I apologize for the time lag between posts. I was recently moved to assisted living quarters, and a short time later I woke up in a strange white room with a lot of cross-stitching on my torso. I like cross-stitch as much as anyone, but this kept me from doing much until this week, and only in short bursts. I have finished the next segment in the convoluted mess of the times that were... happy reading! And as always, please help me make sense of this with any suggestions, additions, deletions, etc. Thanks so much! And Happy Valentine's Day to everyone, especially CR, Ausgirl, and Graznik. May you have a wonderful day spent with the ones you love!
May 5, 1993 started out like any other day in West Memphis, Arkansas; by the end of the next day, three little boys would be found dead in a drainage ditch and a town would soon be gripped with a “Satanic panic” mentality. Timelines for most of the individuals involved in this horrid set of events on the day of May 5 can be readily established; several individuals’ timelines are questionable. Conjectures are strictly a matter of personal opinion; do not consider these as factual or anything more than speculation. The following paragraphs contain information gleaned from the various depositions and statements given by JMB, RC, and MM among others. This in no way should be considered an official statement of fact, although the statements are taken from official documents available at
http://www.callahan.com associated with each individual noted. Any other sources used will also be noted. I apologize for the length and constant citation, but I am attempting to compose a coherent and viable timeline for all individuals connected in any way to this horrendous event. Please bear with me, and if anyone has anything to suggest, add, delete, edit, correct, whatever… please let me know so it will be right! Thank you so much in advance for your help and patience, it is very much appreciated.
JMB gave statements and depositions concerning his whereabouts from 3 pm May 5th until the early morning hours of May 6th. The narrative of his locations and companions begins with his return home from a clinic between 3:00-3:30 pm (
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html). CB did not have a key to the house, so the arrangement was that RC would let him in on the days that JMB was not at home. On this date, however, RC notes he was not there until after JMB had arrived (
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html, cf.
http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/ryanclark.html). CB’s grandfather stated that he was headed up to Weaver Elementary School when he encountered JMB, who told him he was on his way to pick up CB (Devil’s Knot, 312). However, in a statement given by JMB, he stated that he and RC waited until 3:50 pm for CB at the house, at which time they left for court, where RC was a witness. JMB was at the court until approximately 4:50 pm, which a neighbor, CR, verified in her own statement. However, RC’s statement does not mention this period of time, so this is a conflict which may be resolved by JMB’s presence in another part of the court, out of sight of RC, but seen by CR (
http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/ryanclark.html, cf.
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html).
JMB claims to have left to pick up MB from where she worked in Memphis. RC corroborated this in his statement, adding that JMB would also be looking for CB (
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html). CR also states that JMB left around 5:00 pm (
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html). Between 5:10-5:30 JMB and MB returned from Memphis, to find that CB attempted to get into the house through a window in the carport, but was unable to get inside. Upon leaving to go back to court and pick up RC, JMB saw CB in the street on his skateboard. JMB took CB back home, punished him with a spanking (two or three licks) and told him to clean the carport (
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html). This is attested to by MB, and BP remembers CB telling him he had been whipped by his father and was going to run away (
http://callahan.8k.com/images/posey.jpg, cf.
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html). RC recalled that JMB told him that CB had broken the window seal, and CR remembers JMB being angry that CB had broken the window in an attempt to get inside, and took food that was within reach. MB verified the approximate time and discovery and testified to it (
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html).
JMB returned to the court to pick up RC and return to their house in West Memphis. CR thought he was back at the court around 6:30 pm; however, RC stated they returned home close to 6:00 pm. CB was not at home (
http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/ryanclark.html, cf.
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html). Sometime between 6:00-6:30 pm, JMB states that he began looking for CB around the yard and calling neighbors to see if they knew where he was. MB and RC verified this statement in their own statements (
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html). Failing to locate CB in the immediate neighborhood, JMB along with MB and RC began driving around the larger neighborhood area looking for CB from approximately 6:30-7:30 pm. They recalled specifically looking on the following streets: Ingram, Goodwin, Wilson and McAuley. JMB remembered only one family in this initial search, and claimed that he asked if they knew where SB lived. However, CG and his mother stated that RC was the one they spoke with at that time, and perhaps as late as 8:00 pm (
http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/cgarner.html). They also remembered MB, but do not specifically mention JMB at that time. BP does, however, mention JMB asking him if he knew where CB was shortly after CB left, and stated he would have to “whip him again” (
http://callahan.8k.com/images/posey.jpg). At some point during this time, JS said JMB talked with police officers outside the Flash Market at 6:30 pm, although JMB does not mention this encounter. But there is no mention of this encounter from RC, MB, or the police officers either (the official police log puts Officers Meek and Covington there at that time) (
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html, cf.
http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/jmb1.html).
Picking up again at 7:30 pm, JMB states he met a black officer in front of the Dollar General store on Broadway, which both MB and RC verify happening. However, no police officer confirms this encounter, and JMB, MB and RC did not identify the police officer by name. (See the statements above. This incident should be corroborated by investigation of police logs to see which officer it could have been, and exactly which encounter took place when. It appears to me that there is a bit of confusion here, but that is just my own opinion.) Just before 8:00 pm, JMB telephoned the Sheriff’s Department, spoke with the dispatcher and informed him of the situation. Asked where he lived, JMB told him and was referred to the West Memphis Police Department. (It is interesting to note that JMB did not call the WMPD in the first place, but rather the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Department. Is this indicative of some conflict of interest on JMB’s part? Perhaps this question should be pursued further.) JMB then called the WMPD sometime between 8:10-8:30 pm. Officer RM responded, as indicated by the police log, and verified by RM, MB, RC and DM, who also reports her son missing (
http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/jmb1.html, cf.
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html).
After RM left JMB and company, JMB described going door-to-door in the neighborhood in an attempt to find the missing boys, encountering a little boy and girl that CB played with who said they saw them going into the Robin Hood Woods area. However, these children are not identified, so this part of JMB’s statement cannot be verified until further information is forthcoming (
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html; is it possible this little girl could be KW and the little boy could be BP?). Also, at some point after 8:30 pm, JMB and RC meet up with DM and TWH near DM’s house. They decide to search the woods. RC does not include this meeting in his statement, nor does DM or TWH corroborate JMB’s statement in this regard. JMB also names RM and BS, friends of RC, as helping them to search an area “where the loop is” (
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html). Interestingly enough, RM, BS, another friend of RC’s, RY and BS’s mother are mentioned in each other’s statements, but JMB does not figure in any of them (
http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/ryanclark.html, cf.
http://callahan.8k.com/images/richiem.jpg; http://callahan.8k.com/images/young_r_01.jpg and
http://callahan.8k.com/images/young_r_02.jpg; http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/brias.html; http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html). MB corroborates a portion of JMB’s statement, although neither are clear on the time.
JMB returned home around 9:00 pm after this search of Robin Hood Woods in order to change out of his shorts and flip-flops into boots and coveralls. MB testified in court that JMB had been wearing the shorts and flip-flops but did not testify as to his changing clothes (
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html). After changing, JMB meets Officer JM at approximately 9:45 pm and they search the Robin Hood Hills together. JM’s log confirms this, and he testified to it in court (
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html). Returning home at 11:00 pm, JMB called WMPD and spoke to RM to get an update; however, RM did not verify this statement. JMB then called the Sheriff’s Department once more looking for assistance in searching for the missing boys. After these phone calls, JMB claims he and RC drove to the back of the Blue Beacon Truck Wash and JMB went down to the drainage ditch while RC waited in the car. JMB claims to have encountered two black men. RC, however, did not mention this trip in his statement (
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html, cf.
http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/ryanclark.html). Considering this is the area in which the bodies of the boys would be found the next afternoon, this omission on RC’s part while included in JMB’s statement is very strange indeed. RC did mention that upon coming out of the Robin Hood Woods with BS, RY and RM, BS’s mother was there and they went back to RC’s house to see if CB had come home. They also searched a few empty houses in the area before returning at midnight, when JMB told RC to go to bed (
http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/ryanclark.html). RC’s testimony seemingly contradicts JMB’s recollections on these points; however, the manager of the Blue Beacon Truck Wash mentioned hearing a gunshot and then noted that at 10:00 pm a man with two young males were looking for the man’s son, and were in a small car, a Toyota, an older model. In court, SK, the manager, stated he left work between 9:00-10:00 pm. JMB did not drive a Toyota, but an Isuzu; further, MB testified to the incident in court, although her testimony clearly shows she was not there (
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html).
Picking up JMB’s narrative at approximately midnight, he and RC returned to the house. After a period of time a car backfired on Wilson Road. He met SB’s grandfather, DM, TWH and a friend of TWH and they talked for a while then returned to the woods to make another search. Although this search is mentioned in Blood of Innocents (42), there is no other corroboration for this search. Sometime between 1:30-1:45 am, JMB and MB meet “Sergeant B.” Captain B was the CO for the midnight shift, and being such, probably spent most of the overnight shift at the police station. The dispatch logs for that shift show him dispatched several times (11:53 and 11:57 pm; 12:45, 3:26 and 4:06 am). Although Captain B provides no documentation for a meeting with JMB and MB, it is possible he left the station during the time JMB states. However, MB does not verify this meeting in her statements of the event of that night. JMB said that after 1:45 am TH showed up at the JMB house; JMB, TH, and MB went via the Service Road to the Mid-Continent Building. Again, there is no corroboration for this event, TH was not interviewed, and MB does not mention this event at all (
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html).
JMB next returns home around 2:00 or 3:00 am. TH leaves to search around the neighborhood a few more times. JMB says they sat down to wait for daylight, and MB verifies his statement somewhat, but is unsure of the exact time. However, in another statement, JMB states to have been out until 4:30 am searching for the missing boys, at one point walking within 10-15 feet of the discovery site, but not seeing them in the water (West Memphis Evening Times article, May 7, 1993). What is interesting but left unclear is how JMB knew the location of the bodies since that are had been barricaded with police tape; perhaps he ignored the tape, but still to be explained is his knowledge of where the bodies were found to within 15 feet of where he was walking (
http://www.jivepuppi.com/john_mark_byers_2.html).
There are a number of conflicting statements made by various individuals, this timeline and any alibi that may result is open to interpretation and needs more verification. By making conflicting statements concerning that evening, JMB opens himself up to charges of possible involvement in the disappearance (and murder) of the true West Memphis Three – SB, CB and MM. This is not to say that he was involved, but it does cast a shadow of suspicion on him all the same. Perhaps if he were to explain several of his statements, such as his knowledge of the location of the bodies without having seen the recovery site, and the conflicting statements of RC and his own recollections, there might be less controversy. The PL films also did not help his cause very much; of course, everyone has since moved onto another of the stepfathers, so for now JMB is off the official “hook” but must still remain on the radar until clarification is forthcoming.
