Abomination: Devil Worship and Deception in the West Memphis Three Murders (45 page)

MISSKELLEY: Yes, sir.

STIDHAM: Okay, Jessie, let's start from the beginning. I understand that you'd received a phone call from Jason some time before the murders, remember when that was?

MISSKELLEY: On a Monday.

STIDHAM: On the Monday before the Wednesday?

MISSKELLEY: Uh-huh. (Affirmatively indicating)

STIDHAM: When did he call you? What time?

MISSKELLEY: It was about 6 o'clock.

STIDHAM: 6 o'clock in the evening?

MISSKELLEY: Yes, sir.

STIDHAM: And, is that when he said something about going to find some girls or something of that nature?

MISSKELLEY: He asked me to uh, did I want to go to West Memphis with them - find some, uh, find some girls.

STIDHAM: Did any make any mention of hurting some boys, or killing some boys at that time?

MISSKELLEY: No. sir.

Detective Stidham and Misskelley talk about the events of the day leading up to the evening of May 5th, 1993. Stidham then asks Misskelley what happened at 6 PM:

STIDHAM: What time was it getting now?

MISSKELLEY: Almost six.

STIDHAM: Then what happened?

MISSKELLEY: Then Vickie went uh, went to the store and bought me some liquor.

STIDHAM: Vickie Hutcheson?

MISSKELLEY: Yes, sir.

STIDHAM: Okay, so about 6 o'clock. Is that, where did you run into her at?

MISSKELLEY: I went to her house.

STIDHAM: So you went by (inaudible) to Vickie’s house? This is on May 5th, the day the boys were killed?

MISSKELLEY: Yes, sir.

STIDHAM: And Vickie went to buy you some liquor?

MISSKELLEY: Yes, sir.

STIDHAM: Where'd she go, did you go with her?

MISSKELLEY: Huh-uh. (Negatively indicating)

STIDHAM: Did you stay at the house when she left, or tell me what happened?

MISSKELLEY: I was standing on the corner talking with Dennis, Dennis Carter.

STIDHAM: Standing on the corner where?

MISSKELLEY: By my house.

STIDHAM: So tell me how you went to Vickie and why she went to get you some liquor?

MISSKELLEY: I asked, no, Dennis asked uh, asked me, you know, did I know anybody to get us something to drink? I told him, Vickie will. So we gave Vickie some money and I went down her house and started talking just a little bit, and I asked her would she go to the store and buy me some liquor.

STIDHAM: And she said -?

MISSKELLEY: She said, yes. She said hand me the money, she said, I'll go in a minute. I said, okay.

STIDHAM: You left her house, or what?

MISSKELLEY: I left her house, and me and Dennis went to my house and you know watched as she went around the corner and we sat there on the corner, sat there and talked about, you know, drinking and stuff.

STIDHAM: So did Vickie bring you some liquor?

MISSKELLEY: Yes, she carried it to her house and me and Dennis went down there and got it.

STIDHAM: What did she buy you?

MISSKELLEY: Evan Williams.

STIDHAM: Evan Williams?

MISSKELLEY: Uh-huh.

STIDHAM: What is that, wine?

MISSKELLEY: Whiskey.

STIDHAM: Just one bottle?

MISSKELLEY: She bought two bottles.

STIDHAM: How big are the bottles?

MISSKELLEY: About - -

STIDHAM: Fifth?

MISSKELLEY: Yeah, about - -

STIDHAM: About this tall?

MISSKELLEY: Uh-huh. (Affirmatively indicating)

STIDHAM: Then what happened?

MISSKELLEY: Then I started drinking out, uh, Dennis' bottle, and I told him I was going to Lakeshore.

STIDHAM: So, did you go to Lakeshore?

MISSKELLEY: Yeah.

STIDHAM: What happened when you went to Lakeshore?

MISSKELLEY: I met Damien and Jason Baldwin.

STIDHAM: What did ya'll talk about? Did you have your whiskey bottle with you? ‘

MISSKELLEY: Yes, sir, I did.

STIDHAM: How'd you carry it?

MISSKELLEY: Carried in the front of my pants.

STIDHAM: Did you meet anybody, I assume you walked?

MISSKELLEY: Yes, sir.

STIDHAM: What time did you get to Lakeshore?

MISSKELLEY: About 6:30.

STIDHAM: You know how to tell time, don't you?

MISSKELLEY: Yeah.

STIDHAM: Did you carry anything else? Just this bottle of whiskey?

MISSKELLEY: Just the bottle of whiskey.

STIDHAM: Was it in a paper sack?

MISSKELLEY: It was in a paper sack.

STIDHAM: Do you know where Vickie got that for you?

MISSKELLEY: No, sir, I don't.

STIDHAM: How much money did you give her?

MISSKELLEY: I gave her a twenty and Dennis gave her a ten.

STIDHAM: Did you get any change back?

MISSKELLEY: Yes, she gave me change, but I don't know how much it was.

STIDHAM: Did you talk to anybody when you left with your whiskey bottle?

MISSKELLEY: No.

STIDHAM: Did you talk with anybody on your way to Lakeshore?

MISSKELLEY: No, I was walking by myself.

STIDHAM: Did you walk down in front of ____'s shop? How'd you get to Lakeshore?

MISSKELLEY: I was walking from my aunt's house. Then walked down towards John Heck's.

STIDHAM: What?

MISSKELLEY: Heck's. Right behind -

STIDHAM: Heck's?

MISSKELLEY: Yeah, right behind the shop.

STIDHAM: What's that, Heck’s?

MISSKELLEY: That's a wrecker service.

STIDHAM: Oh, okay. Did you go under that little railroad thing?

MISSKELLEY: Uh-huh. (Affirmatively indicating) And I went up under the underpass, then I Saw Damien and Jason and walked -

STIDHAM: Where were they at? Were they under the underpass or were they? -

MISSKELLEY: No. They was at Lakeshore.

STIDHAM: Where did you meet them?

MISSKELLEY: In the park by Quinton's house, Quinton Johnson.

STIDHAM: You talk to Quinton that day?

MISSKELLEY: Huh-uh. (Negatively indicating)

STIDHAM: Did you see anybody else outside?

MISSKELLEY: No.

STIDHAM: Somebody seen the two of you talking or something?

MISSKELLEY: But, people don't say nothing when we talk.

STIDHAM: But did anybody see, or did you talk to anybody else?

MISSKELLEY: No.

STIDHAM: So you're in a park?

MISSKELLEY: Uh-huh. By the - by the lake.

STIDHAM: Is there swing sets there or something, or - ?

MISSKELLEY: No, it wasn't a swing set.

STIDHAM: How do you know it's a park?

MISSKELLEY: It's like a field between houses and stuff.

STIDHAM: Just playground equipment there?

MISSKELLEY: Huh-huh. (Negatively indicating)

STIDHAM: Was there anybody else there?

MISSKELLEY: No.

STIDHAM: Damien and Jason were just there?

MISSKELLEY: Uh-huh. (Affirmatively indicating)

STIDHAM: Did they know you were coming?

MISSKELLEY: Yeah, ‘cause that's when Jason called me, uh, that Monday.

STIDHAM: Told you to be down there Wednesday?

MISSKELLEY: Uh—huh. He said that's we was going to go to Lakeshore and find some girls.

STIDHAM: Go to Lakeshore and find some girls?

MISSKELLEY: No - he called me Monday and asked me to come to Lakeshore, we was going to go to West Memphis, we was going to go find some girls in West Memphis.

STIDHAM: Okay. Did ya’ll talk about hurting boys, or doing anything to boys, or -?

MISSKELLEY: No, sir.

STIDHAM: Up until this time had you ever been to a devil worship meeting?

MISSKELLEY: Yes.

STIDHAM: Where at?

MISSKELLEY: Out at Lakeshore.

STIDHAM: Where at in Lakeshore?

MISSKELLEY: Back on, uh, back there in - at the very back.

STIDHAM: What did ya'll do at this meeting?

MISSKELLEY: Well, uh, people bring candles and make - make a circle and light them. Then Damien would start talking and we listen to him while he talked.

STIDHAM: what'd he talk about?

MISSKELLEY: He started, you know, talking to the devil, you know, different kind of ways, talk to the devil.

STIDHAM: Do they ever talk about hurting people or killing people, or doing things to people?

MISSKELLEY: Huh-uh. (Negatively indicating)

STIDHAM: Never came up?

MISSKELLEY: No.

STIDHAM: What about this picture of the three little boys?

MISSKELLEY: Damien had a briefcase and I saw - when he opened it I saw a picture, it was a Polaroid picture that had uh, had three boys that was on a bicycle by some white houses.

STIDHAM: Was it a picture of those that got killed?

MISSKELLEY: Yes, sir.

STIDHAM: How do you know that?

MISSKELLEY: After I - After I seen them that day then I memorized who they were.

STIDHAM: From the picture?

MISSKELLEY: (response inaudible)

STIDHAM: But Jason and Damien never said anything to you about?

MISSKELLEY: No.

STIDHAM: Who was in this cult meeting? l want to know everybody.

MISSKELLEY: Me, Jason, Damien, Domini. I don't know.

STIDHAM: Keith?

MISSKELLEY: No. I just met him up the (inaudible).

STIDHAM: He didn't go to these meetings?

MISSKELLEY: Huh-uh, (negatively indicating) there's another guy - it was a guy - by Lakeshore.

STIDHAM: An old guy? A young guy? Was he a kid?

MISSKELLEY: No, he ain't no kid, he's a guy.

STIDHAM: Older man?

MISSKELLEY: uh-huh. (Affirmatively indicating)

STIDHAM: What's he look like?

MISSKELLEY: He's tall, got black hair. He looks just like Damien.

STIDHAM: Do you know where he lives?

MISSKELLEY: I don't now, but he did live out at Lakeshore.

STIDHAM: At which trailer?

MISSKELLEY: Almost on - almost on the last street.

STIDHAM: Did he have a first name? Did anybody ever call him by name, or by nick-name?

MISSKELLEY: Huh-uh. (Negatively indicating) He didn't have no nick-name.

STIDHAM: Did you guys wear black coats with hoods on them or anything like that?

MISSKELLEY: No. I ain't got a black - I ain't got no black jacket with no hood.

STIDHAM: Did this other guy that was tall and black headed have long black hair?

MISSKELLEY: It was pretty long.

STIDHAM: Is your hand still on that Bible, Jessie?

MISSKELLEY: Yes, sir, it is.

STIDHAM: You're telling me the truth?

MISSKELLEY: Yes, sir, I am.

STIDHAM: You don't know this other guy's name?

MISSKELLEY: I’ll think of it in a minute. I just can't think of it right now.

STIDHAM: You can take your time. Was it Kenney, Or Kent?

MISSKELLEY: No, he's a kid - Kent is a kid.

STIDHAM: Did he go to these meetings too?

MISSKELLEY: Who? Kent?

STIDHAM: Yeah.

MISSKELLEY: No, I just met him. I've probably known him for about two or three days is how long I've known Kent.

STIDHAM: What else would happen at these meetings?

MISSKELLEY: Uh, we drank.

STIDHAM: Listen to music?

MISSKELLEY: Yes, and drank.

STIDHAM: What about the dogs' legs and stuff?

MISSKELLEY: No.

STIDHAM: Why did you tell the police that?

MISSKELLEY: I just made that up.

STIDHAM: How many cult meetings have you been to?

MISSKELLEY: About three or four.

STIDHAM: And they were all down in Lakeshore?

MISSKELLEY: Yes, sir. Every one I went was.

STIDHAM: What about Vickie Hutchison saying she seen you in a meeting at Turrell-Twist?

MISSKELLEY: I hadn’t never been to Turrell. My hand is still on the Bible, I hadn't never been to Turrell. And Damien ain't got no - Damien don't have no red car.

STIDHAM: Does he even drive?

MISSKELLEY: He don't even own a car. He don't even drive. He don't even drive.

STIDHAM: Did Damien and Jason have any beer when you got there that day? Out at Lakeshore at about 6:30?

MISSKELLEY: Yee, I think it was a l2—pack.

STIDHAM: Were they carrying it in a sack?

MISSKELLEY: It was in a sack. They kept it in a sack.

STIDHAM: What kind of beer?

MISSKELLEY: It was cheap beer.

STIDHAM: Don't know what kind it was?

MISSKELLEY: Nope.

STIDHAM: What kind of sack was it in? Brown paper sack?

MISSKELLEY: It was just a regular brown paper sack.

STIDHAM: Tell me about this briefcase. Were you at a meeting when they had a briefcase?

MISSKELLEY: That - that older guy - he brought it, he brought the briefcase.

STIDHAM: It wasn't Damien’s briefcase?

MISSKELLEY: No, it was the older guy. It was that guy that looked just like Damien. He brought it, and he had a gun, and had a picture of them three boys that got, that got killed. They was on the bikes by some white houses and in the background you could see some trees.

STIDHAM: Can you remember this older guy's name now?

MISSKELLEY: No, sir. I'm still thinking.

STIDHAM: What did it start with?

MISSKELLEY: I can’t think of it.

STIDHAM: He had long hair?

MISSKELLEY: It was kinda long.

STIDHAM: Mustache, beard?

MISSKELLEY: Mustache.

STIDHAM: You sure?

MISSKELLEY: Mustache and a beard.

STIDHAM: He had a mustache and a beard?

MISSKELLEY: Uh-huh, at that time he did.

STIDHAM: How can he look like Damien, Damien doesn’t have a mustache and a beard?

MISSKELLEY: When he shaves it he looks like Damien. (Telephone rings)

STIDHAM: Did anybody else go to these meetings besides this older guy, uh, Damien and Jason and Domini? Any other girls?

MISSKELLEY: Um - don't think there was no other girls.

STIDHAM: They’re the only people that went to these meetings with y’all?

MISSKELLEY: They's the only ones that went with me.

STIDHAM: What do you mean, went with you?

MISSKELLEY: They's the only people I seen at the meeting with me.

STIDHAM: Anybody else there?

MISSKELLEY: Nope.

STIDHAM: What was this shit about cooking a dog in a wash tub that you told the officers a couple of days ago?