TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: Damien Echols

  • Dixie Chick sued over WM3 comments

    New Lawsuit in West Memphis 3 Case Involves the Dixie Chicks:

    Natalie Maines is being sued by the step-father of one of the victims of the West Memphis 3. Back in December of last year, Maines announced her support of the West Memphis 3 after seeing the documentaries. She wrote a letter on her website asking for money for their defense fund. It was that letter that has her in hot water.

    When the much ballyhooed DNA evidence was released, a hair on one of the victims belonged to Terry Hobbs. Hobbs was the step-father of one of the victims. In the letter on Maines’ website, she basically stated that Hobbs is the ‘real murderer…

    In part, she wrote, “he washed his clothes and sheets at odd hours for no other reason than to hide evidence from the crime.”

    Now Hobbs is filing a lawsuit for defamation.

    I said this when the DNA evidence was first released, it doesn’t implicate Hobbs and it doesn’t clear the WM3. For her to go out and unequivocally call Hobbs the killer is reckless and stupid.

  • Post trial WM3 confession

    Tape with post-trial confession played in court:

    In their appeal to get a new trial the post-trial confession of Jessie Misskelley was played in court.

    On the audiotape, Misskelley said he, Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin were drinking alcohol next to a ditch when the boys approached. He said Echols grabbed 1 of the boys and started hitting him and that, within moments, Misskelley and Baldwin attacked the other boys.

    At one point, Misskelley said, Baldwin pulled out a knife. He said that’s when he realized the boys were going to be killed.

    That’s funny, I know it’s been some time since I watched the movies but I don’t remember anything on them about a post-trial confession. I wonder why Misskelley would confess a second time especially after he had been already convicted. Hmmm. Maybe it’s because they actually did it.

    But don’t let emotion get in the way of facts.

  • New new West Memphis 3 ‘evidence’

    More Developments in West Memphis 3 Case:

    Speaking of Damien Echols, because you know we were, his wife Lorri Davis has come forward with what she says is new evidence that will get her husband a new trial. Her timing is amazing considering a judge just denied a retrial Thursday.

    Lorri Davis, who is married to Damien Echols, claims an Arkansas attorney is quoted in a sealed affidavit as saying he had conversations with a member of the jury in Echols and Jason Baldwin’s 1994 trial.

    Misskelley confessed to the crime, but later recanted. His confession was not allowed to be presented in the trial against Echols and Baldwin. Now Davis claims they have proof that jurors were discussing the confession during deliberations.

    So how long has she been sitting in this alleged information? And do you notice it’s evidence that could potentially get her husband a new trial, not Misskelley or Baldwin? Like I keep saying it’s all about Echols and always has been. Misskelley is seen as the turncoat and Baldwin is basically the Shemp of these stooges.

  • No new trial for West Memphis 3

    Judge: No new trial for West Memphis killings:

    Circuit Court Judge David Burnett has denied the request for a new trial for the infamous West Memphis 3.

    Just as I said previously Judge Burnett said that the highly touted DNA evidence does not clear Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley of any wrongdoing.

    “The court finds that (Echols’) DNA-testing results are inconclusive because they do not raise a reasonable probability that he did not commit the offenses; that is, they are inconclusive as to his claim of actual innocence” Burnett wrote in the order.

    “Proof of actual innocence requires more than his exclusion as the source of a handful of biological material that is not dispositive of the identity of a killer,” Burnett wrote.

    Burnett also said that even if he agreed that the new DNA evidence should be heard in court, he would deny Echols’ request for a trial because there was “not compelling evidence that he would be acquitted.”

    But the WM3 supporters will let their emotions override logic. They’re like the Columbine mutants except with better PR. They glommed on to this case because they can identify with some characteristic of the convicted killers, Echols mostly, then they act like this is the greatest miscarriage of justice of our time. I should know I used to be one of their supporters. I fell for the documentaries but after a while, I realized that they only presented one side of the story. But it’s a cult of personality with Echols at the helm. As I’ve said before they all glom on to Echols, that includes media and the like, and Misskelley and Baldwin are mere afterthoughts.

    Anyway, there’s a reason why their convictions have been upheld by the Arkansas State Supreme Court has upheld their convictions, it’s because they’re guilty and no amount of zealotry is going to change that.

    Speaking of the State Supreme Court, Echols’ fancy San Francisco lawyer, Dennis Riordan, plans on appealing the ruling with the Arkansas Supreme Court. I guess because it’s worked so well in the past.

  • DNA doesn’t clear Echols

     

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    How does my hair look?

    State: Latest DNA doesn’t clear Echols:

    The Arkansas state Attorney General’s office is saying that the DNA of Terry Hobbs does not clear the West Memphis 3 of the murders they’ve been convicted of. Something that I said almost a year ago. Or should I say it doesn’t clear Damien Echols because let’s be honest, that’s who this is really about. But that’s a rant that I’ve gone on before.

    “Those unremarkable results do not (and cannot ) demonstrate his actual innocence,” state the court documents, filed May 30 in Craighead County Circuit Court by Assistant Attorney General Kent Holt and Craighead County prosecutors.

    The article then goes on to recant the WM3’s defense team’s ludicrous fish theory. You know the one. It said that aquatic life caused the post-mortem trauma and genital mutilation of the eight-year-old victims. But yet they refuse to accept the theory of how the water could have possibly washed away the rest of the DNA that more than likely belonged to their victims.

    That’s what happens when you become a zealot. You lose all sense of perspective.

  • 3/14/08: From the Mail Sack

    It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a year since we dipped into my sack…of mail that is.

    I received the following e-mail twice yesterday from a supporter of the West Memphis 3.

    User Name: John O’Bryan

    To whom it may concern,

    I’m a little curious to know why you’re so adamant about the guilt of the West Memphis Three? Especially after the lack of DNA evidence. I grew up in Memphis and remember very vividly when the crime took place. The way the news media handled the case was ridiculous, and every southern baptist idiot within 200 miles was saying “obviously these are the guys who did it”.

    Can’t you at least admit they didn’t get a fair trial? I understand you don’t want to be labeled a “follower”, but sometimes being a stubbornly obtuse contrarian can be even worse. What do you have against natalie Maines anyway? If you’re still a Bush supporter, that might go a long way toward answering ALL of my questions.

    I find this e-mail kind of ironic because the whole basis of the West Memphis 3 movement is that the WM3 were allegedly judged unfairly yet Mr. O’Bryan goes on to make a lot of judgments himself, but I digress.

    Like I’ve said before I’ve been writing about school shootings for going on 8 years now. Over the years I’ve developed sort of a profile of school shooters. Damien Echols and company fit that profile to a T. Also like I’ve stated before if the WM3 were born 10 years later they would have been school shooters instead of child killers. Do I say that because they dressed in black and listened to heavy metal? No, because that describes me at the time they were convicted. Hell, it describes me now except now my black clothes are a suit and tie instead of an Iron Maiden T-Shirt and I’ll be metal until the day I die.

    Can I admit that they didn’t receive a fair trial? No, I can’t. I believe the movies and books made about them were heavily biased. The authors and filmmakers already had their goal in mind when they started. Not only that but they left a lot out of the whole story from their respective works.

    As far as the DNA evidence or lack thereof goes it proves nothing. The flip side to none of their DNA evidence being found at the scene is that Mark Byers’ DNA wasn’t there either. For years the WM3 supporters have called for the head of Mark Byers claiming that he was the one that actually committed the murders. I could then say that since his DNA evidence wasn’t there that he couldn’t have committed the murders either. Let’s not forget that their bodies were found in a creek which could have washed away any DNA.

    What do I have against Natalie Maines? Let me count the ways. She insulted the office of the President while overseas. I don’t care who is in office at the time have some respect for your country. She’s a member of PETA which is only a few vegans short of being an eco-terrorism organization. She fell for the hype of the Paradise Lost movies. And lastly, her music sucks.

    For the most part, West Memphis 3 supporters remind me of Ron Paul supporters and members of the so-called 9/11 Truth Movement. Just because you’re big on the internet you think you’re more important than what you actually are.

    Personally, I think you’ve all given Echols exactly what he wanted, fame and a following that was bigger than Manson’s.

  • West Memphis Schism

    West Memphis Schism

    Money at root of effort to free WM3:

    When a group becomes too big or its leadership becomes corrupt, a schism is inevitable. The supporters of the West Memphis 3 are just finding this out.

    On the one hand, you have 44-year-old Lorri Davis, the wife of Damien Echols who married him 8 years ago while in jail, probably after getting moist from watching the ‘documentaries’. She’s basically in charge of all the donations given in the name of the West Memphis 3.

    A new splinter group has arisen calling itself the West Memphis 3 Innocence Project, and they claim that Davis has not been forthcoming about how the funds are being spent.

    Let’s hear from West Memphis 3 Innocence Project president Kelly Duda.

    “Isn’t it a clear conflict of interest for a spouse of one of the WM3 to have what appears to be ultimate control over funding that is intended for all three young men?” asks the new Web site that seeks donations of its own on behalf of the three defendants.

    West Memphis 3 Innocence Project president Kelly Duda said he likes Davis and applauds her efforts but said she’s given no public accounting of her fund-raising efforts. Among concerns, Duda said when he and associates contributed money, they didn’t receive receipts.

    “People have been asking these questions for a long time. The house of cards is crumbling,” Duda, a Little Rock filmmaker, said Wednesday. “Donors have a right to know where their money is going and how it’s being spent. That’s not happening.”

    In rebuttal, let’s hear from Ms. Davis’ and her publicist?

    “They are all happy with the way the money is being spent,” Davis said. Indeed, Echols’ San Francisco lawyer, Dennis Riordan, said he had no misgivings about Davis’ fund-raising.

    “It’s all accounted for,” Riordon said. Suggestions to the contrary by the new organization are “absolutely false,” he said.

    Davis’ New York publicist, Alice Leeds, dismissed the new group’s assertions, saying her client’s devotion to the case has left her with a mound of bills. “Right now, she’s about $40,000 in debt,” Leeds said.

    Leeds also questioned the motives of two people affiliated with the new organization — board member Mara Leveritt, who wrote a book, “Devil’s Knot,” about the West Memphis murders; and Paragould, Ark., lawyer Dan Stidham, Misskelley’s original attorney. Stidham consulted with the new organization before becoming a full-time judge this month and has often been paid expenses for speaking to groups about the case.

    “These individuals have been making their names and money … by using this case for years,” Leeds said. “It is about self-interest.”

    I think that can be said for everybody involved. Once the case became a cause célèbre, it became profitable.

    I think this is the beginning of the end for the West Memphis 3 movement. Remember, kids, a house divided against itself cannot stand.

  • Ark. AG says WM3 DNA campaign is misleading

    Ark. AG says WM3 DNA campaign is misleading

    Ark. AG slams ‘misleading’ campaign on DNA evidence in 1993 West Memphis slayings:

    Arkansas’ Attorney General, Dustin McDaniel, says that the campaign that the West Memphis 3 cultists are waging about the new DNA evidence is misleading at best.

    “I’m growing increasingly frustrated by what I see as a misleading press campaign to suggest that there’s new DNA evidence that in some way exonerates these boys that a jury found guilty and whose appeals they all lost. There is no new DNA evidence that exonerates these boys at all,” McDaniel told reporters.

    “If there was any new evidence that exonerated the defendants, I would be the first one to start approaching the governor on options on bringing justice to the matter. But I’ve seen nothing, at this point, that leads me to believe that Judge (David) Burnett should on the basis of newly discovered scientific evidence grant a new trial,” McDaniel said.

    You don’t have to be an AG to realize that, since this is exactly what I said back in July.

    Then again, you can’t bring facts into a discussion with zealots.

  • Dixie Chick supports West Memphis 3

    Dixie Chick supports West Memphis 3

    Dixie Chicks Start Defense Fund for Murderers:

    Another celebrity has fallen under the spell of the West Memphis 3 propaganda machine, but this one isn’t too surprising.

    Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks is CONVINCED that the WM3 are innocent after seeing the documentaries on them. The sure sign that your cause is doomed is when Natalie Maines signs on. Maines has started a defense fund for the WM3. Like they needed another one because the ones they’ve had so far have worked out really well for them.

    Here’s her heartfelt plea…

    “I’m writing this letter today because I believe that three men have spent the past 13 years in prison for crimes they didn’t commit,” Maines’ message begins.

    “On May 5, 1993 in West Memphis, Ark., three 8-year-old boys, Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore were murdered.

    “Three teenage boys, Damien Echols, Jesse Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin were convicted of the murders in 1994. Jason Baldwin and Jesse Misskelley received life sentences without parole, and Damien Echols sits on death row.

    “I encourage everyone to see the HBO documentaries, ‘Paradise Lost’ and ‘Paradise Lost 2’ for the whole history of the case.”

    So she sees two movies that have an obvious agenda, and she’s convinced the three are innocent. Whatever. Ringing celebrity endorsements haven’t done squat for the WM3 yet. This one won’t either.

  • Arkansas says be patient to WM3

    Arkansas says be patient to WM3

    AG spokesman: Review in West Memphis appeal will take time:

    The Arkansas State Attorney General’s Office said that it would take some time for the DNA “evidence” that has been presented with regard to the West Memphis 3 case to be processed.

    In a statement, a spokesman for Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said state officials are seeing the evidence put forward by lawyers representing Damien Echols for the first time.

    “As litigation goes, this process will likely take months and possibly years,” spokesman Gabe Holmstrom said. “Indeed, counsel for Echols has taken years to develop these claims so it will take the state a fair amount of time to properly respond.”

    And for those of you that keep calling the trial a witch hunt…

    The state Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the Baldwin and Echols’ convictions in 1996, citing what it called substantial evidence of guilt.

    In 2002, the state Supreme Court authorized further DNA testing in the case. In 2005, the high court rejected an effort by Echols to reopen the case so he could argue that his trial lawyers mishandled his defense.

    The State Supreme Court isn’t a bunch of country bumpkins that got their law degrees from a box of Moon Pies. But since most of y’all have a prejudice against the south, you think they are. Little Rock is a far cry from West Memphis.

    But hey, keep drinking the Kool-Aid if it makes you feel better. Just know that you’re giving a convicted killer exactly what he wants.