West Memphis Three case

E500018

The West Memphis Three case is a notorious 1993 criminal case in which three teenagers were controversially convicted—and later released—for the murders of three young boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, sparking widespread debate over wrongful convictions and satanic panic.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
West Memphis Three 2
West Memphis Three case canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf criminal case
murder case
wrongful conviction controversy
alsoKnownAs WM3 case
West Memphis Three murders
appeal multiple post-conviction appeals
associatedWith satanic panic
causeOfRelease Alford plea
charge murder
country United States
defendant Damien Echols
Jason Baldwin
Jessie Misskelley Jr.
evidence DNA testing conducted years after conviction
hasEffect advocacy for criminal justice reform
criticism of forensic evidence handling
criticism of police investigation
public debate over wrongful convictions
hasPart trial of Damien Echols
trial of Jason Baldwin
trial of Jessie Misskelley Jr.
influenced discussion of coerced confessions in juvenile interrogations
public perception of satanic ritual abuse allegations
investigatedBy West Memphis Police Department
jurisdiction Crittenden County, Arkansas
legalOutcome Alford plea agreement
conviction
legalStatus convictions not vacated
location West Memphis, Arkansas
mainSubject West Memphis Three
mediaCoverage Paradise Lost 2: Revelations
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
West of Memphis
notableFeature heavy reliance on a disputed confession by Jessie Misskelley Jr.
lack of physical evidence directly linking defendants to the crime
use of alleged occult and satanic themes in prosecution theory
numberOfVictims 3
perpetratorAccordingToConviction Damien Echols
Jason Baldwin
Jessie Misskelley Jr.
pointInTime 1993
releaseDate 2011-08-19
startDate 1993-05-05
timePeriod 1990s in Arkansas
victim Christopher Byers
Michael Moore
Stevie Branch

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

West Memphis, Arkansas subjectOf West Memphis Three case
West Memphis Three case mainSubject West Memphis Three
linked to: West Memphis Three case
Devil's Knot basedOn West Memphis Three case
Devil's Knot narrativeFocus West Memphis Three
linked to: West Memphis Three case