January 24, 2013

The Ongoing Fight to Exonerate the West Memphis 3

Share this post:
Latest Posts
Jul 19
A personal note from our director, John Hardin

Dear Proclaim Justice supporters,

It is with a heavy heart and also plenty of pride and…

Continue reading.
 
Feb 13
Can you help us turn $5 into $5,000 on Amplify Austin Day?

This year, we invite you to join us on March 1-2, 2023 for the biggest giving event in Central…

Continue reading.
 
Find more posts.

In 1993 in West Memphis, Ark., three 8-year-old boys were found brutally murdered. Understandably, the community was panicked. Several weeks later, the murder still unsolved, the police arrested Jason Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley, and Damien Echols for the crime, based mostly on an error-riddled and police-fed “confession” by Misskelley. Lacking any real physical evidence to tie them to the crime, prosecutors relied on rumor, innuendo, and community hysteria to convict the three. Echols was sentenced to death, while Baldwin and Misskelley were given sentences of life in prison.

In 1998, documentarians Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky released Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills through HBO Documentary Films. For the first time, the public was able to get a look at the tragic miscarriage of justice in the case, and what ensued was a worldwide movement for freedom. Instrumental in the movement were Kathy Bakken, Grove Pashley, Burk Sauls, and Lisa Fancher who, after seeing the film, launched the site www.wm3.org. Defense funds were donated, celebrities raised awareness, a book was written, more films were made, and untold thousands of people throughout the world wrote letters and attended rallies and awareness events.

On August 19, 2011 those efforts were rewarded when the State of Arkansas released the three men (who had come to be collectively known as the West Memphis 3) after they spent eighteen years in prison. This was certainly a cause for joy and celebration, but was not the end of the story. In order to win their release the men entered a rarely used Alford Plea, in which they maintained their innocence, but pleaded guilty to the crime. “I told the truth eighteen years ago and they sent me to prison. Then I told a lie and they let me out. This is not justice,” said Baldwin.

Investigations into who actually committed the crime are ongoing.

Anyone with knowledge of the crime is encouraged to call the confidential tip line at 501.256.1775. There is also a $200,000 reward being offered to anyone who has new information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the actual murderer(s).

Additionally, there is an ongoing public campaign to bring awareness to the case and pressure Arkansas officials to reopen it. To learn more about those efforts visit www.freewestmemphis3.org or www.wm3.org. While we are grateful they are free, we will not rest until Jason, Jessie and Damien are exonerated.

For those who want to read a detailed account of the case, we highly recommend Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three by Mara Leveritt. Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky also directed two sequels to the documentary Paradise Lost, and in 2012 Amy Berg directed the documentary West of Memphis.