EXHIBIT A-IOI - West Memphis Three Case - Document Archive

Case 4:09-cv-00008-BSM Document 30-5 Filed 07/17/2009 Page 115 of 297
SECTION: News; Pg. P2C
LENGTH: 494 words
Copyright 1994 Charleston Newspapers
Charleston Gazette (West Virginia)
March 20, 1994, Sunday
HEADLINE: TEEN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN ARK. SLAYINGS
BODY:
JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) _ A teen-ager was sentenced to death
Saturday for the murder ofthree 8-year-old boys whose bodies were
found naked, battered and hogtied. An accomplice was sentenced to
life in prison without parole.
Darnien Echols, 19, and Charles Jason Baldwin, 16, each were
convicted Friday ofthree counts ofcapital murder. The same jury
that convicted them recommended death by injection for Echols and
life in prison without parole for Baldwin.
The victims, second-graders Steve Branch, Chris Byers and
Michael Moore, disappeared May 5 while riding bicycles through their
West Memphis neighborhood. Their bodies were pulled from a drainage
ditch the next day.
When Circuit Judge David Burnett asked Baldwin ifthere was any
reason he should not impose the sentence, Baldwin said, "Because I'm
innocent."
When asked the same question, Echols replied, "No, sir."
A witness said two ofthe 8-year-olds were raped and one was
castrated. Prosecutors presented evidence suggesting Echols was a
devil worshipper and Baldwin his loyal follower.
The jury found two mitigating circumstances in Echols' case,
including that he was "under extreme emotional or mental
disturbance," but said that was outweighed by the cruelty and
depravity ofthe murders.
Burnett set Echols' execution date for May 5, exactly a year
after the boys were killed.