Two questions plagued the conservative, middle-class community: Why would anyone commit such a heinous act, and, more importantly, who? By going into the courtroom and sticking with the case for its entire duration, Berlinger and Sinofsky were able to capture what may have otherwise been lost to time or left out of transcripts. The level of corruption in the American justice system is glaring and sickening.. Misskelley's coerced confession, as contradictory as it seemed to the evidence, was consistent in implicating Echols and Jason Baldwin. Dan Stidham, the original attorney for Misskelley, who would also work on Baldwins and Echols appeals, says he has the answer. West Memphis is pretty much like a second Salem," Echols stated in the 1996 documentary Paradise Lost: The Murders at Robin Hood Hills. That type of support made observers question the verdicts perhaps more so than any rock star who shouted Echolss name into a mic because of an HBO documentary. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family. According to Griffis, black hair, black T-shirts, and black jeans were signs that a kid was in league with the devil. With their 2007 request for a new trial rejected, time was running out for the West Memphis Three. (Echolswho is in better health today, though his eyesight has degenerated and he has premature arthritis from his time in solitary confinementin particular has maintained a relatively public life, through the five books hes published, performing magic for Patreon subscribers, and making TV appearances to discuss other cases he sees as similar to his.) (At one point, Sauls says, it landed on Yahoos list of the top 100 websites.) She said it was one of the highest-rated pieces they had. Events. Misskelley returned to life in West Memphis. of Auburndale, FL passed away Monday, August 16, 2021. "Everyone has a story and this just happens to be mine," said Hobbs. People have come out of the woodwork and said this and this and people have done things and a lot of them are wrong, said Hobbs. The idea of the average citizen becoming embroiled in a criminal investigation isn't far-fetched in 2021, . The governor of the state of Arkansas who will one day pardon the West Memphis Three is probably in junior high right now, he says. Attorneys for Echols have submitted a formal request to inspect the records that are available, involving cataloguing of the evidence as well as information on the loss of the evidence. Terry Hobbs, Actor: Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers. Berlinger and Sinofsky expected a similar result to come quickly in the West Memphis Three case. Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care. But further down, in the section for the music department, theres a curious inclusion of a consultant who never worked in film again: Alex Sinofsky, the son of Bruce who was 12 at the time of Paradise Losts release. "The reason I made the West Memphis boogeyman comment during the first film was because I was making light of the situation," Echols says in Paradise Lost 2: Revelations. More than 2,500 people attended and the story dominated the local press for days. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as: names, dates, place of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships. Then youd try to find it, and it didnt exist, because when we went out to discussion groups, no one knew about the case yet., After learning that the teens were still in prison, Bakken, Sauls, and Pashley decided to make full use of the budding technological revolution. Evidence in West Memphis Three case missing or destroyed, Judge sets bond for 76-year-old woman accused of killing terminally ill husband, Woman accused of driving into home, killing former pro basketball player Galen Young granted diversion, DA Mulroy says he doubts any drag shows will violate Tennessees new drag bill, MPD finds alleged chop shop operating in plain sight, Congressman Cohen announces $1 million grant for Memphis YMCA, Red hot Memphis womens basketball ready to make a run in AAC Tournament. But they never had any physical evidence that connected us to this crime, Echols said in 2012. Terry Wayne Hobbs was born on May 21st, 1958. Except this was 1996, and home internet was still in its infancy. Now, evidence from the case of the West Memphis Three is either missing or destroyed. In 1996, HBO released the documentary film Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. Find the obituary of Terry Hobbs (1957 - 2021) from Caldwell, ID. The Messed Up Truth About The West Memphis Three Murders, citing the discovery of her son's favorite pocket knife, One of the prosecution's key pieces of evidence linking Jason Baldwin, With their 2007 request for a new trial rejected, Baldwin is the co-founder of the legal advocacy organization Proclaim Justice. But they were saying that he was about to die.. Case Details. Published: Dec. 21, 2021 at 9:56 PM CST WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. Other details that have come to light include that many wounds on the slain children, originally attributed to human bites and/or a serrated blade, were the result of animals feeding on the bodies. That November, he says, HBO agreed to give an honorariumroughly $5,000to the families on both sides. The specter of the church looms over Paradise Lost, best represented by an early scene in which Mark Byers leads his congregation in prayer and song. The pair abruptly fled to Oceanside, Calif., four days after the murders. Its something that Baldwin couldnt envision when he first agreed to let the documentarians interview him in jail in exchange for an honorarium, or even when Mojo played that VHS tape for him in 1997. 21, 2021 at 1:51 PM PDT CALHOUN COUNTY, Fla.. Echols attorneys got a letter from the custodian of records for the West Memphis police department saying some of the evidence ended up lost, or misplaced, and some destroyed by fire. And without substantial physical evidence, police zeroed in on a pair of teens they knew well: Echols, a self-professed Wiccan who wore all black and read Stephen King, and his best friend Baldwin, who was considered an outsider because of his love of drawing and bands like Metallica. As reported by the Arkansas Times, examination of the shoe laces used to bind Michael Moore contained hair "not inconsistent" with that of Stevie Branch's stepfather, Terry Hobbs. To authorities working in West Memphisa largely Southern Baptist communitysatanic activity seemed to be the most likely cause for the killings, in part because the boys bodies were bound and appeared to have been mutilated. On Aug. 11, 2011, the West Memphis Three entered the courtroom for the final time. I kind of enjoy it because now even after I die, people are going to remember me forever. I think I introduced my dad to it because that was not his normal genre., Three Metallica songsOrion, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), and Call of Ktuluwould play throughout the documentary. Misskelley told Hutcheson that he really didn't know much about Echols other than that he was "a weird person." We are sad to announce that on September 11, 2021 we had to say goodbye to Terry Hobbs of Sweetwater, Texas. After ending his first marriage, he wed Pamela Hicks Branch in 1986, when her son Stevie was almost 2 years old. Like Misskelley in the first trial, Baldwin received a life sentence. There have also been several high-profile incidents of laypeople reinvestigating decades-old cold cases in more rigorous, journalistic ways and helping bring them to a resolution. Creator Payne Lindsey, a filmmaker with no previous experience investigating crimes, had no connection to the victim before he discovered her while Googling cold cases in hopes of finding his own version of runaway successes like Serial and Making a Murderer. The third put forth the unusual theory that the killings were committed as a cult ritual. Hobbs said, I still believe in my heart that Jessie, Jason, and Damion Echols are responsible for what happened to our children., He added, You look at what happened and then you wonder, what if this did not happen, where would our boys be today? Support came from unlikely corners: a classroom of kids who held a cookie sale that raised $30, local bands in Chicago who held a benefit show and sent $150. To send flowers or plant a tree in memory of Terry Hobbs, visit the Tribute Store. Main Page; They couldnt have been cooler, recalls Berlinger, who would go on to direct the 2004 documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster alongside Bruce Sinofsky. Over two decades after the murders, what really happened to Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore on the evening of May 5, 1993, remains a mystery. They procured the domain WM3.org and made a website, updating it with whatever information they could track down. During the final year of the two-year span, from July 2021 to July 2022, California lost about 211,000 people, according to data from the state Department of Finance. Minutes later, Sgt. Reaching its apex in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Satanic Panic was a wave of paranoia rooted in the belief that Satanic cults intent on corrupting the souls of the young had infiltrated American society. Defense attorneys also pointed out that Griffis' doctorate was obtained through a notorious diploma mill and had been awarded with Griffis having never attended a single class. He graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1977. While Berlinger says that the work of people like Bakken and Sauls was more impressive than that of any celebrity, its undeniable that the famous and influential brought a megaphone and funding mechanism to this case that most never get. October 14, 2017: #26 on the JazzWeek chart! Few celebrities at the time did as much as Henry Rollins, however. Over the course of the initial investigation, a number of alternate suspects and scenarios came to light that were largely ignored or otherwise dismissed by authorities. Berlinger says that he counts Errol Morriss The Thin Blue Line as one of his greatest influences, not just for the innovations Morris brought to the documentary genre, but also because it helped free Randall Dale Adams from a sentence for the murder of a Texas police officer that he did not commit. The nonprofits work hasnt always been easyfundraising is hard, and because hes a convicted felon, hes unable to visit clients in prison or discuss pleasbut its been essential for him as he strives to live the words by 14th-century Persian poet Hafez that he keeps as an email signature: The small man builds cages for everyone he knows / While the sage, who has to duck his head when the moon is low / Keeps dropping keys all night long for the beautiful rowdy prisoners. Baldwin says hes learned that justice isnt a computer programthat you can input all the evidence and testimony and still get the wrong results. It was also revealed in 2012 that Hobbs nephew allegedly told his friends, My Uncle Terry murdered those three little boys," and that the killings were a Hobbs family secret, according to, I still believe in my heart that Jessie, Jason, and Damion Echols [sic] are responsible for what happened to our children, Hobbs told Memphis ABC affiliate. Also part of the plea was the provision that the three could not sue the state. Its affected a lot of lives, but for some reason it keeps being brought up, said Hobbs. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. So when I saw this tiny little article in the Times, I wasnt about to free anybody that was guilty. It was so emotionally taxing to watch and go through it again, he says. Although blood scrapings were taken, the West Memphis police lost the evidence. Pam Hobbs divorced Terry Hobbs in 2004 and has reversed her position on the West Memphis Three's guilt. According to Devil's Knot author Mara Leveritt, the investigation of the murders was divided along three lines. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. After hours of questioning, a frustrated Morgan blurted out that he had been hospitalized for drug and alcohol abuse and might have committed the murders. Terry was born on September 11, 1959 in Sweetwater, to Jack Harvey and Marjorie. I said, Im going to send some kids down there., Those kids turned out to be Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, the young documentarians who had recently completed the acclaimed Brothers Keeper, a film chronicling a death and the resulting trial in a small upstate New York village. Now a judgewho coincidentally works part time in the courtroom where Misskelley was convictedStidham spends time speaking to law students about the judicial system. The Latest CD: 92 YEARS YOUNG: JAMMIN' AT THE GIBBS HOUSE. By 2005, Rollins himself had raised $100,000 for the cause. The killings came at the peak of the so-called Satanic Panic, a time of heightened worries about ritualistic abuse. Wherever it was screened, Berlinger says, it was followed by intense Q&As from audience members who couldnt believe what theyd just watched. It wasnt hard for him to imagine his teenage self ending up in Echolss situation. Griffis also knew how to spot a Satanist. He was 56. " Every crime, no matter what it is, gets blamed on Satanism.". On the surface, 18-year-old Damien Echols, an intelligent, but psychologically troubled teen with interests in Wicca and extreme music, fit the profile. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! She also stated that beyond the single meeting at her trailer, she had no further contact with Echols. In an email to The Ringer, Rollins stressed that inaction was not an option., Myself and the many people I worked with did what we could to help bring attention to the case and generate much needed financial aid, he wrote. A spiritual successor to Errol Morriss The Thin Blue Line, and a forerunner of more recent documentaries like Making a Murderer, the film stands today as the most affecting examination of one of the most studied legal cases in U.S. historyone that put heavy metal lyrics and black T-shirts on trial and helped lay the groundwork for the current thinking around false confessions. Case Details Parties . Other possible suspects includedBrian Holland and Chris Morgan, two young men from Memphis, Tenn., with a history of drug offenses. Due to marital problems stemming from Stevies death, the couple divorced in 2004, reported CNN. The community's worst fears were confirmed. The evolution of how the teens were perceivedon behalf of both the filmmakers and even part of the defense teamis captured on camera early as Stidham and his colleagues began to consider whether Misskelleys confession had been coerced. He died on April 4, 2019 in Panama City Beach, Florida, USA. On the evening of May 5, 1993, 8-year-olds Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore went missing in West Memphis, Arkansas. The bodies of Branch, Byers, and Moore were found in a drainage ditch in West Memphis May 6 . Hobbs said, I still believe in my heart that Jessie, Jason, and Damion, 'Feels Like Home:' electrical failure from a light fixture caused December fire that killed 1, Shelby County reporting an increase in drug-related overdoses, largely due to fentanyl, Severe weather threat is over | Prepare for a sunny weekend, Daylight saving time starts soon. During Misskelley's trial, Hutcheson testified that she had attended an "an occult Satanic meeting" she referred to as an "esbat." He had been expecting a visitation, but was instead led to the prison chapel office, where inmates were typically brought only if someone close to them had died. Im seeing the things I experienced, but not through my own point of view. Berlinger contrasts this with the approach taken by Bakken, Sauls, and Co., who considered the truth sacrosanct and avoided rumor and innuendo in part because similar speculation helped convict the West Memphis Three. A month later, authorities arrested Baldwin, Echols, and Misskelleythree teenagers who lived in trailer parks near West Memphis and had previous run-ins with the law, though nothing rising to the level of murder. That there were three victims was a link to the biblical number of the beast. In May of that year, police discovered the bodies of Michael Moore, Stevie Branch, and Christopher Byers in the Robin Hood Hills, a small wooded area near the I-40/I-55 exchange. Explore. But Echolss situation changed Baldwins thinking. The concept of citizen investigations intrigues Berlinger just as much as it did in the 1990s, though today hes often more concerned with the moral implications. In 2009, three witnesses filed affidavits claiming they saw Hobbs with the murdered boys the night they disappeared, contradicting Hobbs previous statements to police, according to CNN. Echols is correct. As part of the deal, they cannot file wrongful-conviction lawsuits, which both Berlinger and Baldwin say couldve cost the state tens of millions of dollars. Theres no smoking gun. They saw the same thing you did. Hes subdued when discussing the facts of the case, but he comes alive while recounting his work with the Jaycees while in prison, or buying Metallicas Black Album when it came out in 1991. They didnt even think he would physically survive through December, Baldwin says. With a large population of fundamentalist Christians, the American South was particularly subject to occult paranoia. The great irony of the 18-year quest to free the West Memphis Three is that it didnt begin as a crusade. Terry Hobbs is absolutely terrible. Nobody was saying, This is an outrageous case that needs to be looked into.. The three have always maintained their innocence. ", According to Devil's Knot, a week after the discovery of the bodies, Detective Don Bray interviewed Vicki Hutcheson, a truckstop employee. Terry Hobbs USAF Ret. He was an actor, known for Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988), Fast Food (1989) and In the Heat of the Night (1988). As recounted in Mara Leveritt's book, Devil's Knot, a thorough search of Robin Hood Hills directed by Chief Inspector Gary W. Gitchell of the West Memphis Police Department commenced early on the morning of May 6, 1993. A graveside service will be conducted on Wednesday, March 17 at Cloverdale Memorial Park beginning at 11am. (WMC) - Not a single piece of evidence ever connected the West Memphis Three, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, to the 1993 murders of Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore. Eventually, they began traveling to Arkansasabout 35 trips in total, always on their own dime, Bakken and Sauls sayto collect case documents, which they scanned and uploaded to the site, also transcribing the documents so that the text could be searchable. That included Mojo, who came calling around 2 a.m. that day trying to coax him out of his cell. Cinemorgue Wiki. People would drive by and yell at us, Theyre going to burn in hell, Sauls says. Echols tweeted, New technology and evidence in science would now allow us to test DNA in amounts so small that it would have been previously impossible. Almost 30 years ago, three eight-year-old West Memphis boys were found murdered and three teenagers were charged in the murders. Terry Roland Hobbs September 11, 1959 ~ September 11, 2021 (age 62) Terry Roland Hobbs, 62, of Sweetwater, passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2021. This case was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, Tennessee Western Bankruptcy. Despite the best efforts of the police, dozens of volunteers, a search-and-rescue team, and a helicopter dispatched from nearby Memphis, Tenn., searchers came up empty handed. The Alford plea is a seldom-invoked and somewhat confusing legal maneuver, but the basics are fairly straightforward. By getting to the story quickly, the directors were able to document the post-arrest period and two trials that followed in painstaking detail. Self. The whole point of the web sleuths presented in the Cecil Hotel is that you cannot assume something is truthful just because circumstantially it seems interesting.
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