What's your verdict on the West Memphis 3?

Yeah, I was on the other side initially after watching all the docs, but I really got into the case and changed my outlook on it.

If you feel like the evidence was strong enough to convict, then how do you think the idea that they were railroaded gained traction?
 
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John Mark Byers is one of the greatest villains in movie history.

 
If you feel like the evidence was strong enough to convict, then how do you the idea that they were railroaded gained traction?
Same way the making a murderer thing does, interesting characters, strange situations and crimes, outcasts of the community. It's really very similar, it has a lot of elements that make a good story.

The Making a Murderer thing has lots of evidence left out of the documentary as well.

Things like Steven Avery buying chains like a week before, similar to the ones described by his cousin, the victim getting calls from an unknown number on her phone right after a call from Steven Avery, she told friends she was creeped out by him and he had met her in just a towel before, her belongings were found on the Avery property.

Another huge smoking gun which they basically did a whole episode about was trying to claim a blood vial of Avery's was tampered with to spread his DNA by the police. They completely ignore and don't report the fact a nurse admitted in the court room she is the one who did that who is completely unrelated to the case. She just screwed up or something when collecting the blood or just did the procedure incorrectly.

There's also a lot more DNA evidence from Avery's sweat even though he swore he never was in or touched the car. Unless they stole his sweat not sure how that's possible lmao.

Thing is I think both these cases the police decided who was guilty and didn't actually try to investigate, which isn't right but when you get down to it I think Steven Avery murdered that girl and these teens murdered those kids.
 
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Same way the making a murderer thing does, interesting characters, strange situations and crimes, outcasts of the community. It's really very similar, it has a lot of elements that make a good story.

The Making a Murderer thing has lots of evidence left out of the documentary as well.

Things like Steven Avery buying chains like a week before, similar to the ones described by his cousin, the victim getting calls from an unknown number on her phone right after a call from Steven Avery, she told friends she was creeped out by him and he had met her in just a towel before.

Thing is I think both these cases the police decided who was guilty and didn't actually try to investigate, which isn't right but when you get down to it I think Steven Avery murdered that girl and these teens murdered those kids.


What I wonder if how the idea for the HBO doc got started in the first place. Like, it seems to me that someone had to say, "Hold up, you know what, something's not adding up here. . ." And what precisely caused that reaction.
 
The guy who did the pro wrestling promos was made to look real bad in those movies. New evidence of bite marks, dude has his teeth removed. Hair samples found, dude shaves his head. For all I know the producers put him up to it to develop the character, but despite even naming a new suspect in film 3, I thought they made him appear very guilty throughout.
 
Watched all 3 paradise lost vids last night after seeing this thread. At first I was leaning towards it being Hobbs, but after researching more into Echols...theres no way those kids didnt do it. No fucking way.

Damien Echols:
Admitted to being homicidal just days before the killings
Troubled childhood
Drug abuse
Tortured animals
Blew a kiss to victims families in court...
"i kind of like knowing ill be talked about forever. its like im the boogeyman, kids will tell fear me"
Sucked another mans blood
Dresses exactly like someone that would do this kind of thing
Obviously into occult/satanic shit

Then there is Jessie confessing like 15 times in great detail about it. Not just before they were arrested but afterwards as well, going into great detail about how they did and such things as Echols masturbating over one of the boys bodies.

This guy is a little charismatic and once he realized some people were adamant about his innocence he took the opportunity and ran with it.

There might not be enough evidence to actually convict Echols and I cant comfortably say he should have been arrested, but I still feel damn comfortable of his guilt.
 
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Damien Echols:
Admitted to being homicidal just days before the killings
Troubled childhood
Drug abuse
Tortured animals
Blew a kiss to victims families in court...
"i kind of like knowing ill be talked about forever. its like im the boogeyman, kids will tell fear me"
Sucked another mans blood
Dresses exactly like someone that would do this kind of thing
Obviously into occult/satanic shit
.

Ok, none of that is evidence he did this

"Then there is Jessie confessing like 15 times in great detail about it. Not just before they were arrested but afterwards as well, going into great detail about how they did and such things as Echols masturbating over one of the boys bodies."
- yeah, the stupid kid. I am sure no one ever confessed to a crime they did not commit

"theres no way those kids didnt do it"
- and this is why they were set free, amirite???
 
Ok, none of that is evidence he did this

"Then there is Jessie confessing like 15 times in great detail about it. Not just before they were arrested but afterwards as well, going into great detail about how they did and such things as Echols masturbating over one of the boys bodies."
- yeah, the stupid kid. I am sure no one ever confessed to a crime they did not commit

"theres no way those kids didnt do it"
- and this is why they were set free, amirite???

like I said, there isn't enough hard evidence to legally convict them and I'm even glad they got out. I dont like to think about people spending their whole life in prison if theres even the slightest doubt they are innocent. I can still be pretty damn sure Damien had something to do with those boys deaths though..

He blew a kiss to the victims families. Come on. He claims he didnt understand the severity of the situation, please he was fucking 17 not 10. 17 is more than old enough to understand "oh FUCK Im facing execution at best or life in prison at worst and everyone thinks I'm a sick heinous child murderer" I really have a hard time imagining an innocent person deciding to blow a kiss to families that have been devastated by their 8 year olds torture and death.

If some kids end up dead in my neighborhood you bet your ass I'm going to naturally be suspicious of the emo kid that admits to being suicidal/homicidal, idolizes other serial killers, mutilated animals, etc.
 
like I said, there isn't enough hard evidence to legally convict them and I'm even glad they got out. I dont like to think about people spending their whole life in prison if theres even the slightest doubt they are innocent. I can still be pretty damn sure Damien had something to do with those boys deaths though..

He blew a kiss to the victims families. Come on. He claims he didnt understand the severity of the situation, please he was fucking 17 not 10. 17 is more than old enough to understand "oh FUCK Im facing execution at best or life in prison at worst and everyone thinks I'm a sick heinous child murderer" I really have a hard time imagining an innocent person deciding to blow a kiss to families that have been devastated by their 8 year olds torture and death.

If some kids end up dead in my neighborhood you bet your ass I'm going to naturally be suspicious of the emo kid that admits to being suicidal/homicidal, idolizes other serial killers, mutilated animals, etc.

I hope you don't ever end up on a jury then. Your critical thinking skills are greatly lacking.
 
I hope you don't ever end up on a jury then. Your critical thinking skills are greatly lacking.
Holy shit can you read, I specifically said there isn't enough to convict them and they shouldn't have been convicted in the first place. That doesn't mean they are innocent. There is a difference between being legally not guilty and truly innocent.

Kind of get the feeling you have only seen the incredibly biased docus and havent done any other research.
 
Holy shit can you read, I specifically said there isn't enough to convict them and they shouldn't have been convicted in the first place. That doesn't mean they are innocent. There is a difference between being legally not guilty and truly innocent.

Kind of get the feeling you have only seen the incredibly biased docus and havent done any other research.

I have done more research and followed this more closely than you I guarantee you. You just watched them the other day you just said so I'm gonna go ahead and go with what I know over your expertly laid out evidence of he blew a kiss therefore is guilty. You would have fit in perfectly during the witch trials.
 
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Just curious to know what everyone thinks about this case: Guilty or Not Guilty for these guys?

If there's anyone here who's been living under a rock for the last 20 years, or anyone who needs a refresher, here's an overview:



Here's the full Wiki article for anyone who is interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_Three

I was actually living in Memphis, TN (which sits just across the river from West Memphis, AR) when this went down. It was a big deal, but then like all things that are big news it eventually faded away from public consciousness.

I got re-introduced to the case when someone recommended HBOs "Paradise Lost" documentary series to me.


aradise-lost-trilogy.png


I watched the first one and was blown away. It came out in 1996 but I didn't see it until probably '08 or so, while the three were still in prison. Personally, I'm torn in terms of their guilt. Are they all guilty, all innocent or perhaps some are guilty while others are innocent?

I just don't know, though I do think that the prosecution botched the case so terribly--much like Brendan Dassey's case in Making a Murderer--that releasing them is the only ethical decision.

Anyone else taken the time to really familiarize yourself with this case? If so, thoughts?

They are definitely 100% not guilty as far as I'm concerned. The victims of a corrupt cop and a corrupt DA and a corrupt judge. A fucking travesty.

I think Terry Hobbs did it.
 
Watched all 3 paradise lost vids last night after seeing this thread. At first I was leaning towards it being Hobbs, but after researching more into Echols...theres no way those kids didnt do it. No fucking way.

Damien Echols:
Admitted to being homicidal just days before the killings
Troubled childhood
Drug abuse
Tortured animals
Blew a kiss to victims families in court...
"i kind of like knowing ill be talked about forever. its like im the boogeyman, kids will tell fear me"
Sucked another mans blood
Dresses exactly like someone that would do this kind of thing
Obviously into occult/satanic shit

Then there is Jessie confessing like 15 times in great detail about it. Not just before they were arrested but afterwards as well, going into great detail about how they did and such things as Echols masturbating over one of the boys bodies.

This guy is a little charismatic and once he realized some people were adamant about his innocence he took the opportunity and ran with it.

There might not be enough evidence to actually convict Echols and I cant comfortably say he should have been arrested, but I still feel damn comfortable of his guilt.


Interesting. That's cool you watched the films. It's always rewarding in a way when you make a thread like this and you find out someone was interested enough to look into it.

As for Echols and their innocence or guilt, I'll say that I went from being like, "No way, those kids are being fucking railroaded!" to being more like, "Hmm, I don't know man, I just don't know." I believe I still lean more toward the innocent side of the equation but I'm basically on the fence.

That's a hell of a feat getting through everything in a single night. I'm glad you found it interesting.
 
At first I was leaning towards it being Hobbs, but after researching more into Echols...theres no way those kids didnt do it. No fucking way.

They are definitely 100% not guilty as far as I'm concerned. The victims of a corrupt cop and a corrupt DA and a corrupt judge. A fucking travesty.

I think Terry Hobbs did it.

It's interesting how people can come down on such opposite ends of the spectrum. We saw the same thing in the Making a Murderer case, as well as with Serial/Adnan Syed.
 
I base my opinion largely on the documentary West of Memphis. I watched the first Paradise Lost but not the 2nd or 3rd. I truly believe they are innocent.
 
I base my opinion largely on the documentary West of Memphis. I watched the first Paradise Lost but not the 2nd or 3rd. I truly believe they are innocent.

It might be worth looking into some of the Callahan resources that @SpiderCrawl posted. Not everything worth considering ended up in the docus.
 
Must say, I'm pretty interested in the case against them, and facts I haven't heard before.

Any discerning voices want to post some convincing cliffs?
 
Must say, I'm pretty interested in the case against them, and facts I haven't heard before.

Any discerning voices want to post some convincing cliffs?

I don't know if anyone is going to write up a summary for you, but you'd be interested in all the stuff SpiderCrawl has posted.
 
I saw the first movie and thought they were innocent.
 
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