While i do not post or come here often now, i am still VERY active within the prison system. These guys by all accounts should NEVER of been convicted and it gives me hope for the many still incarcerated waiting for release. Please take a minute to read if you are unfamiliar with their case.
August 19, 2011:
We mark the release of Damien Echols from death row and co-defendants Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin – both serving life terms – with a somber sense of gratitude.
We are pleased that Damien Echols does not now face the prospect of an execution for the murders of three 8-year-old boys.
Last post
Words cannot contain my joy that this well overdue day has finally come. The no contest plea deal is a ridiculous display of the state of Arkansas's stubborn refusal to admit wrong, but at least Damien, Jason and Jesse can now make the choice to live their lives and put it behind them or continue to try and free their names from the outside.
I have been following this case for many years, written letters to government officials and handed out flyers when Henry Rollins did his world tour to raise funds for the case. This case is the reason I started writing to inmates and a big impetus for my going to law school.
It's not justice for the wrongly convicted or for the victims, but it's a step in the right direction.
Then who killed the boys? My brother was in boy scouts so this hits a little close to home.
This case is just one of the many reasons I'm
anti Death Penalty.
When ever in doubt think it over very
carefully.
EXACTLY what she said.
This case is so strange one would think
it could be a Stephen King novel.
Just kind of wondering how they will do on
the "outside" world after alll these years in
prison.
Sadly I'm guessing it will be hard.
So sad really those guys are going to have to learn everything out here...I bet there isnt gonna be any rehabilitation for them to enter back into society.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/08/20/west-memphis-three-ex-death-row-in…
Update on first night of freedom.They all have so much support, as was stated in this article, Damien was 3 weeks away at one stage from execution. To think a man was once deemed such a danger he was not aloud to hug his wife, but today he sleeps as a free man, from bars anyway.
As for being integrated with society, that's a joke for many men and women. Some leave with only a bus ticket and little else, (especially now where they are not allowed to have there own clothes in some states, they can walk out in a paper suit they usually use for transporting) even those from supermax prisons. One day you are such a threat you have to be shackled feet, waist and hands before going to the showers with no less than 2 to escort you, then next you walk outside the gates. Something wrong with that picture. Sometimes i am amazed at how long some of these guys stay out with no support, other times no wonder they are back in within the month and society calls for harsher penalties.
As the story states, one minute you are looking at execution, no contact in years, the next you have your freedom as far as a cage goes, but then you have a whole bunch of other doors to open with your mental health issues.
Sorry, I can't work out if you're actually asking who else is a viable suspect or expressing disbelief in their innocence? (So hard to tell on the internet!)
Smiley, thanks for posting that last story, loved that (Apart from the prosecutor's comment at the end, ugh!)
I so agree. Couldn't of said it better.
I am just curious if they had any other suspects.I am very happy that they know they have the wrong men and are releasing them. I hope all the best for these men. I have very little knowledge on this case, so I can't comment on much else. I just hope the real people who did this are caught.
There are other suspects. It's hard to say how well investigated others were in 1993, police claim they were, others claim it was a Damien Echols focussed investigation all along. Some of those suspects are known to police and some are unidentified strangers.
In 2007 new DNA testing was done. Results found nothing from the accused, much from the victims and some from neither, including that of one of the victim's stepfathers and a friend who he had been with on the day of the murders. It was this evidence that led to the series of hearings and appeals which eventually freed the three men.
Basically, Arkansas is unlikely to catch the real killers because they aren't looking. Prosecutors are basically saying that they are guilty but that the evidence would have led to a new trial which the state couldn't properly prosecute 18 years after the murders so they had to make a deal. It is likely that investigations will continue within the supporters' side.
If you're interested in the other suspects, there's a decent run down on the wm3 wiki page.
Thanks for the info!
Thanks for the info!
It was wonderful news to have them out, not a complete victory but they are out nonetheless.. have followed this case from nearly the beginning, and was involved in many of the support group activities even passed their flyers onto Hurricane Carter when I met him at my university during our social injustice week, he gave a wonderful presentation then a book signing, and what a wonderful man so positive... I hope that one day their names are cleared, the perpetrator(s) are found, and that they can live successful lives despite.. Just another sign of our legal system, what a mess.
Your not wrong their, I'm happy so many good people worked tirelessly for their release and it all came to be. Just an update......
(Arkansas – March 14, 2012) Another anonymous donor has come forward and, as a result, Damien Echols’s defense team has doubled the amount of the reward to $200,000 to find the real killers of the three young boys in the West Memphis 3 case.
We do not intend to stop until those responsible are brought to justice, and those who spent half their lives imprisoned are exonerated.”
Confidential Tip Line 501.256.1775 or send information to PO Box 183, 6834 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, AR 72207. See .......
Free West Memphis 3.