There is the mysterious death of Mark’s wife (along with the slip-up statement “his wife’s murder”, the bloody knife he gave the producers of the HBO documentary, his ever changing alibi, his closeasthis to an almost confession, the precision needed to cut the skin from the penis of one of the little boys (in the water, due to lack of blood anywhere at murder site) - Byers was a jeweler.
Also the bizarre disappearing Mark Byers police records which included a felony conviction for attempted murder of his exwife being wiped clean from his records years before expungement is allowed. The judge that granted the early expungement was Judge David Burnett, the same judge who presided over the WM3 trial.
And that is just the beginning.
After a frustrating weekend of passing information fliers only to be met with blank stares, apathy, or people who think of us as a different brand of Charlies family, it is good to me reminded there are others out there.
It’s always the same, but this time it bothered me more than normal. Damien is quickly running out of time and there are just so many people who don’t give a fuck.
I hadn’t heard of this until I opened this thread (and when I saw the title I thought this was another rant about Weapons of Mass Destruction with a typo). This is a profoundly, profoundly disturbing case, and I very much fear there will be no justice. Can a federal judge step in and say the case was so profoundly fucked up that clemency must be granted until evidence can be sorted out? I’m not completely clear on the details of the Tulia, Texas case, but it seems similar; can similar tactics be used to stop this one?
A little while back I started a group called “The Musicians for the West Memphis Three”. (website = http://www.tictokmen.com/wm3 ) We are currently working on several CD releases which ALL profit from sales will go towards the WM3 defense fund. Several artists have donated songs which were written just for or about the WM3. We have 29 artists/bands currently listed and about 20-30 more in the wings.
www.Ampcast.com has donated a website for us to use to promote the cause and get people informed. ( www.ampcast.com/wm3 ) After we told them what we were doing they were all over helping out.
I’ve done radio shows at www.ampcast.com about the WM3 and did an interview one night with Burk and Grove from wm3.org. It was very effective in getting the word out.
I have a band CD out which donates $1 for every CD sold to Damiens defense fund. There is a song called “WM3” on the CD all about the case. (If you’re interested you can find it by digging around the link above). The CD has liner notes about the case and web addresses and e-mail to find more information.
I figure my part in this case is to just get people informed. There isn’t much I can do outside of that, but I just might inform that ONE person who has the power to make a difference. The few bucks we can mail off to the cause doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t help all that much but I suppose every little bit helps.
Yes it pisses me off when people think I’m part of the Manson family. But the fact is some people don’t think the US court system can fail. In fact, my standing is NOT that the WM3 kids are innocent, just that they haven’t been given a fair trial.
I think they the kids should be taken to New York or Wash DC or another major city and given a new trial. A fair one. A trial that looks at evidence.
Oh yeah,. The guys at the WM3 message board have worked out a pretty interesting case discrepancies list with references. The thread is here and is worth a look to anyone interested in the case.
We were planning on databasing the list on a website but couldn’t get an effective engine which would allow several people to add and delete items. I’m not the best php writer so the project is on the back burner.
See, Diane? I told you you need to have a moderator change the thread title.
Question for Diane and anyone else who feels like answering about donations: Obviously the defense fund is in some need of financial assistance. Would it be valuable to allocate some money toward publicity (e.g. the website, T-shirts, etc.) or, given the criticality of Damien’s situation, would it be better to give solely to the defense fund at this point?
I visited the WM3 site. I wrote to several officials via the e-mail links there amd made a contribution.
This sickens me. I understand that when something horrific happens, the public wants someone to pay, so’s they can feel safer. But blaming the first group of misfits without a good alibi and railroading them is so heinous. And ensures that the responsible party will never be convicted.
I too, have mentioned the West Memphis 3 more than once. It makes me ill. I believe I’ve put up links about them too, but don’t want to dig to confirm it.
It also makes me a little afraid at times, because this town is not unlike West Memphis in it’s extreme paranoia, distrust, and willingness to believe anything about someone who isn’t normal. (Read: is non-Christian) I know that we (me, my husband and our friends) all face a similar risk as long as we live here.
It’s a travestry of justice, and I hope it is brought to light. I fervantly pray that he is granted clemency, that somehow his attorney is granted a Silver tongue and pulls it off.
May the God and Goddess Bless and Keep you Damien. May Freedom find all three…
Although I strongly disagree with the author’s suspicious tone at times, and they don’t explain well enough that the three were Pagan, and not Satanist I believe this site’s story coverage shows a lot of the investigative blunders made, and even hints at a more believable motive and suspect.
Oh my goodness. I hadn’t heard about this in a while. I saw a documentary on HBO about this many, many years ago and was just sickened at the fumbling incompetance of the police. I can’t believe they’re still in jail!
Regardless of their innocence (which I believe they are) it is obvious that this whole case is based on shoddy police work, fear and incompetance.
I’ll be making a contribution to Damien’s defense fund. I feel physically ill knowing that this kind of thing happens in this world.
Well, I just sent a link to the petition to about thirty people. Many of whom are the kind of people who allow this sort of thing to happen. I’m sure they think I’m twisted. Oh well.
That was the main reason I asked Coldie to change my thread title - thanks Coldie and thanks Strainger for the suggestion!
Seven - WOW, that is fawkin awesome! I will check out your webpage.
My feelings exactly. In my gut and knowing what I have learned about the case of the last few years, I am almost certain of their innocence, however, the basis of the things I have done is centered around the fact that they did not receive a fair trial.
I have done all, however, I agree that the defense fund is the most critical at this point. However, I feel it is also important to buy AND wear a t-shirt. Every single time I wear one of mine, someone will ask about it. It gives me a golden opportunity to hand them a small info sheet I carry on me. It may not seem like it helps a lot, but if one person asks me and gets interested enough to become involved, tells other people, and so on - the defense will receive funding from these people as well.
This is NOT true. Damien was Wiccan.
Even more disturbing, is that Damien will be killed shortly if something doesn’t happen.
I had understood that they were practicing Paganism with Damien. This is the impression I got when I first found out about the case years ago. I cannot find the article on the Pagan site I visit now, I think it expired. This interveiw Damien gave haunts me.
I think maybe they were at the least accepting of their friend’s difference, and so it was assumed that they too held the same beliefs. I remember reading that he had at least shared about his philosphy with his friends, and they were willing to learn.
I also posted the link in my previous without re-reading the story, and found to my chagrin that it had been “updated”. It had the details/flaws from the case listedhere and here once, but not now.
I cannot understand why they won’t do the DNA testing (unless they ‘lost’ the sample to compare DNA to). If it matches, execute. If it’s inconclusive, oh well, you’re no worse off than you are now. If it’s conclusively not a match, let the boys go, for Christ’s sake!
Also, according to interviews, Jason believed in God and right and wrong, but considered religion a comfort “for people on their deathbed.” He was not interested in any nor did he follow any religion.
Jason and Damien were best friends. Damien was very interested, to the point of obsession, with all types of religions. At one point he wanted to be a Catholic priest but ultimately settled on Wicca - not Paganism. Jason was very much UNinterested in religion. They may have spoke about it, and considering Damien’s interest, I am sure they did, but all interviews tend to show they each respected the other one’s belief - or non belief.
Jessie and Damien were not friends. They knew each other from around town and maybe spoke once.
A lot of evidence that could have been used for DNA testing was lost or thrown away by the police. True to form, Arkansas officials did not want to pay for the expensive testing so they just chose not to do it.
However, DNA testing has actually begun. It has been financed through donations and benefit concerts, among other sources. No funding has been received from those who fucked the case up from the beginning.
Wicca is a form of Paganism, I’m an eclectic Pagan, I pratice a mix of Paganism that includes Wicca. I believe a correct statement is: “All Wiccans are Pagan, but not all Pagans are Wiccan.”
