“I am absolutely, completely and totally positive that I saw Terry Hobbs hollering at Stevie, Michael and Christopher to get back down to the Hobbs’s house at approximately 6:30 p.m. If Terry Hobbs said he did not see Stevie Branch, Michael Moore or Christopher Byers on May 5, 1993, he is not telling the truth. I know for a fact that Terry Hobbs saw, was with and spoke to Stevie, Michael or Christopher on May 5, 1993.” www.westmemphis3.org
Nothing equivocal about Jamie Clark Ballard’s sworn statement that Terry Hobbs, stepfather of Stevie Branch, was the last person to have custody of the three children immediately before they disappeared the night of May 5, 1993. For 16 years, Jamie did not understand the significance of her observation and that of her sister and mother who lived only three doors down from the Hobbs’s home. Why should she? She assumed that the West Memphis police had interviewed the parents of the three children after their murders. And that Terry Hobbs had informed the police that he was with the children at 6:30 p.m. that evening. But that was not the fact. Terry Hobbs was never interviewed by the police about the children’s disappearance and murder. He also never told his wife Pam, mother of Stevie Branch, until 8:30 p.m. that the children had disappeared, although she expected her son to be home by 5:30 pm.
Most importantly, and why this new evidence is crucial to the innocence of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Terry Hobbs has stated under oath that he “never saw the boys” the day they died. He said this under oath in a recent deposition. He said as much in 2007 to the West Memphis police who interviewed him after his DNA was found to be at the crime scene. He has stated this on the record for 16 years, in other venues, that he did not see the boys that day. Former NYPD homicide detective Jay Salpeter interviewed the three women after they contacted the defense team by calling our new evidence tip line in West Memphis. He is convinced there are more people in the area who have important information about these murders. The confidential tip line is 501-256-1775.
The three witnesses have come forward for no other reason than they now realize that what they saw that evening is very important. They have not come forward because there is a reward for new evidence;none is offered. They have not come forward for their moment in the sun; they are reluctant to do any interviews. They did not come forward for 16 years because they believed the police had fully investigated these murders and, of course, knew this information. The police did not interview Hobbs or effectively investigate the murders. The three eyewitnesses came forward because they believed that they had crucial information that the Arkansas Supreme Court, currently reviewing Damien Echols’s appeal for a new trial, must know.
Just to review some of the new evidence that any reasonable justice should consider in granting new trials to Damien, Jason and Jessie:
– DNA from Terry Hobbs and his friend David Jacoby were the only human DNA found at the crime scene in Robinhood Hills.
— Terry Hobbs’s hair was found entwined in the knot used to bind one of the boys, not even his own son.
— No DNA belonging to Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley was found at the crime scene – or anywhere.
— The country’s leading forensic pathologists have testified that the wounds described by the prosecution as the cause of death were not from a “serrated knife” but were post mortem animal bites, thus completely discrediting the prosecution’s entire case.
— A prominent former prosecutor and local attorney has come forward in a sworn affidavit submitted to the Arkansas Supreme Court, stating that the jury foreman in Damien and Jason’s trial, Kent Arnold, called him repeatedly during the trial and informed him that he was going to introduce Jessie Misskelley’s confession into deliberations, although the so-called confession was not allowed into evidence as Jessie had recanted and refused to testify against Damien and Jason. Arnold also informed the attorney that the prosecution was going poorly and it was up to him to gain a conviction. This structural defect in the case is enough to have the court grant a new trial.
— By any standard, Jessie Misskelley’s admissions were false and coerced. Jessie was a disabled teenager and easily influenced by the police. Among the many discrepancies in his statements about the crime scene, his alleged admission that he saw the victims at 9:00 a.m. on May 5, 1993, was impossible as all three boys, as well as Jason Baldwin, were in school all day. The time of death was between 10 and 18 hours later.
Lonnie Soury