By the end of Paradise Lost, you cant believe they were found guilty, Bakken says. But I had to. The idea of the average citizen becoming embroiled in a criminal investigation isnt far-fetched in 2021, decades removed from the launch of WM3.org. Dan Stidham, the original attorney for Misskelley, who would also work on Baldwins and Echols appeals, says he has the answer. The Latest CD: 92 YEARS YOUNG: JAMMIN' AT THE GIBBS HOUSE. 2012 West of Memphis (Documentary) Self - Steven Branch's Stepfather. Pam Hobbs divorced Terry Hobbs in 2004 and has reversed her position on the West Memphis Three's guilt. Initially, Misskelley repeatedly denied having knowledge of the crime, aside from rumors that Damien Echols was involved. Investigators never found any evidence that tied him, Jason Baldwin, or Jessie Misskelley to the murders of the boys, Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers. There also were issues with other details he provided, including how the victims were bound and whether the boys were raped. Stating that she would ask around, Hutcheson agreed to "play detective.". What a story it is. However, under pressure, leading questions, and scare tactics, Misskelley wove a contradictory story that first placed him at the crime scene as an eyewitness to the murders and then as an active participant. A theory held is that Terry Hobbs was the one who actually killed the three boys and had pinned it on the Memphis 3 boys. He could have been me, he told Rolling Stone in 2011. February 27, 2023 (76 years old) View obituary. On Aug. 11, 2011, the West Memphis Three entered the courtroom for the final time. The attorneys representing Echols and Baldwin believed that the juries wouldnt accept the prosecutions versions of eventsthat they were too fantastical and tied to second-hand informationand that without conclusive proof, their clients would walk. Echols' disdain for authority, penchant for black clothes, and propensity to make shocking statements didn't help his plight. Hobbs said he wrote the book so people, especially other victims of crime, could understand the tragedy he has gone through and how it impacted his life. The evolution of how the teens were perceivedon behalf of both the filmmakers and even part of the defense teamis captured on camera early as Stidham and his colleagues began to consider whether Misskelleys confession had been coerced. So, how much is Terry Hobbs worth at the age of 50 years old? We are sad to announce that on September 11, 2021 we had to say goodbye to Terry Hobbs of Sweetwater, Texas. He says that while he was in the supermax prison in Varner, he would write letters trying to drum up support for not just himself, but also for other inmates he believed were wrongfully convicted. It was clear that Paradise Lost was resonating. Almost 30 years ago, three eight-year-old West Memphis boys were found murdered and three teenagers were charged in the murders. By staying on this subject for the next couple of decades, they gave these men a chance and really decades of freedom afterward. February 27, 2023 (82 years old) View obituary. Then youd try to find it, and it didnt exist, because when we went out to discussion groups, no one knew about the case yet., After learning that the teens were still in prison, Bakken, Sauls, and Pashley decided to make full use of the budding technological revolution. At the request of West Memphis authorities, the two were picked up and questioned by Oceanside police. Quality. Terry. doesn't know how to teach the material and you will end up teaching yourself everything. Misskelley, who reportedly had an IQ of 72, changed his story several times, and only a small part of his statements was recorded. Terry Roland Hobbs September 11, 1959 ~ September 11, 2021 (age 62) Terry Roland Hobbs, 62, of Sweetwater, passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2021. Metallica had never licensed a song for a film before, but when they learned about the case, Berlinger says, they made an exception. They were released after prosecutors agreed to an Alford plea, in which the men maintained their innocence but pleaded guilty. In November, Judge David Burnett, who had presided over the trial, was elected to the state senate. When Alex Sinofsky is asked about his fathers work on the film, he recalls the frequent trips and long hours spent editing film on a Steenbeck he kept in the house. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, defense attorneys working for the West Memphis Three filed multiple appeals on their behalf scrutinizing the lack of physical evidence against them. All of those factors combined to create a tipping point, says Leveritt. Hobbs said, I still believe in my heart that Jessie, Jason, and Damion, 'Feels Like Home:' electrical failure from a light fixture caused December fire that killed 1, Shelby County reporting an increase in drug-related overdoses, largely due to fentanyl, Severe weather threat is over | Prepare for a sunny weekend, Daylight saving time starts soon. Mojo had a different idea of what might get the man he affectionately called J.B. out of prison. In a last ditch effort, they entered an Alford Plea, a complex and seldom used legal maneuver that would see them plead guilty while still asserting their innocence. In 1996, a screener for Paradise Lost passed her desk. The governor of the state of Arkansas who will one day pardon the West Memphis Three is probably in junior high right now, he says. Cinemorgue Wiki. On August 19, 2011, all three accepted the deal and were immediately released from prison. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family. Critics were effusive in their praise and stunned by the footageparticularly Roger Ebert, who wrote in a four-star review that at the end of the film I was unconvinced of their guilt. The film won Emmy and Peabody awards to go with more than a dozen other nominations. (Maines briefly became a part of the story when Terry Hobbs, stepfather of another . Terry Hobbs, Actor: Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers. What has never been definitively answered, however, is who committed the 1993 murders, and The Forgotten West Memphis Three, premiering Saturday, March 28 at 8/7c on Oxygen, reexamines the case and key theories. The three teens were arrested after Misskelley said they committed the crime after 12 hours of interrogation. It allowed them to get out of prison after almost 20 years. Its evidence that Damien Echols attorneys wanted to do new DNA testing on. 21, 2021 at 1:51 PM PDT CALHOUN COUNTY, Fla.. Little kids will be looking under their bed 'Damien might be under there! I think I introduced my dad to it because that was not his normal genre., Three Metallica songsOrion, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), and Call of Ktuluwould play throughout the documentary. Branded the, What has never been definitively answered, however, is who committed the 1993 murders, and , Due to marital problems stemming from Stevies death, the couple divorced in 2004, reported, The test results showed that no genetic material on the crime scene evidence was a match to Echols, Baldwin or Misskelley, reported the, The West Memphis Police Department interviewed Hobbs, who was dismissive of the findings, claiming the hair could have been picked up during a visit to his home since the victim "played with our little boy regularly," according to the, "They said close to the crime scene because at one time I did walk near where they had found the kids with Terry Hobbs But I didn't wear hats back then, my hair could have blown around anywhere, Jacoby told Memphis NBC affiliate, A year after the DNA results were released, Hobbs sued Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines for defamation, claiming she implied he was a murderer on the bands website and at a 2007 rally, according to, In 2009, three witnesses filed affidavits claiming they saw Hobbs with the murdered boys the night they disappeared, contradicting Hobbs previous statements to police, according to. One of Kathy Bakkens earliest jobs in Los Angeles allowed her a certain kind of cultural currency: She designed movie posters for an entertainment-advertising company, which meant she got to see films months before they were released. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of Terry Hobbs to show support. They werent telling me I was lying, even if they may have been saying that in their minds. Timeline Of The West Memphis Three Victims, Motivations For Investigating The West Memphis Case. Echols attorneys got a letter from the custodian of records for the West Memphis police department saying some of the evidence ended up lost, or misplaced, and some destroyed by fire. Although Griffis' testimony was dramatic, it showed only a tenuous grasp of occult knowledge much of it, including a reference to a cult called "Crytos," was simply made up. The second is by looking at it as an act of passion and perseverance. Making his way through the muck on his hands and knees, Ridge soon discovered clothing twisted around sticks and thrust into the ditch's bottom. As for Paradise Lost, it was the inciting incident in the two-decade chain of events that led to the release of the West Memphis Three. Damion Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley were convicted of murdering the children in 1994. In 2013, Jackson and Damien Echols produced a fourth documentary about the case. Attorneys for Echols have submitted a formal request to inspect the records that are available, involving cataloguing of the evidence as well as information on the loss of the evidence. All three had been submerged face down in the mud, stripped naked, and bound with their shoelaces. It had been a long fight to clear their names, and the odds seemed better than ever. Over the years there has been lots of speculation and finger pointing as to who was responsible. Also part of the plea was the provision that the three could not sue the state. I'm not stupid." Terry Hobbs USAF Ret. On the surface, 18-year-old Damien Echols, an intelligent, but psychologically troubled teen with interests in Wicca and extreme music, fit the profile. Mojo, however, was considerably more fired up, believing the same thing many of Paradise Losts viewers did: that the movie showed an incredible miscarriage of justice, one that would surely be fixed. Inconsistencies in Terry Hobbs' alibi, as well as revelations about subsequent violent acts, have also led many to believe that he may be the actual killer. The footage included raw jailhouse interviews with the defendants, strategy sessions held by legal teams on both sides, and extended monologues from Mark Byers, the tall, goateed stepfather of one of the victims, who spoke as though he were reciting the Book of Revelation and who, at one point in Paradise Lost, fired a handgun at a pumpkin while reciting the names of the accused. Published by The Commercial Appeal from Jun. "I'd like to see this put to rest. Mojo was right. WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. Terry Hobbs is the one suspected of murder and the wounds that were inflicted on my nephew were where turtles bit his face. Berlinger and Sinofsky began to take notice. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! hangyermoon 2 yr. ago. When they searched online, they found little to no information about the case. A later confession during the trial phase would prove equally problematic. He said, J.B., youre going home, man, youre going home.. West Memphis is in the heart of the Bible Belt: just a two-hour drive from where, legend has it, the devil tuned Robert Johnsons guitar, in a state thats 46 percent evangelical Protestant. Blood and urine samples from both men were collected and sent to the West Memphis Police Department. Earlier this year, he told Action News 5 he welcomes new DNA testing. Bray asked her if she knew about rumored cult activity in the community. Misskelley's coerced confession, as contradictory as it seemed to the evidence, was consistent in implicating Echols and Jason Baldwin. This is the true story of the West Memphis Three murders. To authorities working in West Memphisa largely Southern Baptist communitysatanic activity seemed to be the most likely cause for the killings, in part because the boys bodies were bound and appeared to have been mutilated. March 8, 2021, Terry Hobbs passed away on March 8, 2021 in Boise, Idaho. Berlinger and Sinofsky expected a similar result to come quickly in the West Memphis Three case. " Every crime, no matter what it is, gets blamed on Satanism.". Best selling books such as Lawrence Pazder's Michelle Remembers and disgraced evangelical comedian Mike Warnke's The Satan Seller fueled the madness with tales of ritual abuse and human sacrifice. In 1996, HBO released the documentary film Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. Baldwin remembers the dire circumstances laid out during the call. Sheriff's deputies in Calhoun County say Terry Hobbs was reported missing on Saturday, April 20, 2019. They began attending appeal hearings and visiting Baldwin, Echols, and Misskelley in prison. When the case was given the option for DNA evidence, everyone but Terry Hobbs said yes. After ending his first marriage, he wed Pamela Hicks Branch in 1986, when her son Stevie was almost 2 years old. When we were driving in the car a lot, wed play a lot of the Metallica album Master of Puppets, says Alex Sinofsky, who became a doctor instead of getting behind the camera himself. He was an actor, known for Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988), Fast Food (1989) and In the Heat of the Night (1988). That November, he says, HBO agreed to give an honorariumroughly $5,000to the families on both sides. While Berlinger says that the work of people like Bakken and Sauls was more impressive than that of any celebrity, its undeniable that the famous and influential brought a megaphone and funding mechanism to this case that most never get. The only possible culprits were 18-year-old Damien Echols, a poor teen with an interest in the occult and a record of mental illness, his friend Jason Baldwin, a quiet kid whose talent for art tended toward dark subjects, and Jessie Misskelley, a 17-year-old misfit with an IQ of 73. In this first confession, Miskelley often agreed to details suggested by the police or attributed to prior statements which he did not make. Paso Robles, California. I don't entirely think Hobbs did it, but I . Wading into the murky water, Allen unknowingly dislodged the pale, grotesquely arched form of Micheal Moore. I still believe in my heart that Jessie, Jason, and Damion Echols [sic] are responsible for what happened to our children, Hobbs told Memphis ABC affiliate WATN in June 2019. During Misskelley's trial, Hutcheson testified that she had attended an "an occult Satanic meeting" she referred to as an "esbat." Baldwin and Misskelley were sentenced to life without parole while Echols received the death penalty. '", In 1999, a more mature Echols explained the comment. (WMC) - Its a case that has captured the nation and certainly the Mid-South. Hobbs has never wavered in his conviction that justice was served the first time around. Terry Hobbs's income source is mostly from being a successful Actor. A benefit album was released in 2000, and the phrase made it into a Dawsons Creek episode when Pacey shouted Free the West Memphis Three over an airport intercom. Update: I was totally wrong. This case was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, Tennessee Western Bankruptcy. By getting to the story quickly, the directors were able to document the post-arrest period and two trials that followed in painstaking detail. Investigators kept minimal notes and omitted pertinent details including criminal records. Even without a smoking gun, the circumstantial evidence was enough for a conviction in a place like Crittenden County, Arkansas. Thursday, August 19th 2021. He said Boxful of Nightmares is his memoirs unedited. He was just taking in the enormity of the defining event of his life to that point, which had been committed to film and was now playing for him inside the cavernous, auditorium-style visitation room. It's one. The West Memphis Police Department interviewed Hobbs, who was dismissive of the findings, claiming the hair could have been picked up during a visit to his home since the victim "played with our little boy regularly," according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. I kind of enjoy it because now even after I die, people are going to remember me forever. They asked to see a cut, and they immediately said, Not only are we going to let you use all that music, but were not going to charge you anything for it., Metallica would be the first celebrities to throw their support behind the West Memphis Three, but they were far from the last. After hours of questioning, a frustrated Morgan blurted out that he had been hospitalized for drug and alcohol abuse and might have committed the murders. But on that early morning in 1997, Jason Baldwin wasnt concerned with Berlinger and Sinofskys craft, or legal precedent, or crusading celebrities. The boys were so mutilated, investigators thought the murders were part of some kind of Satanic ritual. 24 to Jun. Certain that, under what he felt were ridiculous circumstances, Echols' confidence and, on occasion, flippant attitude during the trial was often misinterpreted as evidence of his coldness toward the victims and their families. After 18 years in prison, the West Memphis Three were finally free, but not exonerated. Case Details Parties . And that makes him hopeful that exoneration is on the horizon. A quarter-century later, what does the documentary tell us about citizen activism, the criminal justice system, and the Satanic Panic of the 1980s and 90s? Over the years there has been lots of speculation and finger pointing as to who was responsible. You still dont really know what happened to these kids. This is a story of justice delayed and justice denied. As detailed by The Hollywood Reporter in 2011, Jackson and Walsh helped fund key investigations for the West Memphis Three's defense during the last seven years of their incarceration. I had a friend who was working on 20/20, and they had done a film about exorcism in one of the magazine pieces, Nevins says. The case status is Pending - Other Pending. As reported by the Arkansas Times, examination of the shoe laces used to bind Michael Moore contained hair "not inconsistent" with that of Stevie Branch's stepfather, Terry Hobbs. Baldwins attorneys even avoided putting him on the witness stand or mounting much of a defense, believing the burden was on the state. His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. Its like ripping a Band-Aid off a wound. They even hired experts to examine the case, including a forensic criminal profiler who discovered what appeared to be bite marks on one of the victims that didnt match any of the convicted. Despite an offer of a reduced sentence, Misskelley ultimately recanted his statements and refused to testify against Echols and Baldwin. And they used that visibility to help raise funds for the defense. So much progress had been made in the fight for new trials, most notably a November 2010 Arkansas Supreme Court ruling that ordered a hearing on new DNA analysis and other evidence not considered in 1994. "The reason I made the West Memphis boogeyman comment during the first film was because I was making light of the situation," Echols says in Paradise Lost 2: Revelations. A graveside service will be conducted on Wednesday, March 17 at Cloverdale Memorial Park beginning at 11am. He was handed the phone. With their 2007 request for a new trial rejected, time was running out for the West Memphis Three. Hobbs, with the help of an author, put all that journaling intoa book about the 1993 murders of his stepson Stevie Branch, and Branchs friends Michael Moore and Chris Byers. Defense attorneys also pointed out that Griffis' doctorate was obtained through a notorious diploma mill and had been awarded with Griffis having never attended a single class. Echols is correct. Although blood scrapings were taken, the West Memphis police lost the evidence. The obituary was featured in Idaho Press Tribune on March 13, 2021. So advocacy and diligence become tantamount, because most people in a similar situation to the one he was in dont have the benefit of filmmakers and musicians fighting on their behalf. He began his career in the plumbing business at a very young age, workingfor his . On the morning of June 2, 1993, Jessie Misskelley Jr., a 17-year-old high school drop out with a reported IQ of 73, was taken into custody by Detective Mike Allen. Websleuths, an online forum for discussions about unsolved homicides and missing-person cases, has more than 100,000 members, and internet vigilantes have used social media and other online breadcrumbs to help track down actual criminals, such as the Canadian murderer and subject of the documentary Dont F*ck With Cats, Luka Magnotta. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. I wouldn't do something like that. . None of the early interviews with the parents were recorded. The Alford plea is a seldom-invoked and somewhat confusing legal maneuver, but the basics are fairly straightforward. However, in 2010, a series of rapidly unfolding developments turned the tide for Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley. Robin Lynn Jones. I said, Im going to send some kids down there., Those kids turned out to be Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, the young documentarians who had recently completed the acclaimed Brothers Keeper, a film chronicling a death and the resulting trial in a small upstate New York village. "I knew from when I was real small that people were going to know who I was," Echols said in 1994. Eventually, they began traveling to Arkansasabout 35 trips in total, always on their own dime, Bakken and Sauls sayto collect case documents, which they scanned and uploaded to the site, also transcribing the documents so that the text could be searchable. It was born out of genuine admiration for the fact that these guys took the time out of their lives to dedicate, to go down to Arkansas, to build a website, to really step out of their lives, Berlinger says.
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