The State’s suspected murder weapon was a knife found in a lake near the West Memphis Three’s homes. Since the trials and release of Paradise Lost, two of the witnesses admitted they didn’t tell the truth on the stand and recanted. First, there was no physical evidence only “witnesses” who agreed to testify against the three teens in court. There were multiple concerns with the State’s case. But it would be eighteen (18) years before they were released in 2011.
#Paradise lost show free#
The Free the West Memphis Three group raised money on behalf of Damien, Jason and Jessie because they assumed the three would be released in a couple years and would need money to start a new life. The West Memphis Three supporters felt this was a case of police misconduct and celebrities like Johnny Depp, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, and Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks got involved and offered their support. Legal professionals who familiarized themselves with the case referred to this phenomenon as contamination because the police suggested what happened, asked leading questions, and Jessie was the perfect victim because he was considered borderline mentally disabled. He was interrogated with no counsel for close to twelve hours but the police only recorded the last hour of interrogation. Jessie admitted in the film he told the police what they wanted to hear because he was tired and wanted to go home. As a result, there were questions about whether justice was served because the entire case was based on circumstantial evidence, satanic panic, and what some felt was a false confession from Jessie Misskelley. They released the film Paradise Lost in 1996 and it garnered worldwide attention. Luckily for us true crime fanatics and the West Memphis Three, filmmakers from HBO were there to document everything. The similarities between the West Memphis Three case and Making a Murderer are stunning. And Jason Baldwin was found guilty of three murders and sentenced to life in prison. Damien Nichols was found guilty of three murders and sentenced to death by lethal injection.
#Paradise lost show plus#
Jessie Misskelley was found guilty of three murders and sentenced to life in prison plus forty years. And despite legitimate alibis (witnesses who were not questioned by the police or the defense attorney), the three were arrested and ultimately convicted of the murders. It was assumed that Damien was the mastermind and Jason and Jessie would do anything he told them to do.
It was at this time that teenagers Damien Nichols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley became suspects. Due to the unusual nature of the injuries, the West Memphis Police Department labeled the crimes satanic cult murders and asked someone in the probation department to provide them with a list of people who could have been involved in cult activity and participated in a crime like this.
They were discovered naked, hogtied, and submerged in dirty running water the cause of death was drowning. The next day the three boys were discovered dead in the woods not far from their West Memphis, Arkansas homes. On May 5, 1993, three young boys, Steve Branch (8), Michael Moore (8) and Christopher Byers (7), left their homes on bicycles and never came home. Steve Branch (8), Michael Moore (8) and Christopher Byers (7), West Memphis, Arkansas
0 kommentar(er)
