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>Damian and two buddies MURDERED three eight-year-old boys: Chris Byers, Stevie Branch, and Michael Moore

The West Memphis Three are Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr., who—as teenagers—were convicted in 1994 of triple murder in West Memphis (Crittenden County). Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley were accused of killing three eight-year-old boys: Chris Byers, Stevie Branch, and Michael Moore. Their trial, which included assertions that the killings were part of a cultic ritual, and subsequent conviction set off a firestorm around the nation and world, inspired books and movies, and led to a movement to re-try or free the three men, believed by many to have been wrongly convicted.

On May 6, 1993, Byers, Branch, and Moore were found in a water-filled ditch in the woods of the Robin Hood Hills subdivision less than twenty-four hours after their parents had reported them missing.The boys were naked, beaten, and hog-tied. Byers had been castrated.Despite the violence of the crime, there was little evidence at the scene of the crime. Police wondered at the peculiar lack of blood or fibers, and also noted that the area looked as though it had been swept clean. The police were faced with a case that immediately gained national attention but that yielded little information with which to find the person or people responsible.

The state of the boys’ bodies quickly inspired rumors that a satanic cult was responsible. The crime scene’s location in the woods, the nudity, the positioning of the boys’ bodies, and especially the castration caused concern about Satanism amongst the locals, and amongst the police as well. Within days of the murders, Gary Gitchell, the chief inspector, informed the public that the police were considering a number of possible explanations for the murders, one of which was cult activity. Throughout the investigation, the cult theory overshadowed more traditional theories, such as the speculation that the murders were committed by someone who knew the boys.

Jerry Driver was a juvenile probation officer for Crittenden County who believed that there was a satanic cult in the area. Much of that belief was a result of his dealings with Damien Echols, a teenager placed under his supervision until age eighteen after having been arrested for burglary and sexual misconduct. The more that Driver interacted with Echols, the more convinced he became that Echols was involved in a satanic cult. Echols denied any connection with Satanism but did admit to believing in and practicing magic. Driver shared his suspicions with the West Memphis police.

Jason Baldwin was friends with Echols, both of them being social outcasts. Baldwin did well in school and did not join in Echols’s experimentation with magic. Despite their many differences, they spent a great deal of time together. The third and final suspect, Jessie Misskelley Jr., had little connection to either Echols or Baldwin. However, he babysat for Vicki Hutcheson, a woman who volunteered to help the police investigate. Hutcheson began to ask Misskelley questions about the case, and he agreed to introduce her to Echols, well-known as a suspect by that point.

Hutcheson told police that she persuaded Echols to take her with him to a witches’ gathering and that Misskelley went with them. As a result, Misskelley was taken to the police station for several hours of questioning, of which just over thirty minutes were recorded. At the end of the questioning, Misskelley confessed, implicating himself, Echols, and Baldwin. Misskelley’s confession, however, was inconsistent with details of the crime of which the police were already aware. While confessing, Misskelley at times contradicted his own story as well. In spite of the potential problems with Misskelley’s confession, the police arrested him, Echols, and Baldwin on June 3, 1993.

Sauce/moar: https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/west-memphis-three-3039/