West Memphis 3

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…

When five children die in a fire without any clue as to where they went, it is suspicious. This is exactly what happened to five children in the Sodder family. The official statement is that they died in the fire, but there are many clues to say otherwise. A psychopath could have murdered them, or someone could have kidnapped them. What happened that fateful night still remains a mystery. Crimes do not occur out of nowhere. Many things lead up to crimes committed. Similarly, there is background…

Being guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt” is the highest standard of proof in any trial, especially in criminal trials where a defendant can be deprived of his or her liberties and even result in his or her death. This principle, however, is often forgotten with the presence of strong religious beliefs and rising emotions following violent crimes. Directors, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, in the documentary film Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996) takes an insider look…

usually comes to mind with a lot of people is the West Memphis three. This story was a gigantic topic when it first hit TV and newsstands. There is another case almost exactly like West Memphis three called the Central Park Five. Both stories prove that innocent people go to jail and do time for crimes they didn’t commit. Both stories took place in the 1900s. The central park five took place in nineteen eighty nine. The West Memphis three took place in nineteen ninety three. The Central Park…

The documentary West of Memphis, directed by Amy J. Berg in 2012, is about the Murder of three eight-year-old boys. The evolving of the story positions the audience to accept that the West Memphis three were the victims of personal greed, and a miscarriage of justice cause by upbringing as “trailer trash”. Which is soon shown to allegations and not based off solid evidence. Growing up I was taught to be honest a helpful and obviously treat people with respect, but I was taught that the…

Pine Bluff, Arkansas Sissy’s Log Cabin- The robbers at the [crime scene] were only teenagers. The [conflict] cause a lot of media attention. The teenagers were Caucasian and African- American males. The [crime victim] was held up against their will. The police went to the crime scene finding two teenagers with their hands bound together with rope by the store owner. Luckily the owner had a gun to hold the [criminals] until they were brought into custody by the police. The citizens were…

the police come after me? Who did they kill? How did they kill them? In May 5 ,1993 three teenagers were convicted of three murders are Damien Echols was 18 Jason Baldwin was 16 and Jessie Misskelley was 17: and one of them was ordered to serve a life time in prison . Echols who was sentenced to death. That involved three boys from West Memphis. They were an easy…

Virginia. The Missouri Supreme Court decided to review Simmons’ case, while applying reasoning from Atkins v. Virginia, and ruled 6 - 3 that executing minors was unconstitutional (Roper v. Simmons,…

to look bad. The witch trials are a great example and one of the oldest to happen in the colonial era, but it was still in America. The West Memphis three is another great example of the judicial system being corrupt. Even though these trials were hundreds of years apart, they are very similar. The Witch trials were hundreds of years ago, but they still have relevance today. The trials consisted of people being accused of being witches and the community went insane because they thought their…

Mara Leveritt writes a fascinating tale of the American justice system gone terribly wrong in her book Devil’s Knot. On May 5, 1993, Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Steven Branch went missing from their homes in West Memphis, Arkansas. Subsequently, their bodies were recovered in a body of water by their homes with signs that they had been ferociously beaten and murdered. The evidence showed that Christopher Byers had been castrated before he was killed. Quickly, the town found out about…