To date, no DNA evidence from the crime scene can be linked to Damien Echols, Baldwin, or Jessie Misskelley. 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. Hobbs said, I still believe in my heart that Jessie, Jason, and Damion Echols are responsible for what happened to our children., He added, You look at what happened and then you wonder, what if this did not happen, where would our boys be today? She has since expressed her belief that her ex-husband was involved in the murders,citing the discovery of her son's favorite pocket knife in Terry Hobbs' belongings. (Maines briefly became a part of the story when Terry Hobbs, stepfather of another . Terry Lee Hobbs Obituary (1964 - 2021) | Auburndale, FL - Echovita Family and friends can send flowers and/or light a candle as a loving gesture for their loved one. Classmates at Weaver Elementary School, the three were active in their Cub Scout troop and responsible enough to be trusted to roam their neighborhood without supervision. It'll be sort of like I'm the West Memphis boogeyman. 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. Mojo had a different idea of what might get the man he affectionately called J.B. out of prison. Terry Hobbs USAF Ret. According to Dan Stidham, the attorney for Misskelley, that money became essential for the cash-strapped defense teams, who needed to pay for expert witnesses and other expenses. He responded proudly, 11.. Pam Hobbs divorced Terry Hobbs in 2004 and has reversed her position on the West Memphis Three's guilt. In the joint trial of Baldwin and Echols, which took place separately from Misskelleys, Berlinger and Sinofsky filmed the surreal moments that juries were actually present for: a rundown of the books Echols checked out of the library, a parade of band T-shirts worn by the pair, a copy of a Blue Oyster Cult record found in Damiens girlfriends house that became evidence because of the word cult and song titles like Dont Fear the Reaper. What the cameras couldnt capture, however, was the introduction of physical evidencethe prosecution didnt offer much of that aside from a knife that was never directly linked to the crimes and fabric threads deemed microscopically similar to items found in Baldwins and Echolss homes, an assertion that has been questioned in the years since the trials. It's affected a lot of lives, but for some reason it keeps being brought up," said Hobbs. Griffis also found the devil in nearly every number associated with the crime. The second postulated that they had been slain by one or more strangers. Terry Hobbs Obituary (2021) - Nampa, ID - Idaho Press Tribune - Legacy.com Terry Hobbs Obituary Hobbs described what it was like the day the three walked free. Well, perhaps not nobody. . doesn't know how to teach the material and you will end up teaching yourself everything. People have come out of the woodwork and said this and this and people have done things and a lot of them are wrong, said Hobbs. . As the movement to free the West Memphis Three gained traction, a number of celebrities joined the cause, bringing the case under more scrutiny. The state of Arkansas continues to attempt to prevent this testing from happening., New technology and advances in science would now allow us to test DNA in amounts so small that it would have been previously impossible. Attorneys for Echols have submitted a formal request to inspect the records that are available, involving cataloguing of the evidence as well as information on the loss of the evidence. 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. Like Misskelley in the first trial, Baldwin received a life sentence. William Holford Griffiths. Bakken immediately showed her friends Burk Sauls and Grove Pashley, who were both equally gripped by what they had just watched. It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Terry Lee Hobbs of Auburndale, Florida, born in Winter Haven, Florida, who passed away on August 16, 2021, at the age of 56, leaving to mourn family and friends. 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. Paso Robles, California. The idea of the average citizen becoming embroiled in a criminal investigation isnt far-fetched in 2021, decades removed from the launch of WM3.org. That the slain boys were each 8 years-old was important because eight was a "witch's number." Their advocates believe the Alford pleas represent their own form of injustice, but correcting that is a less pressing issue than the early battlesthe men are free and have been able to mostly live their lives in the years since their release. Its evidence that Damien Echols attorneys wanted to do new DNA testing on. The next day, their bodies were found in a nearby canal. - The West Memphis 3: Free (2012) . New access to evidence thought destroyed in 1993 'West Memphis - KAIT After 18 years in prison, the West Memphis Three were finally free, but not exonerated. "They said close to the crime scene because at one time I did walk near where they had found the kids with Terry Hobbs But I didn't wear hats back then, my hair could have blown around anywhere, Jacoby told Memphis NBC affiliate WMC-TV in 2013. Hobbs said, I still believe in my heart that Jessie, Jason, and Damion, 'Feels Like Home:' electrical failure from a light fixture caused December fire that killed 1, Shelby County reporting an increase in drug-related overdoses, largely due to fentanyl, Severe weather threat is over | Prepare for a sunny weekend, Daylight saving time starts soon. Blood and urine samples from both men were collected and sent to the West Memphis Police Department. They even hired experts to examine the case, including a forensic criminal profiler who discovered what appeared to be bite marks on one of the victims that didnt match any of the convicted. At the time of the West Memphis Three trial, Griffis claimed to have given seminars to 38,000 police officers all over the globe. 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. To learn more, watch The Forgotten West Memphis Three on Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, March 29at 8/7c on Oxygen. West Memphis is pretty much like a second Salem," Echols stated in the 1996 documentary Paradise Lost: The Murders at Robin Hood Hills. California exodus continues as population drops by 500,000 - Los 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. Hobbs denied seeing the boys that night and questioned why eyewitness evidence surfaced 16 years later. 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. He began his career in the plumbing business at a very young age, workingfor his . The Alford plea is a seldom-invoked and somewhat confusing legal maneuver, but the basics are fairly straightforward. The Legacy of 'Paradise Lost' & the West Memphis Three - The Ringer Now a judgewho coincidentally works part time in the courtroom where Misskelley was convictedStidham spends time speaking to law students about the judicial system. One of the keys to understanding the West Memphis Three murders is the phenomenon known as the Satanic Panic. If the state of Arkansas has a deep and abiding belief that the West Memphis Three are child murderers and did these terrible crimes, then shame on them for letting them out after 18 and a half years because a bunch of celebrities are whining about it, Berlinger says. A month later, authorities arrested Baldwin, Echols, and Misskelleythree teenagers who lived in trailer parks near West Memphis and had previous run-ins with the law, though nothing rising to the level of murder. Local 24 News EXCLUSIVE: Terry Hobbs on his new memoir on the West 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. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Well theres been a lot of things that happened over the years. Misskelley and Echols were 36; Baldwin was 34. 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. Updated: 9:42 AM CDT June 11, 2019. When Alex Sinofsky is asked about his fathers work on the film, he recalls the frequent trips and long hours spent editing film on a Steenbeck he kept in the house. West Memphis 3 / Terry Hobbs 2022 Update - YouTube A year after the DNA results were released, Hobbs sued Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines for defamation, claiming she implied he was a murderer on the bands website and at a 2007 rally, according to The New York Times. They saw the same thing you did. Paradise Lost is a narration-free documentary filmed with a journalistic remove. "I knew from when I was real small that people were going to know who I was," Echols said in 1994. New access to evidence thought destroyed in 1993 'West Memphis Three case 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. And yet Hobbs was not interviewed at all in the months after the crimes. Although Griffis' testimony was dramatic, it showed only a tenuous grasp of occult knowledge much of it, including a reference to a cult called "Crytos," was simply made up. So when I saw this tiny little article in the Times, I wasnt about to free anybody that was guilty. (2 weeks at #1, on for 19 weeks!) I'm not stupid." How do you measure the legacy of Paradise Lost, which is one of the best reviewed documentaries of all time and considered among the most influential, but whose mission is only partly complete? (Despite Misskelleys statement, the coroners examination found no injuries on the victims consistent with sexual assault.) Its first season ostensibly focused on the disappearance of a Georgia beauty queen, but it spent nearly as much time digging through the salacious details of the victims love life and dipping into amateur psychology as it did looking at evidence. We were finally winning, he says. The cult part of the Commercial Appeals headline signaled how the case would be defined by both the media and prosecutors. there are no assignments to cushion your grade, so either pass or fail. Wherever it was screened, Berlinger says, it was followed by intense Q&As from audience members who couldnt believe what theyd just watched. TERRY HOBBS OBITUARY Terry Roland Hobbs, 62, of Sweetwater, passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2021. A graveside service will be conducted on Wednesday, March 17 at Cloverdale Memorial Park beginning at 11am. Over the years there has been lots of speculation and finger pointing as to who was responsible. 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. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. In November, Judge David Burnett, who had presided over the trial, was elected to the state senate. Terry Hobbs, one of the men named in the documents.