During the trials of Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols, Griffis drew tenuous links between circumstantial evidence, such as the killings taking place near the date of the pagan festival of Beltane. WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. Boxful of Nightmares is the personal memoirs of Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of one of the children murdered. Everybody Id come in contact with was hostile to the truth, Baldwin says. Mara Leveritt, a journalist who followed the case throughout the 1990s and wrote the 2002 book Devils Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three, calls the strain of Christianity that runs through the region very literal and says that even her children faced harassment as teenagers for playing Dungeons & Dragons and listening to Ozzy Osbourne. Now, I see they can. 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. Theres no smoking gun. Terry Hobbs Obituary They werent connected in any direct way, Bakken says. She says she is too because they believe they are hearing different stories. The districts current prosecuting attorney, Keith Chrestman, did not respond to requests for comment for this article, but his predecessor Scott Ellington, whose office negotiated the deals, told The New York Times in 2011 that while new trials would have likely resulted in acquittals, We dont think that there is anybody else. The Moore family has been outspoken about the end result, vehemently protesting the 2012 Oscar nomination for the third Paradise Lost installment. People in West Memphis are going to tell their kids stories. The only possible culprits were 18-year-old Damien Echols, a poor teen with an interest in the occult and a record of mental illness, his friend Jason Baldwin, a quiet kid whose talent for art tended toward dark subjects, and Jessie Misskelley, a 17-year-old misfit with an IQ of 73. William Holford Griffiths. They were releasedfrom prison in 2011 on whats called an Alford plea, after new forensic evidence was presented as part of the case. There also were issues with other details he provided, including how the victims were bound and whether the boys were raped. No explanation has yet been given as to why such a seemingly important lead was dropped. "I'd like to see this put to rest. In February, Netflix released Berlingers Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, a docuseries that looked at the 2013 death of Elisa Lam, a Canadian student who died while vacationing in Los Angeles. Except this was 1996, and home internet was still in its infancy. Unfortunately, for three teen outsiders, the West Memphis Police Department chose to focus on the cult angle to the detriment of their efforts to investigate the other two, more likely scenarios. Terry Hobbs is the one suspected of murder and the wounds that were inflicted on my nephew were where turtles bit his face. Find the obituary of Terry Hobbs (1957 - 2021) from Caldwell, ID. Terry Hobbs Breaks His Silence | WREG.com According to Dan Stidham, the attorney for Misskelley, that money became essential for the cash-strapped defense teams, who needed to pay for expert witnesses and other expenses. Echols attorneys got a letter from the custodian of records for the West Memphis police department saying some of the evidence ended up lost, or misplaced, and some destroyed by fire. ", According to Devil's Knot, a week after the discovery of the bodies, Detective Don Bray interviewed Vicki Hutcheson, a truckstop employee. Jessie took a polygraph. When they searched online, they found little to no information about the case. - The West Memphis 3: Free (2012) . Self. Because I was thinking, if you haven't done anything, then they can't prove you did something you haven't actually done. I'm not stupid." After hours of questioning, a frustrated Morgan blurted out that he had been hospitalized for drug and alcohol abuse and might have committed the murders. On the evening of May 5, 1993, 8-year-olds Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore went missing in West Memphis, Arkansas. Terry was born on September 11, 1959 in Sweetwater, to Jack Harvey and Marjorie Hobbs .Terry graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1977. Rather, they were fighting for something they believed in. Hes since parlayed the popularity of the show into a booming podcast network and documentary deal with Oxygen. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. The boys were so mutilated, investigators thought the murders were part of some kind of Satanic ritual. Over the years there has been lots of speculation and finger pointing as to who was responsible. The Legacy of 'Paradise Lost' & the West Memphis Three - The Ringer Terry Hobbs at Metropolitan Community College: Maple Woods Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care. Terry Hobbs says he is a church member, a father, and working man and in no way a killer. The Messed Up Truth About The West Memphis Three Murders - Grunge.com 34465541-95D0-45B0-BEEB-B9E0361A315A Since the West Memphis Three were released, no one else has been charged in the murders of Stevie, Christopher and Michael. Berlinger contrasts this with the approach taken by Bakken, Sauls, and Co., who considered the truth sacrosanct and avoided rumor and innuendo in part because similar speculation helped convict the West Memphis Three. 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. Peter Jackson, who would produce a separate documentary about the case titled West of Memphis in 2012, and his partner, Fran Walsh, funded an extensive private investigation and helped hire forensic experts to comb through evidence. A later confession during the trial phase would prove equally problematic. There have also been several high-profile incidents of laypeople reinvestigating decades-old cold cases in more rigorous, journalistic ways and helping bring them to a resolution. February 27, 2023 (76 years old) View obituary. Terry Hobbs was born in 1958 and grew up in Northern Arkansas. But its closing moments point to how the filmmakers felt: that a horrific tragedy had just been compounded by a monumental miscarriage of justice. It's affected a lot of lives, but for some reason it keeps being brought up," said Hobbs. Paradise Lost is a narration-free documentary filmed with a journalistic remove. Robin Lynn Jones. So the minute youre done, you just want to know more. June 29 Terry Hobbs, 34, 1718 Spyglass Lane, Mishawaka, booked on a warrant from Elkhart County. of Auburndale, FL passed away Monday, August 16, 2021. In 1996, HBO released the documentary film Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. He graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1977. She said it was one of the highest-rated pieces they had. And that makes him hopeful that exoneration is on the horizon. I deeply admire that and I thought it was worthy of putting on film.. Terry-Hobbs - InkFreeNews.com Quality. He was 56. Due to marital problems stemming from Stevies death, the couple divorced in 2004, reported CNN. Terry L. Hobbs, 63, of Caldwell, HOBBS, Terry L., passed on March 7,2021 at the age of 63. Terry Hobbs Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family With a large population of fundamentalist Christians, the American South was particularly subject to occult paranoia. But inside, he was just another prisonerBaldwin didnt know who he could trust. The state of Arkansas continues to attempt to prevent this testing from happening., New technology and advances in science would now allow us to test DNA in amounts so small that it would have been previously impossible. 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. Much of Cecil Hotel focuses on the amateur investigators who turned coincidences into conspiracy theories, ultimately accusing an innocent person of her death. Like Misskelley in the first trial, Baldwin received a life sentence. 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. During Misskelley's trial, Hutcheson testified that she had attended an "an occult Satanic meeting" she referred to as an "esbat." According to Devil's Knot author Mara Leveritt, the investigation of the murders was divided along three lines. In 1994, Dr. Dale W. Griffis was a retired police officer who had embarked on a second career as a self-styled consultant on occult and cult-related crime. Beyond the black-and-white print of the newspaper, there was a movement brewing. Family and friends can send flowers and/or light a candle as a loving gesture for their loved one. Misskelley, who reportedly had an IQ of 72, changed his story several times, and only a small part of his statements was recorded. Example video title will go here for this video. In November, Judge David Burnett, who had presided over the trial, was elected to the state senate. The following day revealed the unthinkable, when the bloodied and bruised bodies of the three boys were found submerged in a muddy creek in a wooded area called Robin Hood Hills. It was almost like an out-of-body experience., When the credits rolled shortly after the unforgettable final scene, which shows a now-convicted Baldwin and Echols leaving the courtroom in handcuffs and entering a police cruiser as Metallica plays, Baldwin sat stunned. Also part of the plea was the provision that the three could not sue the state. New access to evidence thought destroyed in 1993 'West Memphis Three case Terry Lee Hobbs (1964-2021) - Find a Grave Memorial Echols tweeted, New technology and evidence in science would now allow us to test DNA in amounts so small that it would have been previously impossible. I couldnt not watch it at this point. When he was released in 2011, he met John Hardin, who worked with the West Memphis Three support group Arkansas Take Action, and the two bonded over a desire to do for others what had just been done for Baldwin. Timeline Of The West Memphis Three Victims, Motivations For Investigating The West Memphis Case. (Shortly after Villegass acquittal, Baldwin had something of a full-circle moment with his client: He took him to a Metallica show in El Paso, Texas, where they hung out backstage on the invitation of Lars Ulrich.). 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. It hurt all over again, he said. To bolster their assertions that the killings were related to occult activity despite virtually no evidence prosecutors brought in their own so-called expert on cult murders. 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. He was handed the phone. 1.0. . . Terry Hobbs's income source is mostly from being a successful Actor. Unaware of what was to come, Allen explained that he just wanted to ask him some questions. Not everyone believes that the West Memphis Three are innocent of the killings of Michael Moore, Stevie Branch, and Christopher Byers. Michelle McNamara helped crack the Golden State Killer case by poring over thousands of pages of case files while working on her book Ill Be Gone in the Dark, which was published two years after her 2016 death, while Chris Lambert and his podcast Your Own Backyard were highlighted by authorities after two arrests in April in connection with the 1996 disappearance of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart. Misskelley and Echols were 36; Baldwin was 34. TsGt. Terry Hobbs USAF Ret. Obituary - The Ledger Hobbs said, I still believe in my heart that Jessie, Jason, and Damion, 'Feels Like Home:' electrical failure from a light fixture caused December fire that killed 1, Shelby County reporting an increase in drug-related overdoses, largely due to fentanyl, Severe weather threat is over | Prepare for a sunny weekend, Daylight saving time starts soon. A native of Winter Haven, born December 21, 1964, Terry has been a lifelong resident of Auburndale. Heavy metal music, role playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, and horror movies were regarded as gateways to evil. The sheer mountain moving amount of money it cost to prove the obvious innocence of Jessie, Jason, and Damien still staggers me. A statement he made to the producers of Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills did little to help his public image. Debates still occur regularly onlinethe West Memphis Three subreddit is fairly active for one on a 28-year-old caseand podcasts have looked at the crime from all angles. . This is a brand new website dedicated to the internationally famous musician, Terry Gibbs. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family. It has happened to a lot of people that just dont have the spotlight of a documentary, he says. 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. 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. Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelly and Jason Baldwin were originally convicted of the killings and released from prison in 2011 after making a deal with prosecutors. Terry Hobbs - IMDb A murderer was loose in West Memphis. Inconsistencies in Terry Hobbs' alibi, as well as revelations about subsequent violent acts, have also led many to believe that he may be the actual killer. Minutes later, Sgt. In 1996, a screener for Paradise Lost passed her desk. A benefit album was released in 2000, and the phrase made it into a Dawsons Creek episode when Pacey shouted Free the West Memphis Three over an airport intercom. (Maines briefly became a part of the story when Terry Hobbs, stepfather of another . But for every Your Own Backyard or Ill Be Gone in the Dark that has applied journalistic rigor to their research in the past two decades, theres an Up and Vanished, which has been at the center of ethical debates since the podcast debuted in 2016. But most notably, his initial timeline of events didnt match what was known about the crimes, and every time he offered a detail that diverged from the accepted chronology, the interrogating officers seemed to steer him back in the direction of the official version. TERRY HOBBS OBITUARY Terry Roland Hobbs, 62, of Sweetwater, passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2021. And that is why Echols has attorneys who want to use a new DNA test called M-Vac, a wet vacuum system that can find more DNA than older tests. 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 . Hobbs said he wrote the book so people, especially other victims of crime, could understand the tragedy he has gone through and how it impacted his life. And then there was the public pressure: In August 2010, Vedder and Maines headlined yet another benefit concert, this one in Little Rock. Hes subdued when discussing the facts of the case, but he comes alive while recounting his work with the Jaycees while in prison, or buying Metallicas Black Album when it came out in 1991. None of the early interviews with the parents were recorded. The third put forth the unusual theory that the killings were committed as a cult ritual. Despite an offer of a reduced sentence, Misskelley ultimately recanted his statements and refused to testify against Echols and Baldwin. Terry Hobbs (1969 - 2019) Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers (Nightmare Vacation II) (1988) [Rob Darrinco]: Stabbed and hanged (after gaging), off-screen by Pamela Springsteen in Walter Gotell's office; his body is shown afterwards when Carol Martin Vines discovers him. While police had focused on Echols and Baldwin in the intervening weeks because of their reputation, the arrests came largely because of a confession by Misskelley, which was leaked to the largest newspaper in the area, the Memphis Commercial Appeal, and ran under the banner headline Teen describes cult torture of boys. At a press conference shortly after the arrests, the lead investigator was asked how confident he felt about the case on a scale of 1-10. This family in-fighting led to him shooting his brother-in-law. The test results showed that no genetic material on the crime scene evidence was a match to Echols, Baldwin or Misskelley, reported the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Its headlined by not only the films directors, but also Sheila Nevins, its executive producer and winner of 32 individual Emmy awards, more than any other person in history. This is not a smoking-gun-type case.. In the Bible Belt, the Satanic Panic took hold with a vengeance. Griffis also found the devil in nearly every number associated with the crime. (At one point, Sauls says, it landed on Yahoos list of the top 100 websites.) Terry Hobbs - Biography - IMDb (Police questioned Byers several times during the investigation, but never considered him a suspect.) It's one. Baldwin, the youngest member of the trio that had come to be known as the West Memphis Three, was serving a life sentence after being convicted on charges connected to the 1993 killings of three 8-year-old boys. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of Terry Hobbs to show support. Reaching its apex in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Satanic Panic was a wave of paranoia rooted in the belief that Satanic cults intent on corrupting the souls of the young had infiltrated American society. But they never had any physical evidence that connected us to this crime, Echols said in 2012. Terry was born on September 11, 1959 in Sweetwater, to Jack Harvey and Marjorie Hobbs. Funeral Home Services for Terry are being provi. Knowing that the police were already focusing on Damien Echols, Hutcheson asked her neighbor, Jessie Misskelley Jr., about the brooding teen and his occult connection. After ending his first marriage, he wed Pamela Hicks Branch in 1986, when her son Stevie was almost 2 years old. So advocacy and diligence become tantamount, because most people in a similar situation to the one he was in dont have the benefit of filmmakers and musicians fighting on their behalf. weaving supposedly anti-Christian and occult messages into their songs, he discovered her while Googling cold cases, funded an extensive private investigation, a November 2010 Arkansas Supreme Court ruling, biggest allies in the years before his 2020 death, acquitted of capital murder in 2018 after a 25-year legal saga. The whole point of the web sleuths presented in the Cecil Hotel is that you cannot assume something is truthful just because circumstantially it seems interesting. Best selling books such as Lawrence Pazder's Michelle Remembers and disgraced evangelical comedian Mike Warnke's The Satan Seller fueled the madness with tales of ritual abuse and human sacrifice. Share Memories & Support the Family. He says his students seem to have a better grasp on the idea of coerced confessions than any of his peers in 1994. 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. I didnt want to stop with us being that close. Dec 13th, 2021. Who Killed The Forgotten West Memphis Three? All three had been submerged face down in the mud, stripped naked, and bound with their shoelaces. It had been a long fight to clear their names, and the odds seemed better than ever. Case Details Parties . However, in 2010, a series of rapidly unfolding developments turned the tide for Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley. Another hair found near the crime scene on a tree stump was found to be consistent with the DNA of Hobbs friend, David Jacoby, according to court documents obtained by Oxygen.com. As detailed by The Hollywood Reporter in 2011, Jackson and Walsh helped fund key investigations for the West Memphis Three's defense during the last seven years of their incarceration. Here were these guysat best they were neutral. But I had to. 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. That's not the same Terry Hobbs. The state of Arkansas continues to attempt to prevent this testing from happening. Wading into the murky water, Allen unknowingly dislodged the pale, grotesquely arched form of Micheal Moore. She also stated that beyond the single meeting at her trailer, she had no further contact with Echols. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. I wouldn't do something like that. Little kids will be looking under their bed 'Damien might be under there! Produced and directed by filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, the film and its two sequels, Paradise Lost 2: Revelations and Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, gave audiences a unique and detailed look into the case, the accused, and the families of victims. Their bikes were found by a pipe nearby. Terry Hobbs - IMDb Misskelley, who had entered the West Memphis police station that morning with hopes of reward money he might use to purchase a new truck for his father found himself instead charged with murder and facing life plus 40 years in prison. Terry Hobbs was born on November 25, 1969 in Columbus, Georgia, USA. When we were driving in the car a lot, wed play a lot of the Metallica album Master of Puppets, says Alex Sinofsky, who became a doctor instead of getting behind the camera himself. He responded proudly, 11.. In May of that year, police discovered the bodies of Michael Moore, Stevie Branch, and Christopher Byers in the Robin Hood Hills, a small wooded area near the I-40/I-55 exchange. 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. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. The three teens were arrested after Misskelley said they committed the crime after 12 hours of interrogation. So much progress had been made in the fight for new trials, most notably a November 2010 Arkansas Supreme Court ruling that ordered a hearing on new DNA analysis and other evidence not considered in 1994. As the first in a trilogy of Paradise Lost films about the case, the 1996 movie was a stunning example of cinma vrit, as directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky embedded themselves with the prosecution, the defense, and the families of both the slain and the accused to put human faces on a heart-wrenching tragedy, as well as highlight the overblown worries of satanic rituals and murderous cults that proliferated throughout the 1980s and 90s. The killings came at the peak of the so-called Satanic Panic, a time of heightened worries about ritualistic abuse. The first and likely simplest gauge is continued interest in the case. 2011 Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (Documentary) Self - Stepfather of Stevie Branch. La Mirada, California. A graveside service will be conducted on Wednesday, March 17 at Cloverdale Memorial Park beginning at 11am. 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. Its affected a lot of lives, but for some reason it keeps being brought up, said Hobbs. Other details that have come to light include that many wounds on the slain children, originally attributed to human bites and/or a serrated blade, were the result of animals feeding on the bodies. Mojo, however, was considerably more fired up, believing the same thing many of Paradise Losts viewers did: that the movie showed an incredible miscarriage of justice, one that would surely be fixed. (WMC) - Its a case that has captured the nation and certainly the Mid-South. However, under pressure, leading questions, and scare tactics, Misskelley wove a contradictory story that first placed him at the crime scene as an eyewitness to the murders and then as an active participant. He said Boxful of Nightmares is his memoirs unedited. Im seeing the things I experienced, but not through my own point of view. And the seemingly endless stream of threats against them and the frequent clashes with Mark Byers did nothing to dissuade them. Case Details. The sneaker ligatures in which Terry Hobbs' DNA was found in," Soury said . Events. Misskelley initially told police that the killings happened during the day; knowing that they actually occurred some time after dusk, the officers corrected him, helping him retrofit his story to the cases few known facts. It ranges from Mark Byers, the crusading stepfather who became one of the West Memphis Threes biggest allies in the years before his 2020 death, to famed FBI criminal profiler (and Mindhunter inspiration) John E. Douglas. Branded the West Memphis Three, the mens case was featured in multiple documentaries, earning them support from an array of high-profile musicians, celebrities and activists. Auburndale, FL - TSGT Terry Lee Hobbs, USAF, ret. Published by The Commercial Appeal from Jun. The pair abruptly fled to Oceanside, Calif., four days after the murders. Berlinger and Sinofsky, the latter of whom died in 2015 at age 58, were able to gain incredible and immediate access to seemingly everyone the case had touched: the families of the victims and the accused, the judge, the lead investigator, members of the community. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. In fact, for the better part of 1993, it was nearly impossible to find anyone who believed they were innocent. Terry Roland Hobbs Obituary West Memphis 3 / Terry Hobbs 2022 Update - YouTube Sheila Nevins, the HBO exec who pushed for Berlinger and Sinofsky to make that initial trip to Arkansas, is most proud of the companys willingness to let her finance three documentaries over 18 years without knowing where they would go. In 2004, Vicki Hutcheson recanted her trial testimony, stating that she had lied on the stand. Terry Roland Hobbs, 62, of Sweetwater, passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2021. Hobbs, with the help of an author, put all that journaling intoa book about the 1993 murders of his stepson Stevie Branch, and Branchs friends Michael Moore and Chris Byers. They procured the domain WM3.org and made a website, updating it with whatever information they could track down. I spoke with one of the jurors, years later after the trials and convictions, and he said he had no doubt that people could throw their lot in with the devil and be commanded to do things that they wouldnt have done otherwisethat they have basically made the deal with the devil, Leveritt says. But it wasnt in the ways its directors had hoped. The great irony of the 18-year quest to free the West Memphis Three is that it didnt begin as a crusade. October 14, 2017: #26 on the JazzWeek chart! Damion Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley were convicted of murdering the children in 1994.