3 men in Arkansas are released, years after being convicted in the murders of 3 boys
Cripes.
One of the boys’ stepfather’s hair was found on a shoelace but he can claim that was there because they lived together. But combine that hair and the DNA found on a nearby stump belonging to the stepfather’s friend, well, that starts to smell. Anyone know why the friend’s DNA was tested and no charges brought?
What was the evidence against them?
Did you hear about this case? It looks like the defendants were railroaded.
Both documentaries kept pointing to John Mark Byers as a suspect because of his well established mental problems, bizarre behavior and an extensive history of legal and illegal drug use. And giving the HBO guys a bloody knife as a “gift” in the first film.
The producers of the documentaries were right for the wrong reasons. The 3 boys are likely innocent. But the documentaries focused on the wrong stepfather.
Meet Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of victim Stevie Branch...
Terry Hobbs was born in 1958 in Northern Arkansas, one of four children, son of Edith Raylean McLeod Hobbs and Joe Dean Hobbs, Sr. Hobbs, Sr. learned his trade as a butcher while in the military and went on to open thirty restaurants. He was also a minister in the Apostolic Pentecost Church, a fundamentalist group. Terry Hobbs claimed to have seen evil spirits cast out. His upbringing was strict, the family faith did not allow a television at home or participation in sports. Along with his brothers, he was expected to work in the slaughterhouse, butchering pigs and cattle. He completed the 10th grade at Cave City High.
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Terry and Pamela were having difficulties in their marriage prior to 1993. They had separated for a time. Shortly after the murders, the Hobbs retreated to Pam's family home in Blytheville, Arkansas. Two weeks after the murders, Terry left Pam to stay in Hardy, Arkansas, 120 miles from West Memphis. By doing this Terry avoided being brought in for questioning by the police.
From the beginning, Pamela's family accused him of the murders. According to Terry Hobbs, his brother-in-law, Jackie Hicks, Jr. had regularly threatened him for having killed Stevie. Their dispute came to a boil in November 1994 when Terry struck Pamela and Pamela called her family for help. Terry loaded his 357 Magnum with hollow point bullets. When Jackie Hicks, Jr. began fighting with Terry, Terry shot him in the gut. He survived for ten more years until he died from a clot released during a follow-up surgery. The Hicks blamed Hobbs for his death.
Terry Hobbs was arrested for drug possession in 2003. He was reported twice for abusing his daughter, Amanda. Pamela Hobbs took out a restraining order against him in 2005. They are divorced. Terry's name was removed from his stepson's tombstone.
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Hobbs vs. The Dixie Chicks
Like fellow country singer Cheryl Crow, Natalie Maines Pasdar, a member of the popular band, The Dixie Chicks, could lay claim to the verse, “I was born in the South / sometimes I have a big mouth / when I see something that I don't like.”
A vocal supporter of the West Memphis 3, during a rally in Little Rock, Pasdar reiterated some of the recent findings presented by the lawyers and reasons why Terry Hobbs should be considered a suspect. Months later, on November 25, 2008 Terry Hobbs, declaring he had been defamed and publicly accused of murder, filed suit against Pasdar. For Terry Hobbs, it was a disaster.
Allegations became sworn depositions and Terry Hobbs was required to defend his past behavior, his criminal record and his actions the night the children went missing. Under scrutiny, Hobbs stories became inconsistent and incoherent.
Close associates and several members of Pamela Hobbs family gave sworn depositions with devastating accusations.
Jo Lynn McAughey, Stevie's aunt, stated that Terry Hobbs repeated sexually molested his daughter, Amanda. She stated that he used cocaine, crystal meth and marijuana. She stated she was at the Hobbs house on May 6, 1993 and saw “Terry wash clothes, bed linens and curtains at an odd hour. [snip] ...he was not just washing the dirty laundry, but he was also taking clothes out of the dresser drawers and washing those, too.” She stated she found Stevie's prized pocketknife, one he always kept with him, among Terry Hobbs belongings. Pam declared she was surprised that the knife was not found on his body. Jo Lynn said that Terry Hobbs had told her that his experience as a butcher gave him the skill to make the cut on Chris Byers’ genitals. She stated she discovered Terry had a large cache of knives. In response, Terry Hobbs admitted to the drug use, gave contradictory stories about Stevie's knife, denied washing items on May 6th, denied discussing the murders with Jo Lynn and denied the molestation charges.
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This is just a very small sample of the information from this website that has followed the case closely...
http://www.jivepuppi.com/Terry_Hobbs.html
FWIW...after watching both documentaries at first, I was unswayed, primarily because, even though they made a good case the 3 boys might not be guilty, I never believed they made a credible case John Mark Byers was guilty. Crazy, yes. But too mentally damaged to follow through with a successful cover up.
I watched a show on ID channel about this case. There were people they had much more on than these boys.
I concluded they were probablt innocent and wrongly convicted.
Juries can sometimes get it wrong as is evidenced by the Casey Anthony jury.