Teens were wrongly jailed for ‘satanic’ murders of boys for bizarre reason… before ‘real killers’ found 18 YEARS later
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When the mutilated bodies of three eight-year-old Cub Scouts were found in a ditch in West Memphis, Arkansas, locals were convinced it was a satanic ritual killing.
But the manhunt that followed ruined three more young boys lives, as a local teen was placed on death row and two others were handed life sentences – despite apparent lack of evidence or motives.
Damien Echols, 18, Jason Baldwin, 16, and Jessie Misskelley Jr, 17 became known as the West Memphis Three.
They were convicted of murdering Steve Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers, all eight, in a satanic ritual on May 5, 1993.
Their only crime, according to their legal team, was not fitting in to how teens should dress, act or behave in the bible belt.
Since then, they and have consistently proclaimed their innocence.
Judge Dan Stidham represented 17-year-old Misskelley Jr in the case.
He told The Sun that the belief in satanic rituals “gripped the Mid South and the nation” – and it will be sure to happen again.
Judge Dan said: “The one opponent I couldn’t beat was Satanic Panic.
“This literally had frightened the Mid South here in the United States and, and affected the entire nation.
“Back then, our culture was a lot different than it is today, and of course there’ll be a repeat of this, it seems like it’s on a 300-year cycle.
“As the world has become a bit more sophisticated and less superstitious, and the advent of the internet, back then we were in the midst of a moral panic, at least here in America.
“The FBI stepped in and actually conducted a survey and were not ever able to find or connect any homicide in the United States to a satanic ritualistic homicide.”
One of the teens, Jason Baldwin, was arrested wearing a Metallica t-shirt which was even introduced into the case “as Exhibit 99,” Stidham said.
This is the only piece of “evidence” that was used against him as Metallica music was associated with Satan in the bible belt at that time.
Meanwhile Damien Echols had checked out books from the library that the prosecution linked to the devil.
The case captivated the world as celebrities – including Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, Johnny Depp, and Winona Ryder – joined calls for the conviction to be overturned.
Many believed that there had been a serious miscarriage of justice.
While the three teenagers were blamed for the murders and horrific injuries inflicted on the boys, Judge Dan claims that animals had actually caused the mutilations to the bodies.
In the ditch, it was most likely to have been an Alligator Snapping Turtle.
Stidham explained that a forensics expert saw a picture of one of the boys who had been “horribly mutilated” and labelled them as the “worst pictures [he’d] ever seen” – but added that the three convicted teenagers couldn’t “pull this off.”Ar
Content retrieved from: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/32393426/west-memphis-three-jailed-hysterical-satanic-panic/.
