West Memphis 3

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I haven't kept up on this case, but last year I did start reading the docs on the website, specifically police reports. Echols was going around telling classmates that he and the other boys did it. He seemed like a good susspect to me. I really didn't get the suspicion of the stepfather. He might be a lowlife, according to most moral standards today, but that hardly would qualify him as a pedofile and child multilator. Two different species there. All too often the people who do these kind of heinous crimes don't even have a criminal record. So what do you guys think? Are Echols and pals guilty? Is this a case worth researching more? What does Misskelley say today?
 
Goody said:
I haven't kept up on this case, but last year I did start reading the docs on the website, specifically police reports. Echols was going around telling classmates that he and the other boys did it. He seemed like a good susspect to me. I really didn't get the suspicion of the stepfather. He might be a lowlife, according to most moral standards today, but that hardly would qualify him as a pedofile and child multilator. Two different species there. All too often the people who do these kind of heinous crimes don't even have a criminal record. So what do you guys think? Are Echols and pals guilty? Is this a case worth researching more? What does Misskelley say today?
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The step father is truly a creepy guy. I wouldn't want to be in a room alone with him, that's for sure. I just don't see any evidence that he murdered the boys.
 
THis is another case which fascinates and confounds me. I can't wait to see what the DNA has to say if and when those results ever come back!
 
Jeana (DP) said:
The step father is truly a creepy guy. I wouldn't want to be in a room alone with him, that's for sure. I just don't see any evidence that he murdered the boys.
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I agree. They all came from the same neighborhood and from what I read, it was a low income area, wheher they lived in a house or trailer with a huge drug problem. I suspect that most of the players/player's parents were not that much different from the stepfather.
 
Whatever you believe ...guilt or innocent in this case or even if you're undecided... Please read this book... http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0595357016/freethewestmemph
...written by Damien Echols from prison... it chronicles his life up till now,
read this book and know the truth about him... the whole story of who Damien Echols really is. If you have read this book, what are your thoughts?
 
All right, here is my take, it may be long so forgive me in advance!

Before these murders happened, the West Memphis Police Department and members of the Crittenden (sp) county drug task force were under investigation for taking guns, drugs, and money for evidence lockers. One of the investigating officers for the murders admitted he took three guns himself from the evidence locker but was not prosecuted. The whack job who was the main prosecution witness that promoted the satanism theory against Echols was removed from his job after it was revealed that he embezzled over 30 grand from his job. This embezzlement was going on before the murders were committed. It seems like most of the investigating officers had something to hide or cover-up. Could they have gotten any luckier when these murders happened? The heat was off of them and heck if one of the cops being investigated could tell the prosecutor, yep, I took those guns and wasn't charged, well could they have asked for anything better?

Byers, the stepfather, has more than a few skeletons in his closet. Yes, he was an informant for the West Memphis PD, as well as the drug task force. He stole a bunch of jewelry and wasn't prosecuted. He had buddies on the task force as well as in the PD. Personally, I think he knew that things were coming up missing from evidence lockers and such and the investigators treated him with kid gloves so he wouldn't blow them out of the water. IMO, he killed these three boys. He admitted he beat his stepson with a belt right before he went missing. He was unaccounted for during a time when the search was going on. His story and his other stepson's don't cooberate. Plus, the teeth deal. He's got umpteen stories why he had his teeth pulled. Then, his wife turns up dead. He slips up and says she was murdered. The crime lab couldn't figure it out. Of course, they didn't have national accreditation when they did the autopsies on the original three victims, and I don't know if they raised their standards and got it back by the time Melissa Byers was sent there.

I agree Echols is strange. His psych reports are disturbing. But, he didn't have a motive, unlike Byers to kill these boys.

Misskelley, I can't even fathom the amount of coercion that went on to get the story the West Memphis Police wanted out of him. He basically feeds them back what he is told by them. Heck, he said the boys were sodomized by Echols and Baldwin, and medical evidence says they were not. And don't forget his IQ hangs out at about 70, so he doesn't have all his crayons in his box.

Baldwin has denied from day 1 he was involved. He was railroaded IMO.

Ok, off my soapbox. But, there was a great injustice here, and it needs to be rectified. Hopefully, before the state of AR puts Echols to death.
 
the original tez said:
All right, here is my take, it may be long so forgive me in advance!

Before these murders happened, the West Memphis Police Department and members of the Crittenden (sp) county drug task force were under investigation for taking guns, drugs, and money for evidence lockers. One of the investigating officers for the murders admitted he took three guns himself from the evidence locker but was not prosecuted. The whack job who was the main prosecution witness that promoted the satanism theory against Echols was removed from his job after it was revealed that he embezzled over 30 grand from his job. This embezzlement was going on before the murders were committed. It seems like most of the investigating officers had something to hide or cover-up. Could they have gotten any luckier when these murders happened? The heat was off of them and heck if one of the cops being investigated could tell the prosecutor, yep, I took those guns and wasn't charged, well could they have asked for anything better?

Byers, the stepfather, has more than a few skeletons in his closet. Yes, he was an informant for the West Memphis PD, as well as the drug task force. He stole a bunch of jewelry and wasn't prosecuted. He had buddies on the task force as well as in the PD. Personally, I think he knew that things were coming up missing from evidence lockers and such and the investigators treated him with kid gloves so he wouldn't blow them out of the water. IMO, he killed these three boys. He admitted he beat his stepson with a belt right before he went missing. He was unaccounted for during a time when the search was going on. His story and his other stepson's don't cooberate. Plus, the teeth deal. He's got umpteen stories why he had his teeth pulled. Then, his wife turns up dead. He slips up and says she was murdered. The crime lab couldn't figure it out. Of course, they didn't have national accreditation when they did the autopsies on the original three victims, and I don't know if they raised their standards and got it back by the time Melissa Byers was sent there.

I agree Echols is strange. His psych reports are disturbing. But, he didn't have a motive, unlike Byers to kill these boys.

Misskelley, I can't even fathom the amount of coercion that went on to get the story the West Memphis Police wanted out of him. He basically feeds them back what he is told by them. Heck, he said the boys were sodomized by Echols and Baldwin, and medical evidence says they were not. And don't forget his IQ hangs out at about 70, so he doesn't have all his crayons in his box.

Baldwin has denied from day 1 he was involved. He was railroaded IMO.

Ok, off my soapbox. But, there was a great injustice here, and it needs to be rectified. Hopefully, before the state of AR puts Echols to death.
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I remember seeing the documentary "Paradise Lost" about these murders and even though the three boys didn't come across as model citizens John Mark Byers definitely came across as one strange individual. My feeling is that he (Byers) did kill the boys and the thing about getting his teeth pulled was just bizarre.


The documentary makers went back and made a second film about the murders called 'Revelations', here's a bit from a review of that film.
(Source)

Revelations makes no bones about its agenda - clearly, Berlinger and Sinofsky believe Echols and his associates to be innocent (or at the very least, the victims of an unfair trial). As far as the guilt or innocence of Mark Byers is concerned, the filmmakers prove more than willing to give him enough rope to hang himself. Viewers of the film inclined to give Byers the benefit of the doubt will find him sabotaging himself at every turn. Whether he committed the murders remains an open question by the documentary's end, but one thing is for sure: if creepiness was a crime, Mark Byers would be on death row today.
Byers hovers outside the courthouse like an angel of death, occasionally squabbling with the West Memphis Three supporters. He takes the camera crew to the scene of the crime and to his wife's final resting place, staging more and more elaborate arias of grief and vengeance, as if he had never heard the adage about protesting too much. He volunteers for a polygraph test, during which he confesses that he is under the influence of five separate mood-altering drugs. His shambling appearance and doped-up demeanor give him the air of a walking cry for help.
At one point, during a discussion with two buddies about his troubles since the murders, Byers unexpectedly removes his teeth, claiming to have lost his real choppers in a fight. At first this smacks of smug redneck exploitation on the part of the filmmakers - as if they are building a case through sheer class prejudice. Later we learn the reason for including the scene: an expert brought in by the defense has found what appear to be bite marks in autopsy photographs of the victims. He mentions that the real killer may have since had his teeth removed in an effort to destroy evidence. When the West Memphis Three supporters (truth be told, a fairly creepy bunch in their own right) ask Byers if he would be willing to supply comparative bite marks to prove his innocence, he claims that his teeth have fallen out due to a side effect of medication. Still later, the real explanation emerges - Byers has had his teeth removed by an oral surgeon. Nothing could be more unsettling than to watch Byers's credibility crumble even as Echols exhausts his appeals process and draws ever nearer to his date with lethal injection.
(More @ Source)

I believe both Paradise Lost and Revelations are available from Netflicks.

Oh and just to add some extra creepiness here's John Mark Byers MySpace page supposedly.

blaize
 
Thanks Blaize.

Yep, that Byers guy is one strange individual. I think he far surpasses two of the three that are in prison for these murders. I also think he's the one that killed those boys. I also believe he helped his wife meet her demise.
 
the original tez said:
Thanks Blaize.

Yep, that Byers guy is one strange individual. I think he far surpasses two of the three that are in prison for these murders. I also think he's the one that killed those boys. I also believe he helped his wife meet her demise.
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Wasn't there a suspicion that because John Mark Byers was an informant in a drugs case that he got a lot of protection from some branches of LE?

I tend to agree with you about Mr Byers having something to do with his wife's death but what's so bafling is that this guy just skates over the surface of all this tragedy like he's coated with teflon.

blaize
 
blaize said:
Wasn't there a suspicion that because John Mark Byers was an informant in a drugs case that he got a lot of protection from some branches of LE?

I tend to agree with you about Mr Byers having something to do with his wife's death but what's so bafling is that this guy just skates over the surface of all this tragedy like he's coated with teflon.

blaize
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Yep, that's the story....I also think he knew about the irregularities with the drug task force. There was a cop who was killed right before the WM3 thing happened. He was pawning stuff, up to his undercover car and his service revolver to keep up with his drug habit.

He does skate over this stuff doesn't he?
 
the original tez said:
Yep, that's the story....I also think he knew about the irregularities with the drug task force. There was a cop who was killed right before the WM3 thing happened. He was pawning stuff, up to his undercover car and his service revolver to keep up with his drug habit.

He does skate over this stuff doesn't he?
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Even though on the surface facts like those might indicate a new trial would be possible all the dirty goings on behind the scenes by some of the major players makes me suspect that the Memphis 3 are as good as dead.
 
When you look at this case up close and see all the evidence one can only conclude these boys did not get a fair trial and are most likely innocent. To think they have been in prison for 13 years saddens me, esp echols in his small cel 23 hours a day. The only thing that will save these boys is if a higher power intervenes outside redneck ville and makes a new FAIR trial take place in order to exonerate jessie, damien and jason.
 
blaize said:
Even though on the surface facts like those might indicate a new trial would be possible all the dirty goings on behind the scenes by some of the major players makes me suspect that the Memphis 3 are as good as dead.
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Well, I think Echol's has a few federal appeals or is he down to just one? I hope someone will finally see the amount of corruption that went on in this case, before he gets executed. Because like Tricia said, you can't take that one back!

Blaize, have you read "The Boys on the Tracks?" It is by the same woman who wrote "Devil's Knot." If you haven't, I would highly recommend reading it. It shows AR LE corruption at it's worst.
 
For a long time I sat on the fence about the three boys guilt.But after doing alot of reading I really think the boys are not guilty.I also think John Byers had something to do with the murders.And I think he killed his wife.

I know lots of people say he was just acting for the cameras in the Paradise lost documentaries,I don't think so.He may have tried and gone overboard a few times,but something inside me says this guy is the real deal.He killed those poor little boys and has not one ounce of remorse for the murders,nor for the three boys sitting in jail for 13 years.
 
the original tez said:
Well, I think Echol's has a few federal appeals or is he down to just one? I hope someone will finally see the amount of corruption that went on in this case, before he gets executed. Because like Tricia said, you can't take that one back!

Blaize, have you read "The Boys on the Tracks?" It is by the same woman who wrote "Devil's Knot." If you haven't, I would highly recommend reading it. It shows AR LE corruption at it's worst.
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I haven't read that tez but I will if I can find it on Amazon. I hate reading about police and political corruption because it just brings home to me how the most vulnerable in society are preyed on by some of the people who are meant to protect the innocent.
 
Alta said:
For a long time I sat on the fence about the three boys guilt.But after doing alot of reading I really think the boys are not guilty.I also think John Byers had something to do with the murders.And I think he killed his wife.

I know lots of people say he was just acting for the cameras in the Paradise lost documentaries,I don't think so.He may have tried and gone overboard a few times,but something inside me says this guy is the real deal.He killed those poor little boys and has not one ounce of remorse for the murders,nor for the three boys sitting in jail for 13 years.
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Is it naive of me to ask if Mr Byers would behave like that if he had any concern about who killed his son and the other boys? It just seems to me that his behaviour is way out there & that he's someone who can manipulate reality to suit himself.
 
blaize said:
Is it naive of me to ask if Mr Byers would behave like that if he had any concern about who killed his son and the other boys? It just seems to me that his behaviour is way out there & that he's someone who can manipulate reality to suit himself.
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Blaize, I don't think it's naive at all. He acts like the cat that ate the canary.

When this case first happened, I thought those three boys were guilty. Especially after hearing Gitchell (the lead investigator) say the case was an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10. After reading all the material I could get my hands on, I have done a 180* turnaround. Even if they are guilty, the judge crippled the defenses' of these boys so bad, they never even had a shot at a fair trial.

John Byers was never investigated throughly, because if he had been, I believe he would be the one sitting on Death Row, not Echols. Oh, wait, I forgot, we aren't supposed to forget that Byers is the victim. Not his wife, not his dead stepson, not the other dead boys, not their families, and not his other stepson. Just John Byers. That man makes me sick.:liar::bang::loser:

Blaize, I think you can find "The Boys on the Tracks" on Amazon. That book just shows AR at it's worst. Just like "Devil's Knot."
 
If no one knows, threre is a website for the West Memphis 3. it's: www.wm3.org .

Currently, they are lookin into DNA testing results that could spell a new trial.

I remember when I first saw the documentary on HBO when I was a teen. I saw Damien Echols with the solid black look, the long black hair and the strange personality and pretty much said in my mind that he must have done it. As I got older, I replayed the documentary (which you can find on netflix) and found myself wondering why I thought he was guilty. I think these three are innocent and a town built on religious faith convicted them much like people during the salem witch trials.
 
gman20001969 said:
If no one knows, threre is a website for the West Memphis 3. it's: www.wm3.org .

Currently, they are lookin into DNA testing results that could spell a new trial.

I remember when I first saw the documentary on HBO when I was a teen. I saw Damien Echols with the solid black look, the long black hair and the strange personality and pretty much said in my mind that he must have done it. As I got older, I replayed the documentary (which you can find on netflix) and found myself wondering why I thought he was guilty. I think these three are innocent and a town built on religious faith convicted them much like people during the salem witch trials.
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I thought this too until I read a bunch of the court documents from a link that someone posted. I now lean towards thinking they really are guilty.
 
Masterj said:
I thought this too until I read a bunch of the court documents from a link that someone posted. I now lean towards thinking they really are guilty.
Click to expand...

I was exactly the same way. Thought them guilty, then innocent, then back to guilty.

My advice to gman - read everything. Anyone can film a documentary to make people look innocent. The actual court documents reveal lots.
 
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