On the West Memphis Three

I have needed several weeks to reflect upon the freeing of the West Memphis three. This case came to the public's attention in 1993 when three eight-year-old boys were brutally beaten (one sexually mutilated) and killed. The investigation and subsequent trial convicted three men of the murder--Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin. They served eighteen years in jail before their release in August under the Alford plea, allowing them to claim innocence while admitting that the prosecution had more than enough evidence to originally convict them.

I have to admit that when the murders occurred, I did not follow the case closely. I just knew that supposedly the young perpetrators were involved in a satanic ritual when the murders occurred. Since I also knew of other young people in my town, Siloam Springs, Arkansas, who were rumored also to be engaged in such practices, I believed this explanation for the murders to be reasonable. In subsequent years, many high-profile stars had begun to believe in the innocence of the West Memphis Three and worked tirelessly to free them.

As a grandmother of two grandsons, eight and six, I shutter to think of the pain that the relatives of these young innocents have undergone in the past eighteen years. Even they are divided regarding the innocence or the guilt of the three convicted. I know only that these young boys seemingly have died without justice--there is no justice if the West Memphis are truly guilty of the crime and no justice if no one else is convicted in the future of the crime. These boys--like Caylee Anthony--deserve to have their lives vindicated.