The West Memphis Three Trials: 1994

The trial of Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin began on February 22, 1994, also before Judge Burnett. The prosecution again relied heavily on Jessie Misskelley's confession, but they also went to considerable lengths to try to establish that the murders were part of an occult sacrificial ritual led by Echols. Books had been found at his home in which spells had been written, and pentagrams and upside down crosses had been drawn. Books had also been found indicating an interest in neopagan religions and the history of witchcraft. Attention was drawn to his interest in heavy metal rock music and his liking of black T-shirts with occult designs. Dr. Dale Griffis testified for the prosecution as an expert witness on occult killings. He presented 11 aspects of the murders which he felt indicated that the killings were Satanic in nature. These aspects included such things as the facts that three eight-year-old boys were killed and their bodies found in water, and water and the numbers three and eight have mystic significance in Satanic cults.

A mother and daughter testified to having seen Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin together in a car on the night of May 5, and to seeing Echols and his girlfriend later in the evening walking near a truck stop not far from where the bodies were found. A 12-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl testified that at a softball game they had overheard Damien Echols say, "I killed the three little boys and before I turn myself in I'm going to kill two more and I already have one of them picked out." Under cross-examination by Val Price, the public defender assigned by the court to represent Echols, the girls admitted that the game was very noisy, and they could not recall anything else they had overheard during it. A young addict, Michael Carson, who had met Baldwin when they were both being held in detention, testified that Baldwin had admitted to him that he had killed the boys. A hunting knife which could have been the murder weapon, was recovered from a lake behind Baldwin's home. Fibers similar to some found on the victims' clothing (which had been discovered near the bodies) had been located in Echols's home, but they were apparently from a widely used fabric. Other than this, no physical evidence was introduced that would link the three accused to the victims.

On April 18, both were found guilty of three counts of capital murder. The following day Echols was sentenced to death by lethal injection, and Baldwin, who was just 16 at the time of the murders, was sentenced to life in prison without parole.