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Except this was 1996, and home internet was still in its infancy. https://t.co/dXOtQkmjee. But on the subject of Paradise Lost, he speaks emphatically: He understands how important the movies were in helping him, Echols, and Misskelley walk free 10 years ago this August. McCaughey says her sister is very upset. Case Details Parties . February 27, 2023 (82 years old) View obituary. The Paradise Lost cameras captured not only the defenses discussions, but the full testimony, in Misskelleys trial, of an expert on coerced confessions. 2012 West of Memphis (Documentary) Self - Steven Branch's Stepfather. I didn't even comprehend that the situation could get this serious that it can go this far. As the West Memphis Three languished behind bars for 18 years, thousands of supporters called out for their freedom while others vehemently declared their guilt. At the request of West Memphis authorities, the two were picked up and questioned by Oceanside police. In her recantation, Hutcheson stated that when she asked Echols directly if he had killed "those three kids," he replied, "No. Few celebrities at the time did as much as Henry Rollins, however. Terry Hobbs Net Worth. Although she was unable to recall the exact location or anyone who attended the alleged meeting, she claimed a drunken Echols confessed to the murders. As reported by the Arkansas Times, examination of the shoe laces used to bind Michael Moore contained hair "not inconsistent" with that of Stevie Branch's stepfather, Terry Hobbs. Today, Berlinger calls Revelations the weakest of the three films in the trilogyadvocacy in search of a story as opposed to the in-the-moment, on-the-ground approach of the first Paradise Lost and the in-depth exploration of new evidence in 2011s Purgatory. According to Griffis, black hair, black T-shirts, and black jeans were signs that a kid was in league with the devil. A later confession during the trial phase would prove equally problematic. By the end of Paradise Lost, you cant believe they were found guilty, Bakken says. The Alford plea is a seldom-invoked and somewhat confusing legal maneuver, but the basics are fairly straightforward. Now, evidence from the case of the West Memphis Three is either missing or destroyed. As the appeals processes stretched across several years and the buzz of the initial film faded, the directors began looking for ways to keep the story alive. Id like to see this put to rest. He says that while he was in the supermax prison in Varner, he would write letters trying to drum up support for not just himself, but also for other inmates he believed were wrongfully convicted. Unaware of what was to come, Allen explained that he just wanted to ask him some questions. That story line would make up the bulk of 2000s Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, a rare sequel for a documentary, especially before the streaming era proved that true crime series like Making a Murderer and The Staircase could maintain audience interest for years. He was just taking in the enormity of the defining event of his life to that point, which had been committed to film and was now playing for him inside the cavernous, auditorium-style visitation room. Even without a smoking gun, the circumstantial evidence was enough for a conviction in a place like Crittenden County, Arkansas. I deeply admire that and I thought it was worthy of putting on film.. Jessie took a polygraph. Terry Hobbs was born on November 25, 1969 in Columbus, Georgia, USA. I think I introduced my dad to it because that was not his normal genre., Three Metallica songsOrion, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), and Call of Ktuluwould play throughout the documentary. Critics were effusive in their praise and stunned by the footageparticularly Roger Ebert, who wrote in a four-star review that at the end of the film I was unconvinced of their guilt. The film won Emmy and Peabody awards to go with more than a dozen other nominations. Inevitably, the West Memphis Three case always comes up. We didnt see them grow up.. Sauls says that the former Black Flag frontman was one of the few big names who dug deep into the evidence, wanting to learn as many details as he could about the case. The consequences of that online campaign were ruinous: The person they targeted, a Mexican metal musician who worked under the name Morbid, was harassed into hiding. Terry was born on September 11, 1959 in Sweetwater, to Jack Harvey and Marjorie Hobbs .Terry graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1977. Case Details. And yet Hobbs was not interviewed at all in the months after the crimes. Rather, they were fighting for something they believed in. By staying on this subject for the next couple of decades, they gave these men a chance and really decades of freedom afterward. Terry Castleman is a data . Branded the, What has never been definitively answered, however, is who committed the 1993 murders, and , Due to marital problems stemming from Stevies death, the couple divorced in 2004, reported, The test results showed that no genetic material on the crime scene evidence was a match to Echols, Baldwin or Misskelley, reported the, The West Memphis Police Department interviewed Hobbs, who was dismissive of the findings, claiming the hair could have been picked up during a visit to his home since the victim "played with our little boy regularly," according to the, "They said close to the crime scene because at one time I did walk near where they had found the kids with Terry Hobbs But I didn't wear hats back then, my hair could have blown around anywhere, Jacoby told Memphis NBC affiliate, A year after the DNA results were released, Hobbs sued Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines for defamation, claiming she implied he was a murderer on the bands website and at a 2007 rally, according to, In 2009, three witnesses filed affidavits claiming they saw Hobbs with the murdered boys the night they disappeared, contradicting Hobbs previous statements to police, according to. Here's when clocks will 'spring forward' in 2023. They couldnt have been cooler, recalls Berlinger, who would go on to direct the 2004 documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster alongside Bruce Sinofsky. MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com)More than 25 years after the murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis,a new book gives a first-person account of what was happening behind the scenes. Damien Echols (@damienechols) July 7, 2021 Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of Branch who was under suspicion but never charged, said he welcomes new DNA testing. The idea, Berlinger says, was to tell a story of disaffected youthabout kids killing kids., There was no reason not to believe the press, Berlinger says. Then youd try to find it, and it didnt exist, because when we went out to discussion groups, no one knew about the case yet., After learning that the teens were still in prison, Bakken, Sauls, and Pashley decided to make full use of the budding technological revolution. Over two decades after the murders, what really happened to Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore on the evening of May 5, 1993, remains a mystery. Paradise Lost also led to a famous citizen-activist campaign championing the release of the three teens that caught on at the dawn of the Internet Age and would eventually pull in Eddie Vedder, Henry Rollins, and a whos who of the rich and famous. Now, I see they can. Auburndale, FL - TSGT Terry Lee Hobbs, USAF, ret. Certain that, under what he felt were ridiculous circumstances, Echols' confidence and, on occasion, flippant attitude during the trial was often misinterpreted as evidence of his coldness toward the victims and their families. For Rollins, it was a moral imperative: Id find myself up at 3:30 a.m. thinking about Damien. In an email to The Ringer, Rollins stressed that inaction was not an option., Myself and the many people I worked with did what we could to help bring attention to the case and generate much needed financial aid, he wrote. Now a judgewho coincidentally works part time in the courtroom where Misskelley was convictedStidham spends time speaking to law students about the judicial system. Terry was born on September 11, 1959 in Sweetwater, to Jack Harvey and Marjorie. Now, he was being asked to consider something that he never dreamed he would: accepting a plea deal that would set the West Memphis Three free, but require them to give up their quest for exoneration. So the minute youre done, you just want to know more. He died on April 4, 2019 in Panama City Beach, Florida, USA. In 2009, three witnesses filed affidavits claiming they saw Hobbs with the murdered boys the night they disappeared, contradicting Hobbs previous statements to police, according to CNN. A native of Winter Haven, born December 21, 1964, Terry . Terry Hobbs was born on November 25, 1969 in Columbus, Georgia, USA. In West Memphis, Hobbs worked as an ice cream delivery man and Hicks worked at a restaurant. In the years since the trial, John Mark Byers, adoptive father of Christopher Byers, and Pamela Hobbs, mother of Stevie Branch, became vocal supporters of the West Memphis Three. Misskelley's coerced confession, as contradictory as it seemed to the evidence, was consistent in implicating Echols and Jason Baldwin. Terry Hobbs, Todd Moore, and Dana Moore still maintain that Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley murdered their sons. I went to a Baptist school and I got accused of being a devil worshiper because I was trying to learn how to write hieroglyphics, says Sauls, today a screenwriter and VFX designer. He was an actor, known for Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988), Fast Food (1989) and In the Heat of the Night (1988). He began his career in the. He was handed the phone. All three had been submerged face down in the mud, stripped naked, and bound with their shoelaces. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family. And that makes him hopeful that exoneration is on the horizon. But then the verdicts arrived: Both Baldwin and Echols were found guilty on all counts, just like Misskelley had been six weeks before them. They began attending appeal hearings and visiting Baldwin, Echols, and Misskelley in prison. (WMC) - Its a case that has captured the nation and certainly the Mid-South. But Berlinger also believes that the sequel is important for documenting the power of citizen activism. Last year, I noticed that Terry went missing. This family in-fighting led to him shooting his brother-in-law. The great irony of the 18-year quest to free the West Memphis Three is that it didnt begin as a crusade. Much of Cecil Hotel focuses on the amateur investigators who turned coincidences into conspiracy theories, ultimately accusing an innocent person of her death. every single person in my class was either . The IMDb credits page for the first Paradise Lost is modest, but impressive. Echols, who prosecutors argued was the ringleader, was sentenced to death. Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of West Memphis Three murder victim Stevie Branch, has denied any involvement in slayings of Branch and his two friends. They were released after prosecutors agreed to an Alford plea, in which the men maintained their innocence but pleaded guilty. On the evening of May 5, 1993, 8-year-olds Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore went missing in West Memphis, Arkansas. Metallica had never licensed a song for a film before, but when they learned about the case, Berlinger says, they made an exception. None of the initial trio behind WM3.orgnor their friend Lisa Fancher, who later became a key part of the efforthad ever considered themselves an activist to that point. Sinofsky family connection aside, Berlinger says this was an important part of the film: The prosecutors had put heavy metal lyrics and Baldwins and Echolss Metallica fandom on trial as much as the teens themselves. This is the true story of the West Memphis Three murders. Over the course of the initial investigation, a number of alternate suspects and scenarios came to light that were largely ignored or otherwise dismissed by authorities. If the state of Arkansas has a deep and abiding belief that the West Memphis Three are child murderers and did these terrible crimes, then shame on them for letting them out after 18 and a half years because a bunch of celebrities are whining about it, Berlinger says. Luminol tests, which reveal the hidden presence of blood, were not performed at the scene until six days later. Stating that she would ask around, Hutcheson agreed to "play detective.". Terry Roland Hobbs <p>Terry Roland Hobbs, 62, of Sweetwater, passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2021.</p> <p>Terry was born on September 11, 1959 in Sweetwater, to Jack Harvey and Marjorie Hobbs .Terry graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1977. My first thought is, I hope this dude isnt trying to pull me into some type of escape, Baldwin says nearly a quarter-century later. In this first confession, Miskelley often agreed to details suggested by the police or attributed to prior statements which he did not make. On August 19, 2011, all three accepted the deal and were immediately released from prison. Other possible suspects includedBrian Holland and Chris Morgan, two young men from Memphis, Tenn., with a history of drug offenses.