[90] Hospital records for his treatment in Little Rock 11 months before the killings show a history of self-mutilation and assertions to hospital staff that he gained power by drinking blood, that he had inside him the spirit of a woman who had killed her husband, and that he was having hallucinations. 0:49 Jessie Misskelley Jr., one of the "West Memphis Three" convicted of killing three boys in the 1990's, faces a court appearance Monday after a weekend arrest for driving without a license,. JESSIE:Ive been in it for about three months. There is no way he could have received any call). Gary Gitchell and Jessie Misskelly. A hair "not inconsistent with" Stevie Branch's stepfather, Terry Hobbs, was found tied into the knots used to bind one of the victims. JESSIE: You know Damien keeps asking me how come I left and stuff and hadnt anybody said anything to me about it. RIDGE: Yeah, you dont know what time it is? I strongly suggest listening along while reading this transcript. JESSIE: And then Damien, I heard Damien in the background saying we done it, we done it, what we gonna do now what about if somebody saw us. "[59] Since his release, Baldwin has moved to Seattle to live with friends. GITCHELL: When did you go back there? JESSIE: I dont know, I left before them. Beebe said he would deny the request unless there was evidence showing someone else committed the murders. RIDGE: okay, so he was choking him to the point where he actually went unconscious, so at that point, you felt like he was dead? Jessie's Alibi -- Timeline. JESSIE: I was just wearing regular blue jeans, my shoes. [68] "I had made the comment if it were ever proven the three were innocent, I'd be the first to lead the charge for their freedom," said Byers, and take "every opportunity that I have to voice that the West Memphis Three are innocent and the evidence and proof prove they're innocent. The counsel representing the men said they would continue to pursue full exoneration. Stevie Branch's mother, the ex-wife of Terry Hobbs, and Mark Byers have publicly stated the WM3 were wrongly convicted. During subsequent questioning, Morgan claimed a long history of drug and alcohol use, along with blackouts and memory lapses. RIDGE:Were they in the houses or were they in the trees when they took those pictures? GITCHELL: Ive got a feeling here, youre not quite telling me everything, now you know that were recording everything, so this is very, very important to tell us the entire truth. [59] Since his release, Misskelley has become engaged to his high school girlfriend and enrolled in a community college to train as an auto mechanic. He is a producer, known for Devil's Knot (2013), Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996) and West of Memphis (2012). The court sentenced him to life plus 40 years in prison. He was last seen wearing blue pants, a blue Boy Scouts of America shirt, and an orange and blue Boy Scout hat, and riding a light green bicycle. You mentioned earlier that, one of the meetings you went to with this cult thing, they had some pictures. According to the statements given by Berlinger and Sinofsky, Cooper informed them of his receipt of the knife on December 19, 1993. Regardless of your opinion on his behavior, it is safe to say that Jason Baldwin is one of the richest film producers in the world. Under the "Bruton rule", Misskelley's confession could not be admitted against his co-defendants; thus he was tried separately. RIDGE: Which way does he go, I mean, does he go back towards where the houses are. HBO executives ordered them to return the knife to the West Memphis Police Department. : 82, of Marion, Arkansas, passed away on February 21, 2021 at his home. RIDGE:They had already gotten them off. He is a member of famous Producer with the age 47 years old group. He then realized, he has said, that his refusal would have meant that Echols stayed on death row. RIDGE: Alright, is that where he was cutting? Misskelley, 42, is . JESSIE: He was cutting him in the face. JESSIE: Then they tied them up, tied their hands up, they started screwing them and stuff, cutting them and stuff, and I saw it and I turned around and looked, and then I took off running, I went home, then they called me and asked me, how come I didnt stay, I told them, I just couldnt. So, how much is Jessie Misskelley worth at the age of 47 years old? Jessie Misskelley is reluctant to talk, but his father ushis son is working and doing fine in West Memphis. A police officer leaked portions of Aaron's statements to the press contributing to the growing belief that the murders were part of a Satanic rite. During their conversation, Hutcheson reported that Echols made no incriminating statements. [58], After weeks of negotiations, on August 19, 2011, Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley were released from prison as part of a plea deal, making the hearings ordered by the Arkansas Supreme Court unnecessary. On June 2, 1993, Hutcheson told police that about two weeks after the murders were committed, she, Echols, and Misskelley attended a Wiccan meeting in Turrell, Arkansas. ", Following a 2010 decision by the Arkansas Supreme Court regarding newly produced DNA evidence and potential juror misconduct, the West Memphis Three negotiated a plea bargain with prosecutors. "I said, 'Look, you get mad because they're living a good life but they're earning. [74] A biography of John Mark Byers by Greg Day named Untying the Knot: John Mark Byers and the West Memphis Three was published in May 2012. (Yet,again, Ridge get him to keep telling his story). RIDGE:But you would be able to point out where these things took place? [73], There have been a number of books about the case, also arguing that the suspects were wrongly convicted: Devil's Knot by Mara Leveritt; Blood of Innocents by Guy Reel; and The Last Pentacle of the Sun: Writings in Support of the West Memphis Three, edited by Brett Alexander Savory & M. W. Anderson, and featuring dark fiction and non-fiction by well-known writers of speculative fiction. Im saying what time was it that you were actually there in the park? RIDGE:Was it a knife that you fold up, or was it like a hunting knife? There was additional new evidence discovered in 2007 that I cannot now recall. ), RIDGE: Alright, you got in front of you a picture, that was taken out of the newspaper I believe, its got three boys and these are the three boys that were killed on that date in Robin Hood Woods, okay, which one of those three boys is it you say Damien hit? The police did not telephone the coroner until almost two hours after the discovery of the floating shoe, resulting in a late appearance by the coroner. Judge David Laser then sentenced them to 18 years and 78 days, the amount of time they had served, and also levied a suspended sentence of 10 years. RIDGE: All three of them would generally be together? [21], California police sent blood and urine samples from Morgan and Holland to the WMPD, but there is no indication WMPD investigated Morgan or Holland as suspects following their arrest in California. (Again ignores Jessies statement that he left and guides him into saying more happened). Jessie Misskelley was brought in to WMPD for questioning on 3 June 1993. RIDGE:okay, wearing blue jeans, he had on a metalica shirt, now this is a shirt thats got metalica across the front of it spelled out, and a mans name, or picture, is that right? JESSIE: We were just sitting there, throwing stuff at each other. Mara Leveritt, an investigative journalist and the author of Devil's Knot, argues that Echols' information may have come from police leaks, such as Detective Gitchell's comments to Mark Byers, that circulated amongst the local public. RIDGE: So, what do you think ought to be done to them for killing these boys? First of all, Matthew Baldwin stated that Damien nor Domini had been to the trailer on this day. Additionally, after the Murders my sister Jo Lynn McCauhey and I found in Terry's nightstand a knife that Stevie carried with him constantly and which I had believed was with him when he died. Police refused an unsolicited offer of aid and consultation from the violent crimes experts of the Arkansas State Police, and critics suggested this was due to the WMPD's being under investigation by the Arkansas State Police for suspected theft from the Crittenden County drug task force. I want you to think about it. RIDGE: Where did they lay their bikes down at, thats what Im asking you? Since his release, he has published a non-fiction book about both his childhood and incarceration, He and Lorri Davis, a NYC landscape architect who initiated a correspondence with Echols in 1999 and ultimately became his wife, co-authored, Echols provided the voice of Darryl, a fish man (i.e., a fish situated on a robot body), in episode 3 of the animated, This page was last edited on 18 January 2023, at 02:32. She was 13 when he was arrested, along with Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin, for the murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis nearly two decades ago. JESSIE: He was wearing some blue jeans and boots, army boots like, RIDGE:Army boots? RIDGE:Did anybody see you leaving? RIDGE:Okay, what were you doing in the water? That's right, the man I was about to pledge my life to was a convicted murderer. JESSIE: When he first called me when he first got he called me he said, how come I how come I you left, and said, I couldnt stand it, I had to do something else. He is not dating anyone. GITCHELL:Were your clothes wet still? RIDGE: Alright, were going to correct that even further, thats the east side, Memphis side is the east side and you were standing at the top of the bank on the west side, were you looking down at what was going on? [76], A website by Martin David Hill, containing approximately 160,000 words and intending to be a "thorough investigation", collates and discusses many details surrounding the murders and investigation, including some anecdotal information. He and a girlfriend had run off and later broken into a trailer during a rain storm; they were arrested, though only Echols was charged with burglary.[9]. Early in the investigation, the WMPD briefly regarded two West Memphis teenagers as suspects. GITCHELL: What did the stick look like, I mean was it like a a big log like that or is it a stick? JESSIE: He had been watching them. (Impossible time; the boys were in school. RIDGE: Okay. [6] Baldwin pleaded guilty to three counts of first degree murder while still asserting his actual innocence. [23] King gave the officers a pair of sunglasses he thought the man had left behind, and the detectives took some blood samples from the walls and tiles of the restroom. GITCHELL: What do you all do with the girls when youre out there? When the bodies proved to have been discovered near where Aaron indicated, Bray asked Aaron for further details, and Aaron claimed that he had witnessed the murders committed by Satanists who spoke Spanish. RIDGE:Put away for a while. MATTINGLY: On February 4th, 1994, Jessie Misskelley was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. [6][59] Under the Bruton rule, his confession could not be admitted against his co-defendants and thus he was tried separately. Jason Baldwin. JESSIE:Just thought, what happened to them real bad, just thought. No matches were found. And, AGAIN, Jessie leaves #4 and again his statement that he left at that point is ignored.). Circuit Court Judge David Laser was selected to replace David Burnett and preside in the evidentiary hearings mandated by the successful appeal. GITCHELL: What time did you get there? RIDGE:You say that you got sick, so thats what you were saying, did you throw up or anything? JESSIE: Yeah, weve been in the water, we were in it that night, playing around in it. Searchers canvassed all of West Memphis but focused primarily on Robin Hood Hills, where the boys were reported last seen. Also presented in the filing was new expert testimony that the supposed knife marks on the victims, including the injuries to Byers' genitals, were in fact the result of animal predation after the bodies had been dumped.[55]. (Above Jessie has stated they met at 9 a.m., not 12 noon. Digging for an answer when he doesnt know what response will please his questioner). Echols' sentence was reduced to three counts of first degree murder. (No blood was found on any of the childrens discarded clothes. Following their convictions, Echols, Misskelley, and Baldwin submitted imprints of their teeth. They were released with 10-year suspended sentences, having served 18 years. Trace amounts of sperm DNA were found on a pair of pants recovered from the scene. RIDGE:Alright I am going to conclude this interview, the time is 3:18PM. RIDGE: Hes been watching them. In 2002, Henry Rollins worked with other vocalists from various rock, hip hop, punk and metal groups and members of Black Flag and the Rollins Band on the compilation album Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three. JESSIE: They took turns going up under the water. The episode premiered May 5, 2011, with extensive background information included on the show's page at the Investigation Discovery site. [25], Though he was informed of his Miranda rights, Misskelley later claimed he did not fully understand them. RIDGE:And one of them was being cut on his penis? I can't help it you just laid on a bed and laid there,'" said Boggan. or scared of the police? He also opted to stay out of spotlight, so he remains an enigma in many aspects. RIDGE:okay, when you initiating somebody new come into a cult what actually is done to initiate that person into a cult? RIDGE:Are you willing to go down there with us and us having a camcorder and show us where these things took place? RIDGE: What did he hit him with? JESSIE:I didnt have no blood on me, I didnt get close to them. JESSIE: Right, we walked and then uh, JESSIE: We went up to Robin Hood. To assist in the appeals process, Echols' appellate legal team retained a Berkeley, California-based forensic psychiatrist, Dr. George Woods, to make their case. GITCHELL: Now, did you say that the boys skipped school that day. I had always assumed that my son's murderer had taken the knife during the crime. How close would he have to be behind Damien to have his view of the bikes blocked? JESSIE:yes, out there in Lakeshore. JESSIE:And I left and stuff, and walked home. RIDGE: Okay, the knives, was it one knife, two knives, was your knife there? These were compared to the alleged bite marks on Stevie Branch's forehead that had not been mentioned in the original autopsy or trial. He was preceded in death by his spouse, Kathy Bartoush; his daughter, Loretta Townsend; and his parents and other siblings. [78], In January 2010, the CBS television news journal 48 Hours aired "The Memphis 3", an in-depth coverage of the history of the case including interviews with Echols and supporters. They switch the side of the creek he was on from BB toMemphis), (Jessie leaves again and again he is guided to give more details after he says he left), [[Tape omission / blank 20 seconds jumps to here]]. Stidham testified under oath that during the trial, Judge David Burnett erred by making an improper communication with the jury during its deliberations. The polygraph examiner claimed that Echols' chart indicated deception. Then I came down here when he got out," she said. Currently in the office we have Jessie Lloyd Misskelley, Jr., birthdate: 7-10 of 75, education at the 9th grade, the place, we're in the Detectives Division, today's date is 6-3 of 93, the time now is 2:44 pm. GITCHELL: Now youre talking about bottom, do you mean right here? [9] In 1996, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that Misskelley's confession was voluntary and that he did, in fact, understand the Miranda warning and its consequences. RIDGE:Okay, how long was the knife that Jason was using? The prosecution accused the three young men of committing a Satanic murder. They were known for wearing black and listening to heavy metal. (The crime scene was blocked off for over a month and guarded by WMPD precisely to see if the criminal would return to the scene of the crime.No reports of Jessie appearing were made.). Wouldnt any reasonable questioner ask about the contradiction? "You shouldn't be mad about it, you could do it too," said Boggan. [21] Morgan was presumed to be at least casually familiar with all three murdered boys, having previously driven an ice cream truck route in their neighborhood. [96] After his release, he has worked on a number of additional media projects. (Ridge leads Jessie again; Jessie doesnt state on his own where he was, he is told. RIDGE: Okay, did any of the other two boys, were you there when they were actually killed? RIDGE: okay, now when its going on, when this is taking place, you under you saw somebody with a knife, who had a knife? They got their GED in jail. [citation needed], While in prison, Echols wrote letters to Gloria Shettles, an investigator for his defense team. is 5'2"(1.57m) . JESSIE: No, they just hollered at them, they showed up. She claimed she had implicated Echols and Misskelley to avoid facing criminal charges, and to obtain a reward for the discovery of the murderers. What did he say about that? [54], On October 29, 2007, papers were filed in federal court by Echols's defense lawyers seeking a retrial or his immediate release from prison. 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM - Roofing with Ricky Deese and Josh Darby. , money, salary, income, and assets. [16] Christopher Mark Byers is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery East in Memphis, Tennessee.[17]. The14thStreetWoods are down the street from the BB woods; a good distance). (*****During this statement Jessie says that the boys were beaten by Damien and Jason with their fists, then he is asked if they were hit with sticks, and he answers yes. And be truthful. Police said the recording was "inaudible", but Hutcheson claimed the recording was audible. "We were writing each other two years before he got out. Present in the interview will be Inspector Gary Gitchell and Jessie Misskelley. JESSIE: A friend of mine, he borrowed them. When he first hit the boy, when Damien first hit the first boy, did they have their clothes on then? A hair identified as belonging to a black male was later recovered from a sheet wrapped around one of the victims. "WM3" redirects here. 1993).3 The jury was also instructed on accomplice liability as follows: In this case, the state does not contend that Jessie Lloyd Misskelley, Junior acted alone in the commission of the offense of three counts of capital murder. The relevance of Morgan's recanted statement would later be debated in trial, but it was eventually barred from admission as evidence. GITCHELL: Did you ever use, did anyone use a stick and hit the boys with? RIDGE:Light blonde, or like a sandy reddish type blonde, do you know the difference? If you were there the whole time, then tell us that you were there the whole time, dont leave anything out. RIDGE:Okay, had somebody taken pictures of these boys? Echols spent several months in a mental institution in Arkansas and afterward received "full disability" status from the Social Security Administration. To pursue full exoneration 25 ], while in prison come I left and stuff, assets... Were just sitting there, throwing stuff at each other having a camcorder and show us where these took. Suggest listening along while reading this transcript up under the `` Bruton rule,... Was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life plus 40 years in prison, wrote. Informed them of his Miranda rights, Misskelley later claimed he did not fully understand them would generally be?. Get him to life in prison you got sick, so thats what you were there whole... 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