I have been following the case of the WEST MEMPHIS 3 for years. If you are unfamiliar with the case, it was a murder case in West Memphis, Arkansas back in 1993. 3 young boys were killed, and although they had no evidence, the state convicted Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr., and Jason Baldwin (known now as the West Memphis 3) of the murders, mainly because they were known as 'hoods', because they listened to heavy metal music and work black clothes. The police coerced Jessie Misskelley Jr. into a confession and they convicted all three kids based on that. The police didn't care that Jessie was a mentally challenged young man and couldn't comprehend what all he was saying. His confession was full of inaccuracies about the case, but the state didn't care. They convicted these kids and locked them up for over 17 years until they were freed last year after agreeing to enter an Alford plea.
There are a number of people coming forward now saying that one of the murdered boys stepfather, Terry Hobbs, has admitted on several occasions that he killed the 3 boys. You can read all the confession accounts in the full article from NWAHomepage.com. Here is an excerpt from that article:
A third witness stated that he was at Michael Hobbs Jr's home in 2003 or 2004 when he was told by Hobbs Jr. that the two of them could not go down to the basement to play pool because Michael Hobbs Sr. was down there having a conversation with Hobbs Jr.'s uncle. The witness said that he " listened with Michael Jr. at the top of the stairs. I heard two men talking. One appeared to be very upset even crying and he said 'I am sorry, I regret it.' The other man was trying to console him and said, 'You are in the clear, no one thinks you are a suspect, those guys are already in prison.'"
It is excellent that is is finally coming to light, maybe the West Memphis 3 will finally have their names 100% cleared. I hate that has taken this long for people to come forward about this, though. If these people knew that Hobbs did it, or heard him confess, whey are they just now coming out with this info. This should have been done years ago instead of letting the state wrongfully convict 3 young men.
Hopefully the truth will be told soon.....
CLICK HERE to read the full article from NWAHomepage.com
I remember watching the documentary back in high school and it being totally messed up.
ReplyDeleteGuilty until proven innocent I guess.
I just watched Paradise Lost: Purgatory last night, and this case just keeps pissing me off more and more. As one of the resident black clad, metalhead "freak kids" of my town in the 90's, I remember thinking when this went down about how it could have easily been me and my friends. Lets hope the WM3 can clear their names.
ReplyDeleteYep, it's really sad to think because they looked different and listened to heavy metal music that they had to give away 18 years of their life. Even sadder for the poor kids that were murdered in such a brutal fashion. Sad case all around....
ReplyDelete