As the appeals processes stretched across several years and the buzz of the initial film faded, the directors began looking for ways to keep the story alive. Eventually, they began traveling to Arkansasabout 35 trips in total, always on their own dime, Bakken and Sauls sayto collect case documents, which they scanned and uploaded to the site, also transcribing the documents so that the text could be searchable. Theres no smoking gun. I think I introduced my dad to it because that was not his normal genre., Three Metallica songsOrion, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), and Call of Ktuluwould play throughout the documentary. Metz also said that Byers stated "that he did not kill her and that he loved her. Other charges against Mark and Melissa Byers, including those for the residential burglary, were still pending in Sharp County Circuit Court on March 29, 1996, when Melissa Byers mysteriously died. Hicks had gotten Hobbs down on the ground, when Hobbs reached into his pocket, pulled out the gun, and shot Hicks in the abdomen. Police from Cherokee Village, the neighboring town of Hardy and the Sharp County Sheriffs Office all have been called to investigate incidents involving Mark or Melissa Byers, or both. 1993 West Memphis homicides case discussion. Speaking by phone last month, he comes across, in many ways, like the person Berlinger says he encountered in prison in 1994: polite, deferential, soft-spoken. Filming the activists work seemed like the best place for Berlinger and Sinofsky to turn their attention; what better way to show the continued plight of the West Memphis Three than to show regular people dedicating their free time to fighting for them? No, he said, according to a transcript of that interview. Rose called police at Cherokee Village, read them the description, and, he said, they told me who I was looking for. As a result of the incident, the boy whom Byers had driven to the altercation and who had used Byers knife ended up being charged with second-degree battery, a Class-D felony. [30], Melissa was described as wearing "a pair of blood-tinged panties". Memphis' 1993 triple murders had drugs in her system when she died, but not enough to cause her death, a county sheriff says. WWE legend Melissa Coates has died at the age of 50 after undergoing a leg amputation last year to stop her arteries being blocked by blood clots, leaving her former colleagues from around the wrestling world to voice their shock. He declared he. He advised that when the EMTs got to the residence, Mark kept telling them, Theyve got to bring her back. Metz advised that Ryan kept mumbling something and he did not seem coherent. By staying on this subject for the next couple of decades, they gave these men a chance and really decades of freedom afterward. The assaults are but another twist in a tragic saga. (Byers) Hale had been residing in Mesquite, Dallas County, Texas 75149. The Byerses, who did not respond to requests for an interview, have also sought a restraining order against the Kingsburys. Waser described the subsequent events as follows: "After signing the request he apparently passed out and fell towards the counter. By subscribing or donating to the Arkansas Times, you'll not only have access to all of our articles, but you'll also be helping us hire more writers and expand our coverage. But as they did, Rose said, Byers told them to stand back. Byers asked Metz to come over to the house. It was nude and lying on the stretcher where she had died. And then there was the public pressure: In August 2010, Vedder and Maines headlined yet another benefit concert, this one in Little Rock. Ryan stated he knocked on the door to his parents' room and both answered him. Byers surfaced periodically in the extensive coverage of the case, once supplying a knife to makers of an HBO documentary that was found to have blood from his adopted son on it. The bruises on her arms and scalp were noted, but the medical examiners did not opine as to how they occurred. In an email to The Ringer, Rollins stressed that inaction was not an option., Myself and the many people I worked with did what we could to help bring attention to the case and generate much needed financial aid, he wrote. [13], Byers asked Waser to accompany him outside so he could have a cigarette. He said, "No. Support came from unlikely corners: a classroom of kids who held a cookie sale that raised $30, local bands in Chicago who held a benefit show and sent $150. Ha had been beaten badly enough that he lost consciousness and later had to be hospitalized. They saw this movie and they felt like, I have to do something.. Melissa DeFir Byers was born on January 15, 1956. (Associate Medical Examiner), Charles Kokes, M.D. At the time of her youngest son's murder in May of 1993, Melissa was married to John Mark Byers. That was more than the people deciding the case were able to hearthe presiding judge made the expert give most of his testimony without the jury in the courtroom because he questioned its relevance. As a reader of the Arkansas Times, you know were dedicated to bringing you tough, determined, and feisty journalism that holds the powerful accountable. That type of support made observers question the verdicts perhaps more so than any rock star who shouted Echolss name into a mic because of an HBO documentary. The medical examiner's office said Melissa Byers, 47, died as a result of multiple. Byers, 63, was once considered a person of interest in the 1993 killings of Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Steve Branch, all 8. The answer seems obvious. There were a few small bruises on the body, some or all of which may have occurred on the way to and at the hospital. He said that he and Melissa spent the afternoon in bed, beginning at 12pm. "Hydrocodone is a potent narcotic which is a dangerous drug even at therapeutic levels but repeated toxicological studies of blood and liver were negative. (At one point, Sauls says, it landed on Yahoos list of the top 100 websites.) She died on March 29, 1996 in Arkansas, USA. Not just because John Mark Byers is so creepy (though he IS), but becausethe Byers boy was the only one who was sexually mutilated, AND Mr. Byerswas the one who reported the boys missing. It was so emotionally taxing to watch and go through it again, he says. Seed saving is a great way to ensure the survival of your plants, and it's also an economical choice. Let me go a little bit further and say theres a problem with that. Then there's the mysterious circumstances of his wife's death. Bakken and Sauls say they tried to avoid offering theories about the case publicly, opting instead to try to work through official channels. Everybody Id come in contact with was hostile to the truth, Baldwin says. Join us in the fight for truth. The sheriffs is now investigating an explosion and subsequent fire that destroyed 1976 Dodge Travelmate motor home that was parked in Atwoods driveway.). Inevitably, the West Memphis Three case always comes up. Melissa is the estate planning paralegal at Legacy Law Center. A visual observation of Byers body revealed IV puncture marks on the top of her right and left foot, on the inside of her right wrist, and on the upper right thoracic area, Witt noted. When Rose reached the scene, he questioned the boys involved, none of whom, he said, hes had any trouble with before. While he did that, another state police investigator was questioning a woman who had contacted Cherokee Village police upon hearing that Melissa Byers had been taken to the hospital. Hydrocodone was detected in the urine, but not in the blood or the liver. According to Houston. At one point, Melissa looked into the camera declaring her hatred for the three accused teen-agers and the mothers that bore them. In another scene, John Mark and the father of one of the other murdered boys appeared shooting pumpkins which they pretended were the defendants. Police went to the home and talked to Benjamin Byers, who told police he didnt know where his wife was and and that hed last seen her going to work on Nov. 27. Except this was 1996, and home internet was still in its infancy. He was handed the phone. how did melissa byers diesigns he still loves his baby mama | (Despite Misskelleys statement, the coroners examination found no injuries on the victims consistent with sexual assault.) Melissa Byers died at age 35 years old on July 2, 2010. Like everyone else who was familiar with the case, they wanted to know who committed the crimes, but their main goal was advocacy, not using the opportunity to play investigators. When Witt received the report, it offered no indication that Byers death might be connected to illegal drug activity. [18], Efforts to locate Ryan Clark were unsuccessful that evening. Baldwin, the youngest member of the trio that had come to be known as the West Memphis Three, was serving a life sentence after being convicted on charges connected to the 1993 killings of three 8-year-old boys. (Its worth noting that despite the issues raised by Lindseys work, the first season of Up and Vanished renewed interest in the case, which ultimately led to arrests, albeit of people that Lindsey hadnt previously covered on the podcast.). She said that Byers and Mandy had been hiding drugs in the trunk of Byers' car. John Mark Byers asked Waser if Melissa was alive and he responded that the best way he could help would be to let the EMTs do their job. Byers drove into Hardy accompanied by a teen-aged boy. The sheer mountain moving amount of money it cost to prove the obvious innocence of Jessie, Jason, and Damien still staggers me. She died of undetermined causes on March 29, 1996. 3 0 obj He advised he went and got a towel and told Mark to keep doing CPR and also told Ryan to take his girlfriend home and get back there. I grabbed his arm and shoulder and guided his body to the floor. He was charged with a felony cocaine count and carrying a weapon. Buried in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. I cannot but I believe he did in my mind. Berlinger and Sinofsky began to take notice. Byers was eight years old, 4 ft. tall, weighed 52 lbs, and had light brown hair. This year, many gardeners are looking for new varieties of tomatoes to try out in their gardens. Misskelley, who reportedly had an IQ of 72, changed his story several times, and only a small part of his statements was recorded. endobj The trials were sensational from start to finish, partly for the gruesomeness of the crimes, and partly because the police case was predicated on the belief that the killings had been part of a Satanistic orgy. Rose said that when he told Byers there could be charges, Byers seemed incredulous. 4 0 obj The two reportedly fell asleep and Byers awoke to find Melissa unresponsive. A drug screen tested positive for hydromorphone (Dilaudid), but negative for alcohol). Either way, after an emotional Season 4, it looks like Will's character . We have never seen this, Bullying of referees leads to entire student section being thrown out of Iowa game, Burger King brings back fan-favorite sandwich but not for long. Our monthly magazine is free at over 500 locations in Central Arkansas. Getting that kind of creative validation was exciting, but we were also extremely frustrated that it didnt move from the entertainment page of the newspaper to the editorial page, Berlinger says. When police arrived, Hobbs was taken into custody and charged with assault on his wife and aggravated assault on Hicks, his brother-in-law. [31]Other needle puncture wounds were present in the groin area, on the wrists, and the feet. John Mark called to Ryan twice. Carter recalled, Mark had a knife after them He wanted them to give him money to buy dope with., When Carter cornered Byers in a closet, ordered him to throw down the knife, and took him in custody, he said Byers vowed, Ill cut your throat.. Powell was acquainted with Melissa Byers. Melissa A. Armchair detectives of today, I think a lot of them dabble in conspiracy theory, Berlinger says. Died on 29 Mar 1996. As part of the deal, they cannot file wrongful-conviction lawsuits, which both Berlinger and Baldwin say couldve cost the state tens of millions of dollars. He had, in fact, passed it, but it was after that that Misskelley gave his damning confession.z. It's enough to provide plenty of tomatoes to keep the whole neighborhood supplied! He knew that if he ever got out, hed want to do that in a more organized way. We made a promise early on that we would never pretend to be law enforcement or detectives, Sauls says. The level of corruption in the American justice system is glaring and sickening.. The puncture marks on the top of her right and left foot were not covered. > I'd be interested in knowing whether or not he also died under suspicious, > circumstances. "[25], Mandy concluded her statement by discussing how Byers told her that he burned down Brenda Atwood's trailer. The first and likely simplest gauge is continued interest in the case. Paradise Lost is a narration-free documentary filmed with a journalistic remove. Maybe you need to see what its like to lose a child.. But its closing moments point to how the filmmakers felt: that a horrific tragedy had just been compounded by a monumental miscarriage of justice. While police had focused on Echols and Baldwin in the intervening weeks because of their reputation, the arrests came largely because of a confession by Misskelley, which was leaked to the largest newspaper in the area, the Memphis Commercial Appeal, and ran under the banner headline Teen describes cult torture of boys. At a press conference shortly after the arrests, the lead investigator was asked how confident he felt about the case on a scale of 1-10. The 28+ Demodogs are seen falling after Eleven closes the gate. On August 19, 2011, all three accepted the deal and were immediately released from prison. The mother of one of the three boys murdered in West Memphis died, but investigators have yet to figure out how. They werent telling me I was lying, even if they may have been saying that in their minds. Could you elaborate on what happened to his stepfamily these past three years?Also, what exactly are the mysterious circumstances of his wife's death? Recent injuries included: "three 1-inch blue-gray contusions on her right upper arm; six blue-gray contusions, ranging from 1/2 to 2 inches, were present on the anterior aspect of the left upper arm; four, 1/4 to 1 inch blue-gray contusions were present on the superior and anterior left upper shoulder. Mike Houston of the Police Department said police who went to the house pieced together the following of what had transpired: Pamela Hobbs said that earlier in the day, her husband Terry had beaten her with his fists. (I also knew that Susan Smith killed her kids from her first interview pleading for the abductor to "bring back my baaaabies. No one disputes, however, that the boy with him then reached out the window with a can of Mountain Dew and poured it over the prone boys head, saying, This will wake him up., A highway department employee working nearby heard the altercation and ran over to intervene. Byers accepted those terms, but has not made the required payments. He advised her mouth was wide open, her eyes were closed, she was totally limp, and her arms were down by her side. That came partially through the exposure they got through this film., But perhaps the best measure of Paradise Losts impact is the work being done by Baldwin today. By getting to the story quickly, the directors were able to document the post-arrest period and two trials that followed in painstaking detail. Hobbs then reportedly pointed the gun at some of the other relatives, threatening that he would shoot them too. Byers asked Metz to come over and see if she had a pulse. He and John Mark Byers were informed that Melissa was deceased at 6:30pm. But they werent just voices in the growing choir calling for the West Memphis Threes releasethey were leading the movement. The murders shocked West Memphis, but weeks passed without an assailant or assailants being found. A benefit album was released in 2000, and the phrase made it into a Dawsons Creek episode when Pacey shouted Free the West Memphis Three over an airport intercom. That included Mojo, who came calling around 2 a.m. that day trying to coax him out of his cell. Mark Byers also faces charges as the result of an episode July 11 in Hardy. Essentially, it allows the accused to assert their innocence while pleading guilty, conceding that the prosecution has an overwhelming amount of evidence to procure a conviction. Byers also said that Ryan had spent the night at John Mark's brother-in-law's house. The problem facing Sheriff Powell was that no one at the hospital could figure out why. When it didnt, the praise heaped on Paradise Lost felt hollow. The idea of the average citizen becoming embroiled in a criminal investigation isnt far-fetched in 2021, decades removed from the launch of WM3.org. Ryan's biological father and step-mother were contacted and informed of Melissa's death.