Case Number : 2:21-BK-21177. He graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1977. Events. Its my perspective of what happened in 1993, 26 years ago in West Memphis, Arkansas, said Hobbs. The West Memphis Police Department interviewed Hobbs, who was dismissive of the findings, claiming the hair could have been picked up during a visit to his home since the victim "played with our little boy regularly," according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. So much progress had been made in the fight for new trials, most notably a November 2010 Arkansas Supreme Court ruling that ordered a hearing on new DNA analysis and other evidence not considered in 1994. . The killings came at the peak of the so-called Satanic Panic, a time of heightened worries about ritualistic abuse. Sheriff's deputies in Calhoun County say Terry Hobbs was reported missing on Saturday, April 20, 2019. It's one. The case status is Pending - Other Pending. 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. Published by The Commercial Appeal from Jun. They saw the same thing you did. But I had to. Jessie took a polygraph. Berlinger and Sinofsky began to take notice. Even without a smoking gun, the circumstantial evidence was enough for a conviction in a place like Crittenden County, Arkansas. "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. (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. Under order of the Arkansas Supreme Court, there were to be new evidentiary hearings in the case. Armchair detectives of today, I think a lot of them dabble in conspiracy theory, Berlinger says. I wouldn't do something like that. 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. 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. This is not a smoking-gun-type case.. Its evidence that Damien Echols attorneys wanted to do new DNA testing on. Quickly, however, he realized Berlinger and Sinofsky were taking a different approach. Baldwin remembers the dire circumstances laid out during the call. But they never had any physical evidence that connected us to this crime, Echols said in 2012. Except this was 1996, and home internet was still in its infancy. 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. The state of Arkansas continues to attempt to prevent this testing from happening. . Maines won the lawsuit; police have never named Hobbs a suspect or charged him in connection with the killings.). Share Memories & Support the Family. Find the obituary of Terry Hobbs (1957 - 2021) from Caldwell, ID. The three teens were arrested after Misskelley said they committed the crime after 12 hours of interrogation. Griffis also found the devil in nearly every number associated with the crime. (Police questioned Byers several times during the investigation, but never considered him a suspect.) hangyermoon 2 yr. ago. Terry was born on September 11, 1959 in Sweetwater, to Jack Harvey and Marjorie Hobbs. TERRY HOBBS OBITUARY Terry Roland Hobbs, 62, of Sweetwater, passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2021. 25, 2021. Pam Hobbs divorced Terry Hobbs in 2004 and has reversed her position on the West Memphis Three's guilt. In 2004, Vicki Hutcheson recanted her trial testimony, stating that she had lied on the stand. And that makes him hopeful that exoneration is on the horizon. 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. Echols' disdain for authority, penchant for black clothes, and propensity to make shocking statements didn't help his plight. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. To learn more, watch The Forgotten West Memphis Three on Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, March 29at 8/7c on Oxygen. For the next two hours and 29 minutes, the two inmates sat in near silence watching Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, the landmark documentary released on HBO 25 years ago this week that captured the trials of Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley Jr., and Damien Echols, the three teenagers convicted in 1994 of the crimes that ripped through the small, working-class community of West Memphis, Arkansas. I didnt want to stop with us being that close. Hobbs has never wavered in his conviction that justice was served the first time around. (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.). A source said the evidence was transferred to shipping containers where there was a fire, and some of the evidence was destroyed. She also stated that beyond the single meeting at her trailer, she had no further contact with Echols. Unfortunately, for three teen outsiders, the West Memphis Police Department chose to focus on the cult angle to the detriment of their efforts to investigate the other two, more likely scenarios. Investigators kept minimal notes and omitted pertinent details including criminal records. So the minute youre done, you just want to know more. 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 . Its no surprise the juries found the prosecutions narrative compelling, Leveritt says: For them, the image of killer satanists headbanging to Metallica was more than plausible. So with less urgency surrounding full exoneration and no documentary cameras rolling, the question 25 years later becomes: Who is paying close enough attention to the case to pick up the fight? 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. Well, perhaps not nobody. Terry Hobbs is absolutely terrible. In her recantation, Hutcheson stated that when she asked Echols directly if he had killed "those three kids," he replied, "No. The Alford plea is a seldom-invoked and somewhat confusing legal maneuver, but the basics are fairly straightforward. 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. Terry Hobbs USAF Ret. By staying on this subject for the next couple of decades, they gave these men a chance and really decades of freedom afterward. Since the West Memphis Three were released, no one else has been charged in the murders of Stevie, Christopher and Michael. Because I was thinking, if you haven't done anything, then they can't prove you did something you haven't actually done. 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. 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. "Everyone has a story and this just happens to be mine," said Hobbs. They saw this movie and they felt like, I have to do something.. Pam Hobbs divorced Terry Hobbs in 2004 and has reversed her position on the West Memphis Three's guilt. In February, Netflix released Berlingers Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, a docuseries that looked at the 2013 death of Elisa Lam, a Canadian student who died while vacationing in Los Angeles. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Additionally, the judge in the original trialswho under Arkansas law presided under the requests for retrials in the years following the convictionshad been elected to the state Senate that December, meaning someone new and possibly more sympathetic would oversee the case. 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. It hurt all over again, he said. Dan Stidham, the original attorney for Misskelley, who would also work on Baldwins and Echols appeals, says he has the answer. All of them were convicted after Misskelley confessed to helping Echols and Baldwin with the murders, which he later recanted. They didnt even think he would physically survive through December, Baldwin says. (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.) of Auburndale, FL passed away Monday, August 16, 2021. A statement he made to the producers of Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills did little to help his public image. Paradise Lost is a narration-free documentary filmed with a journalistic remove. He retired from the US Air Force, and he was the Deputy Supervisor for Polk County Supervisor of Elections. . Produced and directed by filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, the film and its two sequels, Paradise Lost 2: Revelations and Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, gave audiences a unique and detailed look into the case, the accused, and the families of victims. He began his career in the plumbing business at a very young age, workingfor his . 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, Three teenage boys were arrested for the crimes , Baldwin and Misskelley were sentenced to life without parole while Echols received the death penalty. "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. of Auburndale, FL passed away Monday, August 16, 2021. As more people learned about the case from Paradise Lost and the work of people like Bakken and Sauls, the phrase Free the West Memphis Three caught on as a slogan for progressive musicians and actors in the 1990s, up there with Save the Rainforest and Free Tibet. Eddie Vedder became an early leading voice, soon followed by the likes of Peter Jackson, Johnny Depp, and Natalie Maines from the band then known as the Dixie Chicks. Self. As the movement to free the West Memphis Three gained traction, a number of celebrities joined the cause, bringing the case under more scrutiny. While Berlinger says that the work of people like Bakken and Sauls was more impressive than that of any celebrity, its undeniable that the famous and influential brought a megaphone and funding mechanism to this case that most never get. Terry Hobbs's income source is mostly from being a successful Actor. That included Mojo, who came calling around 2 a.m. that day trying to coax him out of his cell. Terry Hobbs, Actor: Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers. With the guards blessings, Mojo led Baldwin to Varners visitation room, where everything had been put away aside from two chairs set up in front of a cart holding a small TV and a VCR. 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. 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. The third put forth the unusual theory that the killings were committed as a cult ritual. Berlinger and Sinofsky, the latter of whom died in 2015 at age 58, were able to gain incredible and immediate access to seemingly everyone the case had touched: the families of the victims and the accused, the judge, the lead investigator, members of the community. Terry Roland Hobbs September 11, 1959 ~ September 11, 2021 (age 62) Terry Roland Hobbs, 62, of Sweetwater, passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2021. The consequences of that online campaign were ruinous: The person they targeted, a Mexican metal musician who worked under the name Morbid, was harassed into hiding. Filing Date : They were released after prosecutors agreed to an Alford plea, in which the men maintained their innocence but pleaded guilty. All three had been submerged face down in the mud, stripped naked, and bound with their shoelaces. 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. Luminol tests, which reveal the hidden presence of blood, were not performed at the scene until six days later. I had a big box. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. There are no events scheduled. To this day, it is still unclear who is responsible for the killings. 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. Knowing that the police were already focusing on Damien Echols, Hutcheson asked her neighbor, Jessie Misskelley Jr., about the brooding teen and his occult connection. November 03, 2021 November 4, 2021 . 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. Echols said in 2012, he will never give up his mission to exonerate himself. But most notably, his initial timeline of events didnt match what was known about the crimes, and every time he offered a detail that diverged from the accepted chronology, the interrogating officers seemed to steer him back in the direction of the official version. That was more than the people deciding the case were able to hearthe presiding judge made the expert give most of his testimony without the jury in the courtroom because he questioned its relevance. Hes since parlayed the popularity of the show into a booming podcast network and documentary deal with Oxygen. 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. Stidham, who was just 30 years old and not long out of law school when the court appointed him to be Misskelleys attorney, went in thinking he would negotiate a deal for his client, who had told police that his acquaintances Baldwin and Echols committed the crimes and that he was present and played a role as an accessory. Terry Hobbs is the one suspected of murder and the wounds that were inflicted on my nephew were where turtles bit his face. So advocacy and diligence become tantamount, because most people in a similar situation to the one he was in dont have the benefit of filmmakers and musicians fighting on their behalf. Published: Dec. 21, 2021 at 9:56 PM CST WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. Further down, it includes names such as Rick Dior, a sound mixer who worked on Apollo 13 and Dirty Dancing, and Bob Richman, a three-time Emmy-nominated cinematographer whose rsum also includes renowned docs like An Inconvenient Truth and Waiting for Superman. They had a daughter together, Amanda Hobbs, who was 4 years old at the time of her brothers death. The story felt personal for all of them, but especially Sauls: He had grown up in Florida and Georgia as an outcast obsessed with art and reading some of the same books Damien Echols had. 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. Like Misskelley in the first trial, Baldwin received a life sentence. Baldwin and Misskelley were sentenced to life without parole while Echols received the death penalty. More than 2,500 people attended and the story dominated the local press for days. During the final year of the two-year span, from July 2021 to July 2022, California lost about 211,000 people, according to data from the state Department of Finance. This case was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, Tennessee Western Bankruptcy. Certain that, under what he felt were ridiculous circumstances, Echols' confidence and, on occasion, flippant attitude during the trial was often misinterpreted as evidence of his coldness toward the victims and their families. 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. 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. But inside, he was just another prisonerBaldwin didnt know who he could trust. The footage included raw jailhouse interviews with the defendants, strategy sessions held by legal teams on both sides, and extended monologues from Mark Byers, the tall, goateed stepfather of one of the victims, who spoke as though he were reciting the Book of Revelation and who, at one point in Paradise Lost, fired a handgun at a pumpkin while reciting the names of the accused. 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. It was so emotionally taxing to watch and go through it again, he says. Filming the activists work seemed like the best place for Berlinger and Sinofsky to turn their attention; what better way to show the continued plight of the West Memphis Three than to show regular people dedicating their free time to fighting for them? Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers were best friends. The concept of citizen investigations intrigues Berlinger just as much as it did in the 1990s, though today hes often more concerned with the moral implications. 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? According to Griffis, black hair, black T-shirts, and black jeans were signs that a kid was in league with the devil. Despite an offer of a reduced sentence, Misskelley ultimately recanted his statements and refused to testify against Echols and Baldwin. The community's worst fears were confirmed. 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. March 8, 2021, Terry Hobbs passed away on March 8, 2021 in Boise, Idaho. The districts current prosecuting attorney, Keith Chrestman, did not respond to requests for comment for this article, but his predecessor Scott Ellington, whose office negotiated the deals, told The New York Times in 2011 that while new trials would have likely resulted in acquittals, We dont think that there is anybody else. The Moore family has been outspoken about the end result, vehemently protesting the 2012 Oscar nomination for the third Paradise Lost installment. 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. Polygraph tests revealed deception in the answers of both men in regard to the crimes. Berlinger also concedes Revelations had some ethical problems, chiefly because it raised the possibility that Mark Byers committed the killings. Echols is an author and mystic living New York with his wife, architect Lorri Davis. 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. His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. Bray asked her if she knew about rumored cult activity in the community. Lying in the open air in near 80-degree temperatures accelerated the decomposition of the bodies. Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of Branch who was under suspicion but never charged, said he welcomes new DNA testing. But further down, in the section for the music department, theres a curious inclusion of a consultant who never worked in film again: Alex Sinofsky, the son of Bruce who was 12 at the time of Paradise Losts release. 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. 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. In 1996, a screener for Paradise Lost passed her desk. " (Detective Allen) told me if I knew anything, that there was a $35,000 reward, and if I could help them out, we'd get the money," said Misskelley, as quoted by Mara Leveritt in Devil's Knot. It has happened to a lot of people that just dont have the spotlight of a documentary, he says. Baldwin is the co-founder of the legal advocacy organization Proclaim Justice. 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. I kind of enjoy it because now even after I die, people are going to remember me forever. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. One of the keys to understanding the West Memphis Three murders is the phenomenon known as the Satanic Panic. 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. Mojo was right. The knife was thrown into the lake by Baldwin's mother a year before the murders. Misskelley told Hutcheson that he really didn't know much about Echols other than that he was "a weird person." The sheer mountain moving amount of money it cost to prove the obvious innocence of Jessie, Jason, and Damien still staggers me. 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. The news was devastating beyond just word of his friends suffering. The only possible culprits were 18-year-old Damien Echols, a poor teen with an interest in the occult and a record of mental illness, his friend Jason Baldwin, a quiet kid whose talent for art tended toward dark subjects, and Jessie Misskelley, a 17-year-old misfit with an IQ of 73. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Well theres been a lot of things that happened over the years. Due to marital problems stemming from Stevies death, the couple divorced in 2004, reported CNN. According to Devil's Knot author Mara Leveritt, the investigation of the murders was divided along three lines. The Latest CD: 92 YEARS YOUNG: JAMMIN' AT THE GIBBS HOUSE. (Despite Misskelleys statement, the coroners examination found no injuries on the victims consistent with sexual assault.) A murderer was loose in West Memphis. 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. 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. Covered in wounds, all three showed signs of having been beaten. Hobbs denied the accusation, saying that his family does have secrets, but none of them have to do with murder. Even though they said they didnt murder the three boys, they are technically convicted killers. . This is a story of justice delayed and justice denied. No explanation has yet been given as to why such a seemingly important lead was dropped. Berlinger and Sinofsky expected a similar result to come quickly in the West Memphis Three case. (WMC) - Its a case that has captured the nation and certainly the Mid-South. Theyve had several victories, including the case of Daniel Villegas, who was acquitted of capital murder in 2018 after a 25-year legal saga. 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. It was almost like an out-of-body experience., When the credits rolled shortly after the unforgettable final scene, which shows a now-convicted Baldwin and Echols leaving the courtroom in handcuffs and entering a police cruiser as Metallica plays, Baldwin sat stunned. By getting to the story quickly, the directors were able to document the post-arrest period and two trials that followed in painstaking detail. He said Boxful of Nightmares is his memoirs unedited. The arrest, trial, and conviction of the three young men known as the West Memphis Three came under national scrutiny as details of the case became public. On Aug. 11, 2011, the West Memphis Three entered the courtroom for the final time. 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. He says his students seem to have a better grasp on the idea of coerced confessions than any of his peers in 1994. Social media didnt fully exist yet, but the group managed to harness the potential of the nascent information superhighway to bring attention to their cause. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! Reaching its apex in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Satanic Panic was a wave of paranoia rooted in the belief that Satanic cults intent on corrupting the souls of the young had infiltrated American society.
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