Editing West Memphis Three (section)

==Family and law enforcement opinions==
The families of the three victims are divided in their opinions as to the guilt or innocence of the West Memphis Three. In 2000, the biological father of Christopher Byers, Rick Murray, expressed his doubts about the guilty verdicts on the West Memphis Three website.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rick Murray speaks out |work=Free the West Memphis Three |url=http://www.wm3.org/live/thevictims/letter.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703223027/http://www.wm3.org/live/thevictims/letter.php |archive-date=July 3, 2007 |date=May 2000 |last=Rick |first=Murray}}</ref> In 2007, Pamela Hobbs, the mother of victim Stevie Branch, joined those who have publicly questioned the verdicts, calling for a reopening of the verdicts and further investigation of the evidence.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Arkansas Times |last1=Leveritt |first1=Mara |last2=Brantley |first2=Max |title=New evidence in West Memphis murders |date=July 19, 2007 |url=http://www.arktimes.com/gyrobase/new-evidence-in-west-memphis-murders/Content?oid=868140&showFullText=true |access-date=January 24, 2012 |archive-date=August 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818105724/http://www.arktimes.com/gyrobase/new-evidence-in-west-memphis-murders/Content?oid=868140&showFullText=true |url-status=dead }}</ref> In late 2007, John Mark Byers—who was previously vehement in his belief that Echols, Misskelley, and Baldwin were guilty—also announced that he now believes that they are innocent.<ref>{{cite news |title=Father of Victim to Convicted Killer: "I'm Here for You" |last=Avila |first=Jim |date=November 1, 2007 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=3808760&page=1#.Tx82L4F9tBk |access-date=January 24, 2012 |work=ABC News |publisher=ABC News Internet Ventures}}</ref> "I had made the comment if it were ever proven the three were innocent, I'd be the first to lead the charge for their freedom," said Byers, and take "every opportunity that I have to voice that the West Memphis Three are innocent and the evidence and proof prove they're innocent."<ref name="coleman">Alex Coleman, "[http://www.wreg.com/wreg-mark-byers-story,0,2109569.story Victim's father wants West Memphis 3 set free] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927215023/http://www.wreg.com/wreg-mark-byers-story,0,2109569.story |date=September 27, 2011 }}", [[WREG]], February 26, 2010</ref> Byers has spoken to the media on behalf of the convicted, and has expressed his desire for justice for the families of both the victims and the three accused.<ref name="coleman" />

In 2010, district Judge Brian S. Miller ordered Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of victim Stevie Branch, to pay $17,590 to [[The Chicks]] (then known as the Dixie Chicks) singer [[Natalie Maines]] for legal costs stemming from a [[defamation]] lawsuit he filed against the band. Miller dismissed a suit Hobbs filed over Maines' remarks and writings implying that he was involved in killing his stepson. The judge said Hobbs had chosen to involve himself in public discussion over whether the convictions were just.<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dixie-chicks-natalie-maines-wins-west-memphis-three-defamation-suit/ Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines Wins "West Memphis Three" Defamation Suit], ''[[CNN]]'', April 19, 2010</ref>

[[John E. Douglas]], a former longtime FBI agent and current criminal profiler, said that the murders were more indicative of a single murderer intent on degrading and punishing the victims, than of a trio of "unsophisticated" teenagers.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/nov/07/profiler-convinced-innocence-west-memphis-three/?print=1 |date=November 7, 2010 |title=Professional profiler convinced of innocence of West Memphis Three |work=The Commercial Appeal |location=Memphis, TN |publisher=Scripps Newspaper Group—Online |last=Warren |first=Beth |access-date=January 24, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112094254/http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/nov/07/profiler-convinced-innocence-west-memphis-three/?print=1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 12, 2010 }}</ref> Douglas believed that the perpetrator had a violent history and was familiar with the victims and with local geography. Douglas served as FBI Unit Chief of the Investigative Support Unit of the [[National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime]] for 25 years. He stated in his report for Echols's legal team that there was no evidence the murders were linked to satanic rituals and that post-mortem animal predation could explain the alleged knife injuries. He said that the victims had died from a combination of blunt force trauma and drowning, in a crime which he believed was driven by personal cause.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.eldoradonews.com/news/2017/oct/13/mindhunter-former-fbi-unit-chief-recalls-high-prof/ |newspaper=El Dorado News-Times |title=Mindhunter: Former FBI unit chief recalls high-profile cases |date=October 11, 2017 |first=Brittany |last=Williams |access-date=March 10, 2018 }}</ref>