Episode 497: The West Memphis Three- Part 2

Apr 9

The West Memphis Three case centers on the brutal 1993 murders of three eight-year-old boys—Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers—in West Memphis, Arkansas. Police arrested three teenagers, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr., who became known as the West Memphis Three. In part 2 we'll go over Jesse and Damien’s trials and how the prosecution argued the killings were part of a satanic ritual, a claim influenced by the era’s “Satanic Panic.” Jesse did confess to the murders after a long interrogation, which became a key piece of evidence, though he later recanted the confession and it’s been heavily debated over the years. What do you think?

Sources for this episode:

https://vocal.media/criminal/the-west-memphis-three

https://famous-trials.com/westmemphis/2243-transcripts

https://www.oxygen.com/the-forgotten-west-memphis-three/true-crime-buzz/who-is-terry-hobbs-stepfather-stevie-branch

https://arktimes.com/news/cover-stories/1997/12/26/the-strange-demise-of-melissa-byers

https://katv.com/news/local/evidence-sent-for-new-dna-testing-as-west-memphis-three-seek-exoneration-jeff-rosenzweig-dan-stidham-bode-laboratories-damien-echols-jessie-misskelley-jason-baldwin-wm3-paradise-lost-robinhood-hills-murders-satanic-panic-crimes-arkansas-hysteria

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-regional-news/2025-08-03/judge-allows-new-dna-testing-in-west-memphis-three-case&ved=2ahUKEwjVsuH75Y6UAxUblokEHdagI4MQxfQBKAB6BAgIEAE&usg=AOvVaw2pS0MpV321Whl0mSXvsSIU

https://web.archive.org/web/20161130185104/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/how-rockers-helped-free-the-west-memphis-three-20110901

https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/05/us/youth-is-convicted-in-slaying-of-3-boys-in-an-arkansas-city.html

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/sep/13/echols-asks-judge-force-police-follow-open-records/?latest

http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2009/oct/02/appeals-continue-slayings-ark-boys-93

https://www.autopsyfiles.org/reports/Other/west%20memphis%20three/byers,%20christopher.pdf