Editing West Memphis Three (section)

==Investigation==
===Evidence and interviews===
Police officers James Sudbury and Steve Jones felt that the crime had "cult" overtones, and that Damien Echols might be a suspect because he had an interest in occultism, and Jones felt Echols was capable of murdering children.<ref name=Newton1/> The police interviewed Echols on May 7, two days after the bodies were discovered.<ref name=Newton1/> During a [[polygraph]] examination, he denied any involvement. The polygraph examiner claimed that Echols' chart indicated deception.<ref name="Leveritt03" /> On May 9, during a formal interview by Detective Bryn Ridge, Echols mentioned that one of the victims had wounds to the genitals; law enforcement viewed this knowledge as incriminating.<ref name=Newton1/>

No physical evidence connected Echols, Baldwin or Misskelley to the crime.{{refn|name=lpe|<ref name=BlHe14>{{cite journal |last1=Blume |first1=John H. |last2=Helm |first2=Rebecca K. |title=The Unexonerated: Factually Innocent Defendants Who Plead Guilty|date=November 2014|journal=[[Cornell Law Review]] |location=Ithaca|publisher=[[Cornell Law School]]|volume=100 |issue=1 |pages=157–192 |url=https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/clr/vol100/iss1/}}</ref><ref name=EncB>{{cite web |title=West Memphis Three |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/West-Memphis-Three |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|location=Chicago|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]]}}</ref><ref name=Sc13>{{cite journal |last1=Schneider |first1=Sydney |title=When Innocent Defendants Falsely Confess: Analyzing the Ramifications of Entering Alford Pleas in the Context of the Burgeoning Innocence Movement |journal=[[Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology]]|publisher=[[Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law]] |date=2013 |volume=103 |issue=1 |pages=279–308|location=Chicago |url=https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol103/iss1/6/}}</ref><ref name=De07>{{cite news |last1=Dewan |first1=Shaila |title=Defense Offers New Evidence in a Murder Case That Shocked Arkansas |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/us/30satanic.html |work=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 30, 2007}}</ref><ref name=Mo18>{{cite news |last1=Monroe |first1=Rachel |title=Damien Echols and the Secrets of Magick |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/style/damien-echols.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 26, 2018}}</ref><ref name=Du18>{{cite news |last1=Dunne |first1=Carey |title=Magick 'Saved My Life': the Former Death Row Inmate Turned Warlock |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/oct/27/damien-echols-high-magick-interview-inmate-warlock |work=The Guardian |location=London|date=October 27, 2018}}</ref>}}

After a month had passed with little progress in the case, police continued to focus their investigation upon Echols, interrogating him more frequently than any other person. Nonetheless, they claimed he was not regarded as a direct suspect but a source of information.<ref name="Leveritt03" />

On June 3, the police interrogated Jessie Misskelley Jr. Despite his reported [[Intelligence quotient|IQ]] of 72 (categorizing him as [[borderline intellectual functioning]]) and his status as a [[minor (law)|minor]], Misskelley was questioned alone; his parents were not present during the interrogation.<ref name="CB" /><ref name="Leveritt03" /> Misskelley's father gave permission for Misskelley to go with police but did not explicitly give permission for his son to be questioned or interrogated.<ref name="Leveritt03" /> Misskelley was questioned for roughly 12 hours. Only two segments, totaling 46 minutes, were recorded.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A4387647 |title=collective&nbsp;– paradise lost, revelations dvd |publisher=BBC |date=July 10, 2005 |access-date=August 19, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080321133722/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A4387647 |archive-date=March 21, 2008  }}</ref> Misskelley quickly recanted his confession, citing intimidation, coercion, fatigue, and veiled threats from police.<ref name="CB" /><ref name="Leveritt03" /> Misskelley specifically said he was "scared of the police" during this confession.<ref>Transcript, MissKelley, Jr. Confession</ref>

Though he was informed of his [[Miranda warning|Miranda]] rights, Misskelley later claimed he did not fully understand them.<ref name="Leveritt03" /> In 1996, the [[Arkansas Supreme Court]] ruled that Misskelley's confession was voluntary and that he did, in fact, understand the Miranda warning and its consequences.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite web |url=http://opinions.aoc.arkansas.gov/weblink8/0/doc/167688/Page1.aspx |title=cr94-848 |publisher=Arkansas Judiciary |access-date=January 14, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829222658/http://opinions.aoc.arkansas.gov/weblink8/0/doc/167688/Page1.aspx |archive-date=August 29, 2016  }}</ref> Portions of Misskelley's statements to the police were leaked to the press and reported on the front page of the Memphis ''[[The Commercial Appeal|Commercial Appeal]]'' before any of the trials began.<ref name="Leveritt03"/>

Shortly after Misskelley's first confession, police arrested Echols and his close friend Baldwin. Eight months after his original confession, on February 17, 1994, Misskelley made another statement to police. His lawyer, Dan Stidham, remained in the room and continually advised Misskelley not to say anything. Misskelley ignored this advice and went on to detail how the boys were abused and murdered. Stidham, who was later elected to a municipal judgeship, has written a detailed critique of what he asserts are major police errors and misconceptions during their investigation. Stidham made similar comments during a radio show interview in May 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCwguAueFI0 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/mCwguAueFI0| archive-date=December 11, 2021 | url-status=live|title=WM3 Interview With Dan Stidham, Part 1 of 11 |date=May 15, 2010 |access-date=March 10, 2018 |via=YouTube |publisher=Crime Scene Detectives }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The physical evidence presented at the trial of Echols and Baldwin consisted of two green threads found at the crime scene that a state witness claimed are microscopically similar to a green child's T-shirt found in Echols's sister's closet, and one red rayon fiber that state witnesses said is similar to a women's robe found in Baldwin's home. Under further questioning, the state witness conceded that many fibers are microscopically similar to each other and that the discovery proved nothing.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sullivan|first1=Bartholomew|title=Jury finds Echols, Baldwin guilty of capital murder in killing 3 boys |work=The Commercial Appeal |publisher=Scripps Howard|location=Memphis, Tennessee|date=March 19, 1994}}</ref><ref name=LiAcc>{{cite web |last1=Linder |first1=Douglas O.|author-link=Doug Linder|title=The West Memphis Three Trials: An Account |url=https://famous-trials.com/westmemphis/2287-home |website=Famous Trials |publisher=[[University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law|UKMC School of Law]], [[University of Missouri–Kansas City]]}}</ref>

===Vicki Hutcheson===
Vicki Hutcheson, a new resident of West Memphis, would play an important role in the investigation, though she would later recant her testimony, claiming her statements were fabricated due in part to coercion from police.<ref name="Leveritt03"/><ref name=autogenerated3>{{cite web|url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/memphis/index_1.html|author=Steel, Fiona|title=The West Memphis 3|date=March 17, 2006|publisher=Crimelibrary.com|access-date=August 19, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314174108/http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/memphis/index_1.html|archive-date=March 14, 2014}}</ref>

On May 6, 1993 (before the victims were found later the same day), Hutcheson took a [[polygraph]] exam by Detective Don Bray at the Marion Police Department, to determine whether or not she had stolen money from her West Memphis employer. Hutcheson's young son, Aaron, was also present, and proved such a distraction that Bray was unable to administer the polygraph. Aaron, a playmate of the murdered boys', mentioned to Bray that the boys had been killed at "the playhouse." When the bodies proved to have been discovered near where Aaron indicated, Bray asked Aaron for further details, and Aaron claimed that he had witnessed the murders committed by [[Satanism|Satanists]] who spoke [[Spanish language|Spanish]]. Aaron's further statements were wildly inconsistent, and he was unable to identify Baldwin, Echols, or Misskelley from photo line-ups, and there was no "playhouse" at the location Aaron indicated. A police officer leaked portions of Aaron's statements to the press contributing to the growing belief that the murders were part of a Satanic rite.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

On or about June 1, 1993, Hutcheson agreed to police suggestions to place hidden microphones in her home during an encounter with Echols. Misskelley agreed to introduce Hutcheson to Echols. During their conversation, Hutcheson reported that Echols made no incriminating statements. Police said the recording was "inaudible", but Hutcheson claimed the recording was audible. On June 2, 1993, Hutcheson told police that about two weeks after the murders were committed, she, Echols, and Misskelley attended a [[Wicca]]n meeting in [[Turrell, Arkansas]]. Hutcheson claimed that, at the Wiccan meeting, a drunken Echols openly bragged about killing the three boys. Misskelley was first questioned on June 3, 1993, a day after Hutcheson's purported confession. Hutcheson was unable to recall the Wiccan meeting location and did not name any other participants in the purported meeting. Hutcheson was never charged with theft. She claimed she had implicated Echols and Misskelley to avoid facing criminal charges, and to obtain a reward for the discovery of the murderers.<ref name="CB"/>