In 2011, one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in American legal history was set right when Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley were released after eighteen years in prison. Award-winning journalist Mara Leveritt's The Devil's Knot remains the most comprehensive, insightful reporting ever done on the investigation, trials, and convictions of three teenage boys who became known as the West Memphis Three.
For weeks in 1993, after the murders of three eight-year-old boys, police in West Memphis, Arkansas seemed stymied. Then suddenly, detectives charged three teenagers--alleged members of a satanic cult--with the killings. Despite the witch-hunt atmosphere of the trials, and a case which included stunning investigative blunders, a confession riddled with errors, and an absence of physical evidence linking any of the accused to the crime, the teenagers were convicted. Jurors sentenced Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley to life in prison and Damien Echols, the accused ringleader, to death. The guilty verdicts were popular in their home state--even upheld on appeal--and all three remained in prison until their unprecedented release in August 2011.
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Detailing the investigation, trial, and eventual conviction of three young boys accused of a brutal crime, 'Devils Knot' shines a harsh and unflinching light on the criminal justice system. There are many articles you can read regarding this case, both for and against the boys, but this is the best and most comprehensive I've seen, whether you are well versed or completely new to the West Memphis Three. Leveritt doesn't preach the boys guilt or innocence, instead she takes you stage by stage through the whole investigation, the blunders and errors, and ultimately let's the evidence, or lack of, speak for itself. It is truly staggering, and maddening, to see how deeply bias can influence what should be a fair and just system. True Crime fans will love this, but really it's a must read for anyone. - Jessalyn (QBD)
Guest, 11/03/2017
Justice Still Awaits, But Now The World Knows The Truth
This was an important book for me. As an ardent supporter of the innocence of the West Memphis Three and someone who believes heartily in justice and fairness for any accused person I wanted to be more informed about what I was supporting.
I knew much of the information I had read in this book already, and that was not detrimental to my reading of it at all. On the contrary, it is a great service to the ongoing efforts of wm3.org, the innocence project and all of the attorneys and supporters involved that they have been able to make this much information public and known.
I did learn new things about the suspicions against John Mark Byers, but am still hovering on the side of the latest documentary, West of Memphis, that Terry Hobbs is the man to look at.
For a civilised (and perhaps I should use that term loosely) country like America to have this kind of blind hatred seeping into their justice systems is ghastly, outrageous and sly.
I really enjoyed the quality of Mara Leveritt's writing, it is concise, eloquent and to the point. She lists everything in perfect chronology and has created what is the most accurate collection of evidence to innocence in this case, more accurate even than that of the West Memphis Police Department and their bungled, one-sided and discriminating investigation.
I hope that eventually, Arkansas and its government will see the error of their ways and prosecute those responsible for the horrific handling of these crimes and bring them to justice, along with the real killer who has gotten away with abhorrent crimes in the killing of three innocent little boys. I hope that Jessie Misskelley gets to live the life of freedom he wants, I hope Damien gets his secondhand bookstore and gets to disappear and I hope, for Jason especially, that all three are exonerated and all evidence of this severe miscarriage of justice is wiped from history, so he can practice law.
Samantha, 09/02/2015
