Abomination: Devil Worship and Deception in the West Memphis Three Murders (47 page)

MISSKELLEY: Ponds or lakes? Um, no.

STIDHAM: Where's this 76 Truck Stop?

MISSKELLEY: 76? There’s that slope, then there's a road goes up back that way, the slope, then you go back this way and (inaudible) come back out.

STIDHAM: Let's stop there for a minute. It’s nine minutes after 4:00.

STIDHAM: Okay, Jessie it's 13 minutes after 4:00 p.m. on February the 8th, 1994, we're back on the tape. Let's start from the point where you guys walking on this trail off of the service road by Blue Beacon, what happens?

MISSKELLEY: What do you mean?

STIDHAM: I want you to tell me where ya'll walked to and what you did. I don't want to ask you whether you did this or this. I want you to tell me what happened?

MISSKELLEY: I still don't understand.

STIDHAM: Okay. You were carrying a fifth of whiskey in a paper sack.

MISSKELLEY: Right.

STIDHAM: Who was carrying the beer?

MISSKELLEY: Damien.

STIDHAM: And he was carrying a stick in one hand and the beer in the other?

MISSKELLEY: Well, it was Jason. (inaudible)

STIDHAM: The beer?

MISSKELLEY: Uh-huh. (Affirmatively indicating)

STIDHAM: And ya'll walked off the service road going down on the trail?

MISSKELLEY: Right - by Blue Beacon.

STIDHAM: Did the trail go into the woods or did it go beside the woods?

MISSKELLEY: In it.

STIDHAM: Okay. Was there anything in the woods, was there a ditch, or a river, or what was in the woods, besides trees, obviously?

MISSKELLEY: There was like a - I'm going to say like a bayou. And it had a pipe going across to the other side.

STIDHAM: What was on the other side of the pipe? I mean, on the other side of the bayou?

MISSKELLEY: The other side of the bayou - it's like another land, another -

STIDHAM: Was there a truck stop over there, was there a car over there, or?

MISSKELLEY: On the other side, on down was a, I'm going to say a National Guard place, it had Army trucks, on down past the bridge. But you could see it, though. It wasn't that far down. I could see it.

STIDHAM: Were there any trees out there that were peculiar, or shaped funny or had any markings on them, or anything?

MISSKELLEY: I didn't pay attention to trees. I didn't see none.

STIDHAM: Did you see anything laying around on the ground? Trash, or - -?

MISSKELLEY: There was a bunch of stuff floating in the - in the water - bunch of stuff.

STIDHAM: Now, is there a big creek, the bayou that the pipe goes across?

MISSKELLEY: It's pretty wide.

STIDHAM: How wide? Can you jump across it?

MISSKELLEY: If you tried, yeah. If you tried, you could.

STIDHAM: Is there a bigger place that you can't jump across?

MISSKELLEY: (No response.)

STIDHAM: How many times have you been there?

MISSKELLEY: That was my first time.

STIDHAM: The only time you'd ever been there?

MISSKELLEY: Uh-huh. (Negatively indicating) I don't know too much about it.

STIDHAM: Did you go back there after the murders? Like you told Gitchell?

MISSKELLEY: Huh-uh. (Negatively indicating)

STIDHAM: How come you told him that?

MISSKELLEY: Just to have something to say.

STIDHAM: This was the first time you'd ever been there?

MISSKELLEY: The first time I'd ever been there.

STIDHAM: Okay. Now you described this pipe? How big a pipe is it?

MISSKELLEY: About that wide. From that wall -

STIDHAM: Could you ride a bicycle across this pipe?

MISSKELLEY: I wouldn’t try it.

STIDHAM: How come?

MISSKELLEY: I just wouldn't.

STIDHAM: Were you guys in the water?

MISSKELLEY: I don't get in water ‘cause I can't - I can't get my ears wet, I ain't getting in no water.

STIDHAM: Did Damien and Jason get in the water?

MISSKELLEY: No.

STIDHAM: How come you told the police that you were in the water and they were going under water and sucking each other?

MISSKELLEY: I didn't tell him that. I just told him they went under the water - I didn't know what they was doing. But they - they - they never went in the water.

STIDHAM: Ya'll were sitting there by this pipe drinking?MISSKELLEY: Uh-huh. (Affirmatively indicating)

STIDHAM: Now, Jessie, is this pipe this big around or was it this big around?

MISSKELLEY: No, it ain't that big.

STIDHAM: How big?

MISSKELLEY: Like I said, about like that.

STIDHAM: Okay, so -

MISSKELLEY: About, about my leg size.

STIDHAM: About as big around as my leg?

MISSKELLEY: Uh, looks like it, yeah.

STIDHAM: It's pretty close?

MISSKELLEY: Uh-huh. Maybe - maybe not quite as big, maybe half, maybe half of it.

STIDHAM: Okay, are there smaller pipes beside the bigger pipe?

MISSKELLEY: Uh - to my knowledge I don't really know.

STIDHAM: Did you see a pond anywhere around the Blue Beacon?

MISSKELLEY: Pond?

STIDHAM: A lake?

MISSKELLEY: Um-m-m-m - no. Huh-uh. (Negatively indicating)

STIDHAM: How deep was the water that they threw boys got thrown into?

MISSKELLEY: I'm going to say deep, real deep.

STIDHAM: Over their heads - over your head?

MISSKELLEY: Yeah.

STIDHAM: Damien and Jason get in the water?

MISSKELLEY: Yeah. Damien.

STIDHAM: Okay, let’s start at right now, let's go from, ya'll are sitting there by this pipe drinking?

MISSKELLEY: Uh-huh. (Affirmatively indicating)

STIDHAM: Then what happened?

MISSKELLEY: We hear some noise, me and Jason hid and Damien just sit there, and we hollered for Damien, you know - not real loud, but lightly, and Damien hid. Then that’s when them three little boys came out.

STIDHAM: Did they come up on their bicycles or did they walk up?

MISSKELLEY: They came up on their bicycles and they laid the bikes down.

STIDHAM: Can I stop right there? Did ya'll smoke any dope that day?

MISSKELLEY: Jason uh -

STIDHAM: Jason did, or did didn't.

MISSKELLEY: No, he don't. To my knowledge he don't.

STIDHAM: So ya'll didn't smoke any marijuana that day? Just whiskey and beer? Where's the whiskey bottle?

MISSKELLEY: Whiskey bottle? Busted.

STIDHAM: You busted it?

MISSKELLEY: Yeah.

STIDHAM: When did you do that?

MISSKELLEY: Going back - when I was going back home. After what I seen what happened made me mad.

Stidham continues asking Misskelley detailed questions about the topography of Robin Hood Hills, which way the teenagers entered the area, and where the three eight-year-olds rode their bicycles.

STIDHAM: Okay, Jessie. Our tape ran out. It's 4:32, on 2/8/94. You realize we're taping this, right?

MISSKELLEY: Right.

STIDHAM: It's all right with you if we tape it?

MISSKELLEY: Yes, sir.

STIDHAM: Okay, the boys came up and what happened? Tell me exactly what happened.

MISSKELLEY: When the boys came up, Damien grabbed one of them, I don't know which one, and the other two tried to get Damien to stop, and then me and Jason come out and started grabbing them, started hitting them.

STIDHAM: Who hit who?

MISSKELLEY: I - I don't know - if I seen a picture of them I could tell you. I don't know who.

STIDHAM: Well, what happened after everybody started hitting on the kids?

MISSKELLEY: Um, uh, Damien choked - I don't remember which one.

STIDHAM: Now you know, you heard during the trial that the medical examiner said none of the boys were choked.

MISSKELLEY: He didn’t choke him---“choke choked.” Just, you know, just say like just hold their head and choked, not hard enough, just holding him.

STIDHAM: When did the Moore boy run from the scene?

MISSKELLEY: That's when - after I let him go.

STIDHAM: You were holding the Moore boy?

MISSKELLEY: Yeah, and I let him go.

STIDHAM: Why did you let him go?

MISSKELLEY: After I got through hitting on him I let him go. I let him - just let him go.

STIDHAM: He took off running?

MISSKELLEY: Uh-huh. (Affirmatively indicating)

STIDHAM: Had any of the boys gotten killed yet? Or -

MISSKELLEY: No, huh-uh. (Negatively indicating)

STIDHAM: Did you know what was going to happen at that point?

MISSKELLEY: No.

STIDHAM: Why did you chase him down and bring him back - or did you?

MISSKELLEY: No, I didn't - until Damien told me, “Get him." And then that’s when I went back after him and got him. Then I brought him back and that's when -

STIDHAM: What was the boy wearing that you went and got and brought back?

MISSKELLEY: Uh - to my knowledge, I'm going to say, the one - I don't know their names, you know, to my knowledge, the one that was wearing, uh, like a Boy Scout uniform. I don't know, you know, that's to my knowledge. That's what one of them was wearing, I don't know which boy.

STIDHAM: Damien told you to go get him and bring him back?

MISSKELLEY: Uh-huh, (Affirmatively indicating) after I done hit him first.

STIDHAM: Where did you hit him at?

MISSKELLEY: Where did I hit him at? The head.

STIDHAM: And was anybody cut or bleeding at that point?

MISSKELLEY: No. I was - I was too drunk I couldn’t hardly do nothing.

STIDHAM: You sure?

MISSKELLEY: Uh-huh. (Affirmatively indicating) I - when I drink I can't hit hard or anything.

STIDHAM: Damien told you to get the Moore boy and bring him back, and you did that?

MISSKELLEY: He - he said - go get him. So I brought him back and just started hitting him some more.

STIDHAM: Then what happened?

MISSKELLEY: Then, uh, Jason pulled out a knife. He took one of them - I don't know which one - cut him on - I think it was on this side of his face.

STIDHAM: Which side are you pointing to?

MISSKELLEY: This is the left.

STIDHAM: Which boy was that?

MISSKELLEY: I don’t know.

STIDHAM: Wasn't the Cub Scout?

MISSKELLEY: No. It was one of them other two. I don't know

STIDHAM: So he was either the blond headed one, or the Byers boy - the one that got cut?

(Knock at door)

STIDHAM: Yes. (pause) Is tape still running?

MISSKELLEY: Yes.

STIDHAM: Okay.

MISSKELLEY: To my knowledge I’m gong to say the blond one.

STIDHAM: The blond one was what?

MISSKELLEY: The one that got that cut on the side of his face, the blond one.

STIDHAM: Left-hand side of the face, you're pointing to?

MISSKELLEY: Uh-huh. (Affirmatively indicating)

STIDHAM: Cut him with a knife?

MISSKELLEY: Uh-huh. (Affirmatively indicating)

STIDHAM: Did Damien ever hit anybody with this long stick you're telling me about?

MISSKELLEY: He hit one of them boys in the head, and - I don’t remember which one.

STIDHAM: Okay. When did you realize that somebody was going to get killed?

MISSKELLEY: After I seen Jason cut that one on his left side of his face. I didn't know he's going to get killed until I saw him get on top of - one of them boys and cut him completely.

STIDHAM: What do you mean cut him completely.

MISSKELLEY: He cut his penis off and -

STIDHAM: Is that the first time you realized -?

MISSKELLEY: That's when I realized that, you know, they're going kill these boys.

STIDHAM: And what did you do?

MISSKELLEY: I just sit there.

STIDHAM: Was you holding the Moore boy while this was going on?

MISSKELLEY: No.

STIDHAM: What happened to him?

MISSKELLEY: Well, he---he, he was knocked out.

STIDHAM: Who knocked him out?

MISSKELLEY: I did, I was hitting him. Just hitting him, steady hitting him.

STIDHAM: Did he fall down and not get up?

MISSKELLEY: He just fell down and didn't get up. I just - I knew he wasn't dead, cause I, you know I went over there and touched him and he was still breathing.

STIDHAM: Okay. So, were the boys making any noise or saying anything?

MISSKELLEY: They - uh, we put a shirt in their mouth.

STIDHAM: Who did?

MISSKELLEY: Damien and Jason did, put their shirt in their mouth.

STIDHAM: Then what happened?

MISSKELLEY: Then they took off their uh, their pants - Jason - Damien and them took off them little boys pants.

STIDHAM: How did they take them off?

MISSKELLEY: Pulled them. Just pulled them completely off. They (Pause - knock on door).

STIDHAM: Hold on just a second. Okay.

MISSKELLEY: They didn't unsnap them or nothing. They just jerked.

STIDHAM: Pulled them from the legs? By their feet and pulled the legs off - the pants? Or did they -

MISSKELLEY: They was inside out. They pulled them from the top, just - just jerked them off.

STIDHAM: You sure?

MISSKELLEY: Uh-huh. (Affirmatively indicating)

STIDHAM: Who did that?

MISSKELLEY: Damien.

STIDHAM: Then what happened?

MISSKELLEY: Then he started getting on - uh, started playing with that little boy's penis.

STIDHAM: Which boy?

MISSKELLEY: I don't remember which one.

STIDHAM: It wasn't the Moore boy because -

MISSKELLEY: He was -

STIDHAM: Knocked out?

MISSKELLEY: Right.

STIDHAM: And was it the boy that got his face cut, the blond headed boy?

MISSKELLEY: I can't remember. I don't know which one, but I remember it was one of them boys that got his pants pulled completely pulled off from the top.

STIDHAM: Okay. Then what happened?

MISSKELLEY: Then Damien started messing, you know, playing around with his penis and stuff.

STIDHAM: What do you mean playing around with it? Tell me exactly what happened.

MISSKELLEY: He put his hand over the top of it, on - you know, squeezing it, at it, squeezing it.

STIDHAM: Okay, was that the boy that got his penis cut off?