True DetectiveSeason 3has only just begun and the suspects in the Purcell missing children case are piling up.
If the kids look guilty perhaps its because they might be a nod to the West Memphis Three.
Thats Satanic, he says.
The cops who investigated the West Memphis Three case also mistook heavy metal sounds for the devils music.
The films and the attention led to the mens release in 2011.
It was an HBO documentary that brought national attention to the West Memphis Three case.
The murder investigation, trial and retrial had lives of their own.
Searchers found no sign of the missing boys.
A police helicopter swept the whole area.
The boys bodies were found in a muddy ditch the next afternoon.
May 7, in the Robin Hood Hills near West Memphis, Arkansas, on the border of Tennessee.
The murder site is about a five hour drive from Fayetteville, whereTrue Detectiveseason 3 is set.
Parole officer Steve Jones found a black tennis shoe near the Blue Beacon car wash that afternoon.
Sergeant Mike Allen discovered a naked body in a ditch.
Kids clothes were found in a creek, which led to the findings of two more bodies.
The bodies were mutilated and bruised.
They boys themselves were hog-tied by their shoelaces.
Autopsies found Branch and Moore died of drowning.
Chris died of multiple knife wounds, and had the skin from his penis and scrotum removed.
It is often claimed there was no physical evidence to connect the West Memphis Three to the murder.
It matched some of the wounds on the bodies of Byers and Branch.
Police interviewed the four girls Echols named.
They all contradicted his account.
Jessie Misskelley said he was at a wrestling game in Dyess at the time of the murders.
Misskelley was interrogated for 12 hours, and confessed on June 3rd.
Only two segments of the interrogation, totaling 46 minutes, were recorded.
He later said he confessed out of fear and intimidation.
While there are some reports that he was interrogated without his parents permission and without representation Sgt.
Because he accused Baldwin and Echols, Misskelley was tried separately from the other two suspects.
He had once lived in the Mayfair Apartments, which overlooked the Robin Hood Hills area.
The family said Echols was covered in mud.
During his interrogation, Echols mentioned genital wounds the investigators had been hiding from the public.
InDevils Knot, investigative journalist Mara Leveritt argues the information may have come from police leaks.
Echols became a suspect because he showed an interest in the occult.
Damien Echols dressed in black and had the word EVIL tattooed across his knuckles.
He had an interest in the occult.
Police officers James Sudbury and Steve Jones felt that the crime had cult overtones.
According to his files, Echols had a fixation with drinking blood.
Police said the recording was inaudible.
Hutcheson claimed Echols was drunk and openly bragged about killing the three boys.
Aaron recanted his storyin a October 2003 interview to the Arkansas Times.
His mother Vicki also later stated every word she had given to the police was a fabrication.
The West Memphis Three had trials in 1994.
All three pleaded innocent at the trial and maintained that innocence ever since.
Echols and Baldwin were tried together.
Misskelley was tried separately.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment plus two 20-year sentences, or 40 years in prison.
Echols and Baldwin went on trial three weeks later.
Echols was sentenced to death, Misskelley was sentenced to and Jason Baldwin was sentenced to life imprisonment.
No matches were found.
The families of the victims were divided on the West Memphis Threes guilt.
John Mark Byers, stepdad of one of the victims, said before the hearing, Theyre innocent.
They did not kill my son.
In 2000, Rick Murray, the biological father of Christopher Byers, expressed doubts about the guilty verdicts.
John Mark Byers announced he believes the Memphis Three are innocent in late 2007.
Circuit Court Judge David Burnett denied the request on September 10, 2008, citing the tests as inconclusive.
He was accused of advocating for guilt and sharing inadmissible evidence with other jurors.
The Arkansas Supreme Court heard oral arguments for the appeal on September 30, 2010.
On November 4, they ordered a lower judge to consider the DNA evidence and juror misconduct.
Judge David Laser ordered a new trial.
Judge David Laser accepted the pleas and sentenced them to time served.
The Memphis Three were released with 10-year suspended sentences, having served 18 years and 78 days in prison.
Damien Wayne Echols married landscape architect Lorri Davis and moved to New York City after his release.
He co-wrote the lyrics to the song Army Reserve which was on Pearl Jams album Pearl Jam in 2006.
Echols and former Michale Graves, formerly of The Misfits, released the album titledIllusionsin October 2007.
The case of the WestMemphisThree is still fiercely debated.
True DetectiveSeason 3debuts on January 13 at 9 p.m.