lastdyingtree
Junior Member
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The West Memphis Three
I'm doing a speech on the Three in a few days and figured this might be a good time to share the story with other people. 3 teenagers were convicted of a crime that many people feel there wasn't enough evidence to link them to. I am amoung the group of people who feel that the West Memphis Three did not recieve an adequate trial. Many pieces of evidence were overlooked or mishandled, there's a possibility of the confession used against the boys by one of the boys was coerced, and new evidence that the courts have seemed reluctant to admit.
So what is the primary reason that these three are in prison? "Satanic Panic." People in the community were searching for an answer and many suggested that the murders were maybe gang/cult related. Since other leads either weren't properly looked into or were leading to nowhere, police were desperate for an answer. Obviously there's much more to the story than I'm sure I could fit here, but if you want to find out more, there's a link in my sig (http://www.wm3.org in case I change it) and there are documentaries HBO put out called Paradise Lost I and II.
I highly recommend them. For even MORE details still, pick up Mara Leveritt's book Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three.
Chris
I'm doing a speech on the Three in a few days and figured this might be a good time to share the story with other people. 3 teenagers were convicted of a crime that many people feel there wasn't enough evidence to link them to. I am amoung the group of people who feel that the West Memphis Three did not recieve an adequate trial. Many pieces of evidence were overlooked or mishandled, there's a possibility of the confession used against the boys by one of the boys was coerced, and new evidence that the courts have seemed reluctant to admit.
So what is the primary reason that these three are in prison? "Satanic Panic." People in the community were searching for an answer and many suggested that the murders were maybe gang/cult related. Since other leads either weren't properly looked into or were leading to nowhere, police were desperate for an answer. Obviously there's much more to the story than I'm sure I could fit here, but if you want to find out more, there's a link in my sig (http://www.wm3.org in case I change it) and there are documentaries HBO put out called Paradise Lost I and II.
I highly recommend them. For even MORE details still, pick up Mara Leveritt's book Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three.
Chris
