Abomination: Devil Worship and Deception in the West Memphis Three Murders (37 page)

Authorities decided to release him upon parole. After leaving prison, he attended opening nights and literary events, where he was fawned upon by his admirers. His book about prison life,
Purgatory---A Trip to Prison
, sold thousands of copies and was turned into a critically acclaimed film. Television and radio hosts coveted him for interviews. Intelligent, handsome and nattily dressed, he reached a level of celebrity envied by other lettered members of Austrian educated classes. Unfortunately, he remained a killer. Soon after his release, prostitutes began disappearing in Austria, and the police nicknamed the unknown assailant the "Vienna Woods Killer."

Unterwager involved himself in the mysterious deaths. He interviewed police officers and prostitutes, including the police officer responsible for the “Vienna Woods” murder cases. Unterwager took perverse pleasure in calling the relatives of his victims. In one known message, he said:

They lie in the place of atonement, facing downward, toward Hades, because otherwise it would have been an outrage.
²³⁸

A retired police officer noticed that the killings began after the parole of Unterwager. A serious investigation began by the Austrian federal police, with Unterwager as the main suspect. The largest murder hunt in Austrian history involved police from all parts of the nation. He was an unlikely suspect: his post-release life was comfortable, he was a successful writer and a darling of Vienna society. Friends in the media soon realized that an aura of police suspicion surrounded Unterwager, but many refused to believe he returned to killing prostitutes. They had invested time and energy working to rehabilitate Unterwager and his reputation and publicly maintained that the investigators were unjustly persecuting the convicted murderer.

Unterwager obtained an opportunity to write about American crime, and left for Los Angeles, staying in seedy hotels, where prostitutes began turning up dead in the city with the same modus operandi. Three murders happened in Los Angeles in fifteen days. The three victims were tied with similar ligatures, using an intricate slipknot. Concurrent police investigations into a serial killer began in departments separated by over ten thousand miles. Eventually, the Austrian police realized that Unterwager may have killed women in Los Angeles.

Working with the Los Angeles Police Department, the police in Austria obtained enough evidence to arrest Unterwager. Avoiding the police attempt to arrest him, Unterwager fled to Miami, Florida. He maintained his innocence to his journalism friends, stating that there was no credible evidence implicating him, and offering an alibi for each accusal of murder. He said that the authorities singled him out because they were jealous of his release and wanted him returned to jail, regardless of the evidence. American agents tracked him down, and after attempting to flee from federal officers, he was arrested. Afraid of the gas chamber in California, he agreed to be deported back to Austria, where public opinion remained positive. Arriving back in Vienna on May 28th, 1992 with a smirk on his face, he intended to outwit the system. While incarcerated he frequently gave interviews with journalists and continued to profess his innocence. No one could believe Unterwager was guilty of the killings. He convinced many that he was being framed by a biased judicial system. Prior to trial, the supposedly innocent Unterwager slit his wrists in a vain attempt at suicide.

Austria is not the United States; the country had no experience with serial killers. The largest serial murder trial in Austrian history began in June of 1994. In Austria, this was the trial of the century. An intelligent and composed Unterwager stated his “some other guy did it” (SOGDI) defense on the stand:

I am counting on your aquittal because I am not the culprit. Your decision will affect not only me but the real killer, who is laughing up his sleeve.
²³⁹

During the two month trial, supporters of Unterwager began falling away as more evidence became public. Eventually all that remained in support were a few girlfriends and his attorneys.

In Austria, on June 28th, 1994, Unterwager was found guilty of nine murders, including the three murders that occurred in Los Angeles. Of the eight member jury, six found him guilty, two could not convict. In the United States, he would have walked free; in Austria, he received life in prison, but the duration of the sentence would never be served: Unterwager hanged himself within six hours of the sentence, using a ligature similar to those used on the prostitutes he murdered. His most recent girlfirend wasn’t sure if she would be the next victim. Many of his followers remain convinced he was not capable of the murders. His conviction and death left many questions unanswered: how could so many educated, upper-middle class people be deceived? How did they believe the phony narrative provided by Unterwager for so long? Why did so many people support him, considering his lengthy arrest record that included the murder of a prostitute?

These two murderers are germane to the West Memphis Three case as they also attracted the attention of celebrities, who in turn actively worked for their release from prison. Both Abbott and Unterwager were convicted of murder, were released, and then murdered again, a solemn warning in relation to the West Memphis Three case.

15. Pro and Conned

There is one common denominator for all the supporters of the West Memphis Three: they all saw one or all of the
Paradise Lost
documentaries by HBO. They then based their judgment on a 90 minute film and the continued profession of innocence by Echols and Baldwin.

John Grisham recently was a guest on “Piers Morgan Tonight” on CNN. Grisham told Piers Morgan his thoughts on the West Memphis Three case. “If you look at what happened to those three defendants, it was mishandled from the very beginning,” says Grisham. “They rely on bogus confessions. They rely on jailhouse snitches.”
²⁴⁰
Neither of these statements is entirely true: there were five Jessie Misskelley confessions, and the convictions were not wholly based upon evidence from fellow jail inmates.

The belief that Miskelley only had an IQ of 72

That Misskelley's IQ has been significantly low-balled is evidenced not only by his 84/88 previous performance scores - actually close to "average" 90-105 range, and certainly not "retarded" or even "borderline retarded" as the films say - but also by the audio of Misskelley's confessions, where his cognitive and verbal abilities can be judged by any listener as capable of relating a detailed re-telling of the murder.

It wasn't until his lawyer had told him he might avoid the death penalty if he were judged mentally challenged, that Misskelley began perfoming poorly on his IQ tests, resulting in the much-touted score of 72. Footage of his lawyer Stidham telling him about the benefit of being deemed mentally handicapped is in the original Paradise Lost film. Stidham likes to say Misskelley "has the mind of a 5-yr-old," a claim he repeats in
Paradise Lost 3
.

Jessie Misskelley was brow beaten by aggressive detectives for 11 hours, after which he broke and provided a false confession.

Misskelley was arrested on June 3rd, 1993. As thoroughly addressed earlier in this book, Detective Allen drove Misskelley to the police station at 9:45 AM. Recognizing Misskelley acted nervous and that he was underage, Allen drove back to see Jessie’s father to obtain the permission to continue questioning at 10:30 AM. Detective Allen decided that a polygraph would help make a determination that Misskelley was lying. The polygraph took two hours, and results indicated deception. After 12:30 PM, an additional round of questioning occurred, and unfortunately, there is no record of this interaction. According to police, Jessie implicated himself, Damien Echols, and Jason Baldwin in the murders, and was arrested at 2:44 PM. Misskelley also provided additional information about the background of the coven and crime. Another round of questioning started at 2:45 PM, after the arrest of Misskelley, which was recorded by police. At the completion of this round of questioning, Inspector Gitchell questioned Misskelley again to clear up a number of confusing inaccuracies in Misskelley’s earlier statement. The entire meeting lasted from 9:45 AM to 5 PM, a span of seven and a half hours, two hours of which were used to polygraph Misskelley. The interrogation definitely did not last eleven hours, and not all of the seven hours were spent grilling Misskelley. The defense presented the court with a Motion to Suppress Evidence, which was rejected.

According to Prosecutor Fogleman, Misskelley was very familiar with the criminal justice system:

1.
In Aug of 1988, at 13, JM (Jesse Misskelley) was in Juvenile Court on a charge of theft of property. JM had been advised of his Miranda rights and was represented by a lawyer in court.
2. In Nov. of 1992, at 17, JM was in Juvenile Court on a charge of Criminal Mischief in the 1 degree. On Oct. 27 and 28th JM was advised of his Miranda rights. JM was again represented by a lawyer in court.
3. In April of 1993, at 17 and just a month before the murders, JM was back in Juvenile Court on a charge of Battery in 3rd degree when JM attacked a teenage boy and girl. Again defendant had been advised of his Miranda rights and was represented by a lawyer in court.
4. Prior to JM’s confession he was advised of his rights 3 different times.
²⁴¹

Moreover, Misskelley immediately confessed after his conviction, then provided two more detailed confessions, and another to a cellmate.
See Appendix.

The claim that John Mark Byers committed the crimes.

There is no possible way Byers could have been at the site of the murders. Police and neighbors saw him frequently searching the neighborhood on the night of May 5th, 1993. West Memphis police investigated Byers immediately after the murders, took blood and hair samples and eliminated him as a suspect. While Byers often sought the attention of the media, he cannot be considered a credible suspect. Supporters of the West Memphis Three considered him the chief alternative suspect until 2006-7, when they changed their focus to Terry Hobbs.

That Terry Hobbs committed the crime.

DNA analysis on crime scene evidence conducted in 2006-07 settled on a hair from which his personal DNA profile could not be excluded. After 19 years, the defense found one fiber with DNA from which Hobbs could not be removed. Of innumerable tests on hair evidence, the defense found one strand of evidence germane to Hobbs at the scene. The hair was found on the shoelaces used to bind Michael Moore. Third party analysis of evidence does not equate to an exoneration. A number of the hairs tested at the site were found to be either canine or feline hairs. Moreover, all three children spent time and played at each other’s houses; this does not implicate Hobbs in the crime in any way. According to the defense, this is grounds for the full exoneration of the West Memphis Three. This type of absurd evidentiary fishing expedition does not equate to the guilt of Hobbs. Any witnesses that implicate Hobbs are equally suspect, as these sightings only came forward after offers for a reward were spread through the community. Why didn’t these witnesses make a statement at the time of the murders, when their memories were fresh?

Arkansas prosecutor Ellington thought they were innocent and devised an Alford plea to avoid an expensive lawsuit.

Ellington specifically stated that he thought they were guilty, he just said publicly that he didn’t think he could win a new trial. It is the opinion of this author that he wanted to avoid another trial to prevent any negative impact upon his political aspirations. Ellington is currently running for Congress.

The West Memphis Three were prosecuted because “they wore black clothing and heavy metal T-shirts.”

Echols, Misskelley and Baldwin got prosecuted because of their involvement with the crime. Police zeroed in on Echols---he had a well documented history of violence, psychopathy and suicidal ideation, leading to jail time and institutionalization in mental hospitals. Damien Echols was known to collect the bleached skulls of animals he found or killed. He assaulted his peers, and threatened to kill a number of people. His association with Satanic practices was known to the police and the community.

There was Damien Echols “tunnel vision.”

Arguments have been made that police could not find anyone to pin the crime upon, and fixed upon Damien Echols. In
Appendix
A
of this book, I have provided a list of individuals the West Memphis Police Department investigated and removed as possible suspects.

The Arkansas legal system is corrupt.

While Damien Echols was considered a prime suspect, police eliminated over thirty persons suspected or capable of the crime. See
Appendix
. All of the cases were appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court, in whose opinion saw no reversible errors in the original trials. See
Appendix.
Moreover, Damien Echols’ case went to the United State Supreme Court, which denied a writ of certiorari, which indicates there were no legal issues the Supreme Court deemed worthy of consideration. See
Appendix.

There was evidence of animal predation.

Assuming some of the injuries on the bodies were due to animal predation, how can one account for the fact that the children were severely beaten, with evidence of lethal skull fractures? Or that two of the children drowned? Or that all three were hog-tied with different types of knots? Did a turtle, or group of turtles cause those injuries? This argument is a complete joke.