Its like ripping a Band-Aid off a wound. When he was released in 2011, he met John Hardin, who worked with the West Memphis Three support group Arkansas Take Action, and the two bonded over a desire to do for others what had just been done for Baldwin. They werent connected in any direct way, Bakken says. The Paradise Lost cameras captured not only the defenses discussions, but the full testimony, in Misskelleys trial, of an expert on coerced confessions. Terry Hobbs says he is a church member, a father, and working man and in no way a killer. Almost 30 years ago, three eight-year-old West Memphis boys were found murdered and three teenagers were charged in the murders. But we stuck with it, and every so often something would happen, and little by little, people would come around., They spread word about the website through online discussion groups and by hanging flyers in the art houses that screened Paradise Lost, and by 2000, WM3.org was getting 4,000 to 8,000 hits a day. The third put forth the unusual theory that the killings were committed as a cult ritual. Its evidence that Damien Echols attorneys wanted to do new DNA testing on. Although the Alford Plea set the West Memphis Three free, they are, at least in the eyes of the law, guilty, and therefore, the state of Arkansas is under no obligation to continue investigating the crimes at this time. They couldnt have been cooler, recalls Berlinger, who would go on to direct the 2004 documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster alongside Bruce Sinofsky. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Updated: 9:42 AM CDT June 11, 2019. The great irony of the 18-year quest to free the West Memphis Three is that it didnt begin as a crusade. Baldwins attorneys even avoided putting him on the witness stand or mounting much of a defense, believing the burden was on the state. Echols is an author and mystic living New York with his wife, architect Lorri Davis. To send flowers or plant a tree in memory of Terry Hobbs, visit the Tribute Store. Because I was thinking, if you haven't done anything, then they can't prove you did something you haven't actually done. While police had focused on Echols and Baldwin in the intervening weeks because of their reputation, the arrests came largely because of a confession by Misskelley, which was leaked to the largest newspaper in the area, the Memphis Commercial Appeal, and ran under the banner headline Teen describes cult torture of boys. At a press conference shortly after the arrests, the lead investigator was asked how confident he felt about the case on a scale of 1-10. Find the obituary of Terry Hobbs (1957 - 2021) from Caldwell, ID. 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. A source said the evidence was transferred to shipping containers where there was a fire, and some of the evidence was destroyed. Spotting a small, black tennis shoe in the water, Jones radioed for help. 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. 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. And yet Hobbs was not interviewed at all in the months after the crimes. That story line would make up the bulk of 2000s Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, a rare sequel for a documentary, especially before the streaming era proved that true crime series like Making a Murderer and The Staircase could maintain audience interest for years. He was 56. On August 19, 2011, all three accepted the deal and were immediately released from prison. Here's when clocks will 'spring forward' in 2023. Misskelley and Echols were 36; Baldwin was 34. None of the initial trio behind WM3.orgnor their friend Lisa Fancher, who later became a key part of the efforthad ever considered themselves an activist to that point. They had a daughter together, Amanda Hobbs, who was 4 years old at the time of her brothers death. 2 When they searched online, they found little to no information about the case. "Everyone has a story and this just happens to be mine," said Hobbs. Update: I was totally wrong. Stating that she would ask around, Hutcheson agreed to "play detective.". However, within the first crucial hours after the bodies were discovered, mistakes were made at the crime scene that negatively impacted the investigation. Due to marital problems stemming from Stevies death, the couple divorced in 2004, reported CNN. He graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1977. I don't entirely think Hobbs did it, but I . William Holford Griffiths. "I knew from when I was real small that people were going to know who I was," Echols said in 1994. Griffis also knew how to spot a Satanist. MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com)More than 25 years after the murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis,a new book gives a first-person account of what was happening behind the scenes. Published by The Commercial Appeal from Jun. Over the course of the initial investigation, a number of alternate suspects and scenarios came to light that were largely ignored or otherwise dismissed by authorities. This case was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, Tennessee Western Bankruptcy. Make a life-giving gesture Mike Allen arrived on the scene. The IMDb credits page for the first Paradise Lost is modest, but impressive. In May of that year, police discovered the bodies of Michael Moore, Stevie Branch, and Christopher Byers in the Robin Hood Hills, a small wooded area near the I-40/I-55 exchange. He died on April 4, 2019 in Panama City Beach, Florida, USA. "People probably think I'm in Satanism because what they don't understand they try to destroy or ridicule. 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. The Alford plea is a seldom-invoked and somewhat confusing legal maneuver, but the basics are fairly straightforward. Family and friends can send flowers and/or light a candle as a loving gesture for their loved one. Few celebrities at the time did as much as Henry Rollins, however. 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. They formed the organization Proclaim Justice, a nonprofit that reinvestigates crimes with the hopes of freeing innocent people. 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 CNN. Over the years there has been lots of speculation and finger pointing as to who was responsible. The idea of killer teens in the Christian South, not any greater sense of purpose, was mainly what intrigued Sheila Nevins, then the head of HBOs documentary division, when she spotted a story about the case on the inside pages of The New York Times. Lying in the open air in near 80-degree temperatures accelerated the decomposition of the bodies. But they never had any physical evidence that connected us to this crime, Echols said in 2012. While thats cooled from the days of concerts in the shadows of the Arkansas Supreme Court building, the documentaries still live on HBO Max, where they pull in new viewers to this day. Im not the judge. (Police questioned Byers several times during the investigation, but never considered him a suspect.) So the minute youre done, you just want to know more. Armchair detectives of today, I think a lot of them dabble in conspiracy theory, Berlinger says. After new DNA evidence was discovered, the West Memphis Three were released from prison in August 2011 by agreeing to an Alford plea, which allowed him to proclaim their innocence while admitting the prosecution had enough evidence to convict him. In August 2011, Jason Baldwin was pulled from his prison cell under confusing circumstances once again. every single person in my class was either . (Shortly after Villegass acquittal, Baldwin had something of a full-circle moment with his client: He took him to a Metallica show in El Paso, Texas, where they hung out backstage on the invitation of Lars Ulrich.). 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. I'm not stupid." The documentarians found me in one of the worst things a person could go through, Baldwin says. Initially, Misskelley repeatedly denied having knowledge of the crime, aside from rumors that Damien Echols was involved. 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. Blood and urine samples from both men were collected and sent to the West Memphis Police Department. He had been expecting a visitation, but was instead led to the prison chapel office, where inmates were typically brought only if someone close to them had died. One person who has come up in the investigation is Terry Hobbs, although police have never named him a suspect or charged him in connection with the case. In 2007, new DNA and physical evidence arose that seemed to further distance the West Memphis Three from the murders. To learn more, watch The Forgotten West Memphis Three on Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, March 29at 8/7c on Oxygen. 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. Berlinger says that after months of filming, the parents of one of the victims raised the issue of payment. To this day, it is still unclear who is responsible for the killings. (Despite Misskelleys statement, the coroners examination found no injuries on the victims consistent with sexual assault.) Everybody Id come in contact with was hostile to the truth, Baldwin says. Explore. Speaking by phone last month, he comes across, in many ways, like the person Berlinger says he encountered in prison in 1994: polite, deferential, soft-spoken. Baldwin remembers grabbing a Mountain Dew and a burrito and sitting down, still unaware of what he was about to watch. It was also revealed in 2012 that Hobbs nephew allegedly told his friends, My Uncle Terry murdered those three little boys," and that the killings were a Hobbs family secret, according to WMC-TV. At the request of West Memphis authorities, the two were picked up and questioned by Oceanside police. Terry Hobbs is the one suspected of murder and the wounds that were inflicted on my nephew were where turtles bit his face. The idea, Berlinger says, was to tell a story of disaffected youthabout kids killing kids., There was no reason not to believe the press, Berlinger says. They saw this movie and they felt like, I have to do something.. She also stated that beyond the single meeting at her trailer, she had no further contact with Echols. More than 25 years after the murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis,a new book gives a first-person account of what was happening behind the sce More than 25 years after the murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis,a new book gives a first-person account of what was happening behind the scenes. Hobbs has never wavered in his conviction that justice was served the first time around. Mara Leveritt, a journalist who followed the case throughout the 1990s and wrote the 2002 book Devils Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three, calls the strain of Christianity that runs through the region very literal and says that even her children faced harassment as teenagers for playing Dungeons & Dragons and listening to Ozzy Osbourne. One of the keys to understanding the West Memphis Three murders is the phenomenon known as the Satanic Panic. Over two decades after the murders, what really happened to Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore on the evening of May 5, 1993, remains a mystery. It allowed them to get out of prison after almost 20 years. Creator Payne Lindsey, a filmmaker with no previous experience investigating crimes, had no connection to the victim before he discovered her while Googling cold cases in hopes of finding his own version of runaway successes like Serial and Making a Murderer. Searching obituaries is a great place to start your family tree research. This is not a smoking-gun-type case.. Terry Hobbs is absolutely terrible. (Its worth noting that despite the issues raised by Lindseys work, the first season of Up and Vanished renewed interest in the case, which ultimately led to arrests, albeit of people that Lindsey hadnt previously covered on the podcast.). In 2004, Vicki Hutcheson recanted her trial testimony, stating that she had lied on the stand. But inside, he was just another prisonerBaldwin didnt know who he could trust. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. (WMC) - Not a single piece of evidence ever connected the West Memphis Three, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, to the 1993 murders of Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore. 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. They were naked and hog-tied with their own shoelaces, and showed signs of blunt force trauma and mutilation, the latter of which may have been the work of wild animals, reported the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper. TERRY HOBBS OBITUARY Terry Roland Hobbs, 62, of Sweetwater, passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2021. Other details that have come to light include that many wounds on the slain children, originally attributed to human bites and/or a serrated blade, were the result of animals feeding on the bodies. Terry Hobbs Memphis 32, 14-Jun, Superior Funeral Home-Hollywood. Well, perhaps not nobody. 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. The next day, their bodies were found in a nearby canal. of Auburndale, FL passed away Monday, August 16, 2021. The news was devastating beyond just word of his friends suffering. Hes subdued when discussing the facts of the case, but he comes alive while recounting his work with the Jaycees while in prison, or buying Metallicas Black Album when it came out in 1991. Even though they said they didnt murder the three boys, they are technically convicted killers. And that makes him hopeful that exoneration is on the horizon. The final scene Berlinger and Sinofsky filmed may have been the piece that stuck with viewers the most: the image of Baldwin and Echols being led out of the courthouse in handcuffs and bulletproof vests, now property of the state. I wouldn't do something like that. A graveside service will be conducted on Wednesday, March 17 at Cloverdale Memorial Park beginning at 11am. Although the bodies were discovered at 1:30 p.m., investigators didn't call the coroner until 3:58 p.m. By the time the coroner arrived, fly larvae were already present in the nostrils and eyes of the victims. Quality. Rather, they were fighting for something they believed in. Mojo jumped up, Baldwin recalls. The Messed Up Truth About The West Memphis Three Murders, citing the discovery of her son's favorite pocket knife, One of the prosecution's key pieces of evidence linking Jason Baldwin, With their 2007 request for a new trial rejected, Baldwin is the co-founder of the legal advocacy organization Proclaim Justice. Over the years there has been lots of speculation and finger pointing as to who was responsible. 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. The sneaker ligatures in which Terry Hobbs' DNA was found in," Soury said . Boxful of Nightmares is the personal memoirs of Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of one of the children murdered. Terry Hobbs (1969 - 2019) Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers (Nightmare Vacation II) (1988) [Rob Darrinco]: Stabbed and hanged (after gaging), off-screen by Pamela Springsteen in Walter Gotell's office; his body is shown afterwards when Carol Martin Vines discovers him. Nobody was saying, This is an outrageous case that needs to be looked into.. Events. 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. They saw the same thing you did. Like everyone else who was familiar with the case, they wanted to know who committed the crimes, but their main goal was advocacy, not using the opportunity to play investigators. All of those factors combined to create a tipping point, says Leveritt. Titled West of Memphis, the film, directed by Amy J. Berg, presents an overview of the West Memphis Three's 18 years in prison, the revelation of new evidence, and explores the possibility of an alternate suspect. Bray asked her if she knew about rumored cult activity in the community. But its closing moments point to how the filmmakers felt: that a horrific tragedy had just been compounded by a monumental miscarriage of justice. They procured the domain WM3.org and made a website, updating it with whatever information they could track down. The three teens were arrested after Misskelley said they committed the crime after 12 hours of interrogation. Also part of the plea was the provision that the three could not sue the state. Two of the West Memphis Three's most ardent supporters were director Peter Jackson, best known for The Lord of the Rings films, and his partner Fran Walsh. Id like to see this put to rest. In her recantation, Hutcheson stated that when she asked Echols directly if he had killed "those three kids," he replied, "No. 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. https://t.co/dXOtQkmjee. 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. He responded proudly, 11.. They were released after prosecutors agreed to an Alford plea, in which the men maintained their innocence but pleaded guilty. To bolster their assertions that the killings were related to occult activity despite virtually no evidence prosecutors brought in their own so-called expert on cult murders. Luminol tests, which reveal the hidden presence of blood, were not performed at the scene until six days later. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. (Maines briefly became a part of the story when Terry Hobbs, stepfather of another of the victims, sued her for defamation after she wrote a blog post pointing out that physical evidence at the crime scene potentially pointed at him and not the three convicted for the crime. 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. Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care. Griffis also found the devil in nearly every number associated with the crime. But they werent just voices in the growing choir calling for the West Memphis Threes releasethey were leading the movement. This is before considering the 2013 dramatized movie based on the events (and Leveritts book), Stidhams plans to release the book Harvest of Innocence, and how elements of the case made their way into True Detectives third season. 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. Yes, the West Memphis Three are out of prison, but as long as they are considered guilty in the eyes of the state, the case is closed, meaning no further investigation can occur. November 03, 2021 November 4, 2021 . It was clear that Paradise Lost was resonating. In 1996, HBO released the documentary film Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. The first and likely simplest gauge is continued interest in the case. The case status is Pending - Other Pending. The idea of the average citizen becoming embroiled in a criminal investigation isn't far-fetched in 2021, . It was also revealed in 2012 that Hobbs nephew allegedly told his friends, My Uncle Terry murdered those three little boys," and that the killings were a Hobbs family secret, according to, 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. Misskelley initially told police that the killings happened during the day; knowing that they actually occurred some time after dusk, the officers corrected him, helping him retrofit his story to the cases few known facts. It ranges from Mark Byers, the crusading stepfather who became one of the West Memphis Threes biggest allies in the years before his 2020 death, to famed FBI criminal profiler (and Mindhunter inspiration) John E. Douglas. Other possible suspects includedBrian Holland and Chris Morgan, two young men from Memphis, Tenn., with a history of drug offenses. Terry Hobbs's income source is mostly from being a successful Actor. Evidence in West Memphis Three case missing or destroyed, Judge sets bond for 76-year-old woman accused of killing terminally ill husband, Woman accused of driving into home, killing former pro basketball player Galen Young granted diversion, DA Mulroy says he doubts any drag shows will violate Tennessees new drag bill, MPD finds alleged chop shop operating in plain sight, Congressman Cohen announces $1 million grant for Memphis YMCA, Red hot Memphis womens basketball ready to make a run in AAC Tournament. And without substantial physical evidence, police zeroed in on a pair of teens they knew well: Echols, a self-professed Wiccan who wore all black and read Stephen King, and his best friend Baldwin, who was considered an outsider because of his love of drawing and bands like Metallica. The community's worst fears were confirmed. All of them were convicted after Misskelley confessed to helping Echols and Baldwin with the murders, which he later recanted. Terry Roland Hobbs <p>Terry Roland Hobbs, 62, of Sweetwater, passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2021.</p> <p>Terry was born on September 11, 1959 in Sweetwater, to Jack Harvey and Marjorie Hobbs .Terry graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1977. TSGT Terry Lee Hobbs, USAF, ret. The pair abruptly fled to Oceanside, Calif., four days after the murders. In West Memphis, Hobbs worked as an ice cream delivery man and Hicks worked at a restaurant. But Berlinger also believes that the sequel is important for documenting the power of citizen activism. I didn't even comprehend that the situation could get this serious that it can go this far. By getting to the story quickly, the directors were able to document the post-arrest period and two trials that followed in painstaking detail. Share Memories & Support the Family. Its headlined by not only the films directors, but also Sheila Nevins, its executive producer and winner of 32 individual Emmy awards, more than any other person in history. October 14, 2017: #26 on the JazzWeek chart! Now, evidence from the case of the West Memphis Three is either missing or destroyed. The sheer mountain moving amount of money it cost to prove the obvious innocence of Jessie, Jason, and Damien still staggers me. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Sinofsky family connection aside, Berlinger says this was an important part of the film: The prosecutors had put heavy metal lyrics and Baldwins and Echolss Metallica fandom on trial as much as the teens themselves. 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? It was a call about Damien Echolshe wasnt dead, but his wife, Lorri Davis, feared he might be soon. Show more Show more What's next for West. Its affected a lot of lives, but for some reason it keeps being brought up, said Hobbs. The test results showed that no genetic material on the crime scene evidence was a match to Echols, Baldwin or Misskelley, reported the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Terry Hobbs was born in 1958 and grew up in Northern Arkansas. Although the appeals were repeatedly denied, a new batch of DNA testing done in 2007 reignited the investigation. It'll be sort of like I'm the West Memphis boogeyman. After ending his first marriage, he wed Pamela Hicks Branch in 1986, when her son Stevie was almost 2 years old. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family. 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 this first confession, Miskelley often agreed to details suggested by the police or attributed to prior statements which he did not make. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of Terry Hobbs to show support. (Echolswho is in better health today, though his eyesight has degenerated and he has premature arthritis from his time in solitary confinementin particular has maintained a relatively public life, through the five books hes published, performing magic for Patreon subscribers, and making TV appearances to discuss other cases he sees as similar to his.) 34465541-95D0-45B0-BEEB-B9E0361A315A The first being that boys were killed by someone they knew. Replacing Burnett was Circuit Court Judge David Laser. That came partially through the exposure they got through this film., But perhaps the best measure of Paradise Losts impact is the work being done by Baldwin today. The obituary was featured in Idaho Press Tribune on March 13, 2021. Berlinger and Sinofsky began to take notice. As the appeals processes stretched across several years and the buzz of the initial film faded, the directors began looking for ways to keep the story alive. Misskelley, who reportedly had an IQ of 72, changed his story several times, and only a small part of his statements was recorded. But for every Your Own Backyard or Ill Be Gone in the Dark that has applied journalistic rigor to their research in the past two decades, theres an Up and Vanished, which has been at the center of ethical debates since the podcast debuted in 2016. Robin Lynn Jones. He just didnt know it would take another 14 years to happen. He began his career in the plumbing business at a very young age, workingfor his . Terry Hobbs passed away in Nampa, Idaho. The second is by looking at it as an act of passion and perseverance. More than 2,500 people attended and the story dominated the local press for days. On 04/08/2021 Terry Hobbs was filed as a Bankruptcy - Chapter 13 lawsuit. He said, J.B., youre going home, man, youre going home.. 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. We were mainly in it for the aesthetics of filmmaking, but the last scene of Paradise Lost, when Damien is chained up and sent away to death row, that was just heartbreaking and devastating for us, Berlinger says. He had always maintained he didnt commit the crimes, and outside the Varner Units walls, a growing chorus of activists and legal observers were arguing that same thing on his behalf. This family in-fighting led to him shooting his brother-in-law. The specter of the church looms over Paradise Lost, best represented by an early scene in which Mark Byers leads his congregation in prayer and song. 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. That November, he says, HBO agreed to give an honorariumroughly $5,000to the families on both sides. With a large population of fundamentalist Christians, the American South was particularly subject to occult paranoia. Terry Hobbs stated both family and co-workers believed he was guilty from day one and continued to believe him guilty after the trial and convictions of the West Memphis Three. 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. Some believe the West Memphis Three are guilty to this day, and others, including some victims family members, point to their innocence and maintain the real perpetrator is still at large. During the trials of Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols, Griffis drew tenuous links between circumstantial evidence, such as the killings taking place near the date of the pagan festival of Beltane. A statement he made to the producers of Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills did little to help his public image.
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