‘West Memphis Three’ Killers Set Free from Prison – ‘Paradise Lost’ Concludes

The individuals convicted of murder, known as “West Memphis Three” are being released from prison after close to 20 years in prison. The West Memphis 3, subject of the ‘Paradise Lost’ series of documentaries, were convicted for the murder of three 8-year old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993.

The three children had been reported missing and shortly after, their mutilated bodies were found in a ditch.

The conviction has not been overturned, but rather the defense attorneys for the three convicted killers have managed to get them set free because the DNA evidence was not able to directly link them to the murders.

The men admit that there was enough evidence to convict them, but they maintain their innocence. No DNA from any of the three was found at the crime scene, while evidence pointed to another person at the scene. There was also speculation that the mutilation was not part of a satanic ritual, as was first reported, but instead the result of animals.

The three men, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr., were convicted in 1993 and while Echols was sentenced to death, Baldwin and Misskelley were serving life sentences.

The story has been the focus of several documentaries on HBO, and the source for a book called “Devil’s Knot,” by journalist Mara Leveritt. The HBO documentaries, “Paradise Lost” in 1996 and a 2000 sequel “Paradise Lost 2: Revelations,” drew a lot of attention to the case and inspired many including Johnny Depp, Eddie Vedder, and Henry Rollins to lead a charge to have the case re-opened.

A third HBO film by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, who were in court when the three men were released, “Paradise Lost: Purgatory” is scheduled to be released in Jan 2012.