|
Shortly after three 8-year-old boys were found mutilated and murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas, local newspapers stated that the killers had been caught. The police assured the public that the three teenagers in custody were definitely the ones responsible for these horrible crimes. The same police officers coerced an error-filled “confession” from Jessie Misskelley Jr., who is mentally handicapped. After being subjected to 12 hours of questioning without counsel or parental consent, Misskelley recanted his statements later that evening, but it was too late -- Misskelley, Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols were all arrested on June 3, 1993.
Because there was no physical evidence, murder weapon, motive, or connection to the victims, the prosecution resorted to presenting black hair and clothing, heavy metal t-shirts, and Stephen King novels as proof that the boys were sacrificed in a satanic cult ritual. Unfathomably, in early 1994, Echols was sentenced to death, Baldwin received life without parole, and Misskelley got life plus 40.
On what is now the 13th anniversary of their arrest, The West Memphis Three are still imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit. But, there is still hope for them. With a new defense team and DNA testing now possible, hopefully, justice is not too far away.
Since the case first became a national story, drawing the attention of people all over the country, various actors, musicians and artists have chosen to speak out about the gross miscarriage of justice.
|
|
|
Michale Graves, former Misfits singer, and WM3 supporter | “I first learned about the case in 2002, while I was working on Gotham Rd., preceding Conservativepunk (www.ConservativePunk.com),” says former Misfits singer (1995-2001), and WM3 supporter, Michale Graves. “I had been asked if I could participate in a benefit concert for the defense fund. Ultimately, I had to decline because I was going to be out on the road already. And, I didn’t know who the West Memphis Three were. My wife rented us Paradise Lost 1 and 2 (the HBO documentaries about the case) and, after watching, I got angry, sad, motivated and frustrated -- all the same emotions that everyone else gets when they are presented with this case and all its working parts. I wanted to help but just didn’t know what I could do.”
Since then, Graves has started the Almost Home Campaign. “It is an organization to raise money for the legal defense fund, bring awareness to the case and help promote Damien Echols as an artist. I’m working in coordination with www.WM3.org , and all of the other organizations motivated to achieve freedom for The 3.”
Artist and musician Matt Skiba, whose band, Alkaline Trio have long been supporters of the WM3, recorded a song, “Prevent this Tragedy,” about the case, on their latest CD, Crimson. “I first learned about the WM3 with the first Paradise Lost film,” says Skiba. “From there, I watched it’s sequel and discovered the book Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three by Mara Leveritt. I felt very helpless watching and reading about the case, as it was clear to me that justice had far from prevailed.”
{quote_top}Skiba says that he responded so strongly to the case because he could identify with what it’s like to grow up in a small, rural community. “They constantly reminded me how different I was. Any time anything went wrong, it was very easy for people to point the finger at me. As I started to realize that the accused are, in fact, innocent, I felt a kinship with Jason, Jessie and Damien that grew to be as strong as my sympathy for the young murder victims and their grieving families.”
As someone who has been politically conservative in the past, Graves says that it was not just the political side of the case that he responded to, but also the human side. “I was especially drawn to the story of Damien Echols and the journey his life had become. He was this tragic hero that represented what was wrong with the world and with our own lives. I very much can relate to the persecution of an individual who is misunderstood and the campaign to destroy him. A few years back, after I articulated some of my thoughts that were in line with the right wing of this country, and completely opposite with what most of my industry seemed to be supporting, I was awakened to a level of disdain and contempt that I could never have understood the way I do, had I not gone through it all. I learned a great deal from the Conservativepunk backlash. It allowed me to evolve into what I had to become, in order to walk through this door and ‘see’ Damien.”
{quote_middle}Before starting Alkaline Trio, roughly 10 years ago, Skiba went to art school for design. Playing music, and drawing and painting, for as long as he can remember, Skiba figured the closest he’d ever come to being in a full-time band was designing record art. But, as he started to focus more on music than art, he quit school and set out to make his rock and roll dreams a reality. Being an artist and musician, he, too, could understand what it is like to be persecuted.
“I was always having to stick up for myself growing up,” says Skiba. “It was these experiences that pushed me to work very hard at the things I loved -- music and art. I think it was my deep love and attachment to these subjects that got myself into trouble with the ‘normal’ kids, and adults, alike.”
|
|
|
Artist and musician Matt Skiba and his band Alkaline Trio have long been supporters of the WM3 | Skiba says that it is important for people to know about this case, and the West Memphis Three, because he strongly believes that whoever is truly responsible for these murders has gone undetected. “Three more innocent lives are on the line. There’s already been enough bloodshed and agony to last the world a lifetime. The killer(s) of Stevie Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers hasn’t been charged, and three more lives have been brought to a grinding halt, alongside the judicial system and law enforcement in Arkansas.”
“Damien is innocent and he deserves to be free, so that he and his wife, Lorri Davis, can live out the rest of their lives together, any way and anywhere they choose,” adds Graves. “The whole town turned on him after those three 8-year-old boys were found murdered. The police department, steeped in controversy at the time, was under pressure to operate efficiently and competently, and they failed. The pressure of the first HBO documentary about the case, and constant media misinformation and dissection, did nothing to keep people calm in a very terrible time. Once the satanic ritual killing theory was introduced into the equation, especially during the ‘satanic panic’ years, Damien Echols never had a chance, and the people of power and the laws that were put into place in the country to protect all of us, flew out the window.”
“One of the greatest men to ever live, Martin Luther King, Jr., once said ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment industry. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.’”
Both Graves and Skiba talk about the WM3, every chance they get, and to whomever will listen. “I tell everyone who will give me the time to speak about this case, in the hope that they will find something in it that motivates them to help, or at least make changes within themselves," says Graves. "The feedback from people who are just finding this case is usually the same -- shock, anger and heartbreak, along with amazement by the light that comes from such a dark situation.”
Although neither man has met any of the WM3 in person, they have communicated with Echols in other ways. “An in-person interview with Damien is in the works, and I’m currently trying to get one of two very big rock magazines to print the story,” reveals Skiba. “I feel in my heart that I will eventually meet all three of them under free skies.”
Graves is hoping to visit Echols in the next couple of months, once the details can be worked out. In the meantime, he has been collaborating on music with him through letters while he is sitting on death row.
{quote_bottom}“Damien had mentioned, in a letter, how excited he was that Eddie Vedder (lead singer of Pearl Jam) was going to use some of his poetry in a song, called ‘Army Reserve,’ that is on the band’s new album. He was also happy because the royalties would be used for the mounting legal hurdles that he faces. I immediately had the idea to challenge Damien to pen an album from where he was, that I would articulate for him, and for everyone to hear. It would be an amazing journey and accomplishment for us personally, privately and professionally. Damien loved the idea and seemed to come alive with inspiration and ideas. Shortly after, I received a song from him, called ‘Frost Bite.’ I can find Damien and his soul in these songs, and play them so that other people can feel him, too. I feel a great level of responsibility to create these songs, as they were written.”
Graves and Skiba both hope they will see the day when Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley all walk out of prison as free men. “I hope that the people responsible for this crime are discovered and that Damien, Jason and Jessie are cleared of all charges and set free, sooner rather than later,” declares Skiba. “I think charges should be brought against the now-retired Chief Inspector Gary Gitchell, and his team, for fraudulence and coercion. When real evidence went undetected and Arkansas police needed someone to pin these murders on, a modern-day witch-hunt began, as real police work and justice fell by the wayside. I hope to see both the real killer(s), as well as Gitchell and company, eating their words, behind bars in white prison garb, while Jason, Jessie and Damien spend time with their friends and families on the outside, wearing black Metallica t-shirts.”
Please go to www.WM3.org to learn more about the case, and what you can do to help. |
