These two murderers are germane to the West Memphis Three case as they also attracted the attention of celebrities, who in turn actively worked for their release from prison. Both Abbott and Unterwager were convicted of murder, were released, and then murdered again, a solemn warning in relation to the West Memphis Three case.
15. Pro and Conned
There is one common denominator for all the supporters of the West Memphis Three: they all saw one or all of the Paradise Lost documentaries by HBO. They then based their judgment on a 90 minute film and the continued profession of innocence by Echols and Baldwin.
John Grisham recently was a guest on “Piers Morgan Tonight” on CNN. Grisham told Piers Morgan his thoughts on the West Memphis Three case. “If you look at what happened to those three defendants, it was mishandled from the very beginning,” says Grisham. “They rely on bogus confessions. They rely on jailhouse snitches.”240 Neither of these statements is entirely true: there were five Jessie Misskelley confessions, and the convictions were not wholly based upon evidence from fellow jail inmates.
The belief that Miskelley only had an IQ of 72
That Misskelley's IQ has been significantly low-balled is evidenced not only by his 84/88 previous performance scores - actually close to "average" 90-105 range, and certainly not "retarded" or even "borderline retarded" as the films say - but also by the audio of Misskelley's confessions, where his cognitive and verbal abilities can be judged by any listener as capable of relating a detailed re-telling of the murder.
It wasn't until his lawyer had told him he might avoid the death penalty if he were judged mentally challenged, that Misskelley began perfoming poorly on his IQ tests, resulting in the much-touted score of 72. Footage of his lawyer Stidham telling him about the benefit of being deemed mentally handicapped is in the original Paradise Lost film. Stidham likes to say Misskelley "has the mind of a 5-yr-old," a claim he repeats in Paradise Lost 3.
Jessie Misskelley was brow beaten by aggressive detectives for 11 hours, after which he broke and provided a false confession.
Misskelley was arrested on June 3rd, 1993. As thoroughly addressed earlier in this book, Detective Allen drove Misskelley to the police station at 9:45 AM. Recognizing Misskelley acted nervous and that he was underage, Allen drove back to see Jessie’s father to obtain the permission to continue questioning at 10:30 AM. Detective Allen decided that a polygraph would help make a determination that Misskelley was lying. The polygraph took two hours, and results indicated deception. After 12:30 PM, an additional round of questioning occurred, and unfortunately, there is no record of this interaction. According to police, Jessie implicated himself, Damien Echols, and Jason Baldwin in the murders, and was arrested at 2:44 PM. Misskelley also provided additional information about the background of the coven and crime. Another round of questioning started at 2:45 PM, after the arrest of Misskelley, which was recorded by police. At the completion of this round of questioning, Inspector Gitchell questioned Misskelley again to clear up a number of confusing inaccuracies in Misskelley’s earlier statement. The entire meeting lasted from 9:45 AM to 5 PM, a span of seven and a half hours, two hours of which were used to polygraph Misskelley. The interrogation definitely did not last eleven hours, and not all of the seven hours were spent grilling Misskelley. The defense presented the court with a Motion to Suppress Evidence, which was rejected.
According to Prosecutor Fogleman, Misskelley was very familiar with the criminal justice system:
1.In Aug of 1988, at 13, JM (Jesse Misskelley) was in Juvenile Court on a charge of theft of property. JM had been advised of his Miranda rights and was represented by a lawyer in court.
2. In Nov. of 1992, at 17, JM was in Juvenile Court on a charge of Criminal Mischief in the 1 degree. On Oct. 27 and 28th JM was advised of his Miranda rights. JM was again represented by a lawyer in court.
3. In April of 1993, at 17 and just a month before the murders, JM was back in Juvenile Court on a charge of Battery in 3rd degree when JM attacked a teenage boy and girl. Again defendant had been advised of his Miranda rights and was represented by a lawyer in court.
4. Prior to JM’s confession he was advised of his rights 3 different times.241
Moreover, Misskelley immediately confessed after his conviction, then provided two more detailed confessions, and another to a cellmate. See Appendix.
The claim that John Mark Byers committed the crimes.
There is no possible way Byers could have been at the site of the murders. Police and neighbors saw him frequently searching the neighborhood on the night of May 5th, 1993. West Memphis police investigated Byers immediately after the murders, took blood and hair samples and eliminated him as a suspect. While Byers often sought the attention of the media, he cannot be considered a credible suspect. Supporters of the West Memphis Three considered him the chief alternative suspect until 2006-7, when they changed their focus to Terry Hobbs.
That Terry Hobbs committed the crime.
DNA analysis on crime scene evidence conducted in 2006-07 settled on a hair from which his personal DNA profile could not be excluded. After 19 years, the defense found one fiber with DNA from which Hobbs could not be removed. Of innumerable tests on hair evidence, the defense found one strand of evidence germane to Hobbs at the scene. The hair was found on the shoelaces used to bind Michael Moore. Third party analysis of evidence does not equate to an exoneration. A number of the hairs tested at the site were found to be either canine or feline hairs. Moreover, all three children spent time and played at each other’s houses; this does not implicate Hobbs in the crime in any way. According to the defense, this is grounds for the full exoneration of the West Memphis Three. This type of absurd evidentiary fishing expedition does not equate to the guilt of Hobbs. Any witnesses that implicate Hobbs are equally suspect, as these sightings only came forward after offers for a reward were spread through the community. Why didn’t these witnesses make a statement at the time of the murders, when their memories were fresh?
Arkansas prosecutor Ellington thought they were innocent and devised an Alford plea to avoid an expensive lawsuit.
Ellington specifically stated that he thought they were guilty, he just said publicly that he didn’t think he could win a new trial. It is the opinion of this author that he wanted to avoid another trial to prevent any negative impact upon his political aspirations. Ellington is currently running for Congress.
The West Memphis Three were prosecuted because “they wore black clothing and heavy metal T-shirts.”
Echols, Misskelley and Baldwin got prosecuted because of their involvement with the crime. Police zeroed in on Echols---he had a well documented history of violence, psychopathy and suicidal ideation, leading to jail time and institutionalization in mental hospitals. Damien Echols was known to collect the bleached skulls of animals he found or killed. He assaulted his peers, and threatened to kill a number of people. His association with Satanic practices was known to the police and the community.
There was Damien Echols “tunnel vision.”
Arguments have been made that police could not find anyone to pin the crime upon, and fixed upon Damien Echols. In Appendix A of this book, I have provided a list of individuals the West Memphis Police Department investigated and removed as possible suspects.
The Arkansas legal system is corrupt.
While Damien Echols was considered a prime suspect, police eliminated over thirty persons suspected or capable of the crime. See Appendix. All of the cases were appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court, in whose opinion saw no reversible errors in the original trials. See Appendix. Moreover, Damien Echols’ case went to the United State Supreme Court, which denied a writ of certiorari, which indicates there were no legal issues the Supreme Court deemed worthy of consideration. See Appendix.
There was evidence of animal predation.
Assuming some of the injuries on the bodies were due to animal predation, how can one account for the fact that the children were severely beat
en, with evidence of lethal skull fractures? Or that two of the children drowned? Or that all three were hog-tied with different types of knots? Did a turtle, or group of turtles cause those injuries? This argument is a complete joke.
16. A DREAM TEAM WITH STAR MONEY
Due to the popularity of the Paradise Lost films, an outraged group of sympathizers coalesced to work towards the release and exoneration of the West Memphis Three. This group included famous and wealthy celebrities, who donated time and a significant amount of money to the cause. The legal fund was estimated at one time to amount to between 10 and 20 million dollars. This allowed for the hiring of the best attorneys and experts as possible, and included arguably the best appellate attorney in the United States.
Dennis Riordan
Nicknamed "the Last Hope,” Riordan consistently ranks as one of the nation's top appellate lawyers. His input was instrumental in overturning a new trial motion in the corruption convictions of former San Diego councilman Michael Zucchet. The Sacramento Bee named Mr. Riordan as one of the nation’s best known lawyers of last resort. In a 2007 article, the New York Times described Mr. Riordan as "one of California's top appellate lawyers... known as a brilliant writer of motions, briefs and jury instructions."242 Baseball player Barry Bonds hired Riordan to defend him in a federal trial involving allegations he perjured himself before a federal grand jury in 2003, where he testified that he never use steriods. Convicted of only one obstruction of justice charge, Bonds received a mere 30 days of house arrest, two years of probation and 250 hours of community service. After record producer Phil Spector fired defense counsel Bruce Cutler (who also represented “Teflon Don” mafia boss John Gotti) he hired Dennis Riordan as a member of his defense team.
For the past ten years prior to his employment by the West Memphis Three, Mr Riordan was included as one of "The Best Lawyers in America"
John Douglas
The defense also enlisted the help of famed FBI profiler John Douglas, the inspiration for the character Jack Crawford, the mentor for Clarice Starling in the film “Silence of the Lambs.” He argued publicly that the killer was unremorseful, has a violent history and a skilled liar, an apt description of Damien Echols:
The offender acted alone and was familiar with the victims and the geographical area. He will in fact have a violent history in his past and future. The offender was not a teenager at the time of the homicides. The crime demonstrated criminal sophistication and knowledge not observed in previous and very rare cases in which teens were subjects in multiple homocides (i.e., school shootings). There was no evidence at the scene or in the way that the victims were murdered that this was some Satanic-related type of crime. This was a personal cause driven crime with the victims dying from a combination of blunt force trauma wounds and drowning. What was believed at the time to be some type of Satanic ritualistic mutilation upon the victims we know from forensic experts was in fact caused as a result of animal predation.243
Peter Jackson
His involvement in the West Memphis Three case began in 2005, when he and his wife Fran Walsh heard of the case. They believed that a “combination of human error and politicized decision-making” characterized the original trial.244 Outraged by the perceived injustice, they believed that additional evidence supported a fresh approach. “The more court documents we read, the more dreadful it all became, and the natural hope was that the three were about to get out soon. But, in fact, nothing was happening.” The sympathetic Jackson and his wife began sending Echols large amounts of reading material---books and magazines. By 2005, all of Echols appeals were exhausted. They got in contact with Lorri Davis, Damien Echol’s jailhouse wife and decided to financially support a new investigation. Peter Jackson discusses the case:
We got interested in it the way that just about everybody outside of Arkansas has, through the Paradise Lost documentary that came out about a year after the case. I believe it was about 1994 or 1995, but we didn’t actually see it until probably eight years ago when we just happened to get the DVD randomly. We had never heard of the case before, watched the documentary and became incredibly intrigued by the events as they unfolded. Of course, afterwards, you think “Well hang on, that was back in 1994, what on earth has happened since then? You Google it thinking “There’s going to be some end to the story” and we were horrified to find that these guys were still in jail. We actually couldn’t believe it even just based on what we saw in the documentary, which was covering only the events around the trial.
We were offering our help and support and anything we could do. It was interesting, because we have never done anything like this in our lives.
They were on their way to the third or fourth generation of lawyers, because these guys had no real money and were just at the mercy of the state.
Each of the boys had sort of a separate legal team, and through Lorri Davis, we were more connected to the Damien Echols team than the other two.
We hired Jim Douglas, who developed the behavioral science unit at the FBI. He’s retired and we engaged him as our consultant. He went down to Arkansas. He interviewed people.
In 2008, the renewed DNA evidence went before Judge Burnett, who found it uncompelling and denied the motion. Jackson said he had no interest in being seen as on the wrong side of the case.
Yeah, I mean you’ve got to give huge credit to Joe and Paradise Lost. I honestly believe that, if Paradise Lost didn’t exist, Damien would be dead now. It’s a simple fact. That film has galvanized and activated so many people into this case.
There are some potential suspects who they didn’t even interview back then and you’ve got to ask “Why did that happen?”245
Court of Public Opinion
In a media-saturated Internet Age, attorneys recognize and accept that representation of their clients takes place both in and outside of the courthouse. Global law firm Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, the recepients of “The Litigation Department of the Year” for 2012, earned this title from The American Lawyer based upon their skill outside of court:
Well, according to American Lawyer in its profile of this year's winner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, media savvy is a key ingredient. AmLaw puts it this way:
The most important battles can't be won solely with legal filings or courtroom arguments. Gibson, Dunn partners strongly believe that public perception can shape the outcome of a case. So its litigators aren't shy when it comes to engaging the media. Take the firm's successful challenge to Proposition 8, the California statute outlawing gay marriage. In the days leading up to the trial of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, partner Theodore Olson penned a 3,000-word cover story for Newsweek, entitled "The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage." And Olson estimates that he, along with his co-counsel David Boies, has participated in scores of interviews to explain the team's advocacy for marriage equality.246
Changing the perception of the legal adversary can alter the final determination of a case. As one legal writer interested in the subject observed:
I often say that most battles in the court of public opinion come down to a case of reasonable vs. unreasonable—if it appears I am being reasonable and my adversary unreasonable, I win. And vice versa.247
The West Memphis Three case perfectly exemplifies this approach to legal defense and representation. Manipulate opinion in the public courtroom, then leverage that support to assist in obtaining the desired outcome in the halls of justice.
Todd and Dana Moore, parents of murdered 8-year-old Michael Moore, claim documentary creators Bruce Sinofsky and Joe Berlinger "profited from one of the greatest frauds ever perpetrated under the guise of a documentary film." The Moore parents believe the West Memphis Three “were unjustly able to enter into a plea agreement, were released from prison and now pose additional threats to society."
The following is the unedited letter sent to Chairman Epstein of the Documentary Branch of the Academy Awards by Todd and Diana Moore:
Todd Moore
Diana Moore
> November 22, 2011
Chairman Robert P. Epstein
Re: Paradise Lost III: Purgatory
Dear Chairman Epstein and members of the Documentary Branch of the Academy:
We are Todd Moore and Dana Moore.
Our cherished eight-year-old son, Michael, was brutally murdered on May 5, 1993 by Jessie Misskelley, Damien Echols, and Jason Baldwin. Misskelley was tried and convicted in 1994. Baldwin and Echols were convicted by a separate jury later that year. All three entered Alford pleas to our son’s murder August 19, 2011. They are now, as they have been for the past 17 years, guilty as a matter of law. They have been guilty as a matter of fact since the moment water flooded Michael’s lungs after he was beaten, stripped, hogtied, and then discarded into a stream to drown.
Michael was the joy of our lives.
Abomination: Devil Worship and Deception in the West Memphis Three Murders Page 29
