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. 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. 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. Beyond the black-and-white print of the newspaper, there was a movement brewing. Initially, Misskelley repeatedly denied having knowledge of the crime, aside from rumors that Damien Echols was involved. They didnt even think he would physically survive through December, Baldwin says. When the pair got the call from Nevins, they mobilized immediately, landing in Arkansas shortly after the arrests. Little kids will be looking under their bed 'Damien might be under there! Years of solitary confinement and the abuse he said he suffered at the hands of prison guards had taken its toll. During the trials of Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols, Griffis drew tenuous links between circumstantial evidence, such as the killings taking place near the date of the pagan festival of Beltane. Terry Hobbs Memphis 32, 14-Jun, Superior Funeral Home-Hollywood. This case was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, Tennessee Western Bankruptcy. Branded the West Memphis Three, the mens case was featured in multiple documentaries, earning them support from an array of high-profile musicians, celebrities and activists. Creator Payne Lindsey, a filmmaker with no previous experience investigating crimes, had no connection to the victim before he discovered her while Googling cold cases in hopes of finding his own version of runaway successes like Serial and Making a Murderer. 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. Its my perspective of what happened in 1993, 26 years ago in West Memphis, Arkansas, said Hobbs. La Verne, California. It hurt all over again, he said. In 2013, Jackson and Damien Echols produced a fourth documentary about the case. Terry. A hair found on one of the ligatures to bind the boys, however, was found to be consistent with the DNA of Hobbs, according to court documents obtained by Oxygen.com. I don't know if the other 2 did, but even if they did polygraphs aren't admissible in court. Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care. At the time of the West Memphis Three trial, Griffis claimed to have given seminars to 38,000 police officers all over the globe. Berlinger contrasts this with the approach taken by Bakken, Sauls, and Co., who considered the truth sacrosanct and avoided rumor and innuendo in part because similar speculation helped convict the West Memphis Three. 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. The three have always maintained their innocence. Boxful of Nightmares is the personal memoirs of Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of one of the children murdered. West Memphis is in the heart of the Bible Belt: just a two-hour drive from where, legend has it, the devil tuned Robert Johnsons guitar, in a state thats 46 percent evangelical Protestant. For Rollins, it was a moral imperative: Id find myself up at 3:30 a.m. thinking about Damien. We were mainly in it for the aesthetics of filmmaking, but the last scene of Paradise Lost, when Damien is chained up and sent away to death row, that was just heartbreaking and devastating for us, Berlinger says. 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. Everybody Id come in contact with was hostile to the truth, Baldwin says. Terry Roland Hobbs <p>Terry Roland Hobbs, 62, of Sweetwater, passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2021.</p> <p>Terry was born on September 11, 1959 in Sweetwater, to Jack Harvey and Marjorie Hobbs .Terry graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1977. 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. He was 56. Echols, who prosecutors argued was the ringleader, was sentenced to death. Griffis also knew how to spot a Satanist. Share Memories & Support the Family. Branded the, What has never been definitively answered, however, is who committed the 1993 murders, and , Due to marital problems stemming from Stevies death, the couple divorced in 2004, reported, The test results showed that no genetic material on the crime scene evidence was a match to Echols, Baldwin or Misskelley, reported the, 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, "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, 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, 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. He could have been me, he told Rolling Stone in 2011. Terry Hobbs is absolutely terrible. . (Police questioned Byers several times during the investigation, but never considered him a suspect.) He was an actor, known for Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988), Fast Food (1989) and In the Heat of the Night (1988). They were found nude and hogtied in a creek in a wooded area in West Memphis. Local 24 News EXCLUSIVE: Terry Hobbs on his new memoir on the West Memphis 3. Yet, Judge David Burnett accepted Griffis as an expert. 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. Its like ripping a Band-Aid off a wound. Also part of the plea was the provision that the three could not sue the state. Show more Show more What's next for West. Its no surprise the juries found the prosecutions narrative compelling, Leveritt says: For them, the image of killer satanists headbanging to Metallica was more than plausible. Although Griffis' testimony was dramatic, it showed only a tenuous grasp of occult knowledge much of it, including a reference to a cult called "Crytos," was simply made up. 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? Debates still occur regularly onlinethe West Memphis Three subreddit is fairly active for one on a 28-year-old caseand podcasts have looked at the crime from all angles. Nevertheless, Echols made no incriminating statements. That came partially through the exposure they got through this film., But perhaps the best measure of Paradise Losts impact is the work being done by Baldwin today. The obituary was featured in Idaho Press Tribune on March 13, 2021. However, in 2010, a series of rapidly unfolding developments turned the tide for Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley. But they werent just voices in the growing choir calling for the West Memphis Threes releasethey were leading the movement. Because I was thinking, if you haven't done anything, then they can't prove you did something you haven't actually done. We have estimated Terry Hobbs's net worth , money, salary, income, and assets. 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. Baldwins attorneys even avoided putting him on the witness stand or mounting much of a defense, believing the burden was on the state. Its gone from a controversial legal theory to an accepted phenomenon. Due to marital problems stemming from Stevies death, the couple divorced in 2004, reported CNN. The knife was thrown into the lake by Baldwin's mother a year before the murders. February 27, 2023 (82 years old) View obituary. At approximately 1:30 p.m., Steve Jones, a juvenile parole officer from Crittenden County, peered over the steep bank of a water-filled ditch in the woods near the Blue Beacon truck wash. It's affected a lot of lives, but for some reason it keeps being brought up," said Hobbs. After ending his first marriage, he wed Pamela Hicks Branch in 1986, when her son Stevie was almost 2 years old. 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. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. But the lawyer quickly noticed inconsistencies in Misskelleys purported confession. Baldwin and Misskelley were sentenced to life without parole while Echols received the death penalty. So much progress had been made in the fight for new trials, most notably a November 2010 Arkansas Supreme Court ruling that ordered a hearing on new DNA analysis and other evidence not considered in 1994. The nonprofits work hasnt always been easyfundraising is hard, and because hes a convicted felon, hes unable to visit clients in prison or discuss pleasbut its been essential for him as he strives to live the words by 14th-century Persian poet Hafez that he keeps as an email signature: The small man builds cages for everyone he knows / While the sage, who has to duck his head when the moon is low / Keeps dropping keys all night long for the beautiful rowdy prisoners. Baldwin says hes learned that justice isnt a computer programthat you can input all the evidence and testimony and still get the wrong results. After new DNA evidence was discovered, the West Memphis Three were released from prison in August 2011 by agreeing to an Alford plea, which allowed him to proclaim their innocence while admitting the prosecution had enough evidence to convict him.