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He served as a producer for West of Memphis and has helped promote the film. Terry Hobbs: "David." They were both found guilty on three counts of capital murder, according to the Arkansas Times. Echols lived in a trailer park and stood out in the conservative small town. Attorneys also said Hobbs' nephew, Michael Hobbs Jr, told friends his uncle murdered the three boys, but the elder Hobbs has denied any involvement with the murders. John Mark Byers, Christophers stepfather, reported the boys missing to the West Memphis Police Department at approximately 8 p.m., reported local newspaper the Memphis Flyer. Jackson and friends argue that the West Memphis Three were the victims of a witch hunt in bible-belt Arkansas, convicted in throes of "Satanic Panic." Another hair found on a tree stump near the crime scene was found to be consistent with the DNA of David Jacoby, a friend of Hobbs, according to court documents. Jacoby further testified, "I was not in Robin Hood Hills Woods searching for Stevie or other missing children alone or with Terry Hobbs on May 5th, 1993 at or near 6:00 p.m. or 6:30 p.m." Jacoby contradicts what Hobbs is telling the officer. Cause there was people on 3 wheelers, Instead, defense attorneys say, the tests found DNA from Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of one of the murdered boys. He then picked Pam back up This thing will beat you down if you let it and I chose not to let it control my life., Hobbs says his ex-wife knows he is innocent, She knows better., But says Hicks, as well Byers, are wrapped-up in a story thats turned into an industry, To me, they`ve all tried to capitalize and they have turned our tragedy into a money making business ., He says that business, and Hollywood hype, has set the real killers free, Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley. Terry Hobbs | West Memphis 3 murders Wiki | Fandom I think uhh, that little Byers boy. was our couch, that, that picture got tooken. Alibi unsupported or contradicted by some of those he claims to have been with, including Ryan Clark and the Garners. Threatened to kill West Memphis Three if justice was not served. How much is reliant on faulty memories? you all went out there the first time?" In their quest to clear the names of the "West Memphis Three"Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. who were teenagers when they were convicted for the 1993 killingsthe filmmakers decide that they have found the actual murderer: Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of one of the murdered boys. ", The officer saw that earlier Hobbs contradicted himself so he now asked for clarification about whether he saw or heard about the picture. },false) Prosecutor Brent Davis would not comment about the DNA, but did file a report acknowledging that DNA from the West Memphis 3 was not discovered at the crime scene. Terry Hobbs admitted to 1982 sexual assault Mara Leveritt Beat up someone who kissed his wife. Wife a lifelong heroin addict. The bodies of Branch, Byers, and Moore were found in a drainage ditch in West Memphis May 6, 1993. However, it was ruled that since the boys all played together often at one another's homes, it was within reason that Hobbs' hair could have gotten on any of their shoes. Misskelley even confessed to the crime, a confession Hobbs says he heard because he sat through every day of their trials. Their suspicions were seemingly confirmed when the DNA from a cigarette they lifted from his home was a match with the hair they found on Michael's shoe. For them, somebody eventually said something. Hobbs's language indicates he is making up the story of having seen or heard about a picture of Damien Echols sitting on his couch. In the last sentence, he changes his language and states, "I've heard about this picture.". Who Is The Real Killer Behind The 'West Memphis Three' Murders? if(document.querySelector("#ads")){ He was held for 12 hours and interrogated without his parents present. Posted May 20, 2011 "But for them to try to blame it on Mark, blame it on me, blame it on, and not, not let somebody rest from this is wrong." On Wednesday, a hearing was held to allow her and the other parents of the victims to see the evidence of the case; during this hearing, attorneys filed a motion to name four further suspects. No further arrests have been made in the murders of Stevie, Michael and Christopher. Officer: "You heard it from who?" },false) Based on the flimsiest of evidence, including a confession from Misskelley that the filmmakers say was coerced, Misskelley and Baldwin got life sentences while Echols, the supposed ringleader, was sentenced to death. The Hobbses are the mother and stepfather of Steve Branch, who was one of three 8-year-old boys found murdered in May last year, in a wooded area near where the family used to live in West Memphis . document.querySelector("#adunit").addEventListener('click',function(){ $10,000 reward for new information leading to a missing man - WJHG The new documents. Photo: A jury convicted the West Memphis 3 nearly 14 years ago of the murders of three eight-year-old boys: Michael Moore, Stevie Branch and Christopher Byers. and Mike, no Stevie and Mike, on each side of him, I think. Now, a high powered defense team is trying to prove Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley didn't do it. West Memphis Three: Terry Hobbs did it : r/UnsolvedMurders - Reddit In 1994 . This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Despite being the parent of one of the murdered boys, he was never officially interviewed by the police at the time the murders took place. Let's look at some excerpts and see what Terry Hobbs had to say 14 years after the boys were murdered. Criminal record and admissions of drug use. In front of the news cameras, Byers calls Hobbs a "baby killer." Echols is one of three men found guilty in the brutal murders of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis in 1993. . Who Is Terry Hobbs, Stepfather Of West Memphis Three Victim? | True He does not finish his second sentence. If you want to plan the perfect spring picnic, food and drink are important, but its certainly not the only factor to consider. Read: Emotions run high among parents of slain Arkansas boys (2011) The hair found in the ligature was consistent with Branch's stepfather, Terry Hobbs, while the hair found on the tree. Eddie Vedder and Johnny Depp staged a "Free the West Memphis Three" benefit concert in Little Rock, Arkansas, and the convicts became international figures. Davis also acknowledged there was a hair discovered in the knot in the shoelace. }); Website:https://hotspringsarts.orgFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/hotspringsareaculturalalliance/, Excited to share the finalized book cover! media-tech companies with hubs around the world. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotOnload', function(event) { In the articles I read back in December 2021, all the evidence was intact after being believed to have been lost in a fire and Echols was pushing for the hair and shoelaces to be submitted for testing because the shoelaces were used as ligatures. Hobbs says the entire story is a complete fabrication. We are one of the worlds fastest growing Terry Hobbs's Deposition it was my couch, and I don't know, I don't remember that, now Of course I know Located across from Memphis, on the west bank of the Mississippi River, West Memphis shares many problems with its more famous neighbor. To this day, it is still unclear who is responsible for the killings. I also guarantee that after printing, there will still be typographical or grammatical errors that I/we missed. }); Bojangles. document.querySelector("#ads").addEventListener('click',function(){ He waived his right to a lawyer and eventually confessed to being involved in the murders, naming Echols and Baldwin as his accomplices, according to a, His confession had numerous factual errors and inconsistencies, according to the, In a later appeal, Misskelley argued he had an I.Q. The gruesome nature of their murders led investigators to theorize there was a satanic element to it -- something that wasn't too farfetched in the Bible Belt considering 'Satanic Panic' was still making the rounds back then -- and zero in on Echols, Misskelley Jr., and Baldwin, mischief-makers with an unruly reputation that preceded them. When asked whom he heard it from he starts out answering "I don't" as if he was going to say "I don't know." A neighbor once accused him of attacking her. Following a series of documentaries that cast doubt on the investigation and law enforcements conclusion, high-profile supporters began to rally behind the imprisoned teens, later dubbed the . Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of one of the three childrren murdered in West Memphis in 1993 and whose DNA was recently found inside one of the knots used in the killing, was arrested 11 years before those murders in Hot Springs. check it. Then the filmmakers highlight Hobbs's history of abuse. The filmmakers then call into question Hobbs's alibi, getting his friend, David Jacoby, to express doubt about how much time he spent with Hobbs on the night of the murders. In West Memphis, Hobbs worked as an ice cream delivery man and Hicks worked at a restaurant. hitType: 'event', Admitted to belonging to a violent white supremacist group. Two private investigators looking into the case on their behalf eventually turned their sights on Terry Hobbs, Steve's stepfather, because his story did not add up -- he had claimed that he had begun searching for the boys at 6 pm on the day they had disappeared when in reality, they had only been reported missing at 9 pm. if(document.querySelector("#google_image_div")){ Several neighbors named him as a suspect. You have no idea how hard it really is to write, proofread, edit, revise, proofread, re-write, scrap, re-write, edit, proofread, revise and proofread . You can get your copy Here. Echols and Baldwin went on trial a month later, and the prosecution argued they had murdered the boys in a Satanic ritual. Their bodies were discovered that afternoon in a drainage ditch. Prosecutors then offered the West Memphis Three a plea deal. Ex-wife's family contacted police saying he may have committed the murders. from North Wall inside women's Other evidence is even more circumstantial. New Eyewitnesses: Three Boys Last Seen Alive with Terry Hobbs pg.acq.push(function() { He may have wanted to say, In 1993, such . You said the one with Damien and, and the two boys." 'Forgotten West Memphis Three' doc aims to give victims of notorious However, it also could have been the work of wild animals. Twice Hobbs was asked about anything unusual that he "saw." Who Is The Real Killer Behind The 'West Memphis Three' Murders? - Yahoo Later in the interview the officer would revisit the picture of Echols sitting in Hobbs's house. Terry Hobbs: "I know I seen umm a picture, and I don't know if this means anything. OF BILLY WAYNE STEWART AND BENNIE GUY "I'd have to laugh at that and say there's something wrong with someone who would think that," he said. Murders In West Memphis::: - Jivepuppi eventAction: 'click_image_ads' So why do people say they saw you outside and you were calling them home? asked Hall. eventAction: 'view' Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! All three had been stripped nakedand hogtied with their shoelaces -- their right ankles had been tied to their right wrists behind their backs, and their left ankles had been tied to their left wrists behind their backs as well. Hobbs hasnt done a TV interview in years, but agreed to sit down with WREGs Sabrina Hall to answer some questions. Video shows rail workers stop train to rescue toddler from tracks Christophers cause of death was from "multiple injuries, while both Michael and Stevie died from "multiple injuries with drowning, according to local newspaper the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Once they realized it was the child, Assistant Conductor Marcus Higgins quickly jumped off the train to rescue the 3-year-old boy, whose mother said he has autism. Which Celebrities Supported The West Memphis Three? The West Memphis Three - Terry Hobbs Interview - Statement Analysis Terry was born in Northern Arkansas and grew up in the Ozark Mountain region of the state. Who Were Victims Stevie Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers? Why Were Damien Echols,Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. Investigators soon zeroed in on 18-year-old high school dropout. Others. I am innocent, as are Jason and Jessie, but I made this decision because I did not want to spend another day of my life behind those bars, Echols said, according to the Arkansas Times. Four new possible suspects in the brutal killings of three boy scouts in Arkansas in 1993 have been named by attorneys in the case - and the stepfather of one of the boys is among them. (2/15/2013)(AND RELATED COURT FILINGS), LINK After ending his first marriage, he wed Pamela Hicks Branch in 1986, when her son Stevie was almost 2 years old. Terry Hobbs: (Nods yes) He is providing a way for the alleged intruders to enter his residence and kill his family. Who Killed The Forgotten West Memphis Three? Furthermore, a hair found in one of the ligaturesused to bind the boys was found to be consistent with the DNA of Terry Hobbs, Stevies stepfather, according to court documents obtained by Oxygen.com. Police intervention in dispute with daughter's boyfriend. }) Both Michael and Steve had bruises across their bodies, while Christopher had bruises as well as lacerations to various parts of his body, and mutilation to his scrotum and penis. Hobbs returned later and at that time Jacoby went with Hobbs to search for the three boys. In 2007, DNA found at the crime scene was tested. They were found nude and hogtied in a creek in a wooded area in West Memphis. Between the first Paradise Lost film and the second, Byers's wife Melissa died. They came to hear new evidence that points to Hobbs' ex-husband Terry Hobbs as the killer and not the so called West Memphis Three. Court documents reveal new details in the case of the "West Memphis 3", Mother arrested for leaving children home alone to go to gym, police say. In fact, Baldwin and Echols said they barely knew Misskelley. Two girls claimed to have overheard Echols say he had killed the boys. MEAWW is an initialism for Media Entertainment Arts WorldWide. And when I had, uh, had 5 people beat me up and torture me but I lived through it." The state medical examiner told the jury that a knife found in a lake behind Baldwin's parents' home could have been the murder weapon. So you didn`t even see them that day at all? asked Hall. The manuscript was finalized yesterday! I am as human as anybody else and I don`t like to be portrayed as a bad person because I am not.. A new documentary about the murders, West of Memphis, also homed in on Terry Hobbs, claiming that his DNA was found on rope used to tie the boys' feet. Pam Hobbs has said she does not believe the three men who were originally convicted for the crimes were guilty of murdering her son and his friends. When the men were smoking pot, they saw the three boys spying on them, he said. "He was just someone that was sort of on the fringes of mine and Jason's life.". Stevie's mother, Pam Hobbs, who was married to Terry at the time, says she was told that he was jealous of how much attention she gave to her son compared to how much she gave him. Gave this away the day before his house was searched. window.googletag.cmd.push(function() { Blonde hair, blue eyes, said Hobbs. Rain, it seems, had washed away any. In 1994, in what was widely believed to be a miscarriage of justice, three teens, 18-year-old Damien Echols, 17-year-old Jessie Misskelley Jr., and 16-year-old Jason Baldwin, were convicted in connection to the deaths of Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Steve Branch the previous year. While the Arkansas State and U.S. Supreme Courts repeatedly denied the West Memphis Threes appeals, a new batch of DNA testing done in 2007 showed that no genetic material on the crime scene evidence was a match to Echols, Baldwin or Misskelley, reported the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The appeal also stated that he was scared of officers and thought he might be given reward money. Several, including beating his stepson and wife. The Arkansas Supreme Court ordered a new evidentiary hearing for Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley in the fall of 2010. 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WM3 Main Page Stevies mother, Pamela Hicks, said the last time she spoke to her son, he asked for permission to go bike riding with his friends, according to Memphis NBC affiliate WMC-TV. The witness said he contacted the West Memphis police to tell them what he had learned but no one ever returned his call. French was 54. Like Echols, Misskelley was a high school dropout and was known for getting into fistfights and trouble around town, according to, "To be honest, I didn't really think of him at all," Echols told, But it was the testimony of Misskelley, who was brought in for questioning on June 3, 1993, that led to the teenagers' arrests. Whats known is that three 8-year-old boys Steve "Stevie" Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore were murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas, in 1993. up a hole or something and they thought they mighta been in that hole so some Hobbs says he is not bothered by the . The three 8-years-old boys were kidnapped and was later found dead. } The most significant specimen was a hair found in one of the shoelaces used to tie up the dead boys. Baldwin lives in Austin, Texas, where in 2017 he founded the non-profit group Proclaim Justice, which advocates for victims of wrongful convictions. }); Close to three decades later, investigators are still stumped by the brutal murders of three young West Memphis, Arkansas, boys that had left the country reeling. On the list were Terry Hobbs and his friend David Jacoby as well as two men who would have been teenagers at the time: LG Hollingsworth and Buddy Lucas, WREG reported. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), Hobbs states that "a lot of neighborhood people" were in the woods searching for the boys. "A gripping documentary," said the Guardian's review. Terry Hobbs: "Nothing other than I wouldn't have been out here, this is not a place I hang The TMNT dwelled in the sewers (manholes). were talking about. A 1996 appeal filed by Echols and Baldwin states that the boys' clothing and bicycles had been found strewn around the crime scene. TO JUNE 21, 2007 WEST MEMPHIS POLICE He . And in publicly making the case against him, they perpetrate a similar sort of injustice to the one they originally set out to correct: relying on questionable evidence to prosecute in the court of public opinion. Terry Hobbs, who lives in Bartlett, Tenn., said police requested the interview with him as a result of recent DNA tests on items found with the bodies. You can view that segment titled West Memphis Three Special #TerryHobbs #WM3, Ed Opperman also did a segment titled Where the Monsters Go: The Case Against the West Memphis 3 Killers.. After a motion for the tests to exonerate Echols, Misskelley Jr., and Baldwin was approved in 2004, examiners found a human hair on the shoe of Michael that did not belong to any of the defendants. }) Is he pausing because he knows this is not a truthful statement? Officer: "Is there anything that you saw that you uhh, was it daylight or dark when Despite being told that the boys may have been playing in a hole Hobbs does not choose to look into it. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. He said that someone's got this picture and it's of my couch, Officer: "You remember about what time that was?" And when I was attacked. Officer: "Was that suppose to be out there in the wooded area also?" I still believe in my heart that Jessie, Jason, and Damion Echols [sic] are responsible for what happened to our children, Hobbs told Memphis ABC affiliate. Described similar incident happening in his life. Hobbs says he hopes the three eventually tell the truth one day and apologize, but until then Hobbs says he has to live with the story that many people believe. The second-graders' bodies were found bruised and mutilated in a West Memphis, Arkansas, ditch; . "If Michael Moore or Christopher Byers had a piece of my hair on shoes strings, these little boys came to my home and played with our little boy pretty regularly," Hobbs said.