Susie+Proctor+4B

Stevie Branch, Michael More, and Christopher Byers were last seen entering Robin Hood Hills, a park in West Memphis, Arkansas on May 5, 1993. Later that evening the three eight year old boys were reported missing by Christopher Byer's adoptive father. As search parties proceeded to search near the park the next day, the three bodies were discovered in a creek in which all three boys had been stripped, tied with their own shoelaces, and were severely beaten and Byers had further serious injuries. The town immediatley turned its heads to three young adults: Jason Balwin (17), Jessie Misskelly(16), and Damien Echols(18). These young men were know in the small conservative town for the death metal music they listened to, the clothes they wore, and reputations of vandalism and shoplifting.The accusations placed against them were based off a town's misunderstanding of youth and suspicions of satanism.

The sides of Damien, Jason, and Jessie are uncertain. Some made differetn confessions to the crime that they later reported were from fear of the police interrogating them and the "electric chair." On June 3 the police department interrogated Jessie Misskelley, who was borderline mentally retarded, for twelve hours. They only recorded forty six minutes in which he confessed, but later said his confession was due to being tired and threats from the police. In the confession he stated he "watched Damien [and Jason] rape one of the little boys," but this statement did not match up with the forensic evidence. Thus making all three sides innacurate. Today, all three defendants plead guilty and state they had nothing to do with the murders.

The state prosecuted the three teenage boys without sufficient evidence. Several factors pointed to other suspects such as a DNA sample found from the site which matched with the DNA of the step father of young Christopher. The police gathered from the confessions of Misskelley and most likely false information of Damien that they were guilty. There is still controversy over whether the boys were raped or only severely beaten due to lost evidence from the police department. From either side, the story is vague and still a mystery and no matter what, the police department still chose to ignore any evidence that pointed to more likely suspects.

The prosecutors won the case of West Memphis Three. Landing Both Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin in inprisonment for life. Damien Echols was charged with the death penalty, but still waits on death row due to the controversy over all three of their cases.

The ruling was unjust as there was no mention of Damien, Jason, or Jessie having a weapon. Neither one of them had DNA that linked them to the crime scene, but Terry Hobbs did. Terry Hobbs did not receive as cruel and intense interrogation as these three teenagers did. The police department was biased, and irresponsible considering they didn't call the coroner to the crime scene until two hours after the bodies were discovered. Even then the police department moved the bodies before the coroner arrived, that being their first mistake. The fact that they held the three teens for hours after hours interrogating them and threatening them makes the case even more unjust. It would have been different if Damien, Jessie, and Jsaon had been older because the poice could not have treated them or the case with such disrespect. I would have made the police department act more responsibly. This case was not determined on justice or proof. This cased was based on the opinions of the town and their judgemental mindsets.

(n.d.). West memphis 3. //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Retrieved (2009, November 11) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_3 (n.d.). //16 years of injustice: how three teens were falsely convicted//. Retrieved from http://www.the-trukstop.com/articles/2009/wm3.html