Mother of slain Scout wants West Memphis Three case reopened

[Nica_In_Love 98]

(Reuters) - The mother of one of the three Cub Scouts killed in Arkansas in 1993 - a case that is the subject of a documentary nominated for an Academy Award - wants the case reopened because of what she called crucial new evidence.

"Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory," which was nominated this week for a documentary feature Oscar, explores the release from prison of the men known as the West Memphis Three. Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley spent 18 years behind bars, accused of killing three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, a city on the banks of the Mississippi River.

Police called the murders of Steven Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore "satanic" because the children's naked bodies had been bound and mutilated.

The three men were released in August after they took a bargain in which they could continue to claim their innocence but pleaded guilty in exchange for an 18-year sentence and credit for time served. DNA tests did not link the men to the crime scene and, in fact, showed the presence of others who have never been identified.

"I am content in my heart that Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley did not murder my son," Steven Branch's mother, Pam Hobbs, said this week in a news release.

Complete story: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/27/us-westmemphisthree-arkansas-idUSTRE80Q03X20120127

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I actually just got done watching the documentary produced by HBO called Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (there are other 2 parts that I haven't seen). I honestly had never heard about this case but it's truly interesting and disturbing at the same time. New evidence was found over the years that proved that none of the three convicted men were ever present at the crime scene and they even had alibis for the time of the murders. Nonetheless, it seems that the jury and the people were so convinced - and blind - that they were the murderers, that they ended up convicting them based on pure assumptions and circumstantial evidence. Anyway, for those who like to watch documentaries, you may be interested in watching this one. Here's a trailer: