On May 6, 1993, three eight year old boys were found savagely murdered in West Memphis Arkansas. The investigation lacks hard evidence and a suspect, and the police automatically turn their focus on Satanism. Unfortunately, three teenage boys became the prime suspects: Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley. Because they wore black and listened to hard rock music, they were outcasts. With nothing but circumstantial evidence mounted upon these teenage boys, the community lets a "Satanic Panic" outweigh the facts. All the while, there is more than just circumstantial evidence that points to one of the victims' stepfather, John Mark Byers. He had the means, motive, and opportunity to commit this heinous crime.
It is very …show more content…

After Byers was informed that the blood was human, he stated that he may have cut his thumb and that he used the knife to cut his toe nails (Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills). Inconsistencies in his story seemed to just go unnoticed instead of pushed into further investigation.
Byers had the opportunity to kill the boys on a couple of different occasions on the day that they went missing. The boys were last seen on the way to Robin Hood Hills at around six thirty that afternoon. Apparently, Christopher did not want to stay and endure his punishment that day for not staying at home. An hour at seven thirty later Mark Byers decides to search for Christopher when they come across a police officer whom they ask to help in the search. The hour in between the boys’ last sighting and the Byers’ search is unknown. Mark Byers’ actions, the actions of his wife, and their whereabouts are not known in this time. He could have used this time to find the boys, take them somewhere secluded, and murder them either intentionally or accidentally out of complete anger and rage and his wife who was reportedly on drugs at the time may have been an accomplice (Leveritt 298). The police officer that they stopped and asked for help told them to wait until eight o’clock to start the search. This would give him enough time to dump the bodies in the creek. It was also reported that he was actually in those woods, where the bodies would