By Eric "Quint" Vespa
As someone who followed Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s Paradise Lost series I’ve long been fascinated (and frustrated) by the case of The West Memphis Three. There has only ever been one other documentary that got me fuming as much as that first Paradise Lost film did, a particularly gut-wrenching film called Dear Zachary.
If you haven’t seen the Berlinger/Sinofsky documentaries or know much of anything about the case, the rundown is that in the early ‘90s three young boys were murdered in a small Arkansas town. Three local teens were arrested and tried for the crimes and based on questionable evidence convicted. Their case has seemed hopeless despite new evidence coming to light until very recently.
After 18 years in prison, the three men convicted for this crime, Jessie Misskelley, Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols, were set free, Damien from death row. The State of Arkansas wouldn’t acknowledge their innocence, but the men get a chance at life and in Damien’s case he narrowly avoided being put to death for the crimes he was convicted of.
This topic is rife with controversy and red hot opinion. As it should be. It’s my opinion that these three men are innocent and I’m not alone.
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