RIDGE: Okay, and when you came back a little bit later, and are all three boys are tied? Metalcore band Zao's 2002 album Parade of Chaos included a track inspired by the case named "Free The Three". [21], California police sent blood and urine samples from Morgan and Holland to the WMPD, but there is no indication WMPD investigated Morgan or Holland as suspects following their arrest in California. This ruling was in turn thrown out by the Arkansas Supreme Court as to all three defendants on November 4, 2010.[46]. A little gun? "[90], The appellate legal team argued that Echols did not waive his assertion that he was not mentally competent before his 1994 trial because he was not competent to waive it. GITCHELL: Youre talking about the Byers boy again? I want you to think about it. JESSIE: We usually you know, kill an animals, you know, so you have to know how to handle the meat and stuff, after we kill it to see if he knows, if he cant handle it, then he dont get in. None was found to match DNA from Echols, Baldwin, or Misskelley. I seen them going down right there real close to his penis and stuff and I saw some blood and thats when I took off. JESSIE: If he cant eat it, then he dont get in. RIDGE:Doesnt get into the club? GITCHELL: Did they call them by name? 19. (Yet,again, Ridge get him to keep telling his story). RIDGE: Okay, now when this, when he hit the first boy, where are they at when he hits him, are you in the woods, youre on the side of big bayou, youre out in the field, where were you at? JESSIE: Right after I they beat up all three of them, and beat them up real bad. When he first hit the boy, when Damien first hit the first boy, did they have their clothes on then? [9], At his death penalty sentencing hearing, Echols' psychologist reported that months before the murders, Echols had claimed that he obtained super powers by drinking human blood. Uncertainty remained due to the small amount of blood[9] and because both John Mark Byers and Chris Byers had the same HLA-DQ genotype. GITCHELL: When did you go back there? (No blood was found on any of the childrens discarded clothes. RIDGE:Damien and Jason having sex? What did you do there? I went with them and then. JESSIE: Behind it, right back there behind it. RIDGE: Alright, when did you go with them? Jessies times of arrival at the woods will change many times throughout the three statements), JESSIE: Yes, I did. They got their GED in jail. [74] A biography of John Mark Byers by Greg Day named Untying the Knot: John Mark Byers and the West Memphis Three was published in May 2012. Ridges leads him into when you came back, signaling Jessie that theres more for him to say. JESSIE:No, he didnt borrow mine. (Once again; there was no evidence of violent sodomy on any of the children. Despite his reported IQ of 72 (categorizing him as borderline intellectual functioning) and his status as a minor, Miskelley was questioned alone; his parents were not present during the interrogation. [64] Prosecutor Scott Ellington said the Arkansas state crime laboratory would help seek other suspects by running searches on any DNA evidence produced in private laboratory tests during the defense team's investigation. However, the confession was at odds with facts known by police, such as the time of the murders. RIDGE:You said that they had their hands tied up, tied down, were they hands tied in a fashion that they couldnt have run, you tell me. RIDGE: okay, now when its going on, when this is taking place, you under you saw somebody with a knife, who had a knife? [86][87] In prison in 1999, he married landscape architect Lorri Davis. So they were there for a lot longer. JESSIE: And started doing the same thing, then the other one took off, Michael uhhMooretook off running, so I chased him and grabbed him and held him, cause they got there and then I left. His stated reasons for the removal are apparently contradictory. The defense's expert testified that the mark in question was not an adult bite mark, while experts put on by the State concluded that there was no bite mark at all. In 2000, The album Free the West Memphis 3 was released by KOCH Records. GITCHELL: Now youre talking about bottom, do you mean right here? Note:This is a transcription of the taped confession of Jessie Misskelley, Jr. regarding the murder of Chris Byers, Steve Branch and Michael Moore. GITCHELL:thats who you are pointing at? GITCHELL: Now, did you say that the boys skipped school that day. JESSIE: Right, we walked and then uh, JESSIE: We went up to Robin Hood. Okay, youve been down there in those woods before. He lived with his mother, Sharon Melissa Byers, his adoptive father, John Mark Byers, and his stepbrother, Shawn Ryan Clark, aged 13. [34], Three weeks later, Echols and Baldwin went on trial. His parents divorced when he was four years old & shortly afterward his mother married John Mark Byers, who adopted the boy. RIDGE: When he hits the first boy and then Jason hits another boy, and one takes off running. RIDGE:Alright I am going to conclude this interview, the time is 3:18PM. JESSIE: I couldnt stand it to see what they were doing to them. 1993).3 The jury was also instructed on accomplice liability as follows: In this case, the state does not contend that Jessie Lloyd Misskelley, Junior acted alone in the commission of the offense of three counts of capital murder. JESSIE: Jasons were black up to, about knee. [citation needed], While in prison, Echols wrote letters to Gloria Shettles, an investigator for his defense team. More, the children were hog tied, wrist to ankle, an improbable [at best] position to sodomize someone). GITCHELL: You didnt do anything to the bikes at all? RIDGE: In the woods. Misskelley, 42, is . Stidham said the judge closed the door without answering. RIDGE:How was he actually killed? That night? RIDGE: And what else, I think you said that he made the call from his house? Jessie Misskelley was born on July 10, 1975. [94], On August 19, 2011, Echols, along with Baldwin and Misskelley, entered an Alford plea, while asserting their innocence. [9], On June 3, the police interrogated Jessie Misskelley, Jr. RIDGE:Are you scared of Damien now? JESSIE: I was looking down, and after I seen all of that, I took off, (Were going to correct that??? [6][59] Under the Bruton rule, his confession could not be admitted against his co-defendants and thus he was tried separately. [9] Byers later stated that he may have cut his thumb. JESSIE: Um-mm, they were going to catch, they were going somewhere and like I said, Damien and nem left before I did, I told them that I would meet them there and stuff, and I had to get ready it was early in the morning and so, they went ahead and met me, they went on up there and then I come up later on behind them. (She had . Miller dismissed a suit Hobbs filed over Maines' remarks and writings implying that he was involved in killing his stepson. He then realized, he has said, that his refusal would have meant that Echols stayed on death row. The three were accused and convicted of a triple homicide in West Memphis, Arkansas. Officials failed to drain the creek in a timely manner and secure possible evidence in the water (the creek was sandbagged after the bodies were pulled from the water). RIDGE:Alright, Damien, what was Damien wearing. [90] Hospital records for his treatment in Little Rock 11 months before the killings show a history of self-mutilation and assertions to hospital staff that he gained power by drinking blood, that he had inside him the spirit of a woman who had killed her husband, and that he was having hallucinations. JESSIE: He had been watching them. He is not dating anyone. (Echols and Lorri Davis . JESSIE: They laid the knife down beside them and I saw them tying them up and then thats when I left, RIDGE: Were the boys conscious or were they, JESSIE: They were unconscious then. Video 4: An animated map of the 1993 West Memphis Murders showing the conflicts & corroborations in Jessie Misskelley's first confession on 3rd June 1993.Ind. [6] Baldwin pleaded guilty to three counts of first degree murder while still asserting his actual innocence. In May 2013, for the 20th anniversary of the slayings, Weaver Elementary School principal Sheila Grissom raised funds to refurbish the memorial. [40][n 1], In May 1994, the three defendants appealed their convictions;[42] the convictions were upheld on direct appeal. RIDGE: At 9 oclock in the morning? GITCHELL: Now, where you in a car? Jessie Misskelley Height, Weight & Measurements At 47 years old, Jessie Misskelley height is 5' 2" (1.57 m) . Was he faced down and he was cutting on him, or. RIDGE:To that particular place? . [10] The clothing was mostly turned inside-out; two pairs of the boys' underwear were never recovered. RIDGE:Old t-shirt, where are these shoes at now? RIDGE:Holes in the knees. His mother was awarded custody and later married Terry Hobbs. All rights reserved. [16] James Michael Moore is buried in Crittenden Memorial Park Cemetery in Marion, Arkansas. . RIDGE:Was anything on his shirt? Nonetheless, they claimed he was not regarded as a direct suspect but a source of information. He was predeceased by : his wife Kathy . The song is about the West Memphis Three, with 100% of the proceeds going to their benefit foundation for their release. [9][28], On May 6, 1993 (before the victims were found later the same day), Hutcheson took a polygraph exam by Detective Don Bray at the Marion Police Department, to determine whether or not she had stolen money from her West Memphis employer. The plea deal did not technically result in a full exoneration; some of the convictions would stand, but the men would not admit guilt. Learn How rich is He in this year and how He spends money? [citation needed]. RIDGE:okay, which one did you see killed? First of all, Matthew Baldwin stated that Damien nor Domini had been to the trailer on this day. According to Jessies original statement, he is on the opposite side of the bayou, Ridge leads him to the side that aligns with the evidence). He is currently single. There was additional new evidence discovered in 2007 that I cannot now recall. [9] Leveritt further noted that some of the physical evidence was stored in paper sacks obtained from a supermarket (with the supermarket's name printed on the bags) rather than in containers of known and controlled origin. This part of this statement is also pertinent to the second statement (*)). Currently in the office with Jessie Lloyd Misskelly, Jr., DOB:7/10/75, education: 9th grade, the place: Detective Division, todays date is 06/03/93, the time is 2:44Pm. Jessie Misskelley is reluctant to talk, but his father ushis son is working and doing fine in West Memphis. RIDGE:Now these meetings, have they ever been violent, anybody gotten mad and got into a fight? [49], In 2007, DNA collected from the crime scene was tested. RIDGE: Alright, have they got their clothes on when you saw them tied? RIDGES:Cutting him in the face. RIDGE:when you kill a dog, what do you do with that? RIDGE:Alright, youre describing a knife that would be about 6 inches long, is that right? RIDGE:You were there by yourself? [27], Vicki Hutcheson, a new resident of West Memphis, would play an important role in the investigation, though she would later recant her testimony, claiming her statements were fabricated due in part to coercion from police. But Jessie's life did not go the same direction as Echols and Baldwin. Discover Jessie Misskelley's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. For the former Australian rules footballer, see, DNA testing and new physical evidence (2007). He is in a relationship with a woman who befriended him while he was in prison. Gitchell touched on a point, real close, now what clothes were Jason wearing that day? JESSIE: No, they didnt get into the water with us. Their clothing was found in the creek, some of it twisted around sticks that had been thrust into the muddy ditch bed. [73], There have been a number of books about the case, also arguing that the suspects were wrongly convicted: Devil's Knot by Mara Leveritt; Blood of Innocents by Guy Reel; and The Last Pentacle of the Sun: Writings in Support of the West Memphis Three, edited by Brett Alexander Savory & M. W. Anderson, and featuring dark fiction and non-fiction by well-known writers of speculative fiction. After the West Memphis 3 were convicted, Susie Brewer Boggan went on with her life. Trace amounts of sperm DNA were found on a pair of pants recovered from the scene. GITCHELL: Ive got a feeling here, youre not quite telling me everything, now you know that were recording everything, so this is very, very important to tell us the entire truth. If you will look at John Mark Byers statement of 5-19-93 he describes Todd Moore becoming confused that all boys were castrated and John finding out it was only his son; so there was dicussion between the families and possibly those who knew them. 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