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Events. Because I was thinking, if you haven't done anything, then they can't prove you did something you haven't actually done. The killings came at the peak of the so-called Satanic Panic, a time of heightened worries about ritualistic abuse. Another hair found near the crime scene on a tree stump was found to be consistent with the DNA of Hobbs friend, David Jacoby, according to court documents obtained by Oxygen.com. On the evening of May 5, 1993, 8-year-olds Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore went missing in West Memphis, Arkansas. every single person in my class was either . - The West Memphis 3: Free (2012) . 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.. 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. Los Angeles Times Obituaries (1985 - 2023) - Los Angeles, CA Berlinger and Sinofsky began to take notice. There have also been several high-profile incidents of laypeople reinvestigating decades-old cold cases in more rigorous, journalistic ways and helping bring them to a resolution. Misskelley, who reportedly had an IQ of 72, changed his story several times, and only a small part of his statements was recorded. He was 56. Quality. Terry Hobbs Obituary (1988 - 2021) - Memphis, TN - Legacy.com The knife was thrown into the lake by Baldwin's mother a year before the murders. McCaughey says her sister is very upset. Its headlined by not only the films directors, but also Sheila Nevins, its executive producer and winner of 32 individual Emmy awards, more than any other person in history. He was an actor, known for Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988), Fast Food (1989) and In the Heat of the Night (1988). Terry Roland Hobbs, 62, of Sweetwater, passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2021. Three teenage boys were arrested for the crimes Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr. and prosecutors argued they killed the boys as part of a Satanic ritual. Armchair detectives of today, I think a lot of them dabble in conspiracy theory, Berlinger says. Terry Hobbs | 2:21-BK-21177 | Court Records - UniCourt 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. As the first in a trilogy of Paradise Lost films about the case, the 1996 movie was a stunning example of cinma vrit, as directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky embedded themselves with the prosecution, the defense, and the families of both the slain and the accused to put human faces on a heart-wrenching tragedy, as well as highlight the overblown worries of satanic rituals and murderous cults that proliferated throughout the 1980s and 90s. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Also, law enforcement chose not to focus on the victims' families as the starting point of the investigation as is the norm. Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care. March 8, 2021, Terry Hobbs passed away on March 8, 2021 in Boise, Idaho. Making his way through the muck on his hands and knees, Ridge soon discovered clothing twisted around sticks and thrust into the ditch's bottom. Paradise Lost also led to a famous citizen-activist campaign championing the release of the three teens that caught on at the dawn of the Internet Age and would eventually pull in Eddie Vedder, Henry Rollins, and a whos who of the rich and famous. All of those factors combined to create a tipping point, says Leveritt. The news was devastating beyond just word of his friends suffering. 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. He was 56. Terry Hobbs is absolutely terrible. 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. 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. 2 Blood and urine samples from both men were collected and sent to the West Memphis Police Department. They were released after prosecutors agreed to an Alford plea, in which the men maintained their innocence but pleaded guilty. 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. After ending his first marriage, he wed Pamela Hicks Branch in 1986, when her son Stevie was almost 2 years old. (Despite Misskelleys statement, the coroners examination found no injuries on the victims consistent with sexual assault.) They formed the organization Proclaim Justice, a nonprofit that reinvestigates crimes with the hopes of freeing innocent people. In her recantation, Hutcheson stated that when she asked Echols directly if he had killed "those three kids," he replied, "No. 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. I kind of enjoy it because now even after I die, people are going to remember me forever. Also part of the plea was the provision that the three could not sue the state. 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. Damion Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley were convicted of murdering the children in 1994. 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 1999, a more mature Echols explained the comment. I didn't even comprehend that the situation could get this serious that it can go this far. You need corroborating evidence.. 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? 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. Baldwin is the co-founder of the legal advocacy organization Proclaim Justice. Jesse was gonna take it anyway. Stating that she would ask around, Hutcheson agreed to "play detective.". 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. 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. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Peter Jackson, who would produce a separate documentary about the case titled West of Memphis in 2012, and his partner, Fran Walsh, funded an extensive private investigation and helped hire forensic experts to comb through evidence. Attorneys present four suspects allegedly involved in the WM3 murders 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. I wouldn't do something like that. People would drive by and yell at us, Theyre going to burn in hell, Sauls says. I'm not stupid." Now, I see they can. People in West Memphis are going to tell their kids stories. hangyermoon 2 yr. ago. 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. No charges have been brought against Jacoby, and he has never been named a suspect by the West Memphis Police Department. 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. Other possible suspects includedBrian Holland and Chris Morgan, two young men from Memphis, Tenn., with a history of drug offenses. Maines won the lawsuit; police have never named Hobbs a suspect or charged him in connection with the killings.). Theres no smoking gun. 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. Id like to see this put to rest. 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. . Thursday, August 19th 2021. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! Griffis also knew how to spot a Satanist. Terry Hobbs is apparently still missing : r/UnexplainedPhotos - reddit https://t.co/dXOtQkmjee. The prosecutor would later say, There was a lack of physical evidence to tie anyone or anything to the crime scene, while the lead investigatorthe same one who told the press the case was an 11 out of 10would concede, Youve got a lot of circumstantial evidence is what youve got. Terry Hobbs is the one suspected of murder and the wounds that were inflicted on my nephew were where turtles bit his face. 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. (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 theory held is that Terry Hobbs was the one who actually killed the three boys and had pinned it on the Memphis 3 boys. The judge ruled that Hobbs could not establish actual malice, and ordered Hobbs to pay Maines legal fees amounting to more than $17,000, according to the Associated Press. It was so emotionally taxing to watch and go through it again, he says. 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. 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. 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. Echols attorneys got a letter from the custodian of records for the West Memphis police department saying some of the evidence ended up lost, or misplaced, and some destroyed by fire. (Maines briefly became a part of the story when Terry Hobbs, stepfather of another . His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. Timeline Of The West Memphis Three Victims, Motivations For Investigating The West Memphis Case. 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? And that makes him hopeful that exoneration is on the horizon. is terry hobbs still missing 2021 - laspalmasbr.com Baldwin, who had been coached by his lawyers to avoid speaking to the press, says money was the only reason he agreed to the added pressure of appearing in the documentary, especially when everyone else in a position of authority seemed adversarial toward him. 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. That's not the same Terry Hobbs. 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. More than 2,500 people attended and the story dominated the local press for days. Terry-Hobbs - InkFreeNews.com It had been a long fight to clear their names, and the odds seemed better than ever. Echols tweeted, New technology and evidence in science would now allow us to test DNA in amounts so small that it would have been previously impossible. In 1996, a screener for Paradise Lost passed her desk. Terry Gibbs Pam Hobbs divorced Terry Hobbs in 2004 and has reversed her position on the West Memphis Three's guilt. Baldwins attorneys even avoided putting him on the witness stand or mounting much of a defense, believing the burden was on the state. October 13, 2018 - Happy 94th Birthday Terry! Echols' disdain for authority, penchant for black clothes, and propensity to make shocking statements didn't help his plight. The Messed Up Truth About The West Memphis Three Murders, citing the discovery of her son's favorite pocket knife, One of the prosecution's key pieces of evidence linking Jason Baldwin, With their 2007 request for a new trial rejected, Baldwin is the co-founder of the legal advocacy organization Proclaim Justice. 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. Hobbs says his book is 25 years in the making, adding it is called Boxful of Nightmares for a reason. Hobbs said he wrote the book so people, especially other victims of crime, could understand the tragedy he has gone through and how it impacted his life. 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. Murders In West Memphis::: Berlinger says that he counts Errol Morriss The Thin Blue Line as one of his greatest influences, not just for the innovations Morris brought to the documentary genre, but also because it helped free Randall Dale Adams from a sentence for the murder of a Texas police officer that he did not commit. 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. With a large population of fundamentalist Christians, the American South was particularly subject to occult paranoia. In fact, for the better part of 1993, it was nearly impossible to find anyone who believed they were innocent. She says she is too because they believe they are hearing different stories. 34465541-95D0-45B0-BEEB-B9E0361A315A Baldwin and Misskelley were sentenced to life without parole while Echols received the death penalty. The Alford plea is a seldom-invoked and somewhat confusing legal maneuver, but the basics are fairly straightforward. Inevitably, the West Memphis Three case always comes up. Years of solitary confinement and the abuse he said he suffered at the hands of prison guards had taken its toll. As the appeals processes stretched across several years and the buzz of the initial film faded, the directors began looking for ways to keep the story alive. Baldwin remembers the dire circumstances laid out during the call. There also were issues with other details he provided, including how the victims were bound and whether the boys were raped. WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. 21, 2021 at 1:51 PM PDT CALHOUN COUNTY, Fla.. 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. Baldwin, the youngest member of the trio that had come to be known as the West Memphis Three, was serving a life sentence after being convicted on charges connected to the 1993 killings of three 8-year-old boys. At the request of West Memphis authorities, the two were picked up and questioned by Oceanside police. Bray asked her if she knew about rumored cult activity in the community. Baldwin remembers grabbing a Mountain Dew and a burrito and sitting down, still unaware of what he was about to watch. The following day revealed the unthinkable, when the bloodied and bruised bodies of the three boys were found submerged in a muddy creek in a wooded area called Robin Hood Hills. On the surface, 18-year-old Damien Echols, an intelligent, but psychologically troubled teen with interests in Wicca and extreme music, fit the profile. Hobbs described what it was like the day the three walked free. The case status is Pending - Other Pending. The Paradise Lost cameras captured not only the defenses discussions, but the full testimony, in Misskelleys trial, of an expert on coerced confessions. Their bikes were found by a pipe nearby. By the end of Paradise Lost, you cant believe they were found guilty, Bakken says. 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. 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. Mara Leveritt, a journalist who followed the case throughout the 1990s and wrote the 2002 book Devils Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three, calls the strain of Christianity that runs through the region very literal and says that even her children faced harassment as teenagers for playing Dungeons & Dragons and listening to Ozzy Osbourne. By getting to the story quickly, the directors were able to document the post-arrest period and two trials that followed in painstaking detail. Echols is an author and mystic living New York with his wife, architect Lorri Davis. At the time of the West Memphis Three trial, Griffis claimed to have given seminars to 38,000 police officers all over the globe. Terry Hobbs Net Worth. That November, he says, HBO agreed to give an honorariumroughly $5,000to the families on both sides. Even though they said they didnt murder the three boys, they are technically convicted killers. 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. Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers were best friends. Hes since parlayed the popularity of the show into a booming podcast network and documentary deal with Oxygen. What has never been definitively answered, however, is who committed the 1993 murders, and The Forgotten West Memphis Three, premiering Saturday, March 28 at 8/7c on Oxygen, reexamines the case and key theories. Hide Self (6 credits) 2012 48 Hours: Hard Evidence (TV Series) Self. of Auburndale, FL passed away Monday, August 16, 2021. Some believe the West Memphis Three are guilty to this day, and others, including some victims family members, point to their innocence and maintain the real perpetrator is still at large. the only grade you receive is from quizzes, exams, and the final. Nevertheless, Echols made no incriminating statements. 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. "I'd like to see this put to rest. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family.