‘West Memphis Three’ history

Thursday, Feb. 27, 2003 | 1:02 a.m.

On May 5, 1993, three second graders were reported missing in West Memphis, Ark. The next day, the bodies of 8-year-old boys Steven Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore were discovered in a nearby creek, brutally slain.

Less than one month later, three teens Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley were arrested and charged with the murders, which police and prosecutors claimed stemmed from the three older boys alleged interest in the occult.

Baldwin, Echols and Misskelley were all convicted in the subsquent trial. Echols received the death penalty, while Misskelley and Baldwin were sentenced to life in prison and 40 years, respectively, both without the possibility of parole. Ten years later all three remain jailed, with Echols still on death row.

In 1996 HBO aired "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills," a documentary about the murders and trials. Public opinion began to swell in favor of the convicted "West Memphis Three" after the program revealed numerous legal irregularities, from breaks in the chain of evidence to under-pursued leads.

In 2000 HBO revisited the case with "Paradise Lost 2: Revelations." The second documentary fueled further outrage, presenting new evidence, including bite marks on one of the victims that do not match any of the three convicted men.

For more information on the West Memphis Three, visit wm3.org. For information on the victims, visit geocities.com/SiliconValley/Vista/6119/memorial.html

Spencer Patterson