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West Memphis Three: Movie Deal, Freedom BUT THE REAL KILLER IS STILL FREE

By Geno McGahee

I have been following the case of the West Memphis Three since the first HBO documentary and, like many, was very outraged by what had happened to Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin.

Three 8 year old boys were murdered, sodomized, and mutilated, and the police had a great deal of pressure put upon them to solve the case. They became aware of Damien Echols, a teen with a rebellious past and a chip on his shoulder, and that brought Jason Baldwin into suspicion through association. Jessie Misskelley wasn’t in with Damien and Jason, but he did know of them, and with a reported IQ of 81, he was the person that the police would manipulate to get this case off of their desks and get the public off of their back.

Misskelley was interviewed by the police and eventually confessed to the murders, implicating both Jason and Damien in it, but many of the facts were incorrect and it screamed of manipulation. That confession put Misskelley away immediately and put Damien and Jason on trial. Misskelly refused to testify against either and the case for the state was weak, until they found a knife in a lake near the home of Baldwin. The knife was most likely planted by the police to secure convictions.

Damien and Jason were both convicted, both considered Satanists by the community, and the town could now rest, but the problem was the corruption of the police and the willingness to railroad three innocent teens to close a case and relieve the pressure of the public.

The three were convicted for the 1993 murders of the three 8 year old boys, but thanks in large part to pressure from the public, the West Memphis Three were allowed to plea out and were released from prison. Damien Echols was released from death row.

The plea deal that the three agreed to was an admission that the prosecution had enough evidence to convict, but they were not admitting guilt. It is the first step to correcting the problem. Even though we have justice for the West Memphis Three, finally, we don’t have any justice for the three boys that were murdered in 1993.

DNA was found on the murder scene from one of the stepfathers, Terry Hobbs. Hobbs is an alleged child abuser and violent person with sexual deviant tendencies. The ex-wife of Hobbs and her family are convinced that he had something to do with the murders. The hope is that this case will not be brushed under the rug and that the pursuit for the real killer(s) will continue.

The West Memphis Three are moving on. There is talk of a major motion picture deal that will put some money in their pockets, and they should be able to turn a buck in various other media opportunities. They are owed a lot by society and the hope is that they will be able to receive all of it and then some.

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