Exonerate the WM3 Official Blog

Piers Morgan: Damien Echols of West Memphis Three describes life in jail: "I hadn't seen daylight in almost a decade"

Damien Echols of the West Memphis Three talks to Piers Morgan tonight about his experience in jail – and his recent release. "I hadn't seen daylight in almost a decade," says Echols. "The only thing you can do to maintain your sanity is not think about the case."

via piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com

Piers Morgan: Jason Baldwin of the West Memphis Three on celebrity support: "It was very uplifting"

Tonight Piers Morgan sits down with Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols, two of the West Memphis three, who were set free last month after more than 18 years behind bars. After HBO's "Paradise Lost" documented their trials and tribulations several celebrities including Johnny Depp and Natalie Maines got involved in the cause to fight for the freedom of the West Memphis Three. "It was very uplifiting," Baldwin says. "So for us on the inside it was amazing."

via piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com

9/29: 'Piers Morgan Tonight' features Damien, Lorri and Jason

Piers Morgan Tonight will feature the #WM3 case on Thursday, September 29, 6PM pst/ 9PM est. Damien, Lorri and Jason were interviewed by Piers in Manhattan. Jessie decided against appearing via satellite from Memphis but wants to let everyone know how much he appreciates the opportunity. Set your dvrs now so you don't miss this one!

The man from the marquee, at Easy Street Records

West Seattle scene: The man from the marquee, at Easy Street Records

via westseattleblog.com

9/23 Mara Leveritt Speaks about #WM3 at U Memphis

Mara Leveritt, Arkansas journalist and author, has written extensively about the West Memphis Three. On Friday, September 23, Leveritt will give her take on the recent release of the WM3, the criminal justice system and her book, “Devil’s Knot.” U Memphis, Wade Auditorium, 10 N. Front St, Memphis TN. 

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/Memphis.SBA.

New Shirt! Exonerate Jason, Damien & Jessie #wm3

We all have the same eventual dream for Jason, Damien and Jessie-- to eventually be completely exonerated of the crimes they were unjustly convicted of, and served 18 years and 78 days for... But this design came to Burk Sauls in a dream last night. To purchase, visit the official wm3.org zazzle store!

 

A portion of the proceeds will go toward DJJ's living and tuition expenses...

Preview of 48 Hours Mystery 9/17/10 #wm3

 

More from the 48 Hours Mystery site here 

The Hollywood Reporter: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory:

via www.hollywoodreporter.com

Filmmakers talk Paradise Lost 3 After Screening #wm3

 

Toronto: 'Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory' is a plea for justice that also lets us know (more or less) who the killer is

by Owen Gleiberman

A little more than ten years ago, when they were finishing the second documentary in what turned out to be the Paradise Lost trilogy, directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky chose the title Paradise Lost: Revelations. In a way, though, they could have put that title on almost any one of the three films. For when you watch Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996), or Paradise Lost: Revelations (2000), or the new chapter, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, which premiered this week at the Toronto Film Festival, what keeps you watching — what keeps you just about soldered to the screen — is the promise of revelation. The promise of a moment when the forensic clues (a serrated knife! a telltale hair!) finally start to fit together. When the innocence of the West Memphis Three (who were railroaded for the crime of murder) comes rushing into the light. Or when the identity of the real killer suddenly looms up before us. Every day, we see Hollywood movies that are called “thrillers,” but the addictive fascination of the Paradise Lost films is that they take us back to the feeling of shock and awe that people used to get, in a more innocent time, from Hitchcock. At key moments, they make you suck in your breath.

read the full story at  insidemovies.ew.com

Variety Reviews - Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory - Film Festival Reviews - - Review by John Anderson

It won't be a major alteration. At the moment, "Purgatory" ends with the decree by the Arkansas Supreme Court that new DNA and other forensic evidence presented in 2007 justified a new hearing for defendants Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, originally convicted in 1994 for the murders of three young boys in suburban Arkansas. They subsequently cut a deal with prosecutors and were released.

via www.variety.com

‘Paradise Lost 3 - Purgatory,’ at Toronto Film Festival - NYTimes.com

But Joe Berlinger and his sometime directing partner, Bruce Sinofsky, arrived on top at the Toronto International Film Festival for a Sunday night screening of their latest plea for social justice, “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory.” A crowd of about 300 whooped, cheered and delivered several rounds of applause, as Mr. Berlinger and Mr. Sinofsky took the stage to celebrate what Mr. Berlinger called the “deeply disturbing but very happy conclusion,” less than a month ago, to a court case they have been documenting for decades.

via www.nytimes.com

Leaving death row not unusual overall but Damien Echols' departure a 1st in Arkansas #wm3

by Beth Warren

When Damien Echols went from death row to freedom in August, it struck some as miraculous.

"I've never before witnessed someone walking off death row," said Laura Nirider, one of Echols' attorneys. "It's surreal."

This was a first for Arkansas, said Shea Wilson, spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Correction.

"He's the only person (in the state) who has been on death row one day and the next day was a free man," she said.

Read the full Commercial Appeal story here.

48 Hours Mystery Reschedules #WM3 Episode, Now 09/17/11

"The West Memphis Three- Free" will air on CBS TV at 10pm on September 17. More details on the official website.

After death row, life's simple pleasures for the #WM3

Damien Echols: I stood in the wind as Hurricane Irene raged. It had been 20 years since I felt rain on my skin...

By Mike O'brien

While the entire East Coast ran for cover as Hurricane Irene menacingly worked its way north, one man stood on a friend's balcony to soak up the elements.

Damien Echols, one of the so-called West Memphis Three who were freed from jail after 18 years, described the amazing moment all the water washed over him.

'It had been almost 20 years since I'd felt rain on my skin,' he said.

'Before all I could do was sit in my cell, listen to the thunder and dream about being out there.'

Echols, 36, had spent half of his life on death row in an Arkansas state prison after being convicted of the 1993 murders of three eight-year-old Cub Scouts.

He, along with Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, were freed on August 19 after they were allowed to change their pleas.

Read the full DailyMailuk.com here.

Jessie MMA Cornerman #wm3

Dan Stidham called Jessie last night and Jessie said he was watching two girls fight... Then he explained it was a pro MMA bout-- Beatdown IV-- at Southland Park! Jessie was the cornerman but the fight was over in 28 seconds... Never got to do his duty but the crowd went wild when they saw him. Early to bed though, Jessie had to be bright eyed and bushy tailed for a PEOPLE magazine shoot at 8am this morning... This week's issue, we believe.

How Rockers Helped Free the #WM3

Inside the key role played by musicians from Eddie Vedder to Natalie Maines

By Patrick Doyle

September 1, 2011 4:50 PM ET

On a recent friday night in Memphis, 75 people gathered on a hotel rooftop overlooking the Mississippi River for a party hosted by Eddie Ved­der. As the guests of honor – Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin, who had just been released after spending 18 years in prison – arrived, they were mobbed by friends and supporters for hugs and photos. Vedder gathered the crowd for a champagne toast – and then, joined by the Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines, grabbed a guitar and sang Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World."

It was the end of a nearly two-decade nightmare for the West Memphis Three – Echols, Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr. – who as teens were convicted of killing three eight-year-old Cub Scouts, whose bodies were found in an Arkansas creek in 1993. Misskelley, diagnosed as mentally disabled, confessed to the murders during a questionable 12-hour interrogation, and the trials regularly disregarded evidence in the teens' favor. Instead, prosecutors focused on their outcast reputations and dark tastes: They listened to Metallica rec­ords, read Stephen King books and Echols dabbled in Wicca – evidence, the state claimed, that the teens killed the children in a satanic-cult ritual. All three were convicted of murder. Echols, the alleged ringleader, was sent to death row.

Read the full Rolling Stone story here.

Henry Rollins Speaks On The Freeing of the #WM3

For those of you who have been following the West Memphis Three case for so many years, you perhaps saw the news from a couple of weeks ago that sent you reeling: Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin were set free after serving more than 18 years in prison.

If you are not familiar with this agonizing -- yet simultaneously fascinating -- case, I encourage you to learn about it. It is the perfect tragedy. In 1993, three 8-year-old boys were found dead in a secluded area of West Memphis, Ark. With no physical evidence and a very suspect confession, three teenage boys were found guilty of the murders in a trial that was the stuff of bad television.

Read the full L.A. Weekly story here.