty-ish minute recorded “confession”, Jessie made many mistakes about the facts in the case, stating that they boys were tied together with rope instead of shoe laces. He also messed up some facts, saying it happened during the day , but was quickly corrected by the police.(Paradise Lost) After being questioned for 12 hours and finally giving a confession, the police, instead of letting Jessie go home as promised, arrested Miskelley which is when he revoked his whole statement but it was no longer on record. Echols and Baldwin were arrested. Misskelley’s trial was sepereate from Echols and Bladwins, but all three were found guilty of capital murder charges.

Throughout this case, many pieces of evidence came up “missing” and many other people who should have been suspects went without being questioned at all. For example, a problem arose at a local Bojangles, the same night of the murders. The manager working at the time called the police, reporting that a black man had stumbled into the restaurant. He was bleeding and mumbling the manger said, and instead of a report being filed, the working officer found it would be much more convenient for her if she just drove through the drive thru.(Paradise Lost) The next day police decided to go back investigate the Bojangles. Blood scrapings were taking from the walls of the Bojangles, but the evidence must not have been important because the police ended up losing it. Maybe the Bojangles man was the one responsible for the negroid hair found on the boys bodies.

Another person who should have been further investigated is Mike Byers. He was said to be mad at Christopher at the time of the murders. Another thing that is weird is when the HBO crew was filming they found a knife. The knife belonged to Mike Byers, and he said it had never once been used. After saying that, blood was located on the knife that matched his own and Chris Byers. After saying it had never been used, he began to change his story continuously, first saying it had never been used, then saying he had used it to cut up some meat, then later saying that he had cut his own thumb on it… All quite different