Morbid - Episode 123: West Memphis 3 Part 2

Episode Date: March 8, 2020

BREVITY IS NOT MY STRONG SUIT. So here we are in Part 2 of our deep dive into the twisted tale of the West Memphis 3. In this episode we take a look into Damien, Jason and Jessie's lives as ...well as the confession that started it all. The West Memphis PD had their work cut out for them with the brutal mutilation and murders of 8 year olds, Christopher Byers, Michael Moore and Steven Branch but instead of rising to the occasion, they seemed to drown under the pressure. Sources: https://innocenceproject.org/west-memphis-three-go-free/ HBO Paradise Lost 1 The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills HBO Paradise Lost 2 Revelations HBO Paradise Lost 3 Purgatory Devil's Knot by Mara Leveritt Life After Death by Damien Echols Dark Spell: Surviving the Sentence by Mara Leveritt Almost Home by Damien Echols Visit our sponsors! Hunt-a-Killer Right now, just for our listeners you can go to HuntAKiller.com/morbid and use promo code MORBID at check out for 20% off your first box. SimpliSafe Go to SimpliSafe.com/morbid today and you’ll get FREE shipping and a 60-day risk free trial. You’ve got nothing to lose! Best Fiends Best Fiends has thousands of levels already, with new levels, events, and characters added every month. It’s hours of fun right at your fingertips—and you can even play offline! Download Best Fiends FREE on the Apple App Store or Google Play. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Starting point is 00:01:28 That's ANGI. Ordered download the app today. Hey weirdos, I'm Ash. And I'm Alena. And this is a whole last morbid guy. Yeah, this case is morbid as fuck. This case is long and frustrating as fuck. So just to remind you, this is part two of the West Memphis 3, which is probably gonna be like 3 to 4 parts. Yeah, it is most definitely gonna be 3 parts.
Starting point is 00:02:17 I'm gonna try to keep it to 3. I don't know if people are gonna get up my butt about it being 4. Who cares? I don't think it's gonna be be for, but I'm not going to make any promises here because mama doesn't like brevity. And I think that a lot of the details of this case are really important to talk about. And there's a lot of things that don't get talked about enough and a lot of little things that I uncovered that I just need to feel like I need to talk about. So it's going to be long.
Starting point is 00:02:46 But you know what, you're here with me. It's important. It's stressful. We're all in this together. Last week you said pertinent a lot and I really like that word. It is, everything is pertinent that we are going to talk about. I was trying to say that throughout your whole spiel. I kept being like, is she dead?
Starting point is 00:03:02 Is she doing what's happening? Is she going? She just like pecking out of my pocket. It's pertinent. just like pecking up I just want to be like part of it. Pertnant. It's pertinent that I get this information. It is. It's all pertinent and before we jump into it, we have some more pertinent news. We do. So, like we do in the beginning of every intro, we're going to remind you about our live shows
Starting point is 00:03:18 because that's happy fun time and then we're going to take you into the dumps. That's happy fun time. Wow, okay. Happy fun time is gonna go down at the Punchline Comedy Club in Philadelphia on April 14th. Hell yeah, it is Philly. Oh my god, and we just booked our hotel room
Starting point is 00:03:34 and I'm really excited about where we're staying. But I want to see the Liberty Bell. Yes. I want to see all that. I want to take fancy bathroom selfies, that's all. Anyways, April 15th at the DC in Proven Washington DC. Monuments! I'm so excited for Monuments.
Starting point is 00:03:50 April 23rd, the Grimmercy Theater. We get to go there again in New York because of the Death Becomes Us Festival. Guys, come to the Death Becomes Us Festival. It is going to be so awesome. Last year, someone got brought out on stage in a body bag for their entrance. And then they un-sip turn.
Starting point is 00:04:08 Like, that's lit. They do it. Who else does that? You gotta come and do it. We have some good plans for that show as well. We do, so get with it. May 6th, that stand-up live will be there, and that's in Huntsville, Alabama.
Starting point is 00:04:20 This sure is Roll Tide, War Eagle. Yeah, yeah. And you're really excited for all BAM. Then we're doing two shows on May 7th and early in the late show at Zaini's and Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville, we can't wait to see you and we love you and our hearts are with you. Yes. Then this is a new one everybody. New, new, new. June 2nd at the Good Night Comedy Club in Raleigh, North Carolina. Yeah, Raleigh, we are coming for you. And then the next day, June 3rd at the Comedy Zone in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Starting point is 00:04:53 Charlotte, we heard ya, and we're coming for ya. We're gonna be all up in ya. North Carolina, we are gonna be all up in you. What's your good food? Yeah, North Carolina in you. What's your good food? Yeah North Carolina tell us what your good food last time I got a lot of messages from Washington Washington Tonyance and Washington Tonyance yes and they give me a lot of food options honestly you guys have been like Champions with the food recommendations. We're real excited to try. I'm a one and a mom of two. We love in some food. Yeah, she's super excited.
Starting point is 00:05:27 Anyways, June 11th, we added this one Chicago for you, baby, because you wanted us to come again. You did Chicago, and we love you so much that we were like, hell yeah. So we're going to day early. We are. Then we're going to be there the next day too. June 12th, yeah, June is gonna be crazy,
Starting point is 00:05:47 and I'm real excited for it. Bucking bananas, and last but not least, a show that is very near and dear to my heart, and Alina's heart, if they exist. The July 11th at the Wilbeth Theater in Boston. The Wilbeth! I sound like everybody that tries to do an accent and a Boston movie. I just also transferred into a stale. You sounded like my dad and
Starting point is 00:06:12 then into a stale. Your dad, my grandpa, raised us both. I got my Boston accent when Papa taught me how to drive. That's true, exactly. I'd say things like you dickhead. Yeah. Yeah. So the wilda, we're really excited for that. Go get your tickets to all those shows. You can go to more of itpodcast.com. All those tickets are gonna be up there waiting for you or go to our link tree. It's in our bio on Instagram, but go to more ofpodcast.com and they'll all be there.
Starting point is 00:06:42 And then you can like read our little informations. Use your can. And like, do a little dipperoo. So everybody do that because we want to do live shows and see all of you. So yay! You know what else we want to do? Part two of the West Met this three.
Starting point is 00:06:55 We do, but first I wanted to mention one very somber thing before we get into this really somber case. We're taking the energy way down. I'm sure everybody has been following the case. We've been posting a lot about it of Evelyn Boswell. The little 15-month-old that has been missing since the day after Christmas but wasn't reported missing by her fucking garbage family until about two weeks ago. Which's changed. Which made no sense, and then her stupid piece of shit quote unquote, mother. Yeah, I don't even know if she's like,
Starting point is 00:07:29 can she even be called a mother? No, she can't. That's why I put air quotes around it. I like it. She's just a fucking monster. She went on and did an interview and was basically Casey Anthony and the whole thing and saying,
Starting point is 00:07:39 she knew where she was, she knows who has her. She just didn't want to spook them by reporting her 15-month-old missing. Yeah, you don't want to piss people off. Yeah. And then, you know, they were draining a lake in North Carolina. That was next to, it gets really convoluted because there's a lot of like, just family up in here. Yeah. But it's like the grandfather of the grandmother's boyfriend.
Starting point is 00:08:01 Yeah. Who was pretty sure that he was capable of killing a 15 month old which is not ever something you want to hear from a grandma. Definitely not. No, that means you're a real shit person if your grandmother's saying that you are capable of murdering a 15 month old. Yeah. Unfortunately, I know I was holding out like the smallest. It was it was fake. It's hard, but you have to have a little bit of it. I just can never fully close that door But in my heart of hearts the second they meant the second this news came out that she was missing
Starting point is 00:08:30 I was like that poor 15 month old is gone Just because it had been so long. Yeah, it's just it's never it's never a good thing It's never like the they just pop up all of a sudden unfortunately last night Friday night They did find remains of a 15-month-old girl who they believed to be Evelyn Boswell, at a family member of her piece of shit mothers. So they're gonna be doing an autopsy. I have not heard any results yet.
Starting point is 00:08:59 I'm hoping that they'll release stuff soon. I don't wanna hear it, but I need to hear it all at the same time, because I've just been following this closure. I closure. Yeah, I just need to know, but at the same time, I'm like, I don't want to think about what they did to that poor. And this baby is, oh my God, her like huge blue eyes. I was like, every time I saw it, I was like, I'll take her. Like, just give her to me. I will take her. Don't have a kid if you don't want one. And if you do have a kid that you don't want, there are a lot of places that you can give them to.
Starting point is 00:09:31 Trust me. Trust me. Because someone who worked through three years of infertility struggles, and we were coming to the point where we were like, okay, like adoption it is, and we were like ready to do that. People want children. And it's like people will love. like ready to do that. People want children. And it's like people will love
Starting point is 00:09:46 and people will do anything. If you are not prepared to adequately, adequately take care of your child, that's fine, just admit to it and give your child up to someone who will. Because it's like, what the fuck are these people doing? Having 15 month, what did a 15 month old do to you that you killed it?
Starting point is 00:10:03 You piece of absolute shit. Like it makes me so angry like I can't imagine I can't even like yell at my kids They're four I can't even like tell them to clean up and it's like I'm like shit. You know what? I'll help you know what I'll help you. It's like I can't imagine a 15 month old. No like that's's 15 month olds are in like the most fun stage of babyhood. It's like they're walking. Yeah, all these funny little things. They do. They're fallen over. They're just starting to like say things like like we adore a little word. You to fucking love them.
Starting point is 00:10:37 That's all they require is just love. They just want to please you and like other basic things. So it just bums me out. So we'll update on that as it comes, but everybody think of poor little Evelyn today because I know I am. And moving forward from that bummer ass news is some more bummer ass story.
Starting point is 00:10:57 So strap in guys. But it's not a bummer at the end. It isn't. There's a kind of somewhat, I don't know. There's an ending to this. So it won't come today, but we'll go with it. So for this, I use, I've used so many sources for this because I just can't get enough of reading. Well, this is a fucking involved case. Yeah, and this one's really like near and dear to me because I just got so enveloped in it when it happened.
Starting point is 00:11:21 So I used Damien Eccles book that he wrote, Life After Death, it's a really good read and everyone should read it. Wherever you stand on this case, because it's going to give a lot of insight into West Memphis at the time, what he was dealing with at the time, his background, all that crazy stuff. I also used DevilsNot by Mara Leverett. That's an amazing book. It's a big, long, lots of information. She's an investigative journalist, so she has just a way of finding things that no one else can, and she goes into so much detail. I also use the Paradise Lost documentaries
Starting point is 00:12:00 because they have a lot of like clips with them, things that you don't hear everywhere else. Those documentaries are so good. I recommend those so good. I recommend those so good. Well, yeah. We were just watching part of it again. But yeah, I recommend those highly. Hey there, fellow podcast listener.
Starting point is 00:12:16 It's Elena. And Ash. And we're taking you back to the days before streaming services. Whoa. You know, when you would come home from high school, and it was only a few hours until that TV show, everyone was watching was about to come on.
Starting point is 00:12:31 Well, in 1999, that show was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In our podcast with Wondery, the re-watcher Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we take it back to 1999. So get out your knee-high boots and paste that poster of Angel on the wall. It's time to enter the Buffyverse. Some of you avid morbid listeners
Starting point is 00:12:50 already know what we've gotten store. Hey, my nose. Join us as we sway our way through Buffy's drama, action and romance, episode by episode. Slicey, follow the rewatcher, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and add free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app.
Starting point is 00:13:11 Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery's Podcast American Scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in US history, presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our newest series, we look at the Kids for Cash scandal, a story about corruption inside America's system of juvenile justice. In Northeastern Pennsylvania, residents had begun noticing an alarming trend. Children were being sent away to jail in high numbers, and often for committing only minor offenses. The FBI began looking at two local judges, and when the full picture emerged, it made national headlines.
Starting point is 00:13:50 The judges were earning a fortune, carrying out a brazen criminal scheme, one that would shatter the lives of countless children, and force a heated debate about punishment and America's criminal justice system. Follow American scandal wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon music or wonder app. So, when we left off last time, we had just talked about how the police were getting desperate. They're basically the satanic panic is beginning to seep in and they're starting to look more at Damien Eccles right just because there's no real reason like outsider yeah because he's an outsider
Starting point is 00:14:32 so police records for this case were fucking nightmare like just I believe that it's to be clear the West Memphis PD did not know how to handle a case of this magnitude right they just didn't they were and they were offered help they were offered a lot of this magnitude. They just didn't. And they were offered help. They were offered a lot of help, but also at the time, apparently, the state police and the West Memphis PD, as well as the county PD, were involved with some issues with each other
Starting point is 00:14:55 because some of the county PD and the West Memphis PD were getting investigated by the state PD. Perfect. For like drug offenses. So I don't think they were too keen on letting the state police help them. So that really fucked them up. Convoluted everything.
Starting point is 00:15:11 Exactly. So that tells you where everyone's at here. Like it's not like we're at this like, we're in a fucking dumpster fire. We're not like a great highly functioning police department here now. So actually in the book, Devilsknot, Mara Levert says that quote, police records were a mess to call them disorderly would be putting
Starting point is 00:15:33 it mildly. Wolf. In most of the notes, the wrong child was identified for certain things. Like, they would use the wrong name several times for different things. And they just couldn't keep any facts straight. Like, there were times when they would say that they were sexually assaulted. And in fact, they were not. According to the ME, they were not. So according to her book, Mara Leverez, the police had also assigned the case number for this case as 9, 3, dash 0, 5, dash 0, 6, 6, 6. Okay. Now, when asked about this number, because they were like, 666, that's funny. That's involving like,
Starting point is 00:16:10 what a coincidence. He didn't. He posted it to say, Tannic activity and 666 isn't it? Well, get your, Gary Getchel, everybody remember his name, he's gonna come up a lot. Gary Dushan.
Starting point is 00:16:21 Good old Gary Getchel. He said, it's just a coincidence. Happened to be that we're on the 666 case. Doubt it. Like cool. Later, however, it was discovered that the case should have been numbered 9-3-05-0-555. Oh, so they doctored that to make sure that it said 6-6-6 to further put forth this narrative of satanic activity. You have a little too much time on your hands if those are the details that you're paying attention to Gary Goodgel.
Starting point is 00:16:50 Those are some stupid ass details they really are. Let's say something I would expect the media to like. Exactly. Well, that's the thing. The media clings on to that shit. But I would expect them to make that up, not be like, fet it. Yeah, exactly.
Starting point is 00:17:03 But they were fet it by the police. Ridiculous. Woo! So Damien was given a polygraph during one of the questioning sessions that they like sprung upon him. And it was noted that he revealed deception when speaking about the murders. Okay. Now weirdly enough though, there's no record of this deception. So the guy who did the polygraph just says this, and says he doesn't know where the record is. Oh, so just trust him guys, okay? Yeah, I mean, he's telling the truth. Just trust him, he was deceptive, don't worry about it.
Starting point is 00:17:33 I don't know where it says that. He looked at something shiny over there, look at that. Yeah, so this seems to happen a lot. That all of a sudden they're like, yeah, he said this and you're like, oh cool, can you give me that file that you should have because you're a police officer and in your training you learn that you write everything down and keep a very detailed record and double check it every time. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:17:53 Can you give me that? No. No, we didn't write it down or have it record it. I lost it. Or they'll be like, yeah, total. Oh no, you know what? It's weird. It's weird by dog game.
Starting point is 00:18:02 Yeah, it's real weird. It's just not here. And it's like weird. Maybe it doesn't exist, I don't know. So that happens a lot. In Damien's book Life After Death, he describes the atmosphere around West Memphis at this time and it is pretty bleak. Oh, good.
Starting point is 00:18:18 Obviously, we have to give like, I mean, three eight year old little boys were savagely murdered in the woods. Not far from their homes, this would be huge anywhere. Of course. This would be huge in the biggest city there is. I mean, this is huge no matter what. So people are freaked out.
Starting point is 00:18:38 People are questioning all sorts of things. I would be questioning all sorts of things about life and the universe and what the hell's going on. There's parents who need answers. There's people that are all of a sudden rumors are starting to circulate now about who did it because that's going to happen in a small town. People are pointing fingers at people. And I mean there's mutilation involved.
Starting point is 00:19:01 This isn't just like, it would be awful no matter what, but it's not like, oh three kids killed in the woods. It's like three kids. I mean, when you go into the details about it would be awful no matter what but it's not like oh three kids killed in the woods It's like three kids Really I mean when you go into the details about it. It's like what the fuck? That's like nightmare situation now He said at the time Satanist talk was already on everybody's lips right that was already starting to crop up But it was really getting bad during this and apparently the community and the police were already leaning hard into the narrative
Starting point is 00:19:26 that this had to be some kind of sacrifice to Satan. Perfect. There's no way this was anything else, but a ritualistic sacrifice to Satan. Now nothing at this crime scene would suggest that. Right. But okay, I guess. Like there's nothing there to say that.
Starting point is 00:19:44 Like I don't think there's there's nothing there to say that. Like I don't think there's anything that says during I mean I don't know much about Satan sacrifices. I have not read up on them much, but I don't know if hog tying is part of it. I don't know if throwing them in a lake is part of it and a pond is part of it. Yeah. I don't know if any of this is part of it. And there's nothing around that like paraphernalia or anything that would suggest this. There's just no markings of any kind that I would write. I don't understand what they were going. I think they were looking at it as this is fucked up.
Starting point is 00:20:15 We don't know how to handle this. People want answers, the devil. I think that's literally where it went. That was the thought process. Yeah. Somebody probably was like, it's the devil's work in like, in like, what's that called, a phrase, like a,
Starting point is 00:20:30 oh, just like, just in and off, then like, oh my God, this is the devil's work. And then somebody was like, oh shit, you're right. And someone was like, that's a lead. Fuck yeah, it's the devil's work.
Starting point is 00:20:40 Yeah. Zach vice the Satan. And that was it. And then they went with it. And then they went with it. Damien said that at this point, and everything else I read about, this said at this point, preachers were using it as evidence of the end times. Like, in all the sermons on every Sunday and every, they were like preaching that this meant that the end times are coming, this is it, it's signaling it. That is so scary to me. Yeah. And everyone was becoming
Starting point is 00:21:03 suspect of anyone who is even remotely different. Right. This is when they started picking out people and being like, you wear black, you must love Satan. Or you're a hair dresser. Like, what is this? Or it's just slimming, right? I was going to say, or it's a Tuesday.
Starting point is 00:21:16 It's chic, okay? Can you give up, I mean, literally. So Damien also says that May 7th, when the news exploded about the bodies, that was the first time that the police had really started focusing in on him, at least by asking questions. Right. And by showing up to chat with him a lot. Spooks, spook.
Starting point is 00:21:34 And by a lot, it was like every day. Okay. They literally talked to him every day, and he was like, what is happening? He's like, yeah, I was not involved. And he wasn't arrested yet, but they were trying to observe him more carefully It seemed right so it was around this time that we mentioned Jerry driver who used to do those little Driver rounds to see if he could see like cult activity. Yeah, yeah, just living as fuck that dude One of his straight-up watch hunter one of his cohorts James Sudbury and Steve Jones who was the one who first saw the floating shoe in the pond.
Starting point is 00:22:08 They showed up to Damien's home to question him about any information he had about local satanic cults. And he was like, yeah, I'm not like, I'm not, I don't know. He literally was like, they brought me into like, I guess he was like, we can go in my sister's room and talk like, because his family was out there. Yeah. They sat in there and they were like, so do you know anything about Satanic cult? And he was like, no. And then they were like, have you seen any around here? And he was like, no.
Starting point is 00:22:31 No, I'm pretty sure I would have known if I saw Satanic cult, like just a rogue Satanic cult going through the fucking middle of the street. Um, so he's like, no, I have not seen one. And then they also questioned him about his favorite book in the Bible, which is like, you can't do that. No, it's very pertinent to the investigation, right? No, absolutely it is.
Starting point is 00:22:51 Wrong. Yeah. Because if you answer wrong, you did it. Like, I'm gonna be real with you. That's how this works, right? Like, I respect both sides, but I don't know any part of the Bible. No, I can, and again, I respect religion. Yeah, by all means, I think religion is great.
Starting point is 00:23:05 It does also do something to believe in. I personally don't think I could name a book in the Bible. No, I literally could not. And if somebody was a police officer, we're asking me because they were like questioning murder, I definitely couldn't come up with a bunch of questions. I think I would literally say thou shou not steal. Respect to thy neighbor. I'd be like, that's about all I know. I'd be like the whole thing. The whole thing is my favorite. I'm a big fan of all of them. I'm a big fan.
Starting point is 00:23:31 Both testaments. I don't know what he said at the time, but there was a point in Damien's, like when he was going, he went through a period and you'll see when we talk about it, where he was trying, he was very interested in religions. Yeah. Not just one religion, he he was very interested in religions. Yeah. Not just one religion, he was just very interested in religions as a whole, because they are
Starting point is 00:23:49 fascinating. Yeah, there's fucking like college courses about different kinds of religions. Like theology and all that. So he became very interested in Catholicism. He considered becoming a priest at one point. Like he was very into that. Right. In fact, that's where he says he was originally into that. Right. In fact, that's where he says, he was originally named Michael.
Starting point is 00:24:07 And he changed his name to Damien, which of course people think is because of the Omen. Right. No. Was that even out? Yeah, the original one was out. I was like, that came out when I was like, you're like, what?
Starting point is 00:24:18 No, it was because he said there was a priest named Father Damian from the Hawaiian Islands, and he used to like work with lepers. And when he was into Catholicism and studying it, he really connected to that story, and he wanted to change his name when his stepfather adopted him, because he was changing his last name, and he was like, I want to change my name to Damian. Yeah. And of course people were like, I just made that up. Who knows? I mean, nobody knows about Damian,
Starting point is 00:24:48 but I mean, whatever. It seems like a cool reason to do that. I mean, that's a pretty cool due to, de-named after. Right. So before they left him after they asked him, like, stupid shit, they took a Polaroid photo of him. Why?
Starting point is 00:25:03 And he was just like, okay. And again, he said at the time, they're police officers. They have to do what they say. And you just trust them. Right. That's what you're saying. You're just like, okay, they want to pull
Starting point is 00:25:13 all right, I have to do a pull all right. Right. So they took a photo of him and then they used that photo to show around town to people and ask if they knew anything about this Satan worshiper in town. Perfect. Which of course got people to be, that's very leading power of suggestion.
Starting point is 00:25:29 Yeah. So people are like, oh yeah, you know what? I've seen that Satan worshiper worship in Satan. And it's so cool. You know, listening to Metallica. Yeah, of course. Backwards. And people literally, somebody said that he caused them to levitate. Yeah, that happens to me all the time.
Starting point is 00:25:45 And the police were like, yep, I bet that happened. Like that was literally a piece of like investigative evidence that this man said he caused him to levitate. I shit you not, this case is terrifying. Oh, it gets so much more terrifying. And you know what, I just have to say this, it's like really disrespectful to the victims that this is how it was carried out.
Starting point is 00:26:04 Exactly. Because they were not looking for who actually killed these three little babies in their own neighborhood in the middle of the fucking afternoon. And it's a mockery. They were looking to close the case so that they didn't look like bumbling fucking idiots that they were. And they just wanted to close the case. Gary Gitchell was going to be retiring soon. And he wanted this case closed. And he wanted to close on a big case. And he got it. But he didn't put the people behind bars that did it. I'm sure people are going to argue with me about this. But I don't give a shit because I'm going to provide you with straight
Starting point is 00:26:38 facts. You can decide for yourself. But I don't, I don't see any other way about this. No. No. The more you look into it, the more it just simply boggles your mind that these three were were considered the absolute, the ones who did it. Right. It's beyond my mind. And the thing is, when I first looked into this case, I knew nothing about it. Before I had seen the Paradise last documentaries, before they even came out, I heard about the case. All I knew was that three eight-year-old boys were like brutally mutilated in the woods and murdered. And three teenage boys did it. Yeah. That's what I knew about the case. Because that's what they could do. And when I got up, pictures of them, I was like, oh, they look a little like...
Starting point is 00:27:19 They look all tough in those pictures. Like, they're all looking like, they all like big mullets and they just look like I was like, yeah. Like I just assumed they did it. Yeah. Because I didn't know anything else. Right. Everything you saw I was like these three boys did it. Right.
Starting point is 00:27:32 When I started looking into it, I was like, holy shit. They didn't do it. And I went into it again thinking they did it. And I was completely turned around by the evidence. So this is not me just coming up with this because I heard it or something like that. Like I went into this on the other side a long time ago. Right. And then I researched and I made my own decision and I think everybody else should do that too. So so people said he caused him to levitate. Someone else said the somebody else said that the police told them that they found
Starting point is 00:28:03 body parts under Damien's bed. So someone said to the, when they were showing his picture, they were like, oh yeah, the police told me that they found body parts under Damien's bed. Oh, yeah, so. Of course you're gonna be like, yeah, he's scary. And in fact, in Paradise Lost, you can hear John Mark Buyer's Christopher Buyer's stepfather
Starting point is 00:28:23 repeat this rumor as if it's fact. He says it in one of his interviews, he's like, they found Christopher's genitals in a jar under Damien's bed, how are we not arresting him? And it's like, he says it like, this is fact. Because that's what they were fed. And this is how much this was like really serious to people. Like, people were taking these rumors
Starting point is 00:28:44 and being like, yes, that is fact. Right. And the police were not only allowing it, doing it, encouraging it, they were, they were the ones doing it and they were taking it as fucking evidence. Right. And it's insane. This could happen to fucking anyone. That's what's so scary about it. That's the scary thing about it. It's a little different. Yeah. It's like, are you kidding? And later, John Mark Buyers, we'll talk about this in part three or four. Probably three. We're going to talk about this, but he later changes his mind completely, right? Completely about this.
Starting point is 00:29:14 So that's just interesting. So this is one Damien said they showed up every single day to question him and accuse him of different cult activities every day. Then they started taking him to the police station to question him every day. So he's just like, okay, this is my life now. His grandmother sold her wedding rings to hire a lawyer. Oh my God. Because they were so nervous what was happening here.
Starting point is 00:29:36 They were like, we have to lawyer. The police wouldn't let the lawyer into the station, which is not legal. And Damien says in the book, he's like, my grandmother sold her wedding rings for nothing. Oh, that's not legal. No, a lot of this was not legal. Right. That's like one of the basic realities is like, you have the right to a lawyer. Oh, yeah. But most of these boys were not told that right or were not made to understand that right. The thing that Damien repeats in almost every interview since he was
Starting point is 00:30:05 arrested is one that I think we can all relate to when it comes to police and like authority. Is he answered their questions honestly because he figured if I didn't do it then they can't prove I did it. Right. So he was like I didn't see how this could end with me being charged because I didn't do it. Right. And there's no way you can prove that someone did, that they, what they didn't do. And we all know that they're not, now they can, that they definitely can. But especially as a teenager,
Starting point is 00:30:34 you're like, you told to respect authority and police and you trust them and they're supposed to be which most of them are like, one in your mind, you think they're looking for the real fucking person that did it. And that's the thing. I mean, I would like to think that most of them are and it's like Yeah, you get these departments that are just so fucking crooked. It's like it spoils it for the rest of them
Starting point is 00:30:52 Sorry, I just almost threw a can across the fucking laundry room. She's so angry. I can't have ginger ale just went flying Ginger ass So they took him into the station before they arrested him and they kept him for eight hours. Whoa. They had to let him go because they had nothing on him. Right, again, it's not looking like they have this solid case if they can't keep him long in that. Exactly. So June 3rd, Damien, Jason Baldwin, and Damien's sister Michelle, and Damien's girlfriend, Dominie Tier,
Starting point is 00:31:22 were at Damien's trailer. They were watching Leprechaun. Oh my god, I was just telling your, we're at Damien's trailer. They were watching Leopardcon. Oh my god, I was just telling your daughter about Leopardcon today. Oh, I was like, you were telling them about Leopardcon. I was like, I hope not. No, Leopardcon. Yeah, the horror movie Leopardcon. Damien's parents and grandmother were at a casino for the evening, so like, they had all
Starting point is 00:31:40 come Jason and come over. They were going to watch horror movies because that's just what they did. Right. That's also what I did. That's also what I did. That's also what we did before you had kids. Literally. So suddenly the police come slamming at the door, at a door. This is at like 10.30 a night.
Starting point is 00:31:53 Right. Damien opened the door. Three cops had guns pointed in his face. They handcuffed him and threw him into a cop car and then they did the same for Jason. Okay. All the while Jason is saying, what is this for? And they were saying, for murder, you're being arrested for Jason. Okay. All the while Jason is saying, what is this for?
Starting point is 00:32:05 And they were saying, for murder, you're being arrested for murder. And he's like, he kept saying you have the wrong guy, you have the wrong people. Because he was like, I think they have the wrong, like literally, they came to the wrong house.
Starting point is 00:32:14 Like where? He was like, what the fuck? And I also read a story that said, and I'll talk more about like Jason's upbringing. He usually, I think this was a Wednesday night or something like that. And every Wednesday his mom had to work late. And he took care of his younger brothers. And he would like make them dinner. And he had to be there at those nights that his mom worked late. Like it was like his job. Right. And because he had just finished
Starting point is 00:32:39 10th grade, and he did well in school, his mom hired a babysitter and was like, you go hang out with your friends to celebrate. D'aww! Yeah, and this is what happens. Wow. This case breaks my fucking heart. It's so heartbreaking on so many levels. Yeah. From every aspect.
Starting point is 00:32:54 Every aspect. It's like, so once there, once at the police station, Damien was told by Gary Gitchell that his friend had already confessed and that he should just come clean. Damien was told that? Yeah, okay. Damien had no idea what that meant because just come clean. Damian was told that? Yeah, okay. Damian had no idea what that meant
Starting point is 00:33:07 because he was like, are they talking about Jason? Yeah. He was like, my friend told, like, what are you talking about? And then he was like, what did he confess? I don't understand what is happening here. He didn't have any information, so they put him in a cell and left him there until morning. So June 4th at 10 a.m.
Starting point is 00:33:23 he was brought into a courtroom where Jason and Jesse Miskelli were also arraigned and they were there until morning. So June 4th at 10 a.m., he was brought into a courtroom where Jason and Jesse Miskelli were also arraigned and they were all arranged separately. Okay. They were all arranged on three counts of capital murder for the murders of Christopher Buyer's Michael Moore and Stephen Branch. Right.
Starting point is 00:33:38 They pled not guilty. At this point, the judge mentioned a confession to Damian and he was like, okay, and so the judge was like, do you want me to read the confession out loud or do you want to read it yourself and he wrote read it? Yeah, or he said read it and he said the judge got a little flustered and was like, I'm just gonna give it to you to read. And Damian was like, once you read this confession, you see why he didn't want to read it out loud to a courtroom full of people. Oh, shit. Because it is the most fucked up. I don't even, what, I mean, farce, it's not a confession.
Starting point is 00:34:11 Right. It is so beyond and I'm going to go over it. Don't you worry, I have clips of it and we're going to pull it all apart. Oh, God. So the judge actually said you can read it. And by this point, he had no idea who confessed into what. Right. So he was like, he's like, cold handed over what the fuck.
Starting point is 00:34:28 So as it turns out, Jesse Muskely had confessed to the murders of Christopher Biers, Michael Moore and Steve Branch. And he had said that Jason and Damien were the ones who killed them, but he was implicated in it. Okay. So what's not mentioned anywhere, is that there were actually two other suspects aside from these three before these three.
Starting point is 00:34:49 I didn't actually even know that. Yeah, these three became suspects after these two. Their names were Chris Morgan and Brian Holland. They had rap sheets for like drug offenses and shit. Four days after the little boy's bodies were discovered, they just abruptly pieced out of Arkansas and went to Oceanside, California. That's weird.
Starting point is 00:35:07 Yeah. So Morgan apparently was slightly familiar with these victims because he had driven an ice cream truck route in their neighborhood. Oh, yeah. So they were arrested in Oceanside on May 17th of 1993 and they both took polygraph exams by the California police.
Starting point is 00:35:29 And they were said to have indicated deception when they said anything about the murders. Oh, yeah. And that was actually noted. There was actual documentation of that. Exactly. There's actual record of this. Then they were questioned. And Morgan said, well, I have, you know, I've done actual record of this. Then they quote they were questioned and Morgan said, well, I have you know
Starting point is 00:35:46 I've done a lot of drugs. I've I've used alcohol heavily and then he said I have a lot of blackouts and memory lapses And he said he quote might have killed the boys. Oh, yeah California police Contacted the West Memphis police and we're like hey yo contacted the West Memphis Police and were like, hey yo. He knows killed people. They also sent blood in urine samples from them to the West Memphis Police. There's no indication that they investigated
Starting point is 00:36:12 these two boys or did anything. That's so fucked up. They didn't follow up on it. They're like, oh no, we have the people. Yeah, and then they wouldn't let Morgan's statement that he might have killed the boys into trial. It was barred from they couldn't be admitted in evidence. This is, I don't even know.
Starting point is 00:36:30 How do you have the power to do that? Because it fucked up their whole narrative. Right. Now, let's give a little background in Damien, Jason, and Jesse, because I think it's important for people to know who these three are, too. So all three of these boys were extremely poor. Poor that most of us can't and don't want to ever imagine. They were easy targets.
Starting point is 00:36:51 Very easy. Damien was born Michael Hutchinson on December 11th, 1974. He had a younger sister, Michelle, and his name later came from Stepfather Jack Eccles. That's why. His mother, father, and stepfathers were all very troubled. his name later came from stepfather Jack Eccles. Okay. His mother, father, and stepfathers were all very troubled. His whole family was just, troubles is a very mild way of putting it.
Starting point is 00:37:14 Okay. The family was not happy, not functioning. They were so poor, they were poorer than most of us can even comprehend. Social workers were called at various times and every social worker agreed that this family was a fucking mess and that those kids were in trouble. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:37:31 Like, it should have been taken out of there. Oh, that's really sad. Jack, so his mother divorced his father and met this man named Jack at church. Okay. Jack came into the family, he introduced Damian and his family to a church called Church of God, and it was those kind of churches where people speak in tongues and scream and yell. And he said that you would be invited up to be healed and healing included
Starting point is 00:38:01 smearing olive oil all over your face and shoving you to the ground while screaming at you in tongues. Which like, if that's your thing, I mean, all the power to you. Yeah, like definitely like go forth with that, but like he was in fourth grade at the time. It's a little much for children. Yeah, I feel like that's a little scary. Jack forced them to go to this church,
Starting point is 00:38:22 which I don't think you should ever force a child into a religion, but that's just me You want to do that? Cool. Live your best life. That's just me. They had to go all week and he would stand over them to force them to pray every night. Wow. Which is like, are you really getting a good prayer out if someone's standing behind you being like, I will fuck you up if you don't pray. I wouldn't know. I just be praying that this guy would go away. I'd be like, I hope he doesn't tuck me up.
Starting point is 00:38:47 I hope his hair is good enough. I'd be praying that he leaves. God, are you there? It's me, Margaret. Seriously. Well, one night, Damien said that Jack punched his chihuahua pepper in the face because it jumped up on the bed while they were praying. Because it's a dog.
Starting point is 00:39:04 This dude was an asshole. That hurts my heart. So soon he moved the family into the church. And they lived in the church. Yup, the back of the church had decrepit old rooms and he forced them to move in there. Okay. Jack abused Damian physically and mentally.
Starting point is 00:39:22 His mother just let it all happen. Good. She forced him to call Jack dad and to take his name and to this day he says he feels like the most betrayed by his mother. Oh, and he'll say like my mother was not a bad person. She's like had me young. She did what she could do like there were like he mentioned something. He says she loved me like the only way she knew how. Like, he kind of gives that kind of like, I also, so much credit to people that can say that. But he also says like, she's dramatic. Yeah. She loves to be involved in this whole thing. She loves to act like she was a great mother and she's not like, he's very real about his parents. Right. And he says like, he's like, she loved me in, in this way. Like, when I was like,
Starting point is 00:40:04 weezing and like struggling to breathe from bronchitis One night she would sit by me all night and like rub my head whilst chain smoking cigarettes. Oh, so it was like here I'm going to do half a mom thing and also chain smokes like he was like you know, that's who she was right So you know, this is the kind of family that's happening here This is sad. This is really this is really bleak. Yes. This is a kind of family that's happening here. This is really bleak. This is pretty bleak. They then moved the family into a literal shack that was on a big hill. It was owned by a farmer and he charged them 30 bucks a month for it.
Starting point is 00:40:39 The shack had a literal metal roof and no running water, no electricity, no toilets, and it was filled with garbage and rats. Oh. And he said in the winter, it was so cold that there was ice inside, and in the summer it was so boiling like literally the middle, the metal roof. Yeah. That you would literally just boil in there. Yeah. Why did why? And when they would use like a wood stove for warmth in the winter, it would just fill the whole place with black smoke. Oh my God. So they'd just be like coughing and hacking
Starting point is 00:41:12 and breathing and smoke. Like why can't we just live in our trailer? Yeah. No, they cannot. They couldn't even afford a trailer. Oh. That's the thing. They don't get a trailer until later.
Starting point is 00:41:21 Okay. So he met Jason Baldwin in junior high. They bonded over metal bands and horror and they hung out every single day. They became brothers. They said they were like, like, we were each other's brother. I love that. In the book, Damien says, quote, we shared everything we had, food, clothes, money, whatever. If one of us had it, both of us had it. It was known without having to be said. I love a brotherhood. And that's like real friendship. Retweet, if you love a brotherhood. Isn't that real friendship, right? Yes.
Starting point is 00:41:49 Damien started dressing in a black trench code. He wore black all the time. I think he went through like a skateboard phase too. He was literally like trying to find us. We've all been there. We've all been through a skateboard phase. We've all been through it, honestly. But he was, he liked to wear a black trench coat, which of course got him marked as the kid with the black trench coat, he's the devil. And he adopted kind of a dickish way
Starting point is 00:42:11 of interacting with people. I can't imagine why. Well, I think he was just like, you all suck. Like, I mean, when you've grown up that way, I can imagine you're only a dick as well. Yeah, you just don't want people around you, I'd assume. And he was the exact opposite of the people in the town. He had long black hair that was, he said often people would cite that it was dyed black
Starting point is 00:42:30 hair. It was natural jet black hair. Right. That he was like, I did not dye my hair. Well, you can tell in prison. And you can see his father. His father has jet black hair as well. Right.
Starting point is 00:42:41 He had super pale skin. He used to like shave one side of his head, which is so funny because now, especially bring him into the Northeast, and he's like fucking cool as shit, looking and super hipster and all. Whoa, look at that dude. And it's like put him in another place in the country and it's like, whoa, it's the devil. It's just so interesting how America is so different in every corner. It really is so Jason was also dirt poor and he was like a little metalhead with like a
Starting point is 00:43:14 Seriously intense mallet. Oh my god. He was so fucking adorable. Yeah, his mallet was impressive is will post it is an Yeah, it was impressive is will post is an understatement the mullet the mullet was that boy committed to the mullet No, you know what you know what? I heard that. It wasn't able it. It was the moment It was not a moment. It was really It was I was it was like several mullets came together to form mega mullet. That's what it was Mullet showdown. So Jason's dad left when he was four. Oh, how do you leave me, Angel?
Starting point is 00:43:54 His mom Gail suffered from schizophrenia. He had two younger brothers that he became another parent to essentially. Yeah. She would, you know, she would sometimes go off her medication. She would have some trouble. She would, you know, she would sometimes go off her medication. She would have some trouble. She would leave that she was going to the store. She wouldn't come back for like a day or two. You know, and he had to, he picked up the slack. He was like their dad and he just did it. So, um, and it was hard for her to function normally as their mother a lot of the time. Of course, she was struggling. But she did her absolute best. And with the medication she was on,
Starting point is 00:44:26 she would have moments where she was like, really in with it. He was also super close with his mother. He often said how much he respected and appreciated, how hard she worked to support him in his siblings. What an angel. And like he just kind of was like, I understood that she had a mental health issue.
Starting point is 00:44:44 Yeah. She was trying to deal with But she was also trying to do everything Like you're working hard. She had three fucking kids and you look at her and like when you see interviews with her You're just like you poor woman like going through what she went through she did her best and now and she's so like Adam and about Jason being like he's a good kid and like he didn't do this and it's like not one of those where you hear You know the parent he's a good kid and right and didn't do this and it's like not one of those where you hear, you know, the parent, he's a good kid. Right. And it's like, you know, she's like, she's sitting there like,
Starting point is 00:45:08 he takes care of his siblings. And he's an actual good kid. Like he really is. So Damien met Jesse Muskelli. When one summer day in high school, he went to Jason's house and Jason's mother told him that Jason was at Jesse's. Okay. And it was only like a couple trailers down.
Starting point is 00:45:25 They saw each other around, but they didn't really hang out. Yeah. Jason just lived near Jesse, but wasn't truly friends with him. It was one of those things. You just like see him every night for a while. Right. Jesse was born, Jesse Miss Kelly was born July 10th, 1975. He had, so he had the word bitch tattooed on his chest.
Starting point is 00:45:47 Did he really? I didn't even know that. Which people were wondering like what that means. And I've heard a lot of people say like they think it was probably one of those things like where he was trying to be cool and got bitch on his chest. Like no, he hasn't really said what that means. Oh, he's the bitch or if it was like about someone else. Yeah. He also had like a skull and dagger tattoo. He had like a couple of other like, really like, just normal like, I'm a tough kid tattoo. Right.
Starting point is 00:46:13 He had an IQ of 72, which is borderline mentally challenged. It's actually considered borderline to intellectual functioning. Oh, yeah. At seven years old, he still couldn't say the ABCs and couldn't count past 15. Oh my God, stop. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:46:29 By age 11, he had only made it to the third grade. Usually you are like eight or nine in the third grade. Yeah. He was a fighter. He was definitely a fighter. But he was a fighter because he was really tiny. Yeah. He was a tiny kid.
Starting point is 00:46:43 He had, and he kind of felt like he had to make up for his stature. Well, I was going to say I'm sure people made fun of him. Well, and that's the thing. And people made fun of him, but also his mother abandoned the family when he was a baby. And he had nine half siblings. His family was described as loving, but rough by psychologists. So his half siblings would literally, like, beat him up and like make fun of them and stuff. So he felt like he constantly needed to be on guard and fighting. Right. And he says
Starting point is 00:47:09 that. He's like, I just felt like I had to be like like a taller and bigger and stronger than everybody by fighting. So Jesse absolutely adored his father, but he also acknowledged that he drank like a fish. And he was a really rough guy. And Jesse definitely dealt with physical abuse by his father for sure. That's really sad. But he was so loyal to his father. It's one of those situations all throughout this entire father thing too.
Starting point is 00:47:39 It's like the Gabriel Fernandez thing, which I know everybody wants us to cover, but I'm going to be honest with you. I don't think we're covering that. I don't know if we'll cover that. I'm not saying we definitely won't Stay tuned, but it doesn't look I'm saying that I won't be here for that if we cover it So but in that one it's like it's like you see the like kids that are abused or have really rough up rings Like still care for their parents so much and are so loyal to them In early high school Damian met a girl named Diana. She became his first love. Diana was a wikin, even though she came from an extremely
Starting point is 00:48:11 Christian family. She taught Damian about it and he loved the religion. Yeah, because it's all about the earth. Yeah, and he was like, I love goddesses. I'm into this. Like, I love it. Later it was used to convict him basically. Right. But like, that's the other thing that's frustrating about that is, like, Satanism and Wicken are not the same thing. Well, and at the time, I don't even think Wicken was, Wicka was acknowledged as an actual religion by like the government. I don't think it's an act. It is now. So nobody had any understanding about it actually. Yeah, it was just their witches. Like, that what it actually was. It was just their witches. That's what it was.
Starting point is 00:48:46 It's so stupid. So, Diana and he had a crazy intense relationship. Like crazy. They talked about running to a way together all the time. They were very on and off and on the last day of classes they made their move and they decided to run away together. The two of them along with Jason were hanging out on their way out of town and Deanna's parents called the cops. No they did. I wish
Starting point is 00:49:19 they could have just gotten away. So Deanna and Damien decided to spend the night at an abandoned trailer. That night police found them and arrested them both. They were taken to separate jails. They had stolen nothing out of the trailer, but they were charged with burglary and sexual misconduct. What? Because they caught them like in the act, I think. Oh, that sucks. So like, they they're both They were 18 teens right well, and also it's like they it's like their teenagers right This is where he met Jerry driver. Oh good. This is when Jerry driver comes to Jerry I was like I don't like you
Starting point is 00:49:56 He's like I'm a I'm a be obsessed with you for years to come. Why she's this crazy? So the juvenile officer who would later become obsessed with him was Jerry fucking driver. He immediately started questioning Damien about Satanist and town and such. He was then forced into a psych hospital. Damien was. After rumors spread while he was being held at the jail, rumors spread that he and Diana had attended to have a baby and then sacrifice that baby to Satan. Oh. Which is like, I'm sorry. Did they have clear written plans of this? Because I don't like it. Or is this just here, say? Meanwhile, the staff at the juvenile detention center he was held at said he treated everyone
Starting point is 00:50:35 with the quote utmost respect. Yeah. They were like, he did not seem like this crazy wild child. And there was no real evidence of this supposed plan to sacrifice a baby. That is so fucked up. Yeah. And so, driver said that he had told him, quote, I think his claim was that he was a wicken and he worshipped goddesses.
Starting point is 00:50:54 He looked like one of the slasher movie type guys, boots, the coat, long, stringy, black hair, though he cut it short sometimes. So he's already, he's like, he looked weird. Right, so I think he did it. You can't just arrest people because they look weird, Jerry. And also he looked like those slasher movie guys, like what slasher movie guy is, like that's what? Like he's wearing clothes and he has long hair. That's not a slasher movie guy, that's just a guy.
Starting point is 00:51:20 Yeah, you're stupid, Jerry. You're real stupid. So he spent several weeks in this psych hospital after this incident. Now, Diana had been released because normally this is a misdemeanor at best. Right. And they would just be released. Which also like, barely, maybe on probation. Diana was already released to her family. Of course. Stamion somehow was still being held for this, only for this. Right. So it's like, what now? In all the while, Jerry Driver, while he's spending time
Starting point is 00:51:49 in the psych hospital, he did this so that he could go out and form a case against him. So he's asking teens all around about, say, Tannik shit and Damien. He showed up at his parents' trailer and convinced his mother to allow him to confiscate things from his room, which is not within his jurisdiction. And Damien had like a skull collection, same Z's.
Starting point is 00:52:09 I was going to say I literally have three skulls on my nightstands. Which was used against him, of course. Right. After his few weeks spent in the psych hospital, he was then released back to his parents who were now back together, his biological father, who was now back together with his mother. Apparently she had kicked Jack Eccles to the car. Well, that's good. He was diagnosed with depression
Starting point is 00:52:31 and possible bipolar manic depressive disorder. Damien was? Yeah, okay. But they said that he was not a harm to himself or others, he was allowed to be released. Yeah. His mother had left Jack Eccles because he was an asshole and also because Damien's little sister Michelle, a ledge that he had molested her.
Starting point is 00:52:47 Oh, no. Yeah. So now his dad, his dad lived in Aloha, Oregon. I say Oregon, right. I just want to put that out there. So the family took a week-long road trip to Oregon from the site hospital. When he got there, he met with another juvenile officer because now he was in the system.
Starting point is 00:53:09 He was gonna have to meet with the juvenile officer in the next state he was going to. Yeah. This juvenile officer asserted that he should be minimally supervised for four months. Okay. He was like, I'm not really worried about it. Let's just do this.
Starting point is 00:53:22 Right. And then he should be released from the system because he was just a regular golf kid. Well, Jerry Driver wasn't having that. Of course not. No, because he's known as better. So the police were called within a few months because Damien's parents said that they were afraid
Starting point is 00:53:36 he was gonna hurt himself. Okay. He was placed into another hospital setting. He said he wasn't intending to hurt himself but was depressed because he missed Deanna and he also missed his best friend Jason. Oh, now it was also widely known that his family was severely troubled. So he was miserable. Right. He just made it his friends. Yeah. His girlfriend. He was not happy. So he was seen and assessed and released because they saw no
Starting point is 00:54:01 threat. He was going to be 18 and his parents were like, we don't want you back. So he was like, cool, I don't want to go back. So he asked if he could go back to Arkansas where he was going to reluctantly live with Jack Eccles until he got himself on his feet. So driver met him at the train station when he arrived in Arkansas and immediately through him and juvenile the tension for what? So he was, it was literally because he said by making threats to his family that he was going to hurt himself or others, he had violated his parole. So, he was like, now I'm going to throw you back in juvenile detention. When he was eventually released again, he was under driver's probation now. Oh, good.
Starting point is 00:54:42 So, driver said he had to get a GED, he had to check with him every week. So he did all of these things. He got a GED, he did all the things, and driver still didn't give a shit. He was also now 18 and not supposed to be under juvenile detention, right? Proveation. So they started looking at Damien and his now girlfriend Dominie Tier. They also honed in on Jason now, because Jason hung out with Damien. Right. That's the only reason they honed in on Jason. That's not fair. Nope, not at all. Jason later said, quote, others didn't like us.
Starting point is 00:55:15 They'd been accusing me of being a satanist since I was in the sixth grade. It was because I had long hair and wore concert t-shirts with bands like Metallica, and Guns and Roses and Ozzy Osborne and you two. You two is so hard-quire. He knew back then that they were going to infiltrate everybody's eye to this. He did. He was like, that's metal.
Starting point is 00:55:34 Damien and I kind of dress different. He too wasn't living his desired life. And just like my mom, he suffered from depression. I think that our friendship helped him. So this brings us back now to May 1993. Now that you have information about us, when Stephen Branch Christopher Buyers and Michael Moore were brutally murdered. At this point, Damien's parents had moved back to Arkansas and he moved back in with them. Okay. So now he's living with his parents
Starting point is 00:56:03 again in Arkansas in a trailer. Police came to question Jason at his trailer about the murders and they said that on the night of the murders, they had gone, quote, they had gone to Jason's uncle's house and Jason had cut the lawn. Damien phoned his father to pick them up at the laundry mat at Missouri and North Washington. They then were picked up at 6 p.m. and Damien's father took Jason and Dominie home and Damien went home. Now they were then questioned without being maran diced and without their parents present. This is at Jason's trailer.
Starting point is 00:56:37 Right. The police just showed up. They talked to him. They're like, what did you do that day? Damien and Dominie were there. So at this point, when they start questioning them illegally, Damien said his girlfriend Dominie was four months pregnant with his child. He said the crimes committed to those boys were sick and when asked what he thought killed the boys, he repeated what the newspapers had said, medallations and such, because it was in the newspaper. They used this as he must have been there because he said medallations and such because I was in the newspaper. Right. They used this as he must have been there because he said medallations when it was in all the newspapers.
Starting point is 00:57:10 Right. Then they asked, do you believe in God or the devil? Again, that has no sum in between. And also, yeah, it's not perfect. You can't ask me that. Right. Why the fuck does that matter? Because if they ask me that, I'd be like, why I'm an atheist. What does that mean? Are you going't ask me that. Right. Why the fuck does that matter? Because if they ask me that, I'd be like,
Starting point is 00:57:25 why am I an atheist? Right. What does that mean? Are you gonna arrest me now? Right. Has nothing to do with anything. Like what the fuck? And it's just, it's also not black and white.
Starting point is 00:57:33 Like it's not just God or the devil. And you can't ask me that. Well, in Damien kind of answers that way. He says, quote, I believe in a God, but a female God, evil force, not the devil. Right. And that's kind of, it makes sense. Right. At this point, of, it makes sense. Right.
Starting point is 00:57:45 At this point, Jason was asked the same questions, but then his mother Gail arrived on scene and told the officers and fuck out of my house. Go fuck yourselves and leave. Right. Like, you can't just question my child out in front of my house. Right. So at this point, a neighbor that was living close to Jesse Muskely named Vicki Hutchinson. She was 30, I think she was 32 at the time, she was a waitress. She had been watching all this happen and seeing
Starting point is 00:58:13 all like the hubbub. And Damien and Jason were becoming suspects a little bit now, so she was like, huh, I want to be involved in this. Of course. Now, she had been taken into the police station earlier in the month for fraud charges. Oh, good. And while she was there, she brought her eight-year-old son, Aaron, because when you go to the police station up on fraud charges, you should bring your eight-year-old child. Aaron was friends with the victims.
Starting point is 00:58:41 Okay. He was also eight-year-old, so may sense. He made statements about a black man in a maroon van picking the victims. Okay. He was also eight years old, so it made sense. He made statements about a black man in a maroon van picking the victims up from school the day they were murdered. Okay. This is a lie because they went right home after school. Right. They didn't get picked up from anyone.
Starting point is 00:58:59 And also one of them lived like right next to the school. Right. They didn't ever get like picked up. Yeah. None of the parents, all the parents are like, no, that did not, next to the school. Right. They didn't ever get like picked up. Yeah. And none of the parents, all the parents are like, no. That did not. They came right home. Right.
Starting point is 00:59:10 So that's just a lie. And later it comes out that Aaron lied a lot. So he says that. So police buy it. Of course. Let's go with that. Eight-year-old truth is an year old truth. They love right?
Starting point is 00:59:22 So they bring Vicki back in because they're like, let's chat some more. You got some information. And while they're talking to her, she in her words playfully suggested that she become an informant. Oh god. Mainly because she just wanted to be involved. Will they took her up on it? Of course they did. A random 30 something year old waitress who is not involved in this at all. They were like, yeah, you should probably be involved in this. Right. Are you fucking kidding me? She knew Jesse. He had babysat for her children.
Starting point is 00:59:51 Yeah. And she started asking Jesse about the murders and about his relationship with Damian and Jason. He told her he didn't really know Damian at all. He thought he was weird. And he was like, I don't really know him. He just seems weird. Yeah. But like, whatever. And he said he knew Jason from like second grade and he was like, and he's a
Starting point is 01:00:09 really nice kid. But like, we don't really hang out that much. Vicki asked to be introduced to them and Jesse was like, that's weird, but okay. So one night when he was saw Damian and Jason, he told them to come to Vicki's trailer to meet her and they were like, okay. Yeah, they were like, we're not doing anything else. Yeah, and it was like a 15 minute meeting, that was it. At the time, Vicki had set up like a cult books that she got at the library and made it like somewhat spooky. Wow.
Starting point is 01:00:38 Because she thought it would make them like more comfortable at home. Feel at home. Yeah. So, no, Vicki told police, so the police knew this was happening. They wanted her to do this. They had bugged her trailer. Oh. And they were, we're going to record any incriminating statements. Now, he didn't say anything incriminating. She said the recording was crystal clear. You could hear everything. But police later said it wasn't a good recording, and it somehow just got lost. Oh, just like everything else in this case
Starting point is 01:01:08 I imagine it's because they didn't say anything incriminating so they were like well, that's that Now Vicki told police that during this whole thing that she and Damien started an eight-day affair. Stop. She's 30-something, by the way, and he's, I think, just turned 18. Right. Which I guess it's like legal question mark, but like... But also like he...
Starting point is 01:01:36 Nice. Really? Like, this kid is supposedly a murderer of an eight-year-old and you have an eight-year-old son. Yeah. That's right. You need to... get more busy. Check yourself before you record yourself.
Starting point is 01:01:49 This turned out to later be false, but I have false. In that one evening on May 19th, 1993, he brought her to an espat. What is that? Which is, she was told by Jerry Driver is a witch's gathering. Oh. you know. So she said Damien drove in a red Ford at Scort. She drove her in Jessie there, and that there was a big orgy in the woods in this field, with people naked and painted in black paint, and she got so upset because she's such a good
Starting point is 01:02:23 Christian woman and wanted to leave so Damien agreed. Okay, but she said they dropped Jesse off at the witch orgy and Damien drove her home. Cool Vicki. Seems like you have some vivid dreams. Seems legit. I don't know. I see nothing wrong yet. Now a few things here. Damien doesn't drive and that's actually well known and well documented by all police He did not have a license. He did not know how to drive. Yeah, and a red Ford escort belonged to no one Right. They never found this red Ford escort nobody and anybody's family drove one wasn't a thing So like cool like Vicki sis also Jesse was like what the fuck no did I did not go to in a spot Yeah, I was with my what the fuck? No, did I did not go to in a spot? Yeah, that was what my dad did.
Starting point is 01:03:05 I was with my dad. Thank you. No, he's like, sounds red, but I did not go. I was gonna say, sounds like a fucking party, wish I was invited. But police believed her with zero evidence. Just her word. It's Vicki.
Starting point is 01:03:17 They were like, that's it. It's Vicki, Elena. It's Vicki. So she had an eight year old son, Aaron, like I said. And Aaron also told police that there was a cult activity in the area. He had seen it, and it was involving Jesse Damian and Jason. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 01:03:34 So the police were like, got it done. Or maybe he's just listening to his mom's phone call. Exactly. Well, later, after she had already testified under oath at their murder trial about this. Literally told this story under oath at a Capitol murder trial, Vicki admitted that the entire thing was fabricated. She said the police told her what to say and threatened to take her child away if she didn't do it.
Starting point is 01:04:00 Oh my god! Aaron later said that he also lied because police told him to. She's as Christ. Now this is spot tail was from driver, of course. Yeah. According to the Arkansas Times, quote, this is what Vicki said. Well, we were sitting there and he driver goes, okay, what really needs going here is,
Starting point is 01:04:22 I guess that maybe Victoria goes to one of those meetings they have and is spot. So Hutchinson says that when detectives tape recorded interviews with her, quote, they would shut the tape off and tell me, no, that's not how it happened, Victoria, you come up with something better.
Starting point is 01:04:39 Oh, that's fucked. Yeah. This was all used to arrest Damien and Jason and Jesse. Right. So I already knew what they were gonna do. So they were like, okay, let's make this as good as we can and literally like Jerry driver They said so Victoria Victoria Vicki said. I mean our names Victoria, but they call her Vicki Yeah, whatever she said they would meet at like this weird storage facility with her the police and okay in Vicki And they would like tell her what to do, what to say with them. Like, they suggested that they make her shit spooky, so that Damien fell more at home.
Starting point is 01:05:11 What else do you mean while he was like, what the fuck are you books about? Like, bye. And why are you hanging out with me 30-year-old lady? And this is when she later admitted that the only time she ever spoke to Damien Eccles was during the 15 minutes when they came to her trailer. Right. But all of a sudden this fabricated story of an affair and a spot was she needs a hobby. Yeah. Or maybe a couple more tables.
Starting point is 01:05:34 Yeah. A couple more tables. Vicki, you've been that woman a table. You've been 86. You have that woman a party of 20. Yeah. Stat. Now.
Starting point is 01:05:44 Oh, yes. So yeah So yeah. So she. So yeah, she said that they would meet. They would tell her what to say. And Jerry driver was the one that was like, you know what? Let's create in a spot. I was just saying that they want a spot. Let's do it. So after all these rumors were flying because it's small place
Starting point is 01:05:59 and shickets around fast. And also the police and Jerry driver were literally walking around with their photos, calling them satanic cult leaders. People were saying that they talked to Damian and he told them that he killed the boys. Of course. This happened a lot. And many of these things were proven false or the people admitted to straight up lying. Oh, good. Out of it. Some of them said like there was a, we'll get into this during the trial, but some of them would say like they overheard him say something, but they didn't actually hear him say that. They heard him say something like that, and they knew he was talking about the boys.
Starting point is 01:06:33 Like that's the kind of shit that went on trial. How is that allowed? It shouldn't be. So June 2nd, 1993, Vicki Hutchinson asked Jesse to stay over her trailer, because there were reports of like some scary peeping Tom around and she was nervous. Right. So Jesse says, of course, and he sleeps on her couch with a gun, literally to keep her safe. That's nice. Yeah. The next morning at 9 a.m. detectives came to the trailer and asked to speak to him at the station.
Starting point is 01:07:00 They were with Jesse's dad, so he said he felt safe and he agreed. They were with Jesse's dad, so he said he felt safe. And he agreed. He said, quote, he said we was going to the police department. I didn't know what was going on, but I wasn't scared. At the time, I didn't know what they wanted to talk to me about. So they get this board-aligned mentally challenged teenager in a police station. And they say because of his age, they have to tell his dad
Starting point is 01:07:22 to sign something so they can question him. Right. Again, they're not giving him any to sign something so they can question him. Right. Again, they're not giving him any information. He's just feeling like, what? And he's like, totally, you can get my dad's signature. I'll talk to you. You're a problem. So they take him back to his dad.
Starting point is 01:07:36 And on the way to his dad, they tell him that there's a $35,000 reward for any information. And if he could provide it, his family would get that money. Oh, okay. So he literally said that the police told him, quote, he said, if I knew anything to tell the police and then my dad could buy himself a new truck. Stop. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:07:56 And he loves his dad. He does. And he does much. He's dad to buy a new truck. So he told them he heard things about the victims from friends and then he saw some kids on the service road leading to Robin Hood Hills that day, but that's it. Then they gave him a polygraph. Uh-huh.
Starting point is 01:08:12 So these assholes told Jesse that the polygraph test could read people's minds. Oh, like they were literally like it reads your mind. That's what it does. Nope, that's wrong. That works. Also, they're not even admissible as evidence. No, they're not. Well, then they question them. So Gary Getzel led him through this confession shamelessly. According to Jesse, quote, they asked me, how did I know so much about the murder if I didn't do it? I kept telling him I didn't
Starting point is 01:08:39 know who did it. I just knew of it. What my friend told me that they kept hollering at me. Gary Getz hollering at me. Gary Gitchell and Brian Ridge both. They kept saying they know I had something to do with, because other people done told them. After I told them what the boys were wearing, Gary Gitchell told me, was any of them tied up? That's when I went along with him.
Starting point is 01:08:59 I repeated what he told me to. I said yes, they was tied up. He asked what was they tied up with. I told him rope. He got mad. He said, God damn it, Jesse, don't mess with me. He said no, they was tied up with shoe strings. I had to go all through the story again until I got it right. Oh no. They hauled it at me until I got it right. So whatever he was telling me, I started telling him back, but I figured something was wrong because if I'd kill them, I'd know how I'd done it. Right. None of this was tape recorded by the way. Why? They didn't want a tape recorder. Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? Can I have a video? he says that they just told him what to say and yelled it until he set it back. And he
Starting point is 01:09:45 just wanted to go home to his dad and they kept telling him that he could if he cooperated. And he's like, cool, I'm cooperating. And again, this is a mentally challenged teenager. This is a borderline intellectually functioning teenager who is already functioning at a way lower level than what his actual age should be. And they knew that. And they fucking used it to their advantage. And they did know that. And they actually claimed that they had no idea. They had no idea that he had any mental deficiency at all. They had no idea. Yeah. Sure. And later, during this confession that I'm about to get into, you're going to see,
Starting point is 01:10:20 they definitely knew. They definitely knew right from the get go. Right. So they then showed him a photo of one of the kids at the coroner's office. And those pictures I saw on by accident the other day, they're horrifying. Yeah and that's some of the some of you guys have said that you asked you were like either I stumbled upon them or I went looking for them like thinking that they couldn't be that bad. And they're horrible. They're horrible. They will ruin your life. They then, um, so then they decided to tape the interview after they prepped him. So they showed him this photo, scared the shit out of him.
Starting point is 01:10:55 They then played an audio clip to him after showing him the dead child. It was Aaron Hutchinson's voice on this audio, but Jesse would only find this out way later. He had no idea who this child was, and it was a creepy small child voice saying, nobody knows what happened but me. Ugh! And it was like this little like whispered voice. That's terrifying. Why did they do that?
Starting point is 01:11:19 They put none of this in their notes, by the way. They did all this, but they put none of it down in the official record. Right. They did it because it was gonna fuck them up. That's all this, but they put none of it down in the official record. Right. They did it because it was gonna fuck them up. That's so, how do you even think of that? Well, and this is when they started the confession tapes. Now, I don't know how anyone can honestly convince me that this is not the most obvious leading
Starting point is 01:11:38 of a person ever on planet Earth. It's criminal. Like straighter than normal. Yeah, the whole fucking cases. And also, just to be clear the police again Claim that they didn't know he had a mental handicap But you are going to see they did clearly. They don't even try to hide it so
Starting point is 01:11:57 Let's see the first thing we are going. I'm gonna play I'm gonna play a quick clip and then I'm going to yell about how terrible it is. So here's the first one. Same. Let's go straight to that date, 55 or 93. A Wednesday, early in the morning. You received the phone call. Is it correct? Who made that phone call?
Starting point is 01:12:21 Just Bob. What occurred? What did he talk about they call me and ask me could I go Go to worst Memphis with him and I thought you know I had to work Stuff and then they told me he had good with us. So him and them he went then I went with them We win Wednesday, all right. When did you go with him? That morning
Starting point is 01:12:44 9 o'clock in the morning. Is it okay? So he says 9 a.m. Nope. Kids were in school. And also Jason was confirmed in school that day. Right. 9 a.m.
Starting point is 01:12:55 They were all in school. So so that was already. Now were you in a car? Who's car real? So he asks him whether he was in a car and then before the answer he asks him to follow up like it was a yes. He's like, were you in a car? What car were you in? Right. So now Jesse's just like, uh, this person is like, okay, obviously I was. He just goes with it. Where did you go? We went to Robin Hood. We went to the Robin Hood, explained to me where those woods are.
Starting point is 01:13:25 The blue bacon, so far. There's a little patch of woods. No patch of woods. Behind blue bacon. Behind it. Not that you're behind it. Okay. So now he never said behind blue beacon. He never said behind. Right, but as soon as they were like, oh you're behind it, he's like, yeah. Well that's it. So he's like a little patch of woods a little patch of woods It's literally like I'm going to repeat what you say because that's what you want me to do and then he's like behind Blue beacon and he goes yep behind it right back there behind it because he's like yep That's what you want me to say like I'm a say it. It's like he never said behind you just led him to that and that would never be allowed
Starting point is 01:14:01 What I heard while you was at When I was there I saw a day me and hit this one. It just went a little bad. And then he started screwing him and stuff. So you saw a day me and strike Chris Bauer's in the head. What pisses me off about this one is that he never said he hit him in the head. He just let me hit him real bad. He said he hit him real bad. He never said the head. What pisses me off about this one is that he never said he hit him in the head. He just said he hit him real bad. He said he hit him real bad.
Starting point is 01:14:27 He never said the head. Like, why are you bringing up the head, sir? Is that because that's what you want him to say? Michael O'Mour took off on it. So I chased him and grabbed him and held him to they got there and then I left. Okay. All right. When you get the boys back together, where you at from the creek?
Starting point is 01:14:50 I was about a sub-show, about the service road. Okay, now when this, when he hits the first boy, where are they at when he hits him? Are you in the woods? You're on the side of the big bow? You're out in the field? Where you are? In the woods. Okay, you've been down there in those woods before. Can you describe to me what in those woods, what's the location where you were? Is there a path to go down? I was down in the little path. I'm where does that path go to? It lead out to the cluster of field, cluster of instinct. Okay. I was close by instinct. When he hits the first boy and then Jason hits another boy and one takes off running. Where does he run to? That one, he runs out, going out to the park,
Starting point is 01:15:49 and I chased him and grabbed him and run him back. Which way does he go? I mean, does he go on back towards where the house is already going to? Blue bacon? Is he going out towards the field? Where's he running to? Towards the house. Towards the house. Where the pipe is, that goes across the water. Yeah, okay. You run out there, my car didn't run back. Then. I took off.
Starting point is 01:16:14 This is what this is the part that really makes me crazy. He says he left. Right. Said I left after they came and got Michael more I left. But they're still asking him what happened next in the woods. He just said he left. And he does this several times. He takes himself away from it and they keep putting him back in.
Starting point is 01:16:32 And he just goes with it because they're being mean to him when he doesn't. Well, you came back a little bit later. And all three boys are tied. Is that right? Yeah, I took off from home. Alright, have they got their clothes on when you saw them tied? They had already gotten them off. When he first hit the boy, when they first hit the first boy,
Starting point is 01:16:59 did they have their clothes on then? Alright, when did they take their clothes off? Right after they beat up all three of them. They can look real bad. Beat them up real bad. And then they took their clothes up. It ends up being seven times that Jesse says he left before the murders happened. And then he was just told that he went back. Ridge is like, so when you came back later, he never said he came back later. But Ridge knew that he had to do that
Starting point is 01:17:30 to place Jesse back there. Exactly. He needed him to be more implicated than this. And it just makes, this seven times he says I left during this whole confession in every single time they don't go, so did you go home? They don't ask him what he did. They say, no, you were there. Tell me what happened next.
Starting point is 01:17:46 It's like, no, dude, listen to what he's saying. And then they tied him. Then they tied him up, tied the hands up. They start screwing him and still cutting him and stuff. And I saw it, nothing around look. And then I took off front it, I went home. And they called me and asked me how come I didn't stay. I told my just couldn't.
Starting point is 01:18:11 He couldn't stay for them. I couldn't stay. But they didn't tell me. Okay. Now, when it's going on, when it's taking place, you saw somebody with a knife. Who a map Jason Jason had a map. He said he left. He just said he left in one home. Right. He just said he left. He in fact added on to it and said the Damien called him and said why did you leave. And still
Starting point is 01:18:39 he's like cool cool cool. So did you see a knife come out. It's like he just said he left before. This whole thing is, I don't even understand how this was admissible at all. God damn it. What did he cut with a knife? What did you see him cut? Or who did you see him cut? A song cut with a little boys.
Starting point is 01:18:57 All right, where did he cut him at? He was cutting him in the face. Cut him in the face. All right. Another boy was cut on his thing. Where was he cutting it? That's bottom. Cut them in the face. All right. Another boy was cut on his tank. Where was he cut yet? That's bottom.
Starting point is 01:19:09 Only's bottom. Was he face down and he was cutting only more? He was. He was talking about bottom, do you mean right here? In his growing area? Okay. So first of all, he says bottom, like it's quite like bottom, is that what you're looking for?
Starting point is 01:19:24 Right. And then I don't know about you, but I don't call my groin my bottom That's not my ass is my bottom. That's not what that is and then so he says bottom right and Gary Gitchell's like Do you mean this like not and he's like yeah? He's like that's what you want me to say do you mean an entirely different thing? And he's like yep sure do and he's like so the groin and he entirely different thing? And he's like, yep, sure do. And he's like, so the groin. And he's like, yep, and he's like, cool, cool. All right, moving on. Like that. What? That's particular. So now what is penis is? That's where he was cut. What's boy was that?
Starting point is 01:20:02 You're talking about the buyer's boy again. Okay. Are you sure that he was the one that was cut? That's when I say I'm cutting out. Do you know what heinous he is? Is that where he was cutting? They ask him if he knows what a penis is. And then they claim that if you didn't know that they were mentally challenged. Exactly.
Starting point is 01:20:22 You're really, so if he like at a, like a functioning, like age level as a 17 year old. It's like he would know what a penis is. Do they ask Damien or exactly? Do you know what a penis is? No, they knew he was mentally handicapped, so they were like, you do know what a penis is, right? Right, and then they're just being assholes.
Starting point is 01:20:39 Like, yeah, I'm like way to be very like offensive to like, you must not know what a penis is. Like really? No, so I was really nice when I took out. I'm like way to be very like offensive to like you must not know what a penis is like really and that's how it's really nice when it took off again he says he took off and he is ignored and I just keep going with it so now they decide that they need to fucking correct his statement oh good yes you heard that right they are correcting his statement were y'all close to the creek at that point.
Starting point is 01:21:05 He's a little worried. Where was the little boy actually at? He was close. No. Alright, you know where the bio is? Alright, and you know where the little creek is that goes out to the expressway. And then have a lot of water, and there's got some water in it's flowing through there. Which side of that creek were you on? Were you on the
Starting point is 01:21:25 Memphis side of the creek or were you on the Blue Beacon side of that creek? On the Blue Beacon. So there's like a tall bank. Where were you at on that bank? I was at the standup of where were they at? On which side? They were on the Memphis side. We're gonna correct that even further. That's the east side, Memphis side is the east side. You were standing at the top of the bank on the west side. Were you looking down at what we're going on? That does you know that?
Starting point is 01:22:00 I took off. Once again, he left. He's like, hey guys, I dipped. I pieced out of there. And then they litter. They said, we're going to correct that. And like, it's like, no, you can't correct somebody's statement. You can't correct someone's recollection when you weren't there. All right. You went home. And about what time was it that all this was taking place. They come about.
Starting point is 01:22:31 I'm not saying when they called you. I'm saying what time was it that you were actually there in the park. I was at about 12. So he's already stated that this started at nine. So I don't know why we're asking once more, but whatever. And then he says, noon now. So we've jumped three hours. And this was after 20 seconds of blank audio that was never never where they were telling him what
Starting point is 01:22:57 to say. Exactly. Correct. About noon. Okay. Was it after school? I let out. Well, these other boys. He said 9am and then he said noon. In what world is that after school got out? Right. Are you kidding me? He's leading him. Yeah. He's leading him closer and closer to the actual time. Exactly. Because he starts out at 9 and he's like, whoo, we got some work to do to get to the real time. So let's just keep on tracking. Nice skips go. Nice skips go over the coast. Their bus stop from Nevis on the bikes. So.
Starting point is 01:23:39 Hey, did you say the boys skips school that day? These little boys there? Are you sure? Nope, all three were accounted for at school. Good try though. I made them there. It was only the morning. So they wouldn't even make me up. They wouldn't even open and I came up, you know, like behind them. What time did you get there? I got there about nine. In the morning? Uh-huh. Of Wednesday morning. Uh-huh. And what time it is. You know where it was. Your time period might not be exactly right what you're saying. It was like early in the day but you don't know exactly what time. Okay. Because I've got some real confusing with the times you're telling me but now
Starting point is 01:24:46 This 9 o'clock in the evening call that you've got Explain that Well after all the stuff happened that night that they done it. Okay, I went home Not new and they call me Now I'm talking that night They call me. Now I'm fluck it. That night they come. Okay. And what did they tell you on the phone? They asked me how come I live. So early in the
Starting point is 01:25:12 stove. And I told them my constant was doing the more so I had to do something. Get out there. Okay. He just said noon. And now he's back to nine. Are we seeing that this didn't actually occur? Are we just like, please just tell me that you were there at 6 p.m. Oh, don't worry. He gets to that.
Starting point is 01:25:31 Eventually, he asks him if he wears a watch. And when Jesse says he usually does, but that is at his house right now. And he's like, I do know how to tell time. He tells them that's when Gitchell and Ridge are like maybe you have the times messed up He's like yeah, you know 9 a.m. And six. It's pretty similar It seems to me if it would be hard to mix up 9 a.m. noon and evening, but who am I to judge? I'm not the one that West Memphis PD brain trust am I so we all we're just all on a different level here Several times Jesse states that the boys' legs were free.
Starting point is 01:26:06 And when Rige and Getsl tried to sway him to say their legs were tied, they say, quote, well, then what was stopping them from running away? And he responded, quote, they could run. They couldn't. They were hog tied. Right. He also said that the way that Christopher Buyers
Starting point is 01:26:22 was killed was he was choked. First, he said with someone's hands, then he said with a stick. The Emmy said that no choking was apparent on him in any way. And if it was to the stick, you would definitely notice it. And they determined that he died of blood loss. So that wasn't a thing. It hurts my heart. I know, it's awful.
Starting point is 01:26:39 So also, when asked when he received a phone call after he said 9pm that night. So after all this, they're like, so when did they call you again? He says 9pm. Now they ask him again when he has just said noon and at the latest was when he left the woods. And he says, you went home. How long after you got home before you save the phone, 30 minutes an hour, an hour after you get home. So they're like, okay, so when did they call you after you left the woods? Yeah. And then they don't wait for him to answer.
Starting point is 01:27:14 They go a half hour, an hour. So he has two choices here. First he says they called him at 9 PM that night. Yeah. And they're like, that wasn't right. So they were like, oh, was it a half hour, an hour after you left the woods at noon? Right. So he's like, so those are his two choices.
Starting point is 01:27:31 They give him two choices. You can't come up with something else. So he chooses. He says an hour. Uh-huh. So he has been questioned for over six hours and 34 minutes were recorded. Oh, you know how that happens. That makes sense.
Starting point is 01:27:44 So then there's a break. And Gitchell decides he needs to clear some things up and he questions Jesse alone. Perfect. Now, remember, Jesse has just stated it was morning. Everyone skipped school and knew at the latest. Now, suddenly the tape switches on and Gitchell asks, what time?
Starting point is 01:28:04 And Jesse, without hesitation hesitation said, quote, I would say it was about five or so, five or six. Oh my god. Yeah, that's probably real. Then Gitchell says, quote, you told me earlier it was seven or eight. And he said, yeah, it was seven or eight. When you got with the boys and with Jason and Baldwin when you three? We're in the woods and then the little boys come up about what time was when the boys came up to the woods Now did you have your watch on at the time you didn't have your watch on
Starting point is 01:28:59 Aren't you telling me earlier around seven or eight or what time is it? Okay Okay, well that clears it up. I didn't know. That's what I was wondering was it getting dark? Oh, so Gitchel's literally like, dude, I told you seven or eight. Like he's like, you just supposed to say this. He's like, yeah, I said that. Right. So the boys were tied with white and black shoelaces out of their own shoes. When asked again what they were tied with, Jesse says rope again. He also, when they asked what color he says brown. Yeah. None of those things are even wrotely true. Right.
Starting point is 01:29:35 And these are things that it's not like little details that he just would have missed. These are blatant huge things that he would have seen if he was there. Right, but he wasn't there. But he wasn't there. So he's just using like assumption. Yeah. Now, when he talks about it later, he says that he realized that whenever he would answer how they wanted him to, they were nice to him,
Starting point is 01:29:52 and it was easier for him. But when he didn't answer correctly, they screamed at him, so he just tried to answer how they wanted him to. He said they were obviously giving him clues about what to say, so he tried really hard to take the clues, but sometimes he said it was just hard to figure out him clues about what to say. So he tried really hard to take them, take the clues, but sometimes he said it was just hard to figure out what they wanted them to say. And mind you at the end of this,
Starting point is 01:30:10 he thought his job was getting $35,000. Oh yeah. So he was like, I'll say anything. Oh, 100%. And he said, quote, I figured they knew I was lying from the get go. Because the police, they knew me. They knew me for a long time.
Starting point is 01:30:22 They knew I wasn't that type of person to go killing little kids. I figured they knew I was lying because they was lying too. He was put in a holding cell without telling him that he was now implicated by his own words to the in the murder of three eight-year-old boys. And he thought he was just going home. So he said, quote, I figured they knew I needed a ride home, but my dad never did show up. Oh my god, my fucking heart. Like that's really fucked up that they can do that to someone. They can't fucking do that. Now once they were done, deputy prosecutor Fogelman, I say it like that, immediately went before Judge Rainey to ask for a warrant to arrest Damien and Jason.
Starting point is 01:31:04 The reason for arresting Jason was because he hung out with Damien. Oh yeah, you know. That's it. Like literally when he asked the judge, he was like, well, they hang out together. They typically arrest all murderers for it. Yes, so Jason literally was guilty by association.
Starting point is 01:31:16 Like that's a great fucked up. That's the definition. Jason said he was just in shock. He said he kept trying to tell them he was at school that day. And they kept saying they knew he was lying. And. He said he kept trying to tell them he was at school that day and they kept saying they knew he was lying. And once one of them said, you mean if we go get your school records, they'll show you were there. And he said, yes, get them. Oh my god. And what have shown he was there? Right. His mother was not contacted and attorney was not offered or given and no recording
Starting point is 01:31:42 of his questioning exists. Perfect. Which is totally by the book, right? Right. The next morning, June 4th, 1993. So this is, so what happened was when I started this episode, I told you what happened when they got arrested. Right. This is at that point. They got arrested.
Starting point is 01:31:58 Okay. So now they've been arraigned. They've been charged with capital murder. Yeah. Based on Jesse's very lead confession. So the next morning, June 4th, 1993, Gary on Jesse's very lead confession. So the next morning, June 4th, 1993, Gary Getchell made a statement that shows exactly where this police department's motives were. He called the media out for a press conference
Starting point is 01:32:16 and every station came. There were live feeds, they were breaking into programming because this was huge. So he said the suspects were in custody, but wouldn't give any real answers to reporters' questions because he didn't fucking have any. Right. So then a reporter asks on a scale of one to 10, how solid do you feel your cases? And with a big grin, he says, so he got his applause and his pat on the back.
Starting point is 01:32:47 Like you're cheering for a bozo. Yeah, but people, but it's like I get why people were so supportive of this and were so into these police officers doing their jobs and they caught these fucking monsters that killed these poor little boys. No, I get that, but they didn't.'t know they didn't do their jobs at all like this is so far from doing your job and Getzel later said he shouldn't have said that oh Wow, and he says and he says not because I didn't think it was a solid case because to this day He's gonna hang on to that sure of course because it's like the biggest case of his career
Starting point is 01:33:24 He went out with a bank. Right. But he says it was very arrogant and presumptive of him to say 11 because it put even more pressure on them to convict them. Exactly. Which is like, you didn't think of that? That if you know 11 people are gonna assume this is a slam dunk the funk in in court in New you're just gonna win. I don't know if anyone caught that five reference, but like, hey my oldies. Wow. But you see when I work with people are gonna assume
Starting point is 01:33:54 that you will easily convict them. They're obnoxious. And they knew they had nothing and that this was actually going to be hard to do. He can't even answer her question. No. But he's like, I feel like it's at 11. 11?
Starting point is 01:34:07 You're a dumbass. Oh, Gary Pist. So this episode has subsequently pissed me off. Yeah, it was a, it's very frustrating. But that's going to be the end of part two because we are like an hour and a half. I hope you enjoyed your drive to work and back. Exactly.
Starting point is 01:34:24 I never said brevity was my strong suit. If you come to our live shows, you know that. I'm always looking at the clock, like, motherfucker this bitch is going over. I'm always like, I'm gonna close the venue of a closet. I'm like, we're not gonna be able to get to the meat and greet. And I go, the meat and greet. I always go in there thinking, like, oh man,
Starting point is 01:34:39 what if I can't even make it like an hour through this? Yeah, right. She always says that too. And I just, I blankly stare. I'm always knocking on two hours door and being like, shit, I need to wrap this up. And I'm like, well, we're going to leave you on a cliffhanger because it's closed. Because the venue wants us to leave.
Starting point is 01:34:55 The city has shut down. So that's the end of part two. Part three, we are going to get into the trial, which was a fucking circus. And we're going to get into the trial, which was a fucking circus. And we're going to talk about some theories of who could have possibly done it and talk about John Mark Buyers, because I'm sure everybody wants to hear about that, dude, he's an interesting character in his change of heart. I know Pam Hobb, Stevie Branch's mom also had a change apart. So we'll definitely get into that and feel free to have respectful, nice discussions about
Starting point is 01:35:30 this on any of the, you know, the Instagram or Twitter or wherever you would like, Facebook. But again, keep it respectful. We can all have different opinions, but like, look at the facts, guys. Check those facts out, sis. Any research, you know, whatever, we like to hear what you guys have to say, so hope you enjoyed this. And head on over to visit us at Instagram. At morbidpodcast.
Starting point is 01:35:54 Hit us up on Twitter, L. At A morbidpodcast. Send us a nice Gmail. Do it, morbidpodcast.gmail.com. Enjoy the fucking Facebook group. morbid.colon.a.tru.crime podcast.facebook.group. We hope you Facebook group. More bid, colon, a true crime podcast Facebook group. We hope you keep listening, and we hope you keep it weird. But that's where their name is, Vicki,
Starting point is 01:36:11 and you live in a trailer where you start to have set up all the books to make people feel comfortable, even though you don't even read those books, and you say that you drove out there, but you really didn't drive out there. And then you turn into this police officer guy who's feeding this poor, innocent child, all these, and wrong things.
Starting point is 01:36:23 Don't keep that word. So wrong. Bye. Bye. Hey, Prime Members! You can listen to Morvid, Early, and Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen Addfree with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey.

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