"I can't understand why exactly people are glossing over the obvious when it comes to Byers and the death of Melissa Byers and all the things that Byers has said and done since this trial," says Echols from jail. After the case garnered national and celebrity attention, the three were freed in 2011 after agreeing to an Alford plea, allowing them to maintain their innocence while pleading guilty. 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. The child was near a fence on . Its fun! Several neighbors named him as a suspect. To learn more, watch The Forgotten West Memphis Three on Oxygen.com. eventAction: 'view' They never confirmed it to be Terry's hair. Later in the interview the officer would revisit the picture of Echols sitting in Hobbs's house. He is providing a way for the alleged intruders to enter his residence and kill his family. to bathroom From Sitting Area at An analysis by Mark McClish odd that you saw?" Sadler is then allowed to claim that Hobbs would make Stevie watch him masturbate, and that he also molested Stevie's sister, Amanda. The sneaker ligatures in which Terry Hobbs' DNA was found in," Soury said. Terry Hobbs admitted to 1982 sexual assault Mara Leveritt out, No. Officer: "Is there anything that you saw that you uhh, was it daylight or dark when None of the DNA matched the three teenagers found guilty of committing these murders. Two private investigators looking into the case on their behalf eventually turned their sights on Terry Hobbs, Steve's stepfather, because his story did not add up -- he had claimed that he had begun searching for the boys at 6 pm on the day they had disappeared when in reality, they had only been reported missing at 9 pm. (Dale Griffis, an expert on the occult, testified that the amount of victims and the fact that the date of the killings was close to a pagan holiday, suggested that the murders were Satanic in nature. In 2011, after almost two decades in prison, the West Memphis Three agreed to an Alford plea, which allowed them to proclaim their innocence while admitting the prosecution had enough evidence to convict them, and they were released from prison. (Memphis) Its a murder mystery thats captivated America for the last twenty years: the West Memphis Three. His wife Pam told him that Stevie was riding his bicycle with Michael Moore. The Hobbses are the mother and stepfather of Steve Branch, who was one of three 8-year-old boys found murdered in May last year, in a wooded area near where the family used to live in West Memphis . Jesse Misskelley's Confession Like Echols, Misskelley was a high school dropout and was known for getting into fistfights and trouble around town, according to, "To be honest, I didn't really think of him at all," Echols told, But it was the testimony of Misskelley, who was brought in for questioning on June 3, 1993, that led to the teenagers' arrests. Why Were Damien Echols,Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. Investigators soon zeroed in on 18-year-old high school dropout. }); "Compelling and comprehensive," proclaimed a New York Post article. The ensuing manhunt, trials, and convictions captivated the small town and drew big-time media attention. In 1994 . While the Arkansas State and U.S. Supreme Courts repeatedly denied the West Memphis Threes appeals, a new batch of DNA testing done in 2007 showed that no genetic material on the crime scene evidence was a match to Echols, Baldwin or Misskelley, reported the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Some business clients accused him of guilt. me about that one time. Terry Hobbs: "Yeah, I've heard about it, but I don't remember if I've seen it, seems like [signed] Mike Allen, AFFIDAVITS Hobbs says when he got home from work on May 5, 1993, the boys were already out riding their bikes, he never them saw them again. And when I had, uh, had 5 people beat me up and torture me but I lived through it." Later in this portion of his interview he would estimate there were "20 to 40" people searching. }); In 2007, DNA found at the crime scene was tested. eventAction: 'load' Officer: "Mark Byers." They had been slain the night before. . The bodies of Stevie, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers, all eight years old, were found naked, tied with their shoelaces and mutilated in a ditch in West Memphis, Arkansas in May 1993. "I feel like my brother's getting a bad rap," Cindy says in the film, "and somebody needs to say something.". Officer: "Did you go into the woods before you picked up Pam?" Judge rejects West Memphis Three member's request for new DNA - CNN A jury convicted the West Memphis 3 nearly 14 years ago of the murders of three eight-year-old boys: Michael Moore, Stevie Branch and Christopher Byers. Multiple charges and convictions for theft. Terry Hobbs: "Sure." eventAction: 'render' Police intervention in dispute with daughter's boyfriend. Located across from Memphis, on the west bank of the Mississippi River, West Memphis shares many problems with its more famous neighbor. Even if it could be proven to be Hobbs's, however, there's a chance it got on the shoelace through "secondary transfer"in other words, Stevie's shoes might have picked up one of Hobbs's hairs just from lying around at home. That theory is the premise of the latest documentary West of Memphis. Who Killed The Forgotten West Memphis Three? And when I was attacked. It does not seem viable that so many people would be in the woods looking for the boys at this hour. Davis also acknowledged there was a hair discovered in the knot in the shoelace. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), Terry Hobbs | West Memphis 3 murders Wiki | Fandom https://www.localmemphis.com/news/web-extras/web-extra-more-from-terry-hobbs-on-his-book-music, Read Terry Hobbs story about the West Memphis Three murders. WM3 Main Page Since his release, Echols has released three books most recently High Magick: A Guide to the Spiritual Practices That Saved My Life on Death Row. He lives in New York City with his wife, Lorri Davis, whom he married in prison in 1999. Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of eight-year-old victim Stevie Branch, has been named in documents released in Marian, Arkansas by the attorneys for Pam Hobbs, Stevie's mother. MacDonald knows it is not immaterial or he would not have mentioned it. ga('ads.send', { May 10th 1993 note, Officer Calvin Stann Burch, representative of the meager info available from 1993 regarding Terry Hobbs. Exhibited violent temperment evening of murders. ), The tale of three metal-loving misfits who may have been scapegoated for being different resonated with many, including several prominent musicians, celebrities and activists, including Johnny Depp and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder. eventAction: 'click_image_ads' It also suggested that The West Memphis Three were victims of lingering , The tale of three metal-loving misfits who may have been scapegoated for being different resonated with many, including several. "If Michael Moore or Christopher Byers had a piece of my hair on shoes strings, these little boys came to my home and played with our little boy pretty regularly," Hobbs said. The comments below have not been moderated, By Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, Jr.were arrested and convicted for the crimes, despite a majority of the evidence being circumstantial. West Memphis Three: New possible suspects named in the brutal 1993 West Unless Hobbs actually goes on trial, we won't ever know. Jacoby grabbed one of the boys and beat him while Hobbs ordered Lucas and Hollingsworth to grab and hold the other two boys, according to the affidavit. In the end, he says he lives with it, At some point youve got say I got to keep on going. And finally, if youd like to attend a workshop session about writing memoirs and get a little insight into working with Terry and the whole book publishing process, you can sign up here https://hotspringsarts.org/workshop-sign-up/ Its free! Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. Hobbs then left Jacoby's residence by himself. The second Paradise Lost, subtitled Revelations, allows the Three's supporters to suggest the possibility that he killed both her and the kids. Who Were Victims Stevie Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers? Beat up someone who kissed his wife. Terry Hobbs: "Well I think Gary Gitchell had it and I don't know how he got it. Sometimes justice is neither pretty, nor is it perfect, but it was important to take this opportunity to be free., Since their release, West Memphis authorities confirmed that some evidence in the case"might have been destroyed" in a fire "around 15 years ago.". Byers was later cleared, and he and Echols forgave each other. Two were sentenced to life in prison, and the third received the death penalty. Yet while their quest for justice is admirable, with West of Memphis, they have overstepped. }); Close to three decades later, investigators are still stumped by the brutal murders of three young West Memphis, Arkansas, boys that had left the country reeling. As mentioned earlier, Terry Hobbs, like John Mark Byers before him, was fingered as a suspect in 2012's West of Memphis after a hair found at the crime scene was genetically matched to him. He was found guilty of one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in February 1994, according to the Los Angeles Times. Terry Hobbs: "6 - 6:30". #TerryHobbs #WM3, Five years ago Terry was one of the first guests on The Opperman Report. Misskelley still lives in West Memphis and has kept a low profile since his release. or day, whenever. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function(event) { She also found Stevie's pocket knife, which the boy always kept with him, among Hobbs's belongings. The debate rages to this day, and no one has a definitive answer. West Memphis police believe the killers to be three teenagers in a satanic cult: Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley. Read: Emotions run high among parents of slain Arkansas boys (2011) The hair found in the ligature was consistent with Branch's stepfather, Terry Hobbs, while the hair found on the tree. Between the first Paradise Lost film and the second, Byers's wife Melissa died. Terry Hobbs: "You know I don't, I don't know what happened out there in the woods that night, --------------------------------------------, Officer: "Well all I'm asking you is if there is anything that you feel might be, uhh, }); In June 1996, HBO aired Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, the first of three documentaries that took a critical look at the case, highlighting law enforcements questionable investigation tactics and lack of physical evidence tying Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley to the murders.