Since moving to Cherokee Village in 1994, the couple had had frequent run-ins with police. They werent connected in any direct way, Bakken says. He said, J.B., youre going home, man, youre going home.. Speaking by phone last month, he comes across, in many ways, like the person Berlinger says he encountered in prison in 1994: polite, deferential, soft-spoken. So advocacy and diligence become tantamount, because most people in a similar situation to the one he was in dont have the benefit of filmmakers and musicians fighting on their behalf. Hobbs then reportedly pointed the gun at some of the other relatives, threatening that he would shoot them too. Byers asked Metz to come over and see if she had a pulse. He was just taking in the enormity of the defining event of his life to that point, which had been committed to film and was now playing for him inside the cavernous, auditorium-style visitation room. Baldwins attorneys even avoided putting him on the witness stand or mounting much of a defense, believing the burden was on the state. Christopher Byers was born to Melissa DeFir and Ricky Murray. When we were driving in the car a lot, wed play a lot of the Metallica album Master of Puppets, says Alex Sinofsky, who became a doctor instead of getting behind the camera himself. By getting to the story quickly, the directors were able to document the post-arrest period and two trials that followed in painstaking detail. As for ordering Byers out of the district, Lambert said, such an arrangement can be legal if done with the agreement of the party being banished. Carter recalled, Mark had a knife after them He wanted them to give him money to buy dope with., When Carter cornered Byers in a closet, ordered him to throw down the knife, and took him in custody, he said Byers vowed, Ill cut your throat.. Baldwin remembers the dire circumstances laid out during the call. Melissa was the biological mother of Chris Byers and Ryan Clark. Died on 29 Mar 1996. I agree. Hes since parlayed the popularity of the show into a booming podcast network and documentary deal with Oxygen. In May of that year, police discovered the bodies of Michael Moore, Stevie Branch, and Christopher Byers in the Robin Hood Hills, a small wooded area near the I-40/I-55 exchange. Her body was sent for autopsy to the office of the medical examiner at the Arkansas Crime Laboratory in Little Rock. You still dont really know what happened to these kids. <>/Metadata 79 0 R/ViewerPreferences 80 0 R>> According to the negotiated plea, Byers was to pay $20,000 to the woman whose house was burglarized, make restitution to the father of the boy who was injured in the fight, and pay a $250 fine. A quarter-century later, what does the documentary tell us about citizen activism, the criminal justice system, and the Satanic Panic of the 1980s and 90s? And that makes him hopeful that exoneration is on the horizon. I never foresaw that they would in turn save us.. The Byerses, who did not respond to requests for an interview, have also sought a restraining order against the Kingsburys. Witt arrived at the hospital about 35 minutes later. Berlinger also concedes Revelations had some ethical problems, chiefly because it raised the possibility that Mark Byers committed the killings. The problem is we have sent this knife off and had it examined and it has the blood type of Christophers on it., Byers responded, Well, Gary, I dont have any idea how it could be on there.. The arrests of the two stepfathers of the murdered children at West Memphis tend to underscore questions raised months ago by attorneys for defendants in the triple slaying case particularly about the adequacy of the investigation that led to the arrests of three local teenagers, none of whom had a record of prior violence. In fact, for the better part of 1993, it was nearly impossible to find anyone who believed they were innocent. and talk normal, but then all of a sudden, he would get arrogant again, advising me that he was the father and he was going to take the kids. Sharp County Sheriff T.J. "Sonny" Powell wouldn't say whether the. Police said they observed injuries to Pamela Hobbs face and to the back of her head. They couldnt have been cooler, recalls Berlinger, who would go on to direct the 2004 documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster alongside Bruce Sinofsky. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, dark shoes, and a . "She advised he told her a cigarette made a excellent fuse, that you could light it, and due to slow burning, it would give you time to get away. And no one else should be convicted without evidence, either.. She did not respond. Mark and Melissa Byers, the parents of victim Christopher Byers, embrace outside the courtroom in 1994 HBO. In addition, they seized six types of medication that had been prescribed for Melissa Byers. Donna and John Kingsbury, who live next-door to the house where the Byerses moved, have sought a restraining order against their new neighbors, alleging that Mark Byers whipped their 5-year-old son with the metal end of a swatter, that shots have been fired at their house, and that Melissa Byers threatened them, saying, Wel1 put you in a hole you cant get out of, and I lost my Christopher. When Witt received the report, it offered no indication that Byers death might be connected to illegal drug activity. endobj [19], The following day, Waser visited Byers' home and was informed of Melissa's recurring drug habit. "[3], On March 29th, 1996, at 3:30pm, Ryan and his girlfriend, Amanda, were dropped off from school at the Byers' residence. Witt arrived at the hospital about 35 minutes later. Melissa's return to the home coincided with her son's. Mojo, however, was considerably more fired up, believing the same thing many of Paradise Losts viewers did: that the movie showed an incredible miscarriage of justice, one that would surely be fixed. How do you measure the legacy of Paradise Lost, which is one of the best reviewed documentaries of all time and considered among the most influential, but whose mission is only partly complete? Metz advised he checked for a pulse, lifted her eyelids, and looked at her eyes. He cautions, My client was convicted without evidence. Melissa Byers body was there, wrapped in carpeting, plastic, sheets and clothing, court records said. Like Misskelley in the first trial, Baldwin received a life sentence. When Byers informed him of Melissa's condition, Metz asked why he had not called an ambulance. I think this must be this Byers guy, because near the end, he got all teary and was hollering, "How would you like to know that your son was [attempted detailed recitation of various sexual mutilations]." Defense lawyers tried to suggest that family violence may have played a role in the killings, rather than satanic blood-thirst, as was alleged. Asked if the discovery of an illegal drug in the body of a possible homicide victim was not a finding worth listing, Clark affirmed that, There may be room for some further investigation as to how she obtained the drug. As for the needle marks in the bodys arms, feet, and groin, Clark said, In the pathologists opinion, all those wounds were probably done at the hospital.. The consequences of that online campaign were ruinous: The person they targeted, a Mexican metal musician who worked under the name Morbid, was harassed into hiding. When told about the finding of blood, Byers changed his statement, claiming that he had used the knife to cut deer meat to make jerky. how did melissa byers die. Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! Founded 1974, the Arkansas Times is a lively, opinionated source for news, politics & culture in Arkansas. She was described as "a friend of the family". Police admit that the case against the teen-agers was circumstantial, based almost entirely upon a confession from Misskelley, a boy who is borderline mentally retarded. A benefit album was released in 2000, and the phrase made it into a Dawsons Creek episode when Pacey shouted Free the West Memphis Three over an airport intercom. Our monthly magazine is free at over 500 locations in Central Arkansas. When police questioned Byers about the knife, in January of this year, nine months after the murders, they did not tell him at first that t.he blood had been discovered. Being sweet, intelligent and loyal are not good traits to have in the Stranger Things universe. His parents divorced when he was four years old & shortly afterward his mother married John Mark Byers, who adopted the boy. A month later, authorities arrested Baldwin, Echols, and Misskelleythree teenagers who lived in trailer parks near West Memphis and had previous run-ins with the law, though nothing rising to the level of murder. Police also noted what appeared to be attempts to clean the dining room, living room, kitchen and bathroom. They asked, instead, if he had ever used the knife. None of the three believed that, but Echolss healthand the possibility that even if he survived, he would still be on death row should the fight for retrials failmade it an imperative. (Intriguingly, a second crime occurred two weeks ago at the home of Brenda Atwood, the woman whose house the Byerses are charged with burglarizing. She died on March 29, 1996 in Arkansas, USA. They even hired experts to examine the case, including a forensic criminal profiler who discovered what appeared to be bite marks on one of the victims that didnt match any of the convicted. Melissa Byers died at age 35 years old on July 2, 2010. Not just because John Mark Byers is so creepy (though he IS), but becausethe Byers boy was the only one who was sexually mutilated, AND Mr. Byerswas the one who reported the boys missing. Additionally, by selecting varieties that are well-suited for your climate and soil type, you can increase the chances of success with each planting season. In September, Mark and Melissa Byers, who live not far from the house, were charged with the residential burglary and theft. They formed the organization Proclaim Justice, a nonprofit that reinvestigates crimes with the hopes of freeing innocent people. )When NO evidence is held up against SOME evidence, most investigations would follow the trail of SOME evidence.Remember, too that the primary evidence that most of us armchair jurors have convicted OJ on is blood evidence (there's also a family connection, which is very common, and a history of domestic abuse).The three teens, however, were ONLY "creepy. <> "[8], Fred Waser from the Sharp County Sheriff's Department was filling his patrol vehicle with fuel when he heard over the radio that an ambulance has been dispatched in his immediate area. >According to an article by Associated Press and published in the>Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Oct 4: "The mother of a boy killed in West>Memphis' 1993 triple murders had drugs in her system when she died, but, >not enough to cause her death, a county sheriff says. Melissa DeFir Byers was born on January 15, 1956. He said, "No. People would drive by and yell at us, Theyre going to burn in hell, Sauls says. how did melissa byers die 'We are still working hard to bring you fresh content and good vibes, even in these trying times!' . I'd be interested in knowing whether or not he also died under suspicious circumstances. While Berlinger says that the work of people like Bakken and Sauls was more impressive than that of any celebrity, its undeniable that the famous and influential brought a megaphone and funding mechanism to this case that most never get. how did melissa byers dietooting and mitcham fc former players. Okay. At the time of her youngest son's murder in May of 1993, Melissa was married to John Mark Byers. In August 2011, Jason Baldwin was pulled from his prison cell under confusing circumstances once again. [28] The coroner noted that rigor was not present, but checked "yes" on lividity. > > NightShade HDZ@prodigy.com>. The killings came at the peak of the so-called Satanic Panic, a time of heightened worries about ritualistic abuse. Melissa Byers, Self: Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. More than 2,500 people attended and the story dominated the local press for days. He got a wet rag and wiped her face before feeling for a pulse. )+B]{uApptJ'\`\R@=]%m=VWrZ$K" At this point, Ryan said he couldn't "take it anymore" and so he and Amanda left, drove around, got gas, and bought a soda. That came partially through the exposure they got through this film., But perhaps the best measure of Paradise Losts impact is the work being done by Baldwin today. The whole point of the web sleuths presented in the Cecil Hotel is that you cannot assume something is truthful just because circumstantially it seems interesting. Did Byers do it? But that was all, and the amounts of neither of those substances exceeded therapeutic levels. Melissa Gilbert recently became the latest celebrity to fall prey to an online death hoax. According to her family tree, she married Kelly T. Hale on April 30, 1999 in Texas. Melissa is the estate planning paralegal at Legacy Law Center. Stranger Things: Halloween Sounds From the Upside Down, Stranger Things: Worlds Turned Upside Down, Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town, Back broken after being telekinetically thrown against a wall, Accidentally killed during experimentation, Injuries sustained after their van was telekinetically flipped. (Chief Medical Examiner). Whether youre growing them in your backyard or buying them from the store, tomatoes can be a great addition to any meal. Hopefully Will won't be a casualty in Season 5, but this data has been accurate in the past. He says his dad and Berlinger werent seeking notorietydocumentaries certainly werent a means to get rich or famous in those days. At one point, Melissa looked into the camera declaring her hatred for the three accused teen-agers and the mothers that bore them. In another scene, John Mark and the father of one of the other murdered boys appeared shooting pumpkins which they pretended were the defendants. Hobbs refused to talk to the relatives, but instead left the house and went to a truck outside, from which, unbeknown to those inside, he removed a .357 magnum pistol, which he put in his pocket. The neighbor quoted Melissa Byers as having screamed, You cant watch your family 24 hours, and you are going down.. I cannot but I believe he did in my mind. I could not smell any type of intoxicant on his breath, [but] he appeared to have been either on some type of medication or intoxicant [by] the manner in which he was acting.. By the time the Byerses had been in Cherokee Village six months, police had been summoned to their residence at least eight times. > I'd be interested in knowing whether or not he also died under suspicious, > circumstances. West Memphis 3 murders Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. There have also been several high-profile incidents of laypeople reinvestigating decades-old cold cases in more rigorous, journalistic ways and helping bring them to a resolution. [26], On December 17th, 1997, a man identified as "Earls" gave a statement to Investigator Witt. [18], Efforts to locate Ryan Clark were unsuccessful that evening. Theres no smoking gun. A few minutes he would calm down. And there were some signs of deteriorating health, such as obesity, narrowing of some arteries, and a gallstone. The news was devastating beyond just word of his friends suffering. (Police questioned Byers several times during the investigation, but never considered him a suspect.) 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