Connor McGrane Mrs.

Chiolo West Memphis Three In May 1993, the bodies of three boys were found in the woods. The names of these boys were Steve ranch, Michael Moore and Christo!her yers. Their bodies were found to be brutally murdered and se"ually assaulted. #lmost immediately, $amien %chols was accused. This case has become very controversial over the last few years. Many !eo!le believe the three boys were wron&ly accused, and that the !olice mad a lot of mista'es. (ther believe the boys were &uilty. (n May 3rd, three bodies were found. The bodies were brutally murdered and dum!ed in a river in the woods. (ne of the bodies, was found to be se"ually mutilated, with the &enitals bein& cut off. The !olice first thou&ht they were ra!ed because of the dilation of the anus. )owever, this is a natural occurrence after death. It was found that ri&or mortis was !resent in all three bodies. The body of Chris yers, was mutilated the worst. )e was the one found with this &enitals cut off. Their writs were also tied to his an'les with shoelaces. Since *est Mem!his is a very small town, this was scary news to many !eo!le. $ays after the boys death, the !olice have found a sus!ect. )is name was $amien %chols. $amien %chols had lived a troubled life. )is !arents &ot divorced when he was youn&. )e was constantly movin& because of his fathers +ob. It was hard for him to ma'e any friends because of his movin& situation. In order to deal with his de!ression and an"iety, he turned to reli&ion. )e tried reli&ions such as uddhism, Islam, and even Catholicism. )e eventually turned to *icca ,!a&anism-. .a&anism is a reli&ion based on the worshi!in& of nature, not on the devil which

many !eo!le have sus!ected. $amien %chols was ori&inally Michael )utcheson. )e chan&ed his named to $amien after a !riest. .olice started to accuse $amien of murder, under fraud &rounds. /irst, they accused him of worshi!!in& the devil. $amien did not worshi! the devil. )e was a .a&an, who worshi!!ed nature. The !olice said that $amien was !art of a cult, who murdered the 3 boys for a reli&ious sacrifice. $amien also dressed in blac'. )e dressed in blac' to e"!ress his dee! sadness inside of his life. )e didn0t li'e that he always had to move, and that his mom &ot divorced twice.)e wore a blac' trench coat, re&ardless of the weather. The !olice used $amien fashion taste in order to accuse him for murder. )ow is that ri&ht1 So I could be arrested for a crime because of the clothes I li'e to wear1 2ust because $amien li'ed to wear blac' doesn0t mean is is !art of some human3sacrificin& cult. Many teena&ers li'e to wear blac', who are not murderin& cult members. They also said that he chan&ed his name after the movie 4(men5, where the demon boys name was $amien. Two other teena&ers were accused. 2ason aldwin and 2esse Miss'elley. 2esse confessed to the murders. )owever, he claims that he confessed because of !olice brutality. /irst, 2ason was not read his Miranda ri&hts. This should have called for the confession to be thrown out. $r.(fshe, an e"!ert at false confessions, said the confession wasn0t true. 2esse 'e!t chan&in& his story. /or e"am!le, 2esse initially said the murders ha!!ened between 9 am and 16 !m, however towards the end of the interro&ation he chan&ed it to between 7 and 8 !m. 2esse also said the boys were bound with brown ro!e, when they were actually bound with shoe laces. 2esse also re!orted that one boy was cho'ed with a stic' but the medical e"aminer did not find any evidence. )e also said the boys were murdered where the bodies were found but no blood was

found at the scene. The interro&atin& officers also used intimidation methods to try and &et 2esse to confess. $r.Griffis, a self3!roclaimed e"!ert on Cults, claimed the murders showed si&ns of a reli&ious ritual. /or e"am!le, he said they were carried out close to a !a&an holiday and that children were more li'ely to be sacrificed because they had a 9stron&er life force9. )e also said the number 3 has an im!ortant si&nificance to the !a&an reli&ion. $r.Griffis was found wron&. )e did not base his evidence on any facts. There is no !a&an holiday held on the first of may. #lso,no reli&ious sacrifices have been !reformed in the :nited States for a hundred years. The number 3 also has no si&nificance to the !a&an reli&ion. I believe these boys are innocent. *est Mem!his is a very small, southern town with ba!tist !eo!le. Many of these !eo!le aren;t well educated. They are also very reli&ious. This could be a reason why they would attac' $amien, sayin& he is a member of the occult. The !olice also had a lot of false evidence. <o one should be convicted of murder because of how they dress and that is deffinetly not evidence for murder. Many of the 9witnesses9 were found to be liars who wanted money. This case is very im!ortant to the forensic field. It is im!ortant because it shows what could ha!!en with false evidence and im!ro!er !olice !rocedures. Three boys have now had to s!end time in +ail, for somethin& they didn0t commit. .olice also i&nored other leads of a different murderer. /or e"am!le, a man with blood was hidin& in a resturaunt bathroom. )e could have very easily been the murderer. #nother man &ave a 'nife away to a film team. The 'nife was said to contain traces of blood that could have matched one of the victims. The !olice didn0t follow any of these leads because they were so fi"ed on convictin& $amien,2esse, and 2ason. These boys were innocent and this case shows what could ha!!en with false evidence and im!ro!er !olice !rocedures.