Viable suspect: Damien Echols

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UdbCrzy2 said:
There was a 911-like call placed on 5-11-93 from a male caller who says that he 'killed three kids, whachya gunna do about it'. I wonder could this be Echols, it does sound like his voice.

Actual recording of the caller
http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/audio/tape_phone_call_051093.mp3

Note about the recording
http://callahan.8k.com/images2/tape_of_phone_call_02.jpg


Envelope for tape
http://callahan.8k.com/images2/tape_of_phone_call_01.jpg
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Links no longer working...well???
 
Echols' behavior post-arrest and at trial was not the behavior of an innocent person. He did behave in a relaxed and cavalier way, which was odd considering the enormity of the charges against him. During trial he purposely tried to downplay his participation with the occult, stating that he was not part of the scene, but he was. Even at the end of the trial, you have Baldwin's attorney telling Jason "do you see how being connected to him cost you?"I don't know if Echols did it, but I have always sensed that Echols exhibited some sociopathic/narcissistic qualities. I think he craves attention over all things. I think there were very limited chances for him to ever gain attention as a high school dropout in Arkansas, and maybe he sought fame and notoriety in other ways.
 
Tuffgong said:
Boy did it. He is buddies with Johnny Depp, Eddie Vedder, has multiple books, he is famous, financially stable, etc.. Did he foresee the misery of prison, no, dumb teenager, had no idea. But now he is living the life he dreamed of.
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I am curious, dogmatica, do you think he did not gain fame and notoriety? Do you think he does not display sociopathic tendencies?
 
Tuffgong said:
I am curious, dogmatica, do you think he did not gain fame and notoriety? Do you think he does not display sociopathic tendencies?
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He gained fame and notoriety in the most despicable fashion one could ever dream up. And that is what is so incredibly horrifying. He has fans. What is "fan" short for? Fanatic. You can see it on his face when he walks into a room full of applause. His look says to me "I got away with this. I fooled them. And they're stupid and beneath me".

Then again, the most vicious killers have always had fan clubs. Fawning sycophants.

I think he displays his sociopathy at every turn. It's glaring.
 
I read a bit about DE being with his family in a car during the time the murders took place. It was corroborated by a neighbor that saw DE and his family across the street. I think they were at his uncle's house or something. The person that saw them said she was sure of the time since her favorite TV show had just come on. Does anyone have more info on this?
 
thared33 said:
I read a bit about DE being with his family in a car during the time the murders took place. It was corroborated by a neighbor that saw DE and his family across the street. I think they were at his uncle's house or something. The person that saw them said she was sure of the time since her favorite TV show had just come on. Does anyone have more info on this?
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Echols was in the woods at the time the murders took place. Committing said murders.
 
thared33 said:
I read a bit about DE being with his family in a car during the time the murders took place. It was corroborated by a neighbor that saw DE and his family across the street. I think they were at his uncle's house or something. The person that saw them said she was sure of the time since her favorite TV show had just come on. Does anyone have more info on this?
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Well, it's pick you alibi, so to speak, because he has also said he was on the phone with multiple girls at the time of the murders too. Not sure which one he's sticking to now, lol.

I don't remember all the specifics, but that particular alibi is: the entire family (DE's) went to visit this other family (can't remember who it was exactly now). The neighbor across the street supposedly saw DE, etc., walk in and out of the door as she was sitting/watching TV in her living room; and she verified her account because she was watching Beverly Hills 90210 at the time.

However, I don't believe this witness was ever called during the trial. I could be wrong. If the witness wasn't called, it was because there was an inconsistency with her story; perhaps it was the week prior to the actual murder, etc.
 
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Userid said:
Well, it's pick you alibi, so to speak, because he has also said he was on the phone with multiple girls at the time of the murders too. Not sure which one he's sticking to now, lol.

I don't remember all the specifics, but that particular alibi is: the entire family (DE's) went to visit this other family (can't remember who it was exactly now). The neighbor across the street supposedly saw DE, etc., walk in and out of the door as she was sitting/watching TV in her living room; and she verified her account because she was watching Beverly Hills 90210 at the time.

However, I don't believe this witness was ever called during the trial. I could be wrong. If the witness wasn't called, it was because there was an inconsistency with her story; perhaps it was the week prior to the actual murder, etc.
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Innocent people not only have an alibi, they have have only one alibi.
 
Tuffgong said:
Echols' behavior post-arrest and at trial was not the behavior of an innocent person. He did behave in a relaxed and cavalier way, which was odd considering the enormity of the charges against him.
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I don't know if Damian is innocent or not but this is a hugely flawed and dangerous way of thinking. Innocent people don't all act a specific way. In court innocent people have been overwhelmed and acted extremely emotional, innocent people have also taken it in their stride and acted nonchalant or even cocky, they've also been in the middle. The thing those demeanours have in common is all have been cited as reasons to think they're guilty because they were overracting or they don't care. You nor anyone else has a special ability to determine guilt by looking at someones demeanour. The media and prosecutors pushing these narratives has been a factor in several wrongful convictions, evidence is all that should matter to you in determining someone's guilt or innocence not how someone acts, humans are complex beings who can't be generalized into one specific type/behaviour.

The rest of your post is completely irrelevent in determining his culpability as none of it is evidence of wrongdoing. He could be a devil worshipping piece of... and still have nothing to do with it. Again though my problem with this post isn't about Damian i don't know if he's innocent or not, it's that these types of attitudes are a factor in wrongful convictions and they should be challenged at every turn.
 
Nadal said:
I don't know if Damian is innocent or not but this is a hugely flawed and dangerous way of thinking. Innocent people don't all act a specific way. In court innocent people have been overwhelmed and acted extremely emotional, innocent people have also taken it in their stride and acted nonchalant or even cocky, they've also been in the middle. The thing those demeanours have in common is all have been cited as reasons to think they're guilty because they were overracting or they don't care. You nor anyone else has a special ability to determine guilt by looking at someones demeanour. The media and prosecutors pushing these narratives has been a factor in several wrongful convictions, evidence is all that should matter to you in determining someone's guilt or innocence not how someone acts, humans are complex beings who can't be generalized into one specific type/behaviour.

The rest of your post is completely irrelevent in determining his culpability as none of it is evidence of wrongdoing. He could be a devil worshipping piece of... and still have nothing to do with it. Again though my problem with this post isn't about Damian i don't know if he's innocent or not, it's that these types of attitudes are a factor in wrongful convictions and they should be challenged at every turn.
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He was prosecuted and convicted. Then he plead guilty. He is a TWICE convicted child killer. Find a new hero.
 
Damien Echols is absolutely a sociopath and a manipulator. I remember reading through all of his hospital transcripts on the Callahan site. He was also about as smart as a bag of wet sand. I have no doubt in my mind that he would have ended up in prison for something eventually, but I don't think he had anything to do with what happened to those boys. He and the "satanic panic" of the 80's and early 90s were a convenient scapegoat.
 
I often hear people dismiss cases due to the "satanic panic" thing. Listen, I don't believe in Satan, OK, but in small rural areas, there is that element, especially in regards to young people. They buy into that nonsense and base their young lives around it. Very common. It is not farfetched to assume that these beliefs could cause them to commit crimes for their beliefs, silly though they might be. Richard Ramirez killed people for his satanic beliefs, it was an actual motive, silly though it might seem.
 
Tuffgong said:
I often hear people dismiss cases due to the "satanic panic" thing. Listen, I don't believe in Satan, OK, but in small rural areas, there is that element, especially in regards to young people. They buy into that nonsense and base their young lives around it. Very common. It is not farfetched to assume that these beliefs could cause them to commit crimes for their beliefs, silly though they might be. Richard Ramirez killed people for his satanic beliefs, it was an actual motive, silly though it might seem.
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West Memphis is always referred to as rural as if it's fifty miles away from the nearest Taco Bell. It's literally right across the Mississippi from Memphis. It's not rural. It's poor, racist, and rednecked, but not rural. West Memphis PD is still awful.

During the time period that the murders occurred any teen who was into metal or Dungeons & Dragons was accused of being an occultist. Some people embraced the stereotype and doodled pentagrams on notebooks in order to seem scary and/or cool. We talk about bullying in school a lot nowadays, but back then, if you were even the tiniest bit different the harassment was unrelenting. Telling people you were a satanist was a good way to scare people out of tormenting you.
 
Before I get to the rest of my post, I'll clarify by saying that I believe it's highly likely the WM3 committed the murders. I would be surprised if it was proven one day that anyone else did it. That said, there were multiple concerns with evidence, witness and trial handling so while they may have been found not guilty from a legal sense if they were tried again, that does not make them innocent. People confuse the two far too often. As for Damien, he checks multiple boxes that you'd look for in a viable suspect:

- Proven history of violence against animals and attempted violence against humans
- Lengthy mental health history including multiple incidents relating to homicidal, suicidal and psychopathic behavior
- No proven alibi for the timeframe when the murders likely took place
- Bragged about committing the murders to girls at the softball field (regardless if he was "joking" as he now claims)
- Knowing several details about the murders not known to the public - then playing it off in court that he had heard them from TV, "people talking", etc.

These are even before Jessie's obviously damning confession. I won't get into an argument about the validity of it. My personal opinion is that while the WMPD did ask multiple leading questions and could have done a much better job with the questioning itself, the confession is genuine and Jessie was actually describing how the murders occurred. This is backed up by his multiple other confessions that you never hear about including the ones on February 5th and 8th 1994 after he was convicted where he confessed to the police on the drive to prison and to his own defense attorney when there was no deal or legal benefit to do so.

I can see supporters viewpoint of some of the errors made by LE during the investigation and trials, however to convince yourself that the WM3 - especially Damien - were normal, regular guys that were singled out because of what they wore, listened to, etc. is just nonsense. There are so many factual and reality leaps you have to do to get to that conclusion, I'll just never understand it hence why I can see why a jury might find them not guilty legally but to say they are completely factually innocent of this crime is absurd imo.
 
sk716 said:
West Memphis is always referred to as rural as if it's fifty miles away from the nearest Taco Bell. It's literally right across the Mississippi from Memphis. It's not rural. It's poor, racist, and rednecked, but not rural. West Memphis PD is still awful.

During the time period that the murders occurred any teen who was into metal or Dungeons & Dragons was accused of being an occultist. Some people embraced the stereotype and doodled pentagrams on notebooks in order to seem scary and/or cool. We talk about bullying in school a lot nowadays, but back then, if you were even the tiniest bit different the harassment was unrelenting. Telling people you were a satanist was a good way to scare people out of tormenting you.
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I meant "rural" in a cultural sense. I can show you some rural areas right outside of Austin that are night and day from the city life and progressivism of Austin. I believe the West Memphis community fits a rural description. And let's be honest, those boys were into the satanic culture.
 
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