The West Memphis Three

At a glance

Location Robin Hood Hills, West Memphis, Arkansas
Crime date May 5, 1993
Victims Steven Branch, Christopher Byers, Michael Moore — all age 8
Convictions 1994 — capital murder (Echols, Baldwin); first- & second-degree murder (Misskelley)
Sentences Echols: death · Baldwin: life without parole · Misskelley: life plus 40 years
Released August 19, 2011, under Alford pleas (time served + 10-year suspended sentences)
Record status The convictions remain in place under the 2011 pleas, in which each man maintained his innocence. Per the Arkansas Supreme Court's most recent opinion in this file (April 2024), litigation over advanced DNA testing continues in circuit court.

The victims

Steven Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore were eight years old, second-graders, and members of the same Cub Scout troop in West Memphis. They were last seen together on the afternoon of May 5, 1993, and were found the following day in the Robin Hood Hills woods. The court records linked from this file contain the forensic details of their deaths; this summary does not reproduce them.

Source: Echols & Baldwin v. State, Arkansas Supreme Court opinions (linked in Documents).

Walk the file — the timeline, page by page

• May 5, 1993Branch, Byers and Moore are last seen in their West Memphis neighborhood and are reported missing that evening. — Echols v. State, 2010 Ark. 417 [opinion]
• May 6, 1993The boys are found deceased in the Robin Hood Hills woods. — 2010 Ark. 417 [opinion]
• June 3, 1993Jessie Misskelley Jr., 17, is questioned by police — an interrogation reported to have lasted about 12 hours — and gives a recorded statement implicating himself, Damien Echols, 18, and Jason Baldwin, 16. All three are charged with the murders.
  Exhibit — The StatementThe June 3, 1993 recorded statement is part of the trial record. Because it named all three, Misskelley was tried separately — his statement could not be used in the others' trial. Full transcripts are in the public case archive (Documents, below).
  — 2010 Ark. 417; Equal Justice Initiative summary [EJI]
• February 1994Tried separately, Misskelley is convicted of one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment plus 40 years. — 2010 Ark. 417 [opinion]
• March 1994Echols and Baldwin are convicted of three counts of capital murder. Echols is sentenced to death; Baldwin to life imprisonment without parole. The prosecution's trial theory included claims of occult ritual. — 2010 Ark. 417; case overview [Wikipedia]
• 1996 – 1997The Arkansas Supreme Court affirms all three convictions on direct appeal (Misskelley v. State, 323 Ark. 449; Echols v. State, 326 Ark. 917). The U.S. Supreme Court declines to review Echols's case on May 27, 1997. — as recited in Echols v. State, 2024 Ark. 61 [opinion]
• 2004 – 2007Under agreed court orders, DNA testing is performed (December 2005 – September 2007). As later recited by the Arkansas Supreme Court: none of the three men was the source of any biological material tested. A hair recovered from the ligature used to bind Michael Moore was found to be consistent with Terry Hobbs, Steven Branch's stepfather; a hair recovered from a tree stump near where the bodies were found was consistent with David Jacoby, a friend of Hobbs. — 2024 Ark. 61 [opinion]
• April 14, 2008Echols files a motion for a new trial based on the DNA results. On September 10, 2008, the circuit court denies it without holding an evidentiary hearing. — 2024 Ark. 61 [opinion]
• November 4, 2010The Arkansas Supreme Court reverses, holding the circuit court applied the wrong legal standard, and orders an evidentiary hearing at which the DNA results are to be considered with all other evidence. — 2010 Ark. 417 [opinion]
• August 19, 2011Before the ordered hearing takes place, the State and the three men reach a negotiated resolution. Each enters an Alford plea — pleading guilty while maintaining his innocence — and is sentenced to time served (18 years, 78 days) plus a 10-year suspended sentence. Judge David Laser accepts the pleas, and all three are released the same day.
  Exhibit — The PleaAn Alford plea (from North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25) lets a defendant plead guilty while maintaining innocence, acknowledging the State has evidence it would present at trial. The pleas left the convictions in place; they were not exonerations.
  — 2024 Ark. 61 [opinion]; ABA Journal [article]
• 2021Echols sues the West Memphis Police Department under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act after learning that case evidence may have been lost or destroyed; a court orders the department to respond. The ligatures used to bind the victims are ultimately located at the department. — 2024 Ark. 61 [opinion]; Talk Business & Politics [article]
• 2022Echols petitions for advanced DNA testing of the ligatures using newer collection technology (the M-Vac system). Circuit Judge Tonya Alexander denies the petition, ruling that because Echols is no longer in state custody he cannot seek testing under Act 1780. — Talk Business & Politics, Apr. 18, 2024 [article]
• April 18, 2024The Arkansas Supreme Court reverses: the plain language of Act 1780 permits "a person convicted of a crime" to petition for DNA testing to demonstrate actual innocence, with no requirement of being in custody. The case returns to circuit court on the testing petition. — 2024 Ark. 61 [opinion]

People in the record

Evidence & records index

What the public record contains for this case, and where it lives:

• Trial transcripts — near-complete transcripts of both 1994 trials are in the public case archive (Documents, below).
• Police file documents — thousands of pages from the West Memphis Police Department file, released over the years, in the same archive.
• The Misskelley statement — the June 3, 1993 recorded statement is part of the trial record in the archive.
• DNA testing records — the 2004–2007 testing and its results are described in detail in the 2010 and 2024 Arkansas Supreme Court opinions.
• Autopsy & crime-scene records — contained in the archived police file. ⚠️ Graphic content: CrowdSleuth does not reproduce them.
• Appellate opinions — 1996 direct appeals; 2010 Ark. 417; 2024 Ark. 61 (linked below).

Documents