The Tale of The West Memphis Three

A look at the 1993 slayings of 8-year-olds Michael Moore, Christopher Byers and Stevie Branch, and the trajectory of “The West Memphis Three”, the three teens convicted of the crime: Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley.

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All MOCAS Thumbnails by Alex: https://www.fiverr.com/s/LW5axa
Special thanks to Alex for additional graphics help on this project.
Original Music by Anthony Strong: https://anthonystrong.com
Other music and imagery sourced from Storyblocks
Special thanks to ‪@DavesLemonade‬ for some sound help.

-- SOFT SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT --

It goes without saying that this is an extremely controversial case, with very strong feelings on both sides of it. There have also been so many talking points over the years that one is always going to be accused of “forgetting to mention” such and such when making a standalone piece like this. Although my research for this took me to all kinds of places, the below sources are the ones I found myself returning to the most. If you were to check out all of the below, you would be well on your way to going deep down the rabbit hole on the case.

GENERAL:

http://callahan.mysite.com/ - A legendary WM3 resource with a near complete compiling of all trial transcripts, hearings, additional documents, etc. No added commentary at all.

SUPPORTER:

https://www.jivepuppi.com/ - It could almost be counted as a general resource for how much information is on it, but interpretations put forward are just about invariably geared toward undermining the state’s theory.

Devil’s Knot by Mara Leveritt - Sort of the authoritative supporter narrative of the case. Some scenes from the motion picture of the same name appear as B-Roll in the video.

The Paradise Lost Trilogy and West of Memphis - Less of a research resource than B-Roll source (and the occasional clip), though I did rewatch all of them. The first Paradise Lost is the truly amazing document - albeit with some absolutely gratuitous imagery. Consider yourself warned. It takes you inside the trials as they’re happening, as well as providing some of the most profound depictions of real, extreme grief as I have ever seen. Nothing that comes after the first film has much value in terms of real substance in my opinion. I guess I’ll just leave it at that!

NON-SUPPORTER:

The Case Against The West Memphis Three Killers by Gary Meece - This is a condensed version of a two volume set (Blood on Black and Where The Monsters Go). If you’re truly fascinated with the case, you might want to go with the longer option. They document just about anything that happened or was said that could be considered to have some relevance to the case around the time of the murders. If you’re a cheapskate, Meece has a podcast called “The Case Against” where he basically gradually reads you the entirety of his books with additional comments.

https://thewm3revelations.wordpress.com/ - A very digestible series of articles combating various supporter talking points.