The cult part of the Commercial Appeals headline signaled how the case would be defined by both the media and prosecutors. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. every single person in my class was either . Eventually, they began traveling to Arkansasabout 35 trips in total, always on their own dime, Bakken and Sauls sayto collect case documents, which they scanned and uploaded to the site, also transcribing the documents so that the text could be searchable. 2011 Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (Documentary) Self - Stepfather of Stevie Branch. No knives and not weapons were used," says Jo Lynn McCaughey. "I knew from when I was real small that people were going to know who I was," Echols said in 1994. That type of support made observers question the verdicts perhaps more so than any rock star who shouted Echolss name into a mic because of an HBO documentary. Terry was born on September 11, 1959 in Sweetwater, to Jack Harvey and Marjorie Hobbs. Titled West of Memphis, the film, directed by Amy J. Berg, presents an overview of the West Memphis Three's 18 years in prison, the revelation of new evidence, and explores the possibility of an alternate suspect. Terry Hobbs, Actor: Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers. Few celebrities at the time did as much as Henry Rollins, however. And without substantial physical evidence, police zeroed in on a pair of teens they knew well: Echols, a self-professed Wiccan who wore all black and read Stephen King, and his best friend Baldwin, who was considered an outsider because of his love of drawing and bands like Metallica. Nobody was saying, This is an outrageous case that needs to be looked into.. But it wasnt in the ways its directors had hoped. Due to marital problems stemming from Stevies death, the couple divorced in 2004, reported CNN. 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. Another hair found near the crime scene on a tree stump was found to be consistent with the DNA of Hobbs friend, David Jacoby, according to court documents obtained by Oxygen.com. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. Wading into the murky water, Allen unknowingly dislodged the pale, grotesquely arched form of Micheal Moore. As detailed by The Hollywood Reporter in 2011, Jackson and Walsh helped fund key investigations for the West Memphis Three's defense during the last seven years of their incarceration. We are sad to announce that on September 11, 2021 we had to say goodbye to Terry Hobbs of Sweetwater, Texas. Mike Allen arrived on the scene. The three have always maintained their innocence. That story line would make up the bulk of 2000s Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, a rare sequel for a documentary, especially before the streaming era proved that true crime series like Making a Murderer and The Staircase could maintain audience interest for years. The following day revealed the unthinkable, when the bloodied and bruised bodies of the three boys were found submerged in a muddy creek in a wooded area called Robin Hood Hills. Stidham, who was just 30 years old and not long out of law school when the court appointed him to be Misskelleys attorney, went in thinking he would negotiate a deal for his client, who had told police that his acquaintances Baldwin and Echols committed the crimes and that he was present and played a role as an accessory. By staying on this subject for the next couple of decades, they gave these men a chance and really decades of freedom afterward. It's affected a lot of lives, but for some reason it keeps being brought up," said Hobbs. So the minute youre done, you just want to know more. Well theres been a lot of things that happened over the years. How do you measure the legacy of Paradise Lost, which is one of the best reviewed documentaries of all time and considered among the most influential, but whose mission is only partly complete? Terry was born on September 11, 1959 in Sweetwater, to Jack Harvey and Marjorie. The idea of the average citizen becoming embroiled in a criminal investigation isn't far-fetched in 2021, . Who Killed The Forgotten West Memphis Three? The great irony of the 18-year quest to free the West Memphis Three is that it didnt begin as a crusade. A month later, authorities arrested Baldwin, Echols, and Misskelleythree teenagers who lived in trailer parks near West Memphis and had previous run-ins with the law, though nothing rising to the level of murder. Iwould journal something and put it in the box, said Hobbs. He died on April 4, 2019 in Panama City Beach, Florida, USA. The arrest, trial, and conviction of the three young men known as the West Memphis Three came under national scrutiny as details of the case became public. In 1996, HBO released the documentary film Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. The sheer mountain moving amount of money it cost to prove the obvious innocence of Jessie, Jason, and Damien still staggers me. Also, law enforcement chose not to focus on the victims' families as the starting point of the investigation as is the norm. Terry Castleman is a data . That November, he says, HBO agreed to give an honorariumroughly $5,000to the families on both sides. Making his way through the muck on his hands and knees, Ridge soon discovered clothing twisted around sticks and thrust into the ditch's bottom. The only possible culprits were 18-year-old Damien Echols, a poor teen with an interest in the occult and a record of mental illness, his friend Jason Baldwin, a quiet kid whose talent for art tended toward dark subjects, and Jessie Misskelley, a 17-year-old misfit with an IQ of 73. Hobbs said he wrote the book so people, especially other victims of crime, could understand the tragedy he has gone through and how it impacted his life. He retired from the US Air Force, and he was the Deputy Supervisor for Polk County Supervisor of Elections. On Aug. 11, 2011, the West Memphis Three entered the courtroom for the final time. The obituary was featured in Idaho Press Tribune on March 13, 2021. Paradise Lost also led to a famous citizen-activist campaign championing the release of the three teens that caught on at the dawn of the Internet Age and would eventually pull in Eddie Vedder, Henry Rollins, and a whos who of the rich and famous. Bray asked her if she knew about rumored cult activity in the community. It was a call about Damien Echolshe wasnt dead, but his wife, Lorri Davis, feared he might be soon. 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. Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care. Griffis also knew how to spot a Satanist. The third put forth the unusual theory that the killings were committed as a cult ritual. The three teens were arrested after Misskelley said they committed the crime after 12 hours of interrogation. They didnt even think he would physically survive through December, Baldwin says. A spiritual successor to Errol Morriss The Thin Blue Line, and a forerunner of more recent documentaries like Making a Murderer, the film stands today as the most affecting examination of one of the most studied legal cases in U.S. historyone that put heavy metal lyrics and black T-shirts on trial and helped lay the groundwork for the current thinking around false confessions. Damien Echols (@damienechols) July 7, 2021 Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of Branch who was under suspicion but never charged, said he welcomes new DNA testing. But inside, he was just another prisonerBaldwin didnt know who he could trust. (At one point, Sauls says, it landed on Yahoos list of the top 100 websites.) He is from USA. (Police questioned Byers several times during the investigation, but never considered him a suspect.) However, in 2010, a series of rapidly unfolding developments turned the tide for Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley. Echols is correct. That didn't make sense to me. When we were driving in the car a lot, wed play a lot of the Metallica album Master of Puppets, says Alex Sinofsky, who became a doctor instead of getting behind the camera himself. More than 25 years after the murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis,a new book gives a first-person account of what was happening behind the sce More than 25 years after the murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis,a new book gives a first-person account of what was happening behind the scenes. Echols, who prosecutors argued was the ringleader, was sentenced to death. He was just taking in the enormity of the defining event of his life to that point, which had been committed to film and was now playing for him inside the cavernous, auditorium-style visitation room. " Every crime, no matter what it is, gets blamed on Satanism.". Cinemorgue Wiki. Jesse was gonna take it anyway. 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. 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. Inevitably, the West Memphis Three case always comes up. On the evening of May 5, 1993, 8-year-olds Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore went missing in West Memphis, Arkansas. But I had to. The boys were so mutilated, investigators thought the murders were part of some kind of Satanic ritual. The idea, Berlinger says, was to tell a story of disaffected youthabout kids killing kids., There was no reason not to believe the press, Berlinger says. The Latest CD: 92 YEARS YOUNG: JAMMIN' AT THE GIBBS HOUSE. They saw the same thing you did. Explore. It was also revealed in 2012 that Hobbs nephew allegedly told his friends, My Uncle Terry murdered those three little boys," and that the killings were a Hobbs family secret, according to WMC-TV. A statement he made to the producers of Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills did little to help his public image. Terry Hobbs, one of the men named in the documents. It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Terry Lee Hobbs of Auburndale, Florida, born in Winter Haven, Florida, who passed away on August 16, 2021, at the age of 56, leaving to mourn family and friends. Even without a smoking gun, the circumstantial evidence was enough for a conviction in a place like Crittenden County, Arkansas. When Alex Sinofsky is asked about his fathers work on the film, he recalls the frequent trips and long hours spent editing film on a Steenbeck he kept in the house. Further down, it includes names such as Rick Dior, a sound mixer who worked on Apollo 13 and Dirty Dancing, and Bob Richman, a three-time Emmy-nominated cinematographer whose rsum also includes renowned docs like An Inconvenient Truth and Waiting for Superman. The bodies had been removed from the water and placed on the adjacent embankment, possibly disturbing physical evidence or otherwise contaminating the scene. I think we were the first internet sleuths, but we were not internet sleuths.. "I'd like to see this put to rest. I never foresaw that they would in turn save us.. October 14, 2017: #26 on the JazzWeek chart! Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. 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. . The final scene Berlinger and Sinofsky filmed may have been the piece that stuck with viewers the most: the image of Baldwin and Echols being led out of the courthouse in handcuffs and bulletproof vests, now property of the state. It was so emotionally taxing to watch and go through it again, he says. This is a story of justice delayed and justice denied. When he was released in 2011, he met John Hardin, who worked with the West Memphis Three support group Arkansas Take Action, and the two bonded over a desire to do for others what had just been done for Baldwin. Theres no smoking gun. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! La Mirada, California. Earlier this year, he told Action News 5 he welcomes new DNA testing. All of them were convicted after Misskelley confessed to helping Echols and Baldwin with the murders, which he later recanted. A theory held is that Terry Hobbs was the one who actually killed the three boys and had pinned it on the Memphis 3 boys. "People probably think I'm in Satanism because what they don't understand they try to destroy or ridicule. Misskelley initially told police that the killings happened during the day; knowing that they actually occurred some time after dusk, the officers corrected him, helping him retrofit his story to the cases few known facts. Although the appeals were repeatedly denied, a new batch of DNA testing done in 2007 reignited the investigation. The case status is Pending - Other Pending. Terry L. Hobbs, 63, of Caldwell, HOBBS, Terry L., passed on March 7,2021 at the age of 63. The whole point of the web sleuths presented in the Cecil Hotel is that you cannot assume something is truthful just because circumstantially it seems interesting. Feigning a romantic interest in Echols, she asked Misskelley to arrange a meeting. But they never had any physical evidence that connected us to this crime, Echols said in 2012. The idea of killer teens in the Christian South, not any greater sense of purpose, was mainly what intrigued Sheila Nevins, then the head of HBOs documentary division, when she spotted a story about the case on the inside pages of The New York Times. I don't entirely think Hobbs did it, but I . This case was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, Tennessee Western Bankruptcy. Terry Hobbs (1969 - 2019) Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers (Nightmare Vacation II) (1988) [Rob Darrinco]: Stabbed and hanged (after gaging), off-screen by Pamela Springsteen in Walter Gotell's office; his body is shown afterwards when Carol Martin Vines discovers him. Berlinger says that he counts Errol Morriss The Thin Blue Line as one of his greatest influences, not just for the innovations Morris brought to the documentary genre, but also because it helped free Randall Dale Adams from a sentence for the murder of a Texas police officer that he did not commit. I dont know if they were questioning it, but they werent mistreating me and telling me that what I was telling them wasnt true., While Berlinger admits that he and Sinofsky may have tilted pro-prosecution in the early days of filming, that quickly changed after witnessing how the cases came together and spending time with the three teens during pretrial jailhouse interviewsparticularly Baldwin, who Berlinger describes as sweet and studious.. In May of that year, police discovered the bodies of Michael Moore, Stevie Branch, and Christopher Byers in the Robin Hood Hills, a small wooded area near the I-40/I-55 exchange. https://t.co/dXOtQkmjee. One person who has come up in the investigation is Terry Hobbs, although police have never named him a suspect or charged him in connection with the case. February 27, 2023 (82 years old) View obituary. In the minds of many, the bizarre nature of the Robin Hood Hills murders could only have been committed by one of Satan's minions. On the evening of May 5, 1993, three 8-year-old boys disappeared from the streets of West Memphis, Ark. I just checked again and HE IS STILL MISSING. It was almost like an out-of-body experience., When the credits rolled shortly after the unforgettable final scene, which shows a now-convicted Baldwin and Echols leaving the courtroom in handcuffs and entering a police cruiser as Metallica plays, Baldwin sat stunned. But on that early morning in 1997, Jason Baldwin wasnt concerned with Berlinger and Sinofskys craft, or legal precedent, or crusading celebrities. Now a judgewho coincidentally works part time in the courtroom where Misskelley was convictedStidham spends time speaking to law students about the judicial system. However, under pressure, leading questions, and scare tactics, Misskelley wove a contradictory story that first placed him at the crime scene as an eyewitness to the murders and then as an active participant. They formed the organization Proclaim Justice, a nonprofit that reinvestigates crimes with the hopes of freeing innocent people. (2 weeks at #1, on for 19 weeks!) The specter of the church looms over Paradise Lost, best represented by an early scene in which Mark Byers leads his congregation in prayer and song. The reason for the credit gets less curious when hes asked about it: He was a huge Metallica fan. No explanation has yet been given as to why such a seemingly important lead was dropped. Funeral Home Services for Terry are being provi. With the area secured, Detective Bryn Ridge volunteered to search the ditch. Beyond the black-and-white print of the newspaper, there was a movement brewing. (Shortly after Villegass acquittal, Baldwin had something of a full-circle moment with his client: He took him to a Metallica show in El Paso, Texas, where they hung out backstage on the invitation of Lars Ulrich.). November 03, 2021 November 4, 2021 . Family and friends can send flowers and/or light a candle as a loving gesture for their loved one. 1.0. . - The West Memphis 3: Free (2012) . Initially, Misskelley repeatedly denied having knowledge of the crime, aside from rumors that Damien Echols was involved. Stating that she would ask around, Hutcheson agreed to "play detective.". (WJHG) By Nikki Sheaks Published: Jul. Minutes later, Sgt. (Maines briefly became a part of the story when Terry Hobbs, stepfather of another of the victims, sued her for defamation after she wrote a blog post pointing out that physical evidence at the crime scene potentially pointed at him and not the three convicted for the crime. On the morning of June 2, 1993, Jessie Misskelley Jr., a 17-year-old high school drop out with a reported IQ of 73, was taken into custody by Detective Mike Allen. Although blood scrapings were taken, the West Memphis police lost the evidence. As reported by the Arkansas Times, examination of the shoe laces used to bind Michael Moore contained hair "not inconsistent" with that of Stevie Branch's stepfather, Terry Hobbs. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as: names, dates, place of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships. Two of the West Memphis Three's most ardent supporters were director Peter Jackson, best known for The Lord of the Rings films, and his partner Fran Walsh. He says his dad and Berlinger werent seeking notorietydocumentaries certainly werent a means to get rich or famous in those days. As the appeals processes stretched across several years and the buzz of the initial film faded, the directors began looking for ways to keep the story alive. In 1996, a screener for Paradise Lost passed her desk. People have come out of the woodwork and said this and this and people have done things and a lot of them are wrong, said Hobbs. Getting that kind of creative validation was exciting, but we were also extremely frustrated that it didnt move from the entertainment page of the newspaper to the editorial page, Berlinger says. I'm not stupid." Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Case Number : 2:21-BK-21177. At the suggestion of the police, Hutcheson hid microphones in her home and borrowed occult books from the library to inspire Echols' interest. It had been a long fight to clear their names, and the odds seemed better than ever. Share Memories & Support the Family. Self. After ending his first marriage, he wed Pamela Hicks Branch in 1986, when her son Stevie was almost 2 years old. 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. Speaking by phone last month, he comes across, in many ways, like the person Berlinger says he encountered in prison in 1994: polite, deferential, soft-spoken. " (Detective Allen) told me if I knew anything, that there was a $35,000 reward, and if I could help them out, we'd get the money," said Misskelley, as quoted by Mara Leveritt in Devil's Knot. There have also been several high-profile incidents of laypeople reinvestigating decades-old cold cases in more rigorous, journalistic ways and helping bring them to a resolution. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more!