Summary Of The Film 'Paradise Lost'
West Memphis Three
Paradise Lost is a documentary that follows the trial of the Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley. They were accused of killing three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. All three were convicted in 1994. Damien received the death penalty and the other two both received like sentences. These three teenagers would become known around the world as the West Memphis 3.
The film Paradise Lost and the sequel, Paradise Lost 2, only covered this story up into the year 2000. However, due in large part to the publicity from these two films, a lot has happened in the case in the past 10 years. One major development is the amount of celebrity endorsements. The documentaries really highlight the mistakes and …show more content…
the errors in the case. On top of that, there have been new findings in the case related to DNA evidence. This has lead to a great number of people that have seen the film looking into the case, seeing the new evidence and consequently disagreeing the verdict passed by the court. Some of these people turned out to be quite famous. A few of the most famous supporters of the West Memphis 3 are members of the band Metallica, the Dixie Chicks, Marilyn Manson and actor Johnny Depp. All of these people participated in events to raise awareness and money for a new trial.
The increased awareness and budget had their desired affect. Damien, Jason and Jessie were all released from prison in August of 2011. If it weren’t for all of the support and money, they wouldn’t have been able to afford to pay for the new lawyers. These new lawyers were able to work out a deal called an “Alford plea” deal. In this deal that all three agreed to, they confess yet still maintain their innocence. I believe the main reason this deal was made was to save Damien’s life by getting him off death row. A rehearing of the trial was set for December of this year, but like in any case, there was no guaranteed outcome. Although the West Memphis 3 now had a strong case, they couldn’t risk Damien’s life on it. Now that they have been released and so many people believe that they are innocent, this raises the question of who really killed the three young boys.
The main figure the documentaries point to as the possible killer is Mark Byers.
Byers was one of the parents of one of the young boys who where brutally murdered. He was by far the most outspoken about the trial during the first two documentaries. There was also his menacing 6ft. 6in height. These factors, along with some history of violence and a criminal record, really made Byers an easy target. To add to these factors, in 1996 Melissa Byers, Mark’s wife, died mysteriously. Her cause of death was deemed undetermined by the coroner. This raised more suspicion by those who thought Mark was involved in the murders. However, Mark Byers was able to reduce some of this scrutiny by willingly taking polygraph tests and submitting samples of his DNA. Since the documentaries, Byers has been released from jail on drug charges and is currently working on a book about how the West Memphis murders have affected his life. He has also changed his position on who he believes committed this crime. Originally, he felt very strongly about the West Memphis 3 and their involvement in the murders. In the past few years, because of new DNA evidence, Byers now believes Terry Hobbs is responsible. The deciding factor came when it was determined that Hobbs’ DNA was found on one of the boys articles of clothing. No one else had any form of DNA anywhere on the boys or the crime scene. This means Hobbs’ is the only person physically linked to the murders by evidence. Terry Hobbs was the stepfather of …show more content…
another one of the victims, Steve Branch. Hobbs’ ex-wife and the mother of Branch is now questioning Terry’s involvement in the murders and is a firm believer that the three boys convicted are actually innocent.
Personally, I agree with Mark Byers and Pamela Hobbs. I do believe that Damien, Jason, and Jessie are innocent and were not involved. I also believe that Terry Hobbs is the most likely killer and needs to be put on trial. The fact that his DNA was the only DNA recovered, aside from the victims, is the key point. Committing a crime like this, so violently, without leaving any sort of evidence would be nearly impossible. I think that evidence, along with the allegations of sexual abuse towards his children, should be more then enough evidence to convict Terry Hobbs of the murders and completely exonerate the West Memphis 3.
Even though there is all of this evidence that could clear the Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, I still feel they made the right decision in taking the deal.
If I was in their situation, I believe that I would have done the same. I know Jason had an especially hard time with the decision, and reasonably so. I can only imagine how hard it must be to be in prison for a crime you didn’t commit. Being released would be great, but having your name cleared would make it mean so much more. So I can understand why Jason would want to go to try and take his chances with getting cleared. Unfortunately, Damien didn’t have that same luxury. Not only was he on death row, but also he had a child and wife waiting for him. The guilt Jason would have felt if the trial didn’t go as planned would have been unbearable. I like to think I would take a deal that isn’t necessarily my best option, to save a friends
life.
Now that the three are free, they are all on their way to having a successful future. Unfortunately, all three families of the murdered boys are now separated. This was truly a tragic event and affected far too many people. The stress caused by not knowing who really was responsible was too much for the people involved to bear. Hopefully this will serve as an incentive in future criminal cases to make sure you get the right person, not just someone who looks the part.
Work Cited
Www.wm3.org. Web. Dec. 2011.
Robertson, Campbell. "Deal Frees West Memphis Three in Arkansas." NYTimes., 19 Aug. 2011. Web. Dec. 2011.
Zimmerman, Gail. "West Memphis 3: Free." CBSNews., 17 Sept. 2011. Web. Dec. 2011.
Paradise Lost is a documentary that follows the trial of the Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley. They were accused of killing three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. All three were convicted in 1994. Damien received the death penalty and the other two both received like sentences. These three teenagers would become known around the world as the West Memphis 3.
The film Paradise Lost and the sequel, Paradise Lost 2, only covered this story up into the year 2000. However, due in large part to the publicity from these two films, a lot has happened in the case in the past 10 years. One major development is the amount of celebrity endorsements. The documentaries really highlight the mistakes and …show more content…
the errors in the case. On top of that, there have been new findings in the case related to DNA evidence. This has lead to a great number of people that have seen the film looking into the case, seeing the new evidence and consequently disagreeing the verdict passed by the court. Some of these people turned out to be quite famous. A few of the most famous supporters of the West Memphis 3 are members of the band Metallica, the Dixie Chicks, Marilyn Manson and actor Johnny Depp. All of these people participated in events to raise awareness and money for a new trial.
The increased awareness and budget had their desired affect. Damien, Jason and Jessie were all released from prison in August of 2011. If it weren’t for all of the support and money, they wouldn’t have been able to afford to pay for the new lawyers. These new lawyers were able to work out a deal called an “Alford plea” deal. In this deal that all three agreed to, they confess yet still maintain their innocence. I believe the main reason this deal was made was to save Damien’s life by getting him off death row. A rehearing of the trial was set for December of this year, but like in any case, there was no guaranteed outcome. Although the West Memphis 3 now had a strong case, they couldn’t risk Damien’s life on it. Now that they have been released and so many people believe that they are innocent, this raises the question of who really killed the three young boys.
The main figure the documentaries point to as the possible killer is Mark Byers.
Byers was one of the parents of one of the young boys who where brutally murdered. He was by far the most outspoken about the trial during the first two documentaries. There was also his menacing 6ft. 6in height. These factors, along with some history of violence and a criminal record, really made Byers an easy target. To add to these factors, in 1996 Melissa Byers, Mark’s wife, died mysteriously. Her cause of death was deemed undetermined by the coroner. This raised more suspicion by those who thought Mark was involved in the murders. However, Mark Byers was able to reduce some of this scrutiny by willingly taking polygraph tests and submitting samples of his DNA. Since the documentaries, Byers has been released from jail on drug charges and is currently working on a book about how the West Memphis murders have affected his life. He has also changed his position on who he believes committed this crime. Originally, he felt very strongly about the West Memphis 3 and their involvement in the murders. In the past few years, because of new DNA evidence, Byers now believes Terry Hobbs is responsible. The deciding factor came when it was determined that Hobbs’ DNA was found on one of the boys articles of clothing. No one else had any form of DNA anywhere on the boys or the crime scene. This means Hobbs’ is the only person physically linked to the murders by evidence. Terry Hobbs was the stepfather of …show more content…
another one of the victims, Steve Branch. Hobbs’ ex-wife and the mother of Branch is now questioning Terry’s involvement in the murders and is a firm believer that the three boys convicted are actually innocent.
Personally, I agree with Mark Byers and Pamela Hobbs. I do believe that Damien, Jason, and Jessie are innocent and were not involved. I also believe that Terry Hobbs is the most likely killer and needs to be put on trial. The fact that his DNA was the only DNA recovered, aside from the victims, is the key point. Committing a crime like this, so violently, without leaving any sort of evidence would be nearly impossible. I think that evidence, along with the allegations of sexual abuse towards his children, should be more then enough evidence to convict Terry Hobbs of the murders and completely exonerate the West Memphis 3.
Even though there is all of this evidence that could clear the Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, I still feel they made the right decision in taking the deal.
If I was in their situation, I believe that I would have done the same. I know Jason had an especially hard time with the decision, and reasonably so. I can only imagine how hard it must be to be in prison for a crime you didn’t commit. Being released would be great, but having your name cleared would make it mean so much more. So I can understand why Jason would want to go to try and take his chances with getting cleared. Unfortunately, Damien didn’t have that same luxury. Not only was he on death row, but also he had a child and wife waiting for him. The guilt Jason would have felt if the trial didn’t go as planned would have been unbearable. I like to think I would take a deal that isn’t necessarily my best option, to save a friends
life.
Now that the three are free, they are all on their way to having a successful future. Unfortunately, all three families of the murdered boys are now separated. This was truly a tragic event and affected far too many people. The stress caused by not knowing who really was responsible was too much for the people involved to bear. Hopefully this will serve as an incentive in future criminal cases to make sure you get the right person, not just someone who looks the part.
Work Cited
Www.wm3.org. Web. Dec. 2011.
Robertson, Campbell. "Deal Frees West Memphis Three in Arkansas." NYTimes., 19 Aug. 2011. Web. Dec. 2011.
Zimmerman, Gail. "West Memphis 3: Free." CBSNews., 17 Sept. 2011. Web. Dec. 2011.