UPDATE: Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, known as the "West Memphis Three," were freed from prison Friday, August 19, 2011. They were incarcerated for 18 years for the murders of three young boys in 1993. Filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky made two HBO documentaries about their case -- "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills" (1996) and "Paradise Lost 2: Revelations" (2000). A third film, "Paradise Lost: Purgatory," is due to premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September. It will need a new ending. HBO will be presenting the first two films, on cable and through its mobile app HBO GO, in the next two weeks.
John Mark Byers, the stepfather of one of the victims who demonized the West Memphis Three in the earlier films, today believes that they are innocent:
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Heard about this. I still really need to see Paradise Lost -- along with Berlinger and Sinofsky's other documentaries. Is Brother's Keeper a decent place to start?
I haven't seen "Brother's Keeper," but definitely see the "Paradise Lost" movies ASAP!
Brother's Keeper is well worth seeing, but the Paradise Lost pictures are mesmerizing.
Brother's Keeper is a great one too, similar yet not as affecting as PL.
If you saw either of the PL documentary films you would certainly have some questions about Mark Byers. There was some pretty convencening arguments that he may have somehow been involved in the murders. His 180% change in his convictions make you wonder what type of evidence they now have that he is completely innocent as well as the WM3. I hope these 3 boys can somehow recover from their 18 year imprisonment. Mark Beyers sure does look different and almost sounds semi-intelligent now.
HBO sucks for helping these three killers get set free. Im for one im boycotting the station for this and im cancling the channel
Cool story.
This may only be relavent to English Literature nerds but I feel that a movie about the West Memphis Three regaining their freedom should be called "Paradise Regained".
This is by far one of the most compelling events that I have ever seen. I have not been given all of the evidence in the case to determine an absolute opinion on my own, but I am inclined at this point to believe in the innocence of the three gentlemen. What a tough case, what a situation to have to be in from either side of the fence? Just goes to show that everything is not cut and dry and that everything is not always as simple as one way or the other.
Ray you should submit that suggestion of "Paradise Regained" to HBO; my understanding is that the film will not be released until January 2012.
Mark Byers has all the markings of a psychopath with several different personalities he can turn on and off according to the situation. Before, he turned on the pretend rage against the 3 convicted boys when in front of the camera; now he knows that since they've been released because of innocence, it'd be wise to stop acting like he still thinks they're guilty.
He's violent -- he beat his child with a belt the day of his death, is a hunter with several animal heads displayed on his wall and who carried around a knife covered with human blood, was/is on a several mind-altering "prescription" drugs (sure helped him beat a lie detector), plus he's clearly obsessed with getting attention.
I believe he was given a harsh sentence (8 years) for selling a bottle of pills to an undercover cop just to get him off the street -- too many people were screaming about his guilt. I also believe they never arrested him for the suffocation of his wife because it would tie his guilt to the other murders. The boys were made to sign admissions of guilt not only so they couldn't sue for false imprisonment but so they'd never be forced to arrest the real murderer.
After watching both Paradise Lost films back-to-back, I am convinced that Byers is an extremely disturbed and manipulative monster enjoying his celebritydom who may have even convinced himself at this point that he is an innocent victim. I doubt he'll ever be punished in this life for the lives he's taken, but the Hell he's so fond of preaching about is waiting for him.
The three had no alibis.
All of this is documented information from legal documents and the mainstream media.
Misskelley confessed three separate times, once with his lawyer present. Misskelley also told two other people about the crime before he was arrested. Baldwin told someone else he committed the crimes. Echols was seen in muddy clothes near the crime scene. He bragged about the murder to two other teenagers, stating he killed the three boys. Echols is reported to have either told or bragged about the crime to four people before he was arrested. Echols also had a history of psychiatric treatment. His reported actions included brutally killing a dog, starting fires at his school, threatening to kill his teachers and parents and stating he liked to drink blood.
Fibers on the murdered victims’ clothing were found to microscopically similar to things in the Baldwin and Echols homes. The serrated wound patterns on the three victims that were consistent with, and could have been caused by, a knife found in a lake behind appellant Baldwin’s parents’ residence.
Echols' stated under cross-examination that he was interested in the occult. A funeral register found in his room with hand-drawn pentagrams and upside-down crosses. Echols' journal contained morbid images and references to dead children.
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