Rolli 1
Jessica Rolli
Dr. J.Keith Hale
English 1230
18 November 2010
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders At Robin Hood Hills
On May 5, 1993 three, eight year old boys were reported missing. They were found
naked and hogtied with shoelaces in a creek in West Memphis, Arkansas in Robin Hood Hills,
which is a secluded patch of woods near interstate 40, on May 6, 1993. The three boys were
second graders named Michael Moore, Steven Branch, and Christopher Byers. Steven Branch
was found with injuries conclusive with being brutally beaten on the left side of his body.
Christopher Byers had sustained injuries where the skin of his penis was removed, but not the
tip. Michael had sustained injuries to his head, torso, and extremities. The autopsies were
inconclusive as to the time of their deaths, but the medical examiner did reveal that Steven died
of blood loss and the other two boys drowned. ( T r u t v ) The medical examiner later released
that the time of death was between 1:00am and 5:00am on May 6, 1993. The delay in declaring
the time of death was because the police officers removed the bodies from the creek before the
medical examiner arrived.
The police think that the bodies might have been staged in the woods, because there were
no mosquito bites on the children. The police also believe that the murders involved a satanic
cult activity because of the marks on the children’s bodies. The law enforcement officials said
they had a lead on two boys that had abruptly left the state and fled to California four days after
the murders were committed. Their names were Chris Morgan and Brian Holland; these boys
had prior run-ins with the law for drug offences. The law enforcement officials also had
Rolli 2
suspicions about two other boys, Damien Echoles and Jason Baldwin, because they wore dark
clothing and behaved in an odd fashion, such as exploring religions and listening to heavy metal
music.
Jessie Misskelley was seventeen years old at the time these murders took place. Jessie has
an IQ of 72, which is borderline retarded. He was a high school dropout. He had dreams of
becoming a pro-wrestler. He had a juvenile record for shoplifting and vandalism. Jessie was
known to get into frequent fist fights and to have a short fused temper.
Damien Echoles was born as Michael Wayne Hutcheson. He legally changed his name
because he wanted a religious name after he began to explore many religions. He chose Damien
from father Damien a nineteenth century catholic priest. His last name changed when his mother
got remarried and her new husband adopted Damien. He was a good student until junior high.
Damien was diagnosed with manic depression and was put into psychiatric hospitals for
attempted suicide. Damien continued throughout his teenage years to suffer from depression. He
dropped out of school but did obtain his GED. Damien was eighteen at the time of the arrest.
During the time of the murders, Damien had a job working with a roofing company and was
expecting a child with this girlfriend, Domini Teer.
Jason Baldwin was sixteen years old at the time of these murders took place. He was a
good student, earning above average grades. Jason was very artistic and had told his school
counselor that he was hoping to go to college to study graphic design. He often took care of his
younger brothers after school while his mother worked the evening shift. Jason did have a
juvenile record for shoplifting and vandalism. Jason and Damien were close friends with similar
Rolli 3
interest in music, boos, and religion. Jason knew Jessie Misskelley from school, back when he
went to school.
I cannot understand why the police suspected Damien and Jason for the murders. It does
not seem that there was any good reason to suspect them for any wrong-doing. The two boys had
records in the police department for breaking into a trailer during a rain storm, and had a
tendency not to attend school regularly. I don’t feel this is reason to suspect them of murder. I
think if they had record of being physically violent or harming others it would, but they did not.
Jessie, on the other hand, got into regular fistfights at school and had a reputation for being an
aggressive person. So why was he not a main suspect? Damien had a previous record of trying to
commit suicide and was on anti-depressants, this is not a reason to suspect him of killing
someone else.
Detective Mike Allen was given the assignment to contact Jessie; he was not a suspect,
but his peers Damien and Jason were, so they questioned Jessie about them. Jessie denied having
any knowledge or guilt of these murders. Mike admitted that they were hoping to scare him in to
making a statement by showing him the picture of the boy’s bodies. Jessie Misskelley Jr. gave a
statement and confessed to seeing Damien Echoles and Jason Baldwin rape and kill these three
boys. Jessie claimed that he held one boy down so he could not run away. The tape of Jessie’s
confession had some issues. In the tape, Jessie stated that the murders took place at noon. The
police revisited the time frame eight times to lead him to the correct timing. This was untrue, the
murders took place later because the boys were in school. Jessie stated that he, Jason, and the
three boys were not at school that day. But the school accounted that Jason and the three boys
were at school the day of the murders. Jessie did not know what the boys were tied up with; he
said it was a rope, but it was shoe laces. He also stated that one of the boys was choked with a
Rolli 4
stick, but the medical examiner did not find evidence of this on the bodies of any of the boys.
Jessie said that all three boys were anally raped, and once again, the medical examiner did not
find evidence of this on the bodies. Jessie then took back his earlier statement and said he was at
a wrestling match in another town.
Jessie’s case was moved to Clay County. There was no evidence against Jessie
Misskelley of being at the crime scene. Jessie did send a request to have his confession
suppressed, but this request was denied by the judge. The police did not get a written waiver of
Jessie’s Miranda Rights signed by his father. Normally, this is a breach of a minor’s
constitutional rights that would give a substantial reason to have the confession removed, but the
judge decided to allow it. Three hours of Jessie’s confession were not taped.
I can’t personally see how the police cannot take into account the fact that Jessie has a
low IQ. I don’t understand how someone, no matter how low the IQ, could not tell the difference
between a rope and shoe laces. It is the same situation with the time frame of the killing. Jessie
stated that it happened when the boys were alive and in school. Then, he was led to say right
after school and later changed the time frame to at night. Even with a low IQ, he would be able
to tell the difference if it was day or night. Even harder to understand, is that he stated that they
were anally raped and that one boy was choked with a stick. If he was in fact there during the
murders and had seen them do these things, then why did the medical examination of the three
bodies show this did not happen. I also found it odd that there were three hours of Jessie’s
interview that was not taped. This is very suspicious and does not seem to be correct protocol for
the police department.
Rolli 5
On February fourth of 1994, Jessie was found guilty of first degree murder of Michael
Moore; he was sentenced to life in prison. He was also found guilty of second degree murder of
Christopher Byers and Steven Branch sentenced to twenty years a child. Jessie could have gotten
a reduced sentence if he testified against Damien and Jason, but Jessie refused to testify against
the two boys.
Damien and Jason were tried in court together. The police found a knife that was similar
to the one used on the murder victims in the lake by Jason’s house. This knife was also similar to
a knife that Damien had owned. Damien stated that he sold his knife and that his knife was a
different color and had a different handle. They arrested the boys on June 3, 1993 but did not
find the knife until November of 1993. There was no substantial evidence that proved Damien or
Jason had owned this knife. They also found Wiccan books in the house Damien lived in, and
they found some of his journal writings. A large portion of the writings was to be used to show
that Damien and Jason were involved with this so called satanic cult activity.
The first witness that the police interviewed was Arron Hutcheson, whose mother
brought him in. Jessie had previously babysat for this family. He told police that he had seen the
boys at “the playhouse.” Then, when the police took Arron to the crime scene to see where he
had seen the boys, Arron stated that he seen the murders and men dressed up in the woods and
speaking Spanish. Later, Arron said he saw John Byers kill the three boys. Even after all the
inconsistencies in Arron’s stories, the police still asked him to come in for a line up to pick out
the killers. He did not identify Damien or Jason at this time. Arron’s mother was upset that she
was no longer going to get the reward money, so she agreed with police to have her house wired.
The police were hoping they could get Jessie to convince Damien to go there and confess to the
murders. Damien did go to the home, but he did not confess to anything.
Rolli 6
I think that the money had a lot to do with why this family came forward with a story.
The mother wanted the reward money and she was willing to do what she could to get it. I feel
like this was more than obvious. She chose to make up stories and could not prove anything. It
seems that she told her child what to say and when the child felt uncomfortable he told another
story. I don’t understand how she was a creditable witness.
Jason’s cellmate, Michael Carson, stated in the trial that Jason admitted to him that he
did it. Michael stated that Jason told him that he dismembered kids and sucked the blood from
their penises. Michael was medically diagnosed with an LSD addiction. The judge ruled the
diagnosis was not sufficient grounds towards the truthfulness of the witness. Danny Williams
was a counselor at the detention center where Jason supposedly admitted to killing the three
boys. Danny stated that he had conversations with Michael about the murders that Jessie
supposedly committed. Danny came forward to the defense attorney because he felt that Michael
was using the information that he told him. Danny knew that Jason did not tell Michael these
things and he felt responsible for the lies that Michael was telling. The judge ruled in favor of
Michael, stating that it was his right to privacy with the patient-counselor confidentiality. This
information was never exposed at trial.
I think this was very critical information and should have been released at trial. I feel like
the judge was covering up the facts that could have proved the testimony to be false. I don’t
understand how the counselor could even tell patients information about his other patients. I
think that the counselor put himself and his patients in a situation that was inexcusable. I can’t
see how the information the counselor gave to Michael about Jason was relevant to talk about in
a counseling session. I think that the judge should have taken into consideration that the patientcounselor confidentiality was broken and put one person in a very bad position to be set up.
Rolli 7
A doctor testified that he could not skin a child’s penis in the dark and in water without a
mistake. The doctor said he didn’t know if he could do it in these conditions, even with his
experience. He said it would be rather difficult to clean up all the blood from the injuries to the
children, and it would be nearly impossible to do in the dark. This doctor believed that it was
nearly impossible for these three young inexperienced teenagers to skin the penis of the young
boy without a mistake.
I think that doctor made very good points. It is hard to image three young boys being able
to do a surgical procedure in the dark without the correct tools. I also think that the face that
there was no blood evidence at the scene should have been a big clue that the person responsible
of these murders was very experienced. I can’t see how three teenagers could have planned a
murder and not leave any evidence behind on their first time committing a crime like this. This
crime seemed more like a crime of passion and not like a satanic cult sacrifice. If it was a
sacrifice, then why didn’t they hurt all the boys in the exact same way? It doesn’t make sense to
hurt each one at different levels of severity.
There was a manager of a fast food restaurant called Bojangles, who stated that a black
man came in with muddy feet and blood on his clothes the same night the boys were found. This
man went into the ladies room and defecated on the floor. The police did not find the man
because they did not respond to the call until forty-five minutes after it was made. The police did
not go in the bathroom on that day. Instead the officer drove through the drive thru to talk to the
manager. It was in a different police district, and they never considered the two to be connected
until the bodies were found and the manager of the restaurant called again with his suspicions of
the man and the bodies being connected. The police then came back to the restaurant and took
Rolli 8
evidence from the bathroom. The blood they scraped from the bathroom of the restaurant was
lost in evidence according to police.
In my opinion, it seems as if the police did not take the manager seriously. I don’t think
that it is protocol to go interview thru a drive thru window. It seems as if they were not interested
in finding these children. I think that they should have gone into the restaurant and interviewed
the manager and took samples of the blood in the bathroom right away. It should have been
important to police to see if this was a person of interest or why there was a man with blood on
him. This information should have been looked into and made a priority in case he was hurt or
hurt someone else. The other interesting part of this police officers work, is how he lost the
evidence that was collected. I am sure there are procedures that he had to follow to put it into
evidence.
Narlene Hollingsworth and her son Anthony, a registered sex offender, testified to seeing
Jason and Damien the night of the murders. In the statement that they gave they stated to seeing
Damien and Domini, who was Damien’s girlfriend, walking by a truck stop at 9:30 pm on the
night of the murders. There were seven people in the Hollingsworth’s car that night and
somehow only four of those seven people saw Damien and Domini that night. Narlene’s
Husband Ricky said he was unable to determine who the figures were that were walking. And
somehow the others in the vehicle could make out what they were wearing and that their clothes
were all muddy. Although during the trial Anthony contradicted his mothers’ statement by
saying it was 10:30 pm when they saw Damien and Domini. The prosecution implied that the
witnesses had mistaken Domini for Jason Baldwin.
Rolli 9
In my opinion, this is a rather odd testimony. It does not make sense that the stories
would not match when they were all in the same vehicle. I can’t see how at nine or ten o’clock at
night someone can identify someone in the dark and be able to give an in depth discretion of the
clothing they were wearing and that they were all muddy. I think that they testified against
Damien only because it was a large case that needed to be solved and they wanted to be a part of
the action. If they really did see Damien and Domini in the dark and were sure then why did the
prosecution state that they made a mistake on Domini? What’s to say they did not make a
mistake identifying the people who were walking in the dark?
Mark Byers, the step father of Christopher Byers, gave film makers, a hunting knife as a
Christmas gift on December 19, 1993, three weeks before this trial was set to begin. The knife
appeared to have blood on it and was given to the police on January 8, 1994. The knife showed
DNA evidence of the same type of blood as Mark and Christopher Byers and, because the two
have the same blood type, the test was inconclusive. Mark stated that he had never used the knife
before. Then when he was told that there was blood evidence on the knife, Mark said that he
used this knife to cut his toe nails and that could be why his DNA was on it. Earlier, he told the
police that he never used the knife before. Some of the wounds of Christopher matched this type
of knife. Mark was a drug informant for one of the investigating officers. Mark did testify in
court, that he had beaten Christopher Beyer’s with a belt on the day of the murders. These belt
buckle marks were confirmed on Christopher’s body.
I think that Mark Byers is the most logical suspect. He claimed not to have seen his step
son that day. Then he changed his story and stated that he gave him a beating with a belt. Then
he lies about the knife. It seems as if he is trying to cover up something with all the lies. It is also
his step son that was beaten and whose penis was skinned. I think that Mark had no problem
Rolli 10
beating the child with a belt and that we can’t overlook that fact that he might have taken it to
murder.
On March 17, 1994, Damien was found guilty of the capital murders of all three boys,
and was sentenced to death by lethal injection. Jason was found guilty of capital murder for all
three boys, and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Damien, Jason, And Jessie have been
filing appeals for the last sixteen years.
Rolli 11
Work Cited
R o b i n H o o d H i l l s M u r d e r s . m o n s t e r s . m i l k b o ys . o r g . N . p . , 3 0 S e p . W e b . 2
Dec 2010.
Sauls, Burk. "The Robin Hood Hills Murders." WM3.org. N.p., 2001.
Web. 9 Dec 2010.
Simpson, Teresa. "The Robin Hood Hills Murders." About.com. N.p., 16
Nov 2010. Web. 9 Dec 2010.
A Twilight Kill. Jivepuppi.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec 2010.
Steel, Fiona . "The West Memphis Three." trutv.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 9
Dec 2010.
Lancaster, Bob. "The Witch Trial." web.archive.org. arktimes, 1997. Web.
9 Dec 2010.
Stone, John. "The Robin Hood Hills Murders." mortalpain.com. n.d. Web.
Dec 2010.
Leveritt, Mara. "New Evidence." Trutv.com . N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec 2010.
"Chronology of Events." Callahan.8k.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec 2010.