EXHIBIT A-IOI - West Memphis Three Case - Document Archive
EXHIBIT A-IOI - West Memphis Three Case - Document Archive
EXHIBIT A-IOI - West Memphis Three Case - Document Archive
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
<strong>Case</strong> 4:09-cv-00008-BSM <strong>Document</strong> 30-5 Filed 07/17/2009 Page 159 of 297<br />
SECTION: NATIONAL, Pg. 6A<br />
LENGTH: 325 words<br />
Copyright 1994 Sun-Sentinel Company<br />
Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)<br />
February 5,1994 SATURDAY, SPORTS FINAL EDITION<br />
HEADLINE: TEEN GUILTY IN SLAYINGS OF THREE 8-YEAR-OLDS<br />
BYLINE: Sun-Sentinel wire services<br />
DATELINE: CORNING, Ark.<br />
BODY:<br />
A teen-ager was convicted on Friday in the slayings ofthree 8-year-old boys but was spared the death penalty by a<br />
jury that rejected the most serious charge, capital murder.<br />
Jessie Misskelley Jr., 18, was found guilty offust-degree murder in the death ofa boy whom Misskelley admitted<br />
chasing down. He was convicted ofsecond-degree murder in the deaths ofthe other two boys.<br />
"An animal like that needs to be locked up," said Mark Byers, stepfather ofvictim Chris Byers.<br />
"Nothing will bring back my son," said Pam Hobbs, mother ofanother victim. "But I'm satisfied the jury found him<br />
guilty."<br />
Chris Byers, Steve Branch and Michael Moore, all second-graders, disappeared from their <strong>West</strong> <strong>Memphis</strong><br />
neighborhood on May 5. Their nude, battered and hogtied bodies were found the next day.<br />
Misskelley was the fust ofthree teens to be tried in the killings. Damien Echols, 19, and Charles Baldwin, 16, face<br />
trial later.<br />
Prosecutors relied heavily on Misskelley's taped statements to investigators. The defense said he was manipulated<br />
into making those statements.<br />
"Jessie didn't tell police anything they didn't know," defense attorney Dan Stidham said in closing arguments on<br />
Thursday. "They led him through this entire recorded statement."<br />
Misskelley told police in two recorded interviews that he watched as his two friends beat the boys, raped two of<br />
them and castrated one boy.<br />
In his closing remarks, Prosecutor Brent Davis said Misskelley admitted chasing down one ofthe victims when he<br />
tried to get away.<br />
"Ifthis defendant does not chase down Michael Moore and bring him back, Michael Moore lives," Davis said. "But<br />
he chased him down like an animal arid as a result Michael Moore is dead, Steve Branch is dead and Chris Byers is<br />
dead."<br />
The fust-degree murder conviction, for the death ofMichael, carries a potential penalty ofup to life in prison. Second-degree<br />
murder carries a penalty offive to 20 years.<br />
LOAD-DATE: August 18, 1994
Change language