Jason Baldwin had no idea what was happening when a fellow inmate at the supermax prison in Varner, Arkansas, woke him up early one morning in 1997. The killings came at the peak of the so-called Satanic Panic, a time of heightened worries about ritualistic abuse. Bakken immediately showed her friends Burk Sauls and Grove Pashley, who were both equally gripped by what they had just watched. In the minds of many, the bizarre nature of the Robin Hood Hills murders could only have been committed by one of Satan's minions. 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. "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. Funeral Home Services for Terry are being provi. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! And they used that visibility to help raise funds for the defense. Auburndale, FL - TSGT Terry Lee Hobbs, USAF, ret. But inside, he was just another prisonerBaldwin didnt know who he could trust. 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. 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. eyewitness evidence surfaced 16 years later. I went to a Baptist school and I got accused of being a devil worshiper because I was trying to learn how to write hieroglyphics, says Sauls, today a screenwriter and VFX designer. But Berlinger also believes that the sequel is important for documenting the power of citizen activism. And that is why Echols has attorneys who want to use a new DNA test called M-Vac, a wet vacuum system that can find more DNA than older tests. At that time, I was a little naive that what you read in the paper must have some truth to it, and all the press reports coming out of Arkansas were saying that this was like a slam dunk, an open-and-shut case with a confession that was printed in the newspaper.. 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, the stepfather of Branch who was under suspicion but never charged, said he welcomes new DNA testing. Hobbs says his book is 25 years in the making, adding it is called Boxful of Nightmares for a reason. As the 20th century turned to the 21st, the movement seemed to be picking up steam. Inconsistencies in Terry Hobbs' alibi, as well as revelations about subsequent violent acts, have also led many to believe that he may be the actual killer. Getting that kind of creative validation was exciting, but we were also extremely frustrated that it didnt move from the entertainment page of the newspaper to the editorial page, Berlinger says. Sauls says that the former Black Flag frontman was one of the few big names who dug deep into the evidence, wanting to learn as many details as he could about the case. He says his dad and Berlinger werent seeking notorietydocumentaries certainly werent a means to get rich or famous in those days. Id like to see this put to rest. Because I was thinking, if you haven't done anything, then they can't prove you did something you haven't actually done. Terry Hobbs Net Worth. At the request of West Memphis authorities, the two were picked up and questioned by Oceanside police. This case was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, Tennessee Western Bankruptcy. He was handed the phone. 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. "I knew from when I was real small that people were going to know who I was," Echols said in 1994. Everybody Id come in contact with was hostile to the truth, Baldwin says. 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. Theyve had several victories, including the case of Daniel Villegas, who was acquitted of capital murder in 2018 after a 25-year legal saga. So the minute youre done, you just want to know more. The next to be found was Stevie Branch, quickly followed by Christopher Byers. But the list of people who have looked at the facts of the case and come away believing Baldwin, Echols, and Misskelley are innocent is long. Terry Hobbs was born on November 25, 1969 in Columbus, Georgia, USA. In 2013, Jackson and Damien Echols produced a fourth documentary about the case. As reported by the Arkansas Times, examination of the shoe laces used to bind Michael Moore contained hair "not inconsistent" with that of Stevie Branch's stepfather, Terry Hobbs. Echols' disdain for authority, penchant for black clothes, and propensity to make shocking statements didn't help his plight. Main Page; He was just taking in the enormity of the defining event of his life to that point, which had been committed to film and was now playing for him inside the cavernous, auditorium-style visitation room. 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. This article was updated after publication to add more context about the honorariums paid to the families of the victims and the West Memphis Three and also to correct the time frame in which Berlinger and Sinofsky informed HBO about the changing scope of the documentary. Critics were effusive in their praise and stunned by the footageparticularly Roger Ebert, who wrote in a four-star review that at the end of the film I was unconvinced of their guilt. The film won Emmy and Peabody awards to go with more than a dozen other nominations. 1.0. . Jessie took a polygraph. Misskelley, who reportedly had an IQ of 72, changed his story several times, and only a small part of his statements was recorded. Thursday, August 19th 2021. 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. None of the three believed that, but Echolss healthand the possibility that even if he survived, he would still be on death row should the fight for retrials failmade it an imperative. By the time she got done watching it, her life was forever changed. 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? Terry Hobbs says he is a church member, a father, and working man and in no way a killer. 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. 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. But they werent just voices in the growing choir calling for the West Memphis Threes releasethey were leading the movement. 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. In 1994, the FBI said there was scant evidence that violent satanic crimes had ever occurred in America outside of a few isolated incidents, but that was long after TV hosts like Geraldo, Sally Jessy Raphael, and Oprah had spread moral hysteria about musicians weaving supposedly anti-Christian and occult messages into their songs, and long after wrongful convictions were handed down in the infamous McMartin Preschool sexual assault trials. Example video title will go here for this video. I dont know if they were questioning it, but they werent mistreating me and telling me that what I was telling them wasnt true., While Berlinger admits that he and Sinofsky may have tilted pro-prosecution in the early days of filming, that quickly changed after witnessing how the cases came together and spending time with the three teens during pretrial jailhouse interviewsparticularly Baldwin, who Berlinger describes as sweet and studious.. (Maines briefly became a part of the story when Terry Hobbs, stepfather of another . One of the keys to understanding the West Memphis Three murders is the phenomenon known as the Satanic Panic. They couldnt have been cooler, recalls Berlinger, who would go on to direct the 2004 documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster alongside Bruce Sinofsky. Filing Date : As part of the deal, they cannot file wrongful-conviction lawsuits, which both Berlinger and Baldwin say couldve cost the state tens of millions of dollars. Echols is correct. 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. He also lost the defamation case because of his violent past. Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care. They were found nude and hogtied in a creek in a wooded area in West Memphis. " (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. The documentarians found me in one of the worst things a person could go through, Baldwin says. 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. Except this was 1996, and home internet was still in its infancy. 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? 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. But they never had any physical evidence that connected us to this crime, Echols said in 2012. He just didnt know it would take another 14 years to happen. In 1996, HBO released the documentary film Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. Iwould journal something and put it in the box, said Hobbs. It had been a long fight to clear their names, and the odds seemed better than ever. Heavy metal music, role playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, and horror movies were regarded as gateways to evil. Although the appeals were repeatedly denied, a new batch of DNA testing done in 2007 reignited the investigation. October 13, 2018 - Happy 94th Birthday Terry! Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers were best friends. That there were three victims was a link to the biblical number of the beast. To learn more, watch The Forgotten West Memphis Three on Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, March 29at 8/7c on Oxygen. Among those active in the cause were singer Eddie Vedder of the band Pearl Jam, the country music trio The Dixie Chicks, punk rock icon and poet Henry Rollins, and actor Johnny Depp. In an email to The Ringer, Rollins stressed that inaction was not an option., Myself and the many people I worked with did what we could to help bring attention to the case and generate much needed financial aid, he wrote. La Mirada, California. I think we were the first internet sleuths, but we were not internet sleuths.. Its gone from a controversial legal theory to an accepted phenomenon. We are sad to announce that on September 11, 2021 we had to say goodbye to Terry Hobbs of Sweetwater, Texas. hangyermoon 2 yr. ago. weaving supposedly anti-Christian and occult messages into their songs, he discovered her while Googling cold cases, funded an extensive private investigation, a November 2010 Arkansas Supreme Court ruling, biggest allies in the years before his 2020 death, acquitted of capital murder in 2018 after a 25-year legal saga. "Everyone has a story and this just happens to be mine," said Hobbs. The level of corruption in the American justice system is glaring and sickening.. In June 1996, Paradise Lost debuted on HBO, bringing the story of the West Memphis Three to TV sets and showing the power of the camera in the courtroom. Terry Hobbs stated both family and co-workers believed he was guilty from day one and continued to believe him guilty after the trial and convictions of the West Memphis Three. But Echolss situation changed Baldwins thinking. That didn't make sense to me. During Misskelley's trial, Hutcheson testified that she had attended an "an occult Satanic meeting" she referred to as an "esbat." We have estimated Terry Hobbs's net worth , money, salary, income, and assets. The second is by looking at it as an act of passion and perseverance. Bakken and Sauls say they tried to avoid offering theories about the case publicly, opting instead to try to work through official channels. It allowed them to get out of prison after almost 20 years. So when I saw this tiny little article in the Times, I wasnt about to free anybody that was guilty. I think I introduced my dad to it because that was not his normal genre., Three Metallica songsOrion, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), and Call of Ktuluwould play throughout the documentary. of Auburndale, FL passed away Monday, August 16, 2021. Michelle McNamara helped crack the Golden State Killer case by poring over thousands of pages of case files while working on her book Ill Be Gone in the Dark, which was published two years after her 2016 death, while Chris Lambert and his podcast Your Own Backyard were highlighted by authorities after two arrests in April in connection with the 1996 disappearance of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart. It hurt all over again, he said. I couldnt not watch it at this point. Pam Hobbs divorced Terry Hobbs in 2004 and has reversed her position on the West Memphis Three's guilt. The obituary was featured in Idaho Press Tribune on March 13, 2021. Other possible suspects includedBrian Holland and Chris Morgan, two young men from Memphis, Tenn., with a history of drug offenses. Although she was unable to recall the exact location or anyone who attended the alleged meeting, she claimed a drunken Echols confessed to the murders. He knew that if he ever got out, hed want to do that in a more organized way. 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. Updated: 9:42 AM CDT June 11, 2019. (Maines briefly became a part of the story when Terry Hobbs, stepfather of another of the victims, sued her for defamation after she wrote a blog post pointing out that physical evidence at the crime scene potentially pointed at him and not the three convicted for the crime. 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. Its something that Baldwin couldnt envision when he first agreed to let the documentarians interview him in jail in exchange for an honorarium, or even when Mojo played that VHS tape for him in 1997. 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. 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. When they searched online, they found little to no information about the case. Also part of the plea was the provision that the three could not sue the state. Unaware of what was to come, Allen explained that he just wanted to ask him some questions. In 2009, three witnesses filed affidavits claiming they saw Hobbs with the murdered boys the night they disappeared, contradicting Hobbs previous statements to police, according to CNN. Also, law enforcement chose not to focus on the victims' families as the starting point of the investigation as is the norm. 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. Websleuths, an online forum for discussions about unsolved homicides and missing-person cases, has more than 100,000 members, and internet vigilantes have used social media and other online breadcrumbs to help track down actual criminals, such as the Canadian murderer and subject of the documentary Dont F*ck With Cats, Luka Magnotta. Hes since parlayed the popularity of the show into a booming podcast network and documentary deal with Oxygen. 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. When it didnt, the praise heaped on Paradise Lost felt hollow. 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. This is not a smoking-gun-type case.. Family and friends can send flowers and/or light a candle as a loving gesture for their loved one. She said it was one of the highest-rated pieces they had. Terry Hobbs, Todd Moore, and Dana Moore still maintain that Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley murdered their sons. The Latest CD: 92 YEARS YOUNG: JAMMIN' AT THE GIBBS HOUSE. Misskelley, who had entered the West Memphis police station that morning with hopes of reward money he might use to purchase a new truck for his father found himself instead charged with murder and facing life plus 40 years in prison. Over the years there has been lots of speculation and finger pointing as to who was responsible. Baldwin is the co-founder of the legal advocacy organization Proclaim Justice. Titled West of Memphis, the film, directed by Amy J. Berg, presents an overview of the West Memphis Three's 18 years in prison, the revelation of new evidence, and explores the possibility of an alternate suspect. I said, Im going to send some kids down there., Those kids turned out to be Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, the young documentarians who had recently completed the acclaimed Brothers Keeper, a film chronicling a death and the resulting trial in a small upstate New York village. Im not the jury. Few celebrities at the time did as much as Henry Rollins, however. Investigators kept minimal notes and omitted pertinent details including criminal records. Minutes later, Sgt. . This is before considering the 2013 dramatized movie based on the events (and Leveritts book), Stidhams plans to release the book Harvest of Innocence, and how elements of the case made their way into True Detectives third season. It just needed a catalyst. . The three teens were arrested after Misskelley said they committed the crime after 12 hours of interrogation. Like Misskelley in the first trial, Baldwin received a life sentence. 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. Initially, Misskelley repeatedly denied having knowledge of the crime, aside from rumors that Damien Echols was involved. In this first confession, Miskelley often agreed to details suggested by the police or attributed to prior statements which he did not make. On 04/08/2021 Terry Hobbs was filed as a Bankruptcy - Chapter 13 lawsuit. The third put forth the unusual theory that the killings were committed as a cult ritual. February 27, 2023 (82 years old) View obituary. 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 first and likely simplest gauge is continued interest in the case. 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. Essentially, it allows the accused to assert their innocence while pleading guilty, conceding that the prosecution has an overwhelming amount of evidence to procure a conviction. The first being that boys were killed by someone they knew. Terry was born on September 11, 1959 in Sweetwater, to Jack Harvey and Marjorie Hobbs .Terry graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1977. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, defense attorneys working for the West Memphis Three filed multiple appeals on their behalf scrutinizing the lack of physical evidence against them.
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