RIDGE: Okay, and when you left, did you hear any more hollering or anything? RIDGE:Now these meetings, have they ever been violent, anybody gotten mad and got into a fight? RIDGE:okay, wearing blue jeans, he had on a metalica shirt, now this is a shirt thats got metalica across the front of it spelled out, and a mans name, or picture, is that right? RIDGE: Has he ever had sex with them before? Officials failed to drain the creek in a timely manner and secure possible evidence in the water (the creek was sandbagged after the bodies were pulled from the water). When the bodies proved to have been discovered near where Aaron indicated, Bray asked Aaron for further details, and Aaron claimed that he had witnessed the murders committed by Satanists who spoke Spanish. [21], The citing of a black male as a possible alternate suspect was implied during the beginning of the Misskelley trial. And Susie Brewer Boggan says she is now out of Jessie Misskelley's life. The three were accused and convicted of a triple homicide in West Memphis, Arkansas. [11], The autopsies by forensic pathologist Frank J. Peretti indicated that Byers died of "multiple injuries",[11] while Moore and Branch died of "multiple injuries with drowning".[12][13]. GITCHELL: Now youre talking about bottom, do you mean right here? He is currently single. [49] She also claims that an audiotape the police said was "unintelligible" (and that they eventually lost) was perfectly clear and contained no incriminating statements. He lived with his mother, Sharon Melissa Byers, his adoptive father, John Mark Byers, and his stepbrother, Shawn Ryan Clark, aged 13. JESSIE: I got a little bit ways out of there and got half a mile up the road, is when I threw up, and couldnt hardly run and I just threw up. Code Ann. At trial, the defense team argued that news articles from the time could have been the source for Echols' knowledge about the genital mutilation, and Echols said his knowledge was limited to what was "on TV". JESSIE: Right after I they beat up all three of them, and beat them up real bad. None was found to match DNA from Echols, Baldwin, or Misskelley. Echols is married, an author, and a movie producer who travels the world. Judge Laser then sentenced them to time served, a total of 18 years and 78 days, and they were each given a suspended imposition of sentence for 10 years. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, dark shoes, and a white long-sleeved shirt. GITCHELL: Was uh, where you all close to the creek at that point? Misskelley agreed to introduce Hutcheson to Echols. RIDGE: What time is it right now? GITCHELL: How long have you been involved in it? (No one knew that the three boyus would be together; Steve Branch was told to be home in 15 minutes, Chris Byers was prohibited from being the RHH woods the idea that it was a targeted killing of these boys doesnt even come close to fitting). RIDGE:Youve been back to this place since that murder. (Listen to the inflection in his voice obviously suggesting an answer). To assist in the appeals process, Echols' appellate legal team retained a Berkeley, California-based forensic psychiatrist, Dr. George Woods, to make their case. (Jessie does not state the location of the crime scene; Ridge tells him, and Jessie repeats it. And what did they tell you on the telephone? April 11, 1977, West Memphis, Arkansas, U.S.), and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. (b. July 10, 1975). Currently in the office with Jessie Lloyd Misskelly, Jr., DOB:7/10/75, education: 9th grade, the place: Detective Division, todays date is 06/03/93, the time is 2:44Pm. RIDGE: At 9 oclock in the morning? Two other defendants await trial in Arkansas. His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. The crime and investigation. JESSIE: No, he wasnt wearing anything like that. The counsel representing the men said they would continue to pursue full exoneration. RIDGE: He didnt tell you that he hid it somewhere? RIDGE: Has he done things with them before? JESSIE: They had had some houses, trees and stuff, (Trees, houses, and stuff?? [66] In 2007, Pamela Hobbs, the mother of victim Stevie Branch, joined those who have publicly questioned the verdicts, calling for a reopening of the verdicts and further investigation of the evidence. (She had . RIDGE:They havent talked to you about this? Celebrities and musicians held fundraisers to support efforts to free the men. She had a conversation with Misskelley, who was behind bars at the time, before he went to trial. [96] After his release, he has worked on a number of additional media projects. Also presented in the filing was new expert testimony that the supposed knife marks on the victims, including the injuries to Byers' genitals, were in fact the result of animal predation after the bodies had been dumped.[55]. JESSIE:Just thought, what happened to them real bad, just thought. RIDGE: Im not saying when they called you. JESSIE:Ive been in it for about three months. Early in the investigation, the WMPD briefly regarded two West Memphis teenagers as suspects. . GITCHELL: Where did the boys put their bikes? Each man then entered an Alford plea to lesser charges of first- and second-degree murder while verbally stating their innocence. RIDGE: Alright, where were they at? Note:This is a transcription of the taped confession of Jessie Misskelley, Jr. regarding the murder of Chris Byers, Steve Branch and Michael Moore. And be truthful. The police did not telephone the coroner until almost two hours after the discovery of the floating shoe, resulting in a late appearance by the coroner. RIDGES:Cutting him in the face. I can't help it you just laid on a bed and laid there,'" said Boggan. RIDGE:You havent heard anybody? A hair identified as belonging to a black male was later recovered from a sheet wrapped around one of the victims. . [21] Morgan was presumed to be at least casually familiar with all three murdered boys, having previously driven an ice cream truck route in their neighborhood. The defense's expert testified that the mark in question was not an adult bite mark, while experts put on by the State concluded that there was no bite mark at all. The location was widely reported in the media in May 1993). Discover Jessie Misskelley's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. RIDGE:Okay, has Jason and Damien talked to you since this happened? JESSIE: He was wearing some blue jeans and boots, army boots like, RIDGE:Army boots? Jessie Misskelleys income source is mostly from being a successful Producer. He was preceded in death by his spouse, Kathy Bartoush; his daughter, Loretta Townsend; and his parents and other siblings. [59] If they re-offend they can be sent back to prison for 21 years. "We were writing each other two years before he got out. (Jessie indicates here he leaves directly after Damien and Jason reach Michael, yet he is then led on to continue his story). 3:30 PM - 7:00 PM - Jessie with Susie Brewer. Damien Wayne Echols (born Michael Wayne Hutchison,[85] December 11, 1974) was on death row, locked-down 23 hours per day at the Varner Unit Supermax. His parents divorced when he was four years old & shortly afterward his mother married John Mark Byers, who adopted the boy. [9] On May 9, during a formal interview by Detective Bryn Ridge, Echols mentioned that one of the victims had wounds to the genitals; law enforcement viewed this knowledge as incriminating. Following their convictions, Echols, Misskelley, and Baldwin submitted imprints of their teeth. Misskelley and Echols had dropped out of high school; however, Baldwin earned high grades and demonstrated a talent for drawing and sketching, and was encouraged by one of his teachers to study graphic design in college. RIDGE: Yeah, you dont know what time it is? They got their GED in jail. RIDGE: This is Det. [48], After an expert examined autopsy photos and noted what he thought might be the imprint of a belt buckle on Byers' corpse, the elder Byers revealed to the police that he had spanked his stepson shortly before the boy disappeared. The record on appeal spells out a long history of Echols' mental health problems, including a May 5, 1992, Arkansas Department of Youth Services referral for possible mental illness, a year to the day before the murders. GITCHELL: Okay, what is kept inside of that briefcase? In 1994, a memorial was erected for the three murder victims. (*****During this statement Jessie says that the boys were beaten by Damien and Jason with their fists, then he is asked if they were hit with sticks, and he answers yes. GITCHELL: You didnt touch the bikes? Dropout Found Guilty in Deaths of 3 Boys : Crime: Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr., 18, is sentenced to life in prison for the brutal slayings. (They have to make sure again that Jessie knows what a penis is? GITCHELL:Did you have some blood on your clothes? Misskelley, 42, is accused of driving without a license, no vehicle insurance, and driving a vehicle with one or more headlights. (Ridge leads Jessie again; Jessie doesnt state on his own where he was, he is told. [citation needed]. JESSIE: Damien had kinda of a big old stick when he hit that first one, after he hit him with his fist and knocked him down and got him a big old stick and hit him. Prosecution experts claim Byers' wounds were the results of a knife attack and that he had been purposely castrated by the murderer; defense experts claim the injuries were most likely the result of post-mortem animal predation. Jessie Misskelley, Sr. of Marion, AR September 5, 1938 - February 21, 2021 Jessie Loyd Misskelley,Sr. JESSIE:We go out kill dogs and stuff and then carry girls out there. JESSIE: Well after, all of this stuff happened that night, that they done it, I went home about noon, then they called me at 9 oclock that night, they called me. I had always assumed that my son's murderer had taken the knife during the crime. RIDGE: Okay. (Jessie Misskelly did not have access to a phone at this time. RIDGE: In the woods. GITCHELL: How many pictures did you see, altogether? RIDGE: okay, now when its going on, when this is taking place, you under you saw somebody with a knife, who had a knife? Up there behind the Goodyear place? RIDGE: Are you sure that he was the one that was cut? RIDGE:When you left from there, did you leave running? Jessie Misskelley lives life out of the spotlight, Jessie Misskelley Lives Life Out Of The Spotlight, Reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley report to prison, This has been the worst Ive ever been through: 97-year-old woman attacked by granddaughter, drunk, police say. GITCHELL: Does just everybody takes a turn. (Yet,again, Ridge get him to keep telling his story). In his efforts to win a new trial, Echols, 27 at the time of the appeal, claimed he was incompetent to stand trial because of a history of mental illness. (Impossible time; the boys were in school. JESSIE:Ive seen them once that night, I seen them with it that night. [16] Christopher Mark Byers is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery East in Memphis, Tennessee.[17]. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family. Jessie Misskelley Jessie Misskelley returned home to West Memphis after his release, the only one out of the WM3 who decided to stay in the area. After the documentary crew returned to New York, Berlinger and Sinofsky were reported to have discovered what appeared to be blood on the knife. RIDGE:About the size of a baseball bat, maybe just a little bit bigger round? JESSIE:No, he didnt borrow mine. It is not yet known whether the jury had an accurate transcript that included the next, critical portion wherein Jessie is told they are correcting his statement ]]]. [91], Echols' lawyers claimed that his condition worsened during the trial, when he developed a "psychotic euphoria that caused him to believe he would evolve into a superior entity" and eventually be transported to a different world. RIDGE:Was anything on his shirt? [59], Echols relocated to Salem, Massachusetts with his wife and has no intentions of returning to Arkansas. (The knife that was eventually introduced into evidence as the possible murder weapon did not match this descriptionit was a hunting-type knife). Jessie Misskelley after his murder conviction. Police believed the boys were assaulted and killed at the location where they were found; critics argued that the assault, at least, was unlikely to have occurred at the creek. He is in a relationship with a woman who befriended him while he was in prison. Echols spent several months in a mental institution in Arkansas and afterward received "full disability" status from the Social Security Administration. He appeared in district court Monday. Even if they were notinthe park at 9 a.m. it would not take three hours to walk from their homesorLakeshore, which is where, JESSIE: No . Each had achieved the rank of "Wolf" in the local Cub Scout pack and were best friends.[15]. Bryn Ridge of the West Memphis Police Department, currently in the detective division of the West Memphis Police Department conducting an investigation of the Triple Homicide, Case File # 93-05-0666. RIDGE:Did you see any of the boys actually killed? JESSIE: When I was there, I saw Damien hit this one (pause) hit this one boy real bad, and then uh, and then he started screwing them and stuff and then uh, (There is no evidence from the Medical Examiner whatsoever that any of the boys were raped; it was inconclusive. RIDGE:Did anybody see you leaving? For the former Australian rules footballer, see, DNA testing and new physical evidence (2007). RIDGE: When youve been by yourself, and Im sure in the last three weeks youve been by yourself with them sometime. RIDGE: Alright, when did they take their clothes off? In an interview with Piers Morgan, he said that he would like to have a career in writing and visual arts.[95]. GITCHELL:Were your clothes wet still? JESSIE: Thats where I seen them going down at, and he was on his back. They called for these boys to come over there? (As unusual a character as Damien was, youd think the local photo developer might have remembered him coming in to get pictures developed especially when those photos were of kids who later turn up murdered; or theyd have found a camera or some corroboration?). Seeing a bruised up photo taken later would explain this statement; a recollection of the events as they were occurring could not). (Hello? During the trial, the prosecution asserted that the juveniles killed the children as part of a Satanic ritual. On May 15, 1993, Jessie Misskelley, and his older friend David Sims, who was 22-years-old at the time, and his younger friend, Dennis Carter, who was 15, had called the police from a bowling Alley stating they had seen three little boys, who were around 8 or 9 years old fleeing from a man near some train tracks. The phone would have been in use at Jasons at the time Jessie says the call occurred. JESSIE: Yeah, weve been in the water, we were in it that night, playing around in it. How close would he have to be behind Damien to have his view of the bikes blocked? ALSO, the Commercial Appeal, local newspaper, picked up chatter about the murders on their police scanner, hearing about the castration, and printed it in the next days paper. [82], On August 19, 2011, Misskelley, along with Baldwin and Echols, entered an Alford plea. JESSIE: He choked him real bad and all. [30] Critics have also stated that Misskelley's various "confessions" were in many respects inconsistent with each other, as well as with the particulars of the crime scene and murder victims, including (for example) an "admission" that Misskelley watched Damien rape one of the boys. Now we have a briefcase there that night whereas seconds ago, they didnt. Also, my sister Jo Lynn told me that she saw Terry wash clothes, bed linens and curtains from Stevie's room at an odd time around the time of the Murders. JESSIE: A friend of mine, he borrowed them. RIDGE:Wouldnt have any problem with that? JESSIE: Yeah, thats where he was cut at. RIDGE:Was it a knife that you fold up, or was it like a hunting knife? Trace amounts of sperm DNA were found on a pair of pants recovered from the scene. Alright, another boy was cut I understand, where was he cut at? (Detective Ridge testified that he was unaware on this date that Jessie had a mental handicap. 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