"Just remember boys, it all started here."
--John Mark Byers, to documentarians Bruce Sinofsky and Joe Berlinger, early 1990s
Arkansas
--The West Memphis Three, remember them? They've been in prison for 13-years now. I don't personally think that Jessie Misskelley, Damien Echols, or Jason Baldwin committed the murders. For a good overview, check some of the links below, and watch both Paradise Lost documentaries (and do a few searches of your own).
Make up you own mind. "Paradise Lost 3" is being released this year [Ed., 11.18.2008--I assume it's going to be released sometime in 2009 with the recent developments in the case.], and a movie based on Mara Leveritt's investigative book, "Devil's Knot " is being made into a major motion picture. Who did it? I think--in my own humble opinion--that it was John Mark Byers with some unknown accomplice(s). It's even possible that one-or-more of the WM3 know the details of some of it, though if this was so one would think we would know the truth by now. Byers has a criminal record, and some members of the West Memphis community have alleged he was a drug informant working for Tennessee Police [Ed., 11.18.2008--Correction, The West Memphis PD.]
He sure acts like one:
In July 1994, Byers was arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor for allegedly instigating a knife fight between two youngsters [Ed.-At-gunpoint.]. That same month, he was arrested for burglary. During that summer, neighbors filed restraining orders against Byers for allegedly whipping their sons with the metal handle of a flyswatter, and firing shots at their home. Byers was on probation when he was arrested for selling Xanax to a narc in 1999. He served 18 months. (lacitybeat.com)
Both Melissa and John Mark Byers had a long history of drug abuse and criminality. With so many different-takes on the murders at Robin Hood Hills, and constantly changing his story, John Mark Byers presents a great picture of the guilty who are yearning to confess their numerous-crimes. Many individuals with a personality disorder tend to incriminate-themselves subconsciously, but most people have this tendency towards confession.
Byers illustrates plenty of examples of this in "Paradise Lost 2"--so-much so that it becomes unsettling. One of them has a chilling resonance with the occult, namely the graveyard footage in both documentaries that have the shadow of a Christmas star throwing a pentagram (inverted) onto Byer's forehead. One could call it poetic. I noticed this image in the first Paradise Lost, and Berlinger and Sinofsky put emphasis on it in the second film.
It's a Jungian moment that is absolutely breathtaking, and I can recall nearly falling out of my chair when it hit me. But just listen to his statements on nearly everything--almost all of it is about hurting or punishing someone, something, and how much of a "man" he is. He plays the victim well, but not the innocent. His voice sucks too, by the way. The man cannot sing.
Aaron Hutcheson is an overlooked-aspect in the WM3 case--he might have actually witnessed the murders (he was nine, so he's not even certain today), but was pressured and coached by West Memphis Police into never mentioning he felt Byers was at the scene of the murders, and was the murderer of the three children. Rumors were also rampant in the public and the media and fear gripped West Memphis.
It was known that John Mark Byers had younger associates who he would use to harass other children for him as part of his abusive M.O. Again, this pattern resurfaces in the charges against him from the 1994-incident when he was alleged to have forced two young men into a knife fight at gunpoint.
Hutcheson seems to hint at some kind of knowledge of this type of behavior exhibited by Byers:
Aaron, who is now 19, is convinced the three boys were killed by Christopher Byers’ stepfather, Mark Byers. West Memphis officials have acknowledged that Byers, a former drug informant, once was considered a suspect. He was never charged. Aaron contends Mark Byers hated kids. Aaron is sure he told the police in the first interviews about Mark Byers. (Arkansas Times, 10.07.2004)
Aaron's mother was told by West Memphis Police Detective Gary Gitchell "... and Marion police officer Donald Bray [to] sign an "affidavit of silence" pledging themselves never to mention that Aaron had named Mark Byers." There is no such thing, and it's a telling example of the lack of police procedure surrounding the Robin Hood Hills murder case. The detectives were assuming that most of the people they interrogated/interviewed were completely ignorant and would simply capitulate under pressure to their version of events, just as Jessie Misskelley did in his forced confession.
They had already decided where the case was going, and became angered when they got answers that didn't conform with this preconception. It's possible they also succumbed to the rumors about the murders. Many of them bizarrely suggested a "Satanic panic." This doesn't even qualify as an investigation in this light. Why the Marion policeman was asked to sign the phony-document is unclear, though it could have been a good cop/bad cop approach on the part of Gitchell and Officer Bray. This is all very peculiar procedure.
Yet, why didn't the prosecution and investigators look-into the fact that Byers told them early-on that he felt the murders "...might be retaliation for his work as an undercover drug informant. His wife would name two pawnbrokers as possible suspects." (Commercial Appeal, 04.21.2002) In what could be a connected event, around 9:30 pm (some sources cite 8:42 pm) on what must have been the night of the murders, Bojangles restaurant manager Marty King was informed by a female patron that a Black man was in the women's restroom covered in blood, cleaning himself.
According to King: "I found a black gentleman sitting in the women's restroom on the commode with his head in his lap. He was about 5'8" or 5'9", 165 lbs, real thin man. He had his head in his lap and there was blood dripping off of his forearm." West Memphis Police Detectives Bryn Ridge and Mike Allen scraped blood off of the walls of the women's bathroom...and promptly lost the evidence. Nobody was ever punished for this, not even a verbal-warning or forced leave without pay. Nothing. There is no physical evidence linking the West Memphis Three to the murders of the three eight-year-olds, and we can thank the local Police that there is none whatsoever.
There is something more to this. Something that includes a convergence of incompetence and criminality on the part of the West Memphis Police Department, and maybe even the Sheriff's Department. It's as if they are protecting John Mark Byers to hide their own sins. I really wish there was no Paradise Lost 3 being made, I really do. Free these men, but at the very least, give them another trial that includes this new DNA evidence. [Ed., 11.18.2008--No dice so far.]
Byers now lives in Tennessee. Expect more news about him, this guy loves attention. I would expect him to be in the new documentary.
You think he ever watched Robert Mitchum in "Night of the Hunter"? I do. If it proves anything, it's that Arkansas is brimming with incredibly stupid citizens who don't qualify to sit on a jury. My grandparents left there for a reason, and they never looked back.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI was interested that an Australian man asked if this could also happen in Australia.
Well I am Australian too and I can answer you.
It already has.
Look at what the Northern Territory Government did to Lindy Chamberlain when her daughter Azaria was taken from her by a dingo some years back.
That was indeed a witchhunt and a disgusting and vile condemnation of an innocent woman.
Lindy and her husband were members of a church that was vilified in Australia.
Lindy listened to her husband when he said that God had done this and they must accept it.
That was enough to have the whole might of the law come down on her and for her to suffer the most horrible indignities.
I can only hope that the three young men in prison for this crime are finally given a fair trial where they may prove their innocence to the world.
B.Pattison
Yes, I've heard of the case of Mrs. Chamberlain. I wasn't aware that she was a member of a specific religious-group, thanks for that information. Yes, there is something obviously wrong with the case against the WM3, there was a lot of improper procedure. The trial was a farce. I think the fact that John Mark Byers was a drug-informant explains a lot of why he gets the kid-gloves treatment. Beware those who protesteth too loudly (I love the bard).
ReplyDeleteHi Matt,
ReplyDeleteTo my mind the case of Lindy Chamberlain has many similarities to that of the West Memphis Three.
Events that did not occur became fact.(See skull in Damien's house).
Azaria's jumpsuit was found at the entrance to a dingo lair by a ranger who pulled it free of sand and rubbish.
The police photographer who took the photo of the jumpsuit laid it flat on a rock for the snap.
From that it was easy to ask how did the baby's jumpsuit become so neatly laid out on a rock if a dingo took the baby.
BTW the NT police blew up the dingo lair before any search for the baby could be done.
The church was the Seventh Day Adventist Church of which Lindy's husband Michael was the pastor.
I believe the church supported them totally throughout the ordeal.
The Northern Territory Government made a decision to vilify Lindy so that tourism would not drop off because of the fear of dingoes.
And all these years later I still talk to people who tell me that Lindy really killed the baby and offered it for human sacrifice in the desert.
In fact, one university tutor I know informed me that she knows for a fact that the Chamberlains, being denied meat by their religion, cooked and ate their baby.
Lindy was convicted without evidence, without motive, without any capacity to have done so with all the witnesses around in a crowded camp ground....
The world goes mad when we see someone acting differently from how we feel they should act according to our mores.
The West Memphis Three doomed themselves by being themselves as did Lindy Chamberlain.
She did not cry after her baby was taken when approached by the media because she said it was God's wish and she had to repect that.
Do not think that it cannot happen again.In Australia we are ripe for such a situation happening again and again.
Bernie
I've heard the allegations that she ate her baby. It's pretty obvious it was a smear-tactic. Seventh Day Adventists don't appear to get such treatment in the USA. It's a part of human-anthropology to need to see some as the "other", a sad truth. Keep fighting for what's constructive and human, cheers to ya.'
ReplyDeletePS: If you want to write a piece on this story, I'll post it.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI'm from the UK and have only just seen Paradise Lost although I'd heard of the case years ago when it was publicised in a music magazine in the late 1990s.
I'm absolutely horrified these three innocent men have been vilified just for being into metal music and wearing black clothes. The case really stuck out for me as I was going through a period in school where I was being ostracised for being into the metal scene but the way these men have been treated is far worse than I could ever imagine. It just goes to show how being different can be your demise.
After reading your article, I found the WM3 website and am now pledging money towards their defence lawyers because these men need to be shown they're victims and the real killer needs to be caught. And personally, I think it's John Mark Byers as there's been more evidence against him than the three men put together. Let's just hope one day, justice is served.
We "stupid citizens" here in Arkansas "feel your pain". I guess we should have sent out to another state for a jury. Gee, you think California would let us borrow OJ's jury?
ReplyDeleteAmazing to see how people can watch a film once or twice, read a few stories posted in left leaning forums and decide these three little angels are totally innocent. I guess that means our state wide conspiracy to let the real killer go free and imprison these three boy scouts has been uncovered.
Thanks Mr. Byers. Nobody said it was "state-wide", but I have relatives from and in Arkansas. After having been there, you can have the place, it sucks. Most of you are snakes, and I include my ignorant-kin down there.
ReplyDeleteIf you honestly think John Mark Byers is on-the-level about anything, you're naive. I've looked at the evidence, not just the documentaries, and they at least deserve a new trial. As for the OJ trial: the LAPD tried to frame a guilty-man, the reverse of the WM3 case.
Mark have you seriously gotten to the point where you need to comment on blogs about yourself? Are you that hard up for attention these days? I bet they could do a full peice on your again in PL2, that will show everyone just how guilty you really are. I know you remember me, and you should be ashamed of how you treated "your angel" when he was alive. Youre pathetic.
ReplyDeleteGreat article by the way Matt. Well done.
Thanks Scott, please tell Damien there are millions of us out here who want him and the other WM3 to get a fair trial. That DNA evidence has to be reviewed, it would be an atrocity otherwise. Forget fair trials when this buffoonery occurs.
ReplyDeletewtf - i can't believe that mark byers is still not on death row where he should have been put to death already. talk about satan worshippers, he IS satan!
ReplyDeleteAmen, brother, amen. It's my humble opinion that he's the murderer, and should be properly-investigated for it. But, as we know, the judge and the prosecutors have reputations to defend, the scumbags.
ReplyDeleteWell, if all us Arkansas people are snakes, why worry about one about to have his "head cut off". I love the way people talk about having "seen" the evidence. No, you haven't. You have seen shows that "talked" about the evidence. And exactly why would you have to frame a guilty man?
ReplyDeleteSorry, I know it dissapoints you that I'm not Byers...instead just a guy who was a law enforcement officer in West Memphis when this happened.
I refer you to my last comment--I think the cops and the Judge got it wrong and got caught up in a rush to judgement because the public was panicked and screaming for someone to pay. Also, I think you know damned well that the incident at the Bojangle's restaurant displays a strong possibility of professional incompetence on-the-part of the West Memphis Police in destroying/losing the DNA evidence from that crime scene. The record is clear on this, and it couldn't have been the only time.
ReplyDeleteYou also refuse to address John Mark Byers' role as a confidential drug informant, but that might be because you have something to hide, or you've been steered wrong by those close to the events. Or maybe you're just another bad cop who's part of the "brotherhood of silence," and you lack the courage to talk about what you know...
Frankly, with cops like you out "protecting" us, if I lived in West Memphis I wouldn't feel very safe and secure in my home. You also show a real contempt for our great tradition of due process--regardless of what you think about the case, it's clear that none of the defendents got much, if any. A good cop would find that disturbing, which you obviously are not.
My hunch is that Mr. Byers knows quite a lot about certain individuals in the Police Department there, as well as the Judge and prosecutors based around his work as an informant. We're going to have the truth, it's coming, and there won't be anywhere to hide after that. If they're guilty--which I doubt--then so be it, but there can be no reasonable doubt, and that wasn't established at the court of original jurisdiction.
I WAS RIGHT THERE IN WESTMEMPHIS WHEN THIS ALL WENT DOWN SET THRUE THE TRIAL6 WEEKS THE WEST MEMPHIS POLICE DEPARTMENT DIDNT HAVE ANY EVIDENCE THE JUDGE SET UP THERE AND SLEPT HALF WAY THRUE THE TRIAL AND AS FAR AS MARK HE DINT DO IT THEYVE FOUND OTHER DNA OF WHO DID IT ARE BOYS WILL BE COMING HOME
ReplyDeleteI agree, the boys will be coming home, but the wheels of justice turn very slowly. Also, the judge and the West Memphis Police Department are going to be losing-face on this one, and they're going to fight a release. There's still an uphill battle to be fought--the only ones worth fighting.
ReplyDeleteOn Mark Byers: I don't think his potential-guilt is based on DNA-evidence exclusively. He may not have even been at the scene, but I believe there is a very strong likelihood that he has some knowledge of who did it, and what happened. A hunch? Yes, but the evidence and his behavior paint him as being a suspect.
He makes a very poor example of an 'innocent man,' though there is the possibility that he is. My opinion is he is not entirely innocent in the story. The incident at the restaurant is an overlooked aspect of the whole story, and we should be asking ourselves why the West Memphis Police Dept. lost the blood-evidence from the bathroom of Bojangle's--it would be KEY for comparison with the DNA retrieved from the dumping-site of those poor little boys.
My heart goes out to all who have lost someone in all of this, and I want to see the WM3 freed, once-and-for-all. It's time to end this charade run by the West Memphis PD and that idiot judge, and the former prosecutor. They are all clowns. The DNA doesn't necessarily exculpate Mr. Byers, I think we should know this by now.
I have watched both of the paradise lost movies, and I agree that all of the signs point to mark byers for the murders of steve branch, michael moore, and christopher byers. The multitude of lies exhibited by Byers in the films make it unbelievable that people can not see the truth behind it all. There is NO evidence what-so-ever that points to damian, jason, or jesse, but multiple signs that point to Byers. The fake fron that he puts on in front of the cameras just makes him stand out more as a suspect, and though he may think he is covering himself up, he is actually digging his own grave. The west memphis 3 men should have never been convicted in the first place and deserve to be released back to their families where they belong. I am just so frustrated that people can be so ignorant and blind to the truth, and just judge people on how they look and not by actual criminal evidence. One day i know that these men will get the justice that they deserve, and will once again be able to live the life that they were born to live in the real world.
ReplyDeleteI agree, and it's another example of how damaged due process is in some areas of our legal system. People tend to miss that.
ReplyDeleteAs for Byers being the murderer--that's coming under a slight revision lately as to his role, at least from my own perspective.
Terry Hobbs and Byers were involved with the drug underworld in West Memphis at that time and it's known that Byers was a police informant.
Then, you have the incident at the restaurant where a black man was witness covered in blood in the women's restroom by a patron, then witnessed by a manager. The police lost the blood evidence and never did much of anything to investigate it. Dumping site of the children's bodies was located very close by (now being developed, the trees gone, etc.), and the black man told the witnesses he was cut. He was also witnessed trying to wash the blood off of himself.
Also, DNA evidence from the murder site (really a dumping-ground)places Terry Hobbs at the scene. Why couldn't Hobbs and Byers have been involved with drugs together, gotten arrested, and turned and become informants?
What I'm getting at is that the murders could have been payback for a snitch. I also agree that none of the WM3 are involved in this, it doesn't fit, there's no solid-evidence to place them at the scene of the crime.
yes that does make sense... it is possible that byers could have at least known about the murders before it happened, or maybe the theory of him actually being a suspect as well could be true... for whatever reason the WM3 were chosen as the actual murderers. I see where you are coming from with where mark byers stands in the actual case... i just believe that the police and the state should at least look deeper into the case and open their eyes to the multitude of possibilities of the actual murderer/s of those 3 little boys
ReplyDeleteI would suggest what some have already suggested: bar the original trial judge from any further proceedings, push the West Memphis PD completely out of the picture, and get a federal civil rights investigation going pronto.
ReplyDeleteAs to your statements on Mr. Byers, all I can say is that because he was a police informant (we can safely presume in the area of drug investigations), you cannot trust any law enforcement from Arkansas.
You might not even be able to trust federal drug agents. I'm saying you might even have to involve outside observers from other nations.
As to why the WM3 were chose--that's not too hard to understand once you look at Byers' and Hobbs's involvement in the drug underworld and the fact that Byers had several run-ins over it and that he was a police informant. He might still be one, but in some of the last articles on Hobbs, it was mentioned that Byers was "cooperating" with authorities over some inquiry into Hobbs.
Who knows if it's true, but there has been action over the last couple years in the story, but it's submerged right now.
I have posted 2 comments already on this page, I am from dallas,i agree,I think that all of the orignal members of the court case should be replaced, and i think new members should be added to the case.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. I think it's time that the WM3 cause starts demanding the removal of the original trial judge, my two cents.
ReplyDeleteAs there was never a fair trial to being with, including the gross incompetence of the West Memphis PD (and possible subsequent cover-ups of their mistakes), every bit of new evidence and evidence barred at the time of the original trial should be deemed admissible.
The entire case needs to be retried in its entirety.
Can someone tell me the actual reason the boys were arrested in the first place? Im just really curious. I mean, was there an anon tip? Was it because they hung out in the area of the crime scene? Was it just purely because they were different? Is there any documented reason for the initial arrests? Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteBecause they were too different for a very backwards and superstitious community that was experiencing something akin to a "Satanic panic."
ReplyDeleteI mean really--if you think kids wearing black, listening to Metallica, and studying Wicca is "exotic" or "sinister," you're a frightened racist and a moron, and very out-of-touch at best. That would be Arkansas. For those who yearn for "traditional life," you're looking at it there, because "tradition" means frightened, superstitious peasants...bigots.
The real reason they got popped by the WM pigs? The cops completely screwed-up their investigation and the public was growing more and more afraid and yelling at them to find someone, anyone, and make them pay for it.The pressure on these clowns who had already messed-up the investigation was profound, compounded by their aforementioned incompetence.
So, the general community there also helped create the situation, and the cops and the Court decided that the three fit-the-bill since they were: socially isolated, poor (therefore unable to defend themselves properly at the original trial, the one that counts most in a criminal proceeding), and one of them--whom the West Memphis PD illegally coerced a confession out of--is de facto mentally retarded.
Blame the Court, blame the cops, and blame West Memphis, which is why they should be ashamed enough to get off their dead asses and confront the cops and the Court over it, and boldly.
Also, we should be blaming Bill Clinton for never doing anything about it while he was president, as well as the current one, he should have pardoned them. But then, he should have done the same for Leonard Peltier. He didn't, and Bush II cannot be expected to anything right besides executing as many Black Americans as he could as Governor of Texas, mock a religious woman who begged for clemency (he had her 86'd anyway), then went and pardoned serial killer Henry Lee Lucas. The next year he stole and election, this not being the best of all possible worlds.
Yeah, just as I thought. I mean, I got that from everything ive read... I just didnt know if there was an "actual" reason. Yanno, like REAL evidence. Guess not. Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, but there is evidence to suggest a motive: the fact that John Mark Byers was definitely a criminal informant for the WMPD (and likely some of his other friends), that they all knew each other, the incident with the blood at the restaurant (which was lost by the WMPD), the hair samples found at the scene at Robin Hood Hills that link Terry Hobbs to the crime...you wanna go on?
ReplyDeleteIt appears to have been a drug-related crime, it has all the appearances of a revenge hit for snitching, and it took place in a drug corridor.
right, but not a motive that would suggest the 3 boys did it. this is motive that J.M.B. was involved. Blech :(
ReplyDeleteRight, I agree--where's the motive of the West Memphis Three in light of the fact that Byers and maybe even Hobbs were involved in the drug underworld, and the fact that Byers was a police informant during the period of the murders.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I don't believe we know when his status as a criminal informant began or ended. The area around what was once Robin Hood Hills--the highway--is a known drug corridor. This and Byers' role as a criminal informant should raise a lot of red flags.
I have recently watch paradise 1 and 2 and cannot believe what has to them. I wear black and metallica is my favourite band. To be convicted of murder over that is ridiculous! Anyone can tell that these young men are innocent! Shame on the police and prosecutors for letting this case become what is has. I believe that the police should be investigated and charges filed against tnem. They have destroyed these men's lives because they were too lazy to investigate the crime properly. They need to come back to reality and admit that they have made a mistake! Free the WM3!
ReplyDeleteJohn did it.
ReplyDeleteWhy would he have a knife with Christophers blood on it?
(I suppose a better question is; "why would he give it to a film director?".)
Why did he have his teeth removed after the first trial?
Why has he told three different stories (to my knowledge), with regards to the removal of his teeth?
There is plenty of evidence in his criminal history to suggest the capability of violent, sadistic actions.
I mean, Damien Echols' mental history is nothing compared to Johns mental AND criminal history.
Melissa Byers had contacted Christopher's school a few weeks before the murders, expressing concerns that her son was being sexually abused.
This guy joining the campaign to free the kids he put in jail does NOT absolve him for what he's done.
I only hope that there is true retribution in this life or the next.
Because this guy deserves some bad juju.
Free the Three!
mark byers stop hideing behind the bible and be a man. own up to what you did. but cowards never do.
ReplyDelete