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. He could have been me, he told Rolling Stone in 2011. It hurt all over again, he said. Due to marital problems stemming from Stevies death, the couple divorced in 2004, reported CNN. Although she was unable to recall the exact location or anyone who attended the alleged meeting, she claimed a drunken Echols confessed to the murders. Timeline Of The West Memphis Three Victims, Motivations For Investigating The West Memphis Case. October 14, 2017: #26 on the JazzWeek chart! The idea of killer teens in the Christian South, not any greater sense of purpose, was mainly what intrigued Sheila Nevins, then the head of HBOs documentary division, when she spotted a story about the case on the inside pages of The New York Times. He began his career in the. Now, evidence from the case of the West Memphis Three is either missing or destroyed. According to Devil's Knot author Mara Leveritt, the investigation of the murders was divided along three lines. In West Memphis, Hobbs worked as an ice cream delivery man and Hicks worked at a restaurant. Not everyone believes that the West Memphis Three are innocent of the killings of Michael Moore, Stevie Branch, and Christopher Byers. (Police questioned Byers several times during the investigation, but never considered him a suspect.) They saw this movie and they felt like, I have to do something.. He died on April 4, 2019 in Panama City Beach, Florida, USA. Terry Hobbs stated both family and co-workers believed he was guilty from day one and continued to believe him guilty after the trial and convictions of the West Memphis Three. Much of Cecil Hotel focuses on the amateur investigators who turned coincidences into conspiracy theories, ultimately accusing an innocent person of her death. By 2005, Rollins himself had raised $100,000 for the cause. Their bikes were found by a pipe nearby. This is a story of justice delayed and justice denied. Baldwin remembers the dire circumstances laid out during the call. Its no surprise the juries found the prosecutions narrative compelling, Leveritt says: For them, the image of killer satanists headbanging to Metallica was more than plausible. Quality. . But the list of people who have looked at the facts of the case and come away believing Baldwin, Echols, and Misskelley are innocent is long. Replacing Burnett was Circuit Court Judge David Laser. To learn more, watch The Forgotten West Memphis Three on Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, March 29at 8/7c on Oxygen. Heavy metal music, role playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, and horror movies were regarded as gateways to evil. You need corroborating evidence.. The three teens were arrested after Misskelley said they committed the crime after 12 hours of interrogation. A native of Winter Haven, born December 21, 1964, Terry . Published: Dec. 21, 2021 at 9:56 PM CST WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. Baldwins attorneys even avoided putting him on the witness stand or mounting much of a defense, believing the burden was on the state. The final scene Berlinger and Sinofsky filmed may have been the piece that stuck with viewers the most: the image of Baldwin and Echols being led out of the courthouse in handcuffs and bulletproof vests, now property of the state. I don't know if the other 2 did, but even if they did polygraphs aren't admissible in court. After new DNA evidence was discovered, the West Memphis Three were released from prison in August 2011 by agreeing to an Alford plea, which allowed him to proclaim their innocence while admitting the prosecution had enough evidence to convict him. Baldwin, who had been coached by his lawyers to avoid speaking to the press, says money was the only reason he agreed to the added pressure of appearing in the documentary, especially when everyone else in a position of authority seemed adversarial toward him. By the end of Paradise Lost, you cant believe they were found guilty, Bakken says. 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. By getting to the story quickly, the directors were able to document the post-arrest period and two trials that followed in painstaking detail. Also part of the plea was the provision that the three could not sue the state. 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. Polygraph tests revealed deception in the answers of both men in regard to the crimes. of Auburndale, FL passed away Monday, August 16, 2021. By the time she got done watching it, her life was forever changed. He had always maintained he didnt commit the crimes, and outside the Varner Units walls, a growing chorus of activists and legal observers were arguing that same thing on his behalf. In her recantation, Hutcheson stated that when she asked Echols directly if he had killed "those three kids," he replied, "No. (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.) The state of Arkansas continues to attempt to prevent this testing from happening. 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. I spoke with one of the jurors, years later after the trials and convictions, and he said he had no doubt that people could throw their lot in with the devil and be commanded to do things that they wouldnt have done otherwisethat they have basically made the deal with the devil, Leveritt says. So when I saw this tiny little article in the Times, I wasnt about to free anybody that was guilty. " (Detective Allen) told me if I knew anything, that there was a $35,000 reward, and if I could help them out, we'd get the money," said Misskelley, as quoted by Mara Leveritt in Devil's Knot. Terry Roland Hobbs <p>Terry Roland Hobbs, 62, of Sweetwater, passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2021.</p> <p>Terry was born on September 11, 1959 in Sweetwater, to Jack Harvey and Marjorie Hobbs .Terry graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1977. In 1994, Dr. Dale W. Griffis was a retired police officer who had embarked on a second career as a self-styled consultant on occult and cult-related crime. Who Killed The Forgotten West Memphis Three? Its gone from a controversial legal theory to an accepted phenomenon. But it wasnt in the ways its directors had hoped. It was almost like an out-of-body experience., When the credits rolled shortly after the unforgettable final scene, which shows a now-convicted Baldwin and Echols leaving the courtroom in handcuffs and entering a police cruiser as Metallica plays, Baldwin sat stunned. Hes since parlayed the popularity of the show into a booming podcast network and documentary deal with Oxygen. 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. Terry Hobbs says he is a church member, a father, and working man and in no way a killer. Although the bodies were discovered at 1:30 p.m., investigators didn't call the coroner until 3:58 p.m. By the time the coroner arrived, fly larvae were already present in the nostrils and eyes of the victims. Im seeing the things I experienced, but not through my own point of view. According to Griffis, black hair, black T-shirts, and black jeans were signs that a kid was in league with the devil. MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com) - More than 25 years after the murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, a new book gives a first-person account of . He was 56. In 2004, Vicki Hutcheson recanted her trial testimony, stating that she had lied on the stand. Dec 13th, 2021. And then there was the public pressure: In August 2010, Vedder and Maines headlined yet another benefit concert, this one in Little Rock. Griffis also knew how to spot a Satanist. Update: I was totally wrong. Also, law enforcement chose not to focus on the victims' families as the starting point of the investigation as is the norm. 21, 2021 at 1:51 PM PDT CALHOUN COUNTY, Fla.. 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. I didn't even comprehend that the situation could get this serious that it can go this far. While police had focused on Echols and Baldwin in the intervening weeks because of their reputation, the arrests came largely because of a confession by Misskelley, which was leaked to the largest newspaper in the area, the Memphis Commercial Appeal, and ran under the banner headline Teen describes cult torture of boys. At a press conference shortly after the arrests, the lead investigator was asked how confident he felt about the case on a scale of 1-10. Beyond the black-and-white print of the newspaper, there was a movement brewing. That the slain boys were each 8 years-old was important because eight was a "witch's number." Inevitably, the West Memphis Three case always comes up. 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. there are no assignments to cushion your grade, so either pass or fail. He says that while he was in the supermax prison in Varner, he would write letters trying to drum up support for not just himself, but also for other inmates he believed were wrongfully convicted. They asked to see a cut, and they immediately said, Not only are we going to let you use all that music, but were not going to charge you anything for it., Metallica would be the first celebrities to throw their support behind the West Memphis Three, but they were far from the last. Unaware of what was to come, Allen explained that he just wanted to ask him some questions. As for Paradise Lost, it was the inciting incident in the two-decade chain of events that led to the release of the West Memphis Three. Echols, who prosecutors argued was the ringleader, was sentenced to death. Case Details Parties . Debates still occur regularly onlinethe West Memphis Three subreddit is fairly active for one on a 28-year-old caseand podcasts have looked at the crime from all angles. The Paradise Lost cameras captured not only the defenses discussions, but the full testimony, in Misskelleys trial, of an expert on coerced confessions. Echols is correct. Everybody Id come in contact with was hostile to the truth, Baldwin says. Mojo was right. doesn't know how to teach the material and you will end up teaching yourself everything. 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. At that time, I was a little naive that what you read in the paper must have some truth to it, and all the press reports coming out of Arkansas were saying that this was like a slam dunk, an open-and-shut case with a confession that was printed in the newspaper.. Terry Roland Hobbs September 11, 1959 ~ September 11, 2021 (age 62) Terry Roland Hobbs, 62, of Sweetwater, passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2021. 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. One of the keys to understanding the West Memphis Three murders is the phenomenon known as the Satanic Panic. Websleuths, an online forum for discussions about unsolved homicides and missing-person cases, has more than 100,000 members, and internet vigilantes have used social media and other online breadcrumbs to help track down actual criminals, such as the Canadian murderer and subject of the documentary Dont F*ck With Cats, Luka Magnotta. "They said close to the crime scene because at one time I did walk near where they had found the kids with Terry Hobbs But I didn't wear hats back then, my hair could have blown around anywhere, Jacoby told Memphis NBC affiliate WMC-TV in 2013. She also stated that beyond the single meeting at her trailer, she had no further contact with Echols. (Its worth noting that despite the issues raised by Lindseys work, the first season of Up and Vanished renewed interest in the case, which ultimately led to arrests, albeit of people that Lindsey hadnt previously covered on the podcast.). To bolster their assertions that the killings were related to occult activity despite virtually no evidence prosecutors brought in their own so-called expert on cult murders. We were mainly in it for the aesthetics of filmmaking, but the last scene of Paradise Lost, when Damien is chained up and sent away to death row, that was just heartbreaking and devastating for us, Berlinger says. Jessie took a polygraph. 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. Speaking by phone last month, he comes across, in many ways, like the person Berlinger says he encountered in prison in 1994: polite, deferential, soft-spoken. Stidham, who was just 30 years old and not long out of law school when the court appointed him to be Misskelleys attorney, went in thinking he would negotiate a deal for his client, who had told police that his acquaintances Baldwin and Echols committed the crimes and that he was present and played a role as an accessory. Paradise Lost is a narration-free documentary filmed with a journalistic remove. Few celebrities at the time did as much as Henry Rollins, however. As the appeals processes stretched across several years and the buzz of the initial film faded, the directors began looking for ways to keep the story alive. But inside, he was just another prisonerBaldwin didnt know who he could trust. He said Boxful of Nightmares is his memoirs unedited. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! The case status is Pending - Other Pending. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. For Rollins, it was a moral imperative: Id find myself up at 3:30 a.m. thinking about Damien. West Memphis is pretty much like a second Salem," Echols stated in the 1996 documentary Paradise Lost: The Murders at Robin Hood Hills. What a story it is. But I had to. He retired from the US Air Force, and he was the Deputy Supervisor for Polk County Supervisor of Elections. Damion Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley were convicted of murdering the children in 1994. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of Terry Hobbs to show support. They had a daughter together, Amanda Hobbs, who was 4 years old at the time of her brothers death. Misskelley, who reportedly had an IQ of 72, changed his story several times, and only a small part of his statements was recorded. Minutes later, Sgt. Im not the judge. No knives and not weapons were used," says Jo Lynn McCaughey. 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. The great irony of the 18-year quest to free the West Memphis Three is that it didnt begin as a crusade. How do you measure the legacy of Paradise Lost, which is one of the best reviewed documentaries of all time and considered among the most influential, but whose mission is only partly complete? Unfortunately, for three teen outsiders, the West Memphis Police Department chose to focus on the cult angle to the detriment of their efforts to investigate the other two, more likely scenarios. Terry Hobbs Net Worth. Self. Sheriff's deputies in Calhoun County say Terry Hobbs was reported missing on Saturday, April 20, 2019. Filing Date &colon; But Echolss situation changed Baldwins thinking. But Berlinger also believes that the sequel is important for documenting the power of citizen activism. Although blood scrapings were taken, the West Memphis police lost the evidence. Terry Roland Hobbs <p>Terry Roland Hobbs, 62, of Sweetwater, passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2021.</p> <p>Terry was born on September 11, 1959 in Sweetwater, to Jack Harvey and Marjorie Hobbs .Terry graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1977. The bodies of Branch, Byers, and Moore were found in a drainage ditch in West Memphis May 6 . The third put forth the unusual theory that the killings were committed as a cult ritual. Terry Hobbs was born on November 25, 1969 in Columbus, Georgia, USA. The districts current prosecuting attorney, Keith Chrestman, did not respond to requests for comment for this article, but his predecessor Scott Ellington, whose office negotiated the deals, told The New York Times in 2011 that while new trials would have likely resulted in acquittals, We dont think that there is anybody else. The Moore family has been outspoken about the end result, vehemently protesting the 2012 Oscar nomination for the third Paradise Lost installment.