FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[LewEngBridewell]

The West Memphis Three is a name attributed to three teenagers charges with the murder of three 8 year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas back in 1993. In a time of satanic panic, and being in an area of staunch Christian Conservatism, these three teenagers had no chance. They wore black, they listened to heavy metal music like Metallica and Black Sabbath and were thus made society's cast-offs.

On May 5, 1993, the lifeless bodies of 3 young boys; Christopher Byers, Stevie Branch and Michael Moore were found badly beaten on a ditch-bank in an area of West Memphis called Robin Hood Hills. A shambolic police department (WM3) and a corrupted, paranoid society led to the convictions of Jesse Miskelley Jr, Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin of their murders. There was no substantial evidence used in the trial to convict these teenagers... just suspicion, police coercion and dogma. Echols was sentenced to death, while Baldwin and Misskelley were sentenced to life.

In response, HBO made two documentaries about the case: Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996) and Paradise Lost 2: Revelations (2000). These helped spread publicity on the case, which eventually lead to the convicted receiving support from the likes of celebrities including Johnny Depp.

Today, 18 years after conviction, the West Memphis Three have been freed as part of a plea deal. While this is in many eyes justice served for the West Memphis Three, there is still a real killer to be found... a killer of three 8 year old boys. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14598845)

The WEST MEMPHIS THREE is an infamous case. I recommend anyone not in the know to either read up on the case via Google / Wikipedia or watch the documentaries I mentioned above. (Available on YouTube). You won't believe your eyes. How a witch hunt can still take place in 1993 was unbelievable. It was basically second Salem.

[darwin dali]

Yup, I've been following their case for a while now - good on them.

[LewEngBridewell]

Yup, I've been following their case for a while now - good on them.

I have never seen anything so utterly disgraceful as that case. I mean, how can no-one have learned from things like Salem or the Pendle witch trials?? It was basically a witch hunt!

Such a shambolic case and trial was an insult the three kids' memory.

I hope the real killer is brought to justice soon.

Initially, folk thought it was John Mark Byers, mainly due to his eccentric appearances on the Paradise Lost films. But new DNA evidence points to Terry Hobbs.

[darwin dali]

What else would one expect from Arkansas?
Tell me, if a couple in Arkansas gets a divorce, will they still be brother and sister or not?
And what's the difference between a divorce and a hurricane in Arkansas?
There is none: either way, somebody is about to lose a trailer!

[LewEngBridewell]

Yeah, this whole thing really doesn't advertise Arkansas as a brilliant place to be

[What's Burning?]

The thought just struck me, that this all took place before the internet. Soon after that, the nascent 24 hour cable news channels came into their own with the OJ trial. Can you imagine the media zoo if something like this were to happen now?

[LewEngBridewell]

The thought just struck me, that this all took place before the internet. Soon after that, the nascent 24 hour cable news channels came into their own with the OJ trial. Can you imagine the media zoo if something like this were to happen now?

Oh indeed! Rumours galore!

And that particular case doesn't need any more rumours and false assumptions to fuel it... it's had far too many of those already...