Damien Echols was freed from death row and two code­fen­dants were freed from prison in Arkansas on August 19 after almost two decades of main­tain­ing their inno­cence for the mur­der of three chil­dren in 1993. Echols, along with Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, were grant­ed an oppor­tu­ni­ty to enter a spe­cial plea in which they con­tin­ued to assert their inno­cence but acknowl­edged that the state could like­ly con­vict them again in a retri­al. DNA evi­dence that emerged after their tri­al did not match them to the scene of the crime. The defen­dants, who came to be known as the West Memphis Three (pic­tured) were con­vict­ed of the 1993 mur­ders of three 8‑year old Cub Scouts. Misskelley is bor­der­line ​“men­tal­ly retard­ed,” and con­fessed to the crimes after a near­ly 12-hour inter­ro­ga­tion. Misskelley impli­cat­ed Echols and Baldwin, though por­tions of his con­fes­sion did not match details of the case. Echols was sen­tenced to death, and Baldwin and Misskelley were giv­en life sen­tences. All three were cred­it­ed with time served and released. 

The dis­turb­ing nature of the mur­ders led inves­ti­ga­tors to believe that it was relat­ed to a satan­ic rit­u­al. Investigators sub­se­quent­ly focused their atten­tion on Damien Echols who was at the time a trou­bled teenag­er who prac­ticed Wicca. Learn more about the case here.

(J. Nuss, ​“Arkansas judge accepts plea deal, frees Memphis 3,” The Associated Press, August 19, 2011; C. Robertson, ​“Deal May Free ​‘West Memphis Three’,” The New York Times, August 19, 2011). See Released from Death Row (Partial Innocence).

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