West Memphis 3 are FREE!

West Memphis 3 may be released from jail

This is HUGE news!!!

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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/20/us/20arkansas.html

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/08/18/arkansas.child.killings/index.html
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I remember this case back from 1993. I was just a child then so I don't remember specifics from that time, but this was a major case. I have been following it for awhile now. Even keeping tabs with friends and family members of the boys. I have read book after book and watched several documentaries about this case and really have come to believe that they were wrongly convicted. It was nothing more than a modern day Salem Witch Trial that took place during the "Satanic Panic" that took place in the US during the 80's and 90's.

These boys were convicted of a "satanic ritualistic murder" of 3 little boys based on a false confession of one of the boys who was practically mentally handicapped and the fact that Damien had some affiliation with Wicca. They looked guilty because they were three immature teenagers who happened to wear all black clothing and listened to heavy metal. They stood out.

Little do people know of the massive mistakes the Arkansas Police made in this murder case. They LOST blood evidence, failed to follow up on leads, and failed to survey the neighbors to see if they had seen anything unusual on the day the 3 little boys disappeared.

The three boys' defense team has actually been working on the case for free since they were imprisoned trying to find more evidence to prove their innocence. Forensics has improved since 1993. They were able to test the evidence again in a forensics lab and had nationally known forensics experts take a look. All of them were astonished that these boys were imprisoned when even pictures of the deceased boys would tell any expert that the alleged "stab wounds" and "knife markings" were postmortem animal bites and scratches from snapping turtles common in the area, not from a satanic ritual. They retested the ropes which bound the little boys and found no DNA linking the 3 men to the murder. In fact, they found hair from one of the little boys fathers on the ropes.

The justice system failed them and it has taken almost 20 years of imprisonment to have this turn around in the case. I don't agree with the deal being made, but they will be out of prison. It's about effing time. They have been through enough.


If any of you are interested in the case:

Documentaries: (you can find them on youtube, that is where I watched them)
- Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
- Paradise Lost 2: Revelations

Books:
- Blood of Innocents by Guy Reel
- Devil's Knot by Mara Levitt
- Almost Home, Vol 1 by Damien Echols (one of the convicted boys)

TV Show documentaries on the case: (you might be able to find them on YouTube, but I don't know for sure)
- 48 Hours Mystery
- Aphrodite Jones

Flickr

I have set up a Flickr account. I'm in the process of loading my Yellowstone pics, but apparently you can only put up 300 MB a month, so it will probably be another year before all my pictures are up there since I took a few thousand, but I've started.

Check it out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nefariousjo

I have started another blog...yeah, I know, I'm an idiot. I have a tendency to like separating different aspects of my life in their own categories or in this case...blogs. I'm trying to decide if I want to make it public or private, because I'm going to be posting my photos and artwork and other stuff there. I don't really like the blogspot format, I prefer wordpress a hell of a lot more. How much will I write on it? Not sure. Whenever I feel inspired. I will consider it my creativity blog. I will post photos, artwork, crappy writings, anything that inspires me, etc.

Anyway, here's my new blank blog: http://nefariousjo.wordpress.com

So, I turn 24 on saturday. That's pretty weird. I feel (and look) MUCH younger.