In addition to our son, his murderers also tortured and slaughtered two other children, Christopher Byers and Stevie Branch. These three precious victims were classmates and friends, and their loss was a tragedy felt throughout the entire community.
We are horrified to learn that a documentary that glorifies Michael’s killers, Paradise Lost III: Purgatory, is among 15 documentaries being considered for an Academy Award. Because of public pressure that exploded due to gross misrepresentations of fact in two previous documentaries, Michael’s killers were unjustly able to enter into a plea agreement, were released from prison, and now pose additional threats to society. This third documentary further insulted the families of these three boys and may lead to further injustice. We implore the Academy not to reward our child’s killers and the directors who have profited from one of the greatest frauds ever perpetrated under the guise of a “documentary film.”
We realize that documentaries have a point of view and advocate a position to some degree or another. As with the two before it, this film crossed the line into a cruel hoax that had real-life consequences larger than even those of us who still mourn our horrific losses. It is not art. This film is cynical and exploitative deception that compounds our pain needlessly and rewards those who inflicted it. It and the two films that preceded it are simply tasteless tabloid entertainment presented as social commentary.
We are private individuals. The directors, Bruce Sinofsky and Joe Berlinger, are aware of this because we refused to participate in their last two films. We appeared solely in the first film because the directors lied and told us their purpose would be to “protect children.” You can imagine our shock and disgust when the first film opened with gruesome and gratuitous images of the crime scene and remained exploitative and salacious until the credits rolled. It did nothing to promote child welfare. It did everything to support child killers and to benefit monetarily from a ghastly crime.
We were hardly the only people Sinofsky and Berlinger misled or manipulated.
Consider what happened to John Mark Byers. He was Christopher Byers’ adoptive father. Confrontations between Mr. Byers and Echols’ supporters at hearings were staged. Of course, Berlinger and Sinofsky were there to film these episodes. Berlinger and Sinofsky would transport Mr. Byers to the hearings and wire him for sound beforehand. Furthermore, Berlinger and Sinofsky maneuvered Mr. Byers and Echols’ supporters in order to film the anticipated confrontations. Later, after the cameras were packed away, Mr. Byers acted like a different person. Instead of being belligerent, he was affable. When asked about his change in demeanor, Mr. Byers stated that he was supposed to act that way when the cameras were present. Mr. Byers was quoted as saying he received $500 per hour for “exclusive interviews.”
These contrived “confrontations” and other distortions caused many viewers to believe Mark was the “real killer.” It had a terrible impact on his life. We brought this to the attention of HBO. Our complaint was ignored because these falseHoods proved lucrative.
The complete list of distortions would be a long one. The above example is illustrative of the manipulation and distortions that are prevalent throughout the entire Paradise Lost franchise. The films are bereft of ethics, principles, or factual accuracy and basis.
Publicity from the first two films did generate millions of dollars in donations. Much of that money went toward the defense’s investigation of the case. Not a single piece of exculpatory evidence was produced. In other words, between $10,000,000 and $20,000,000 has been collected, although no one knows the exact amount collected or how it was spent. In eighteen years, nothing was found to clear the names of the actual killers. Late last year, the windfall that went toward the legal defense resulted in the granting of an evidentiary hearing which was set to be held a few weeks from now. Instead, the murderers opted to initiate a plea negotiation with the State. As a result, they remain convicted of the deaths of three children.
We have to note that this situation is similar to the one that confronted the Academy when Capturing the Friedmans was nominated for Best Documentary Film of 2003. Two of the Friedmans’ sexual abuse victims presented another Open Letter to the Academy. Capturing the Friedmans had much more artistic merit and integrity than Paradise Lost III: Purgatory, yet it did not receive the award. The Academy made the right decision then, and we pray it does so this time as well.
Sincerely,
Todd and Diana Moore248
Mr. Epstein relpied:
“It would not be possible for the Academy – its leadership, executive, or administration – to insert itself into this process without risking the integrity of this longstanding procedure and of of the awards themselves,” wrote Rob Epstein, who chairs the Documentary Branch Executive Committee, in a letter to the Moore’s this past December. “I would not trivialize your pain by asking for your understanding, but I do hope this has clarified the organization’s role in the Awards process.”249
Mr. Moore responded to the Associated Press: "They're probably going to wind up winning...Hollywood seems to glorify people like this."250
White Trash Trio Freed From Prison With Aid From Filmmakers: TV
Bloomberg
By Greg Evans - Jan 9, 2012 9:00 PM PT
“We were poverty-stricken white trash,” Echols, the only one originally sentenced to death, says in “Purgatory.” Without the earlier films, he adds, the state “would have murdered me and swept it under the rug.”
“With the new evidence, we would have won the case,” Damien explains, “but they would have stretched it out for five more years. Every time the court ruled in my favor, they would just appeal it to the higher courts, and they would have dragged it out forever. I didn’t have that much time. I was dying, physically. Even though I knew that collectively the three of us could have sued the state for $60 million, I also knew I could have been stabbed to death in prison for fifty dollars any day of the week. I knew that one way or another I would never live to see the outside of those walls, not without taking this deal....“Going through that experience makes you realize how short your life really is. I spent almost two decades in there—that’s nearly twenty years, gone forever. I don’t want anything in my life that’s not absolutely otherworldly or absolutely magical.”251
Currently, Damien Echols has moved to Salem, Massachusetts with his wife. “I saw a T-shirt there that embodies what I’m looking for,” he says. “It’s a joke, and it says ‘Salem Witches Protection Program.’ Perfect!”252
Scott Ellington, the prosecutor who negotiated the Alford plea allowing for the release of the West Memphis Three, remained convinced that the convicted were indeed guilty, and said as much in an interview with Gentlemen’s Quarterly:
Prosecutor Scott Ellington also says he believes Damien, Jason, and Jessie are guilty. Straight-faced, he insists his decision to take the Alford pleas was a concession to reality, that he couldn't hope to win three trials based on eighteen-year-old evidence. But he says they did it. "The evidence I saw," he tells me, "makes me believe they did it."
Ellington flat-out laughs. "You're asking me to dissect a case to justify my position, when, really, thus far I feel like I've been about as lucky as anyone in the whole game," he says.253
Recently, Todd Moore spoke out about the case in a column for the Jonesboro Sun:
Father of WM3 murder victim certain who killed 3 boys
By Todd Moore
Guest Columnist
I am the father of West Memphis triple murder victim Michael Moore. I am writing this in response to your editorial in the June 6 edition of The Sun titled "Justice Unserved." It has always been my opinion that justice was served when Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were convicted in 1994 for the brutal murder of my son and his friends.
The three men who slaughtered my son were convicted by two juries that found them guilty in 1994. Despite this, the Arkansas Supreme Court generously granted the murderers the opportunity for a new evident
iary hearing to be held Dec, 5, 2011, to show evidence they claimed proved their innocence. They could have been granted a new trial to prove these claims of innocence. Instead of presenting their "new evidence" in open court last December, they opted to plead guilty to the murders in August 2011 in exchange for time served.
Second District Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington agreed to accept the defense’s plea offer for vague reasons we still don't understand. Family members learned of the deal only at the last minute. The district attorney was new to the case. But whatever the rational, this continued to make the convicts guilty as a matter of law.
The defense team avoided sharing the results of the tests of everything with us by preemptively entering a guilty plea for their clients. Thanks to the plea deal, we may never know exactly what the defense found when the evidence was retested. Absence of DNA evidence does not prove the West Memphis Three (WM3) are innocent. The killers washed most of the evidence away in the water- filled ditch where they drowned my son. There was plenty of other evidence to convict them in 1994 without positive DNA. Most murderers are convicted without DNA evidence.
The defense attorneys for the WM3 had nearly 20 years to find "the real killer" and failed to do so. After nearly two decades and untold millions in donated funds spent, the best they could do was find a hair that may or may not have belonged to Terry Hobbs, step- father of victim Stevie Branch. It was allegedly found on a shoelace used to tie my son. It has never been proven to actually belong to Terry Hobbs.
Even if it was Terry Hobbs' hair, that fact would prove nothing. Our sons were best friends, and my child spent considerable time in Terry Hobbs's home and could have picked up the hair on his shoe. This would be "secondary transfer" and makes the hair of no probative value. The defense has even admitted as much. Terry Hobbs did not murder my son. No credible law enforcement official believes so. Neither did Mark Byers, Mr. Bojangles nor any of the other defense red herrings.
Contrary to your editorial, it is not up to police or the prosecutor to continue to look for "the real killer." The real killers were arrested and charged back in 1993, were found guilty in 1994 and then admitted their guilt in 2011 after getting a lucky break. To his credit, Prosecutor Ellington has stated many times that his door is open to any new leads and evidence presented to him by the WM3 defense teams.
So far, nothing compelling enough to reopen the case has been presented to him. District Attorney Ellington stated as much the day your editorial appeared. This means despite the defense's grandiose claims prior to the pleas, not one iota of credible evidence has been presented to show their clients' innocence or even to view the convicted as anything less than what they are as a matter of law and as a matter-of fact: guilty.
The WM3 defense team has been well-funded by numerous celebrities who were misinformed by the biased "Paradise Lost” documentaries. These one-sided films left out nearly all of the evidence that demonstrated the guilt of the WM3. They caused thousands of people to support the release of the convicted child killers with a very limited unndcrstanding of the actual facts of the case.
Mr. Wessel, it appears that you, like so many others, got most of your misinformation about this case from these inaccurate documentaries. If you would take the time to dig a little deeper and actually read the case file documents, you would know that there was ample evidence to convict these three men for murdering my son. These documents are readily available on websites such as www.callahan.8k.com.
Here are just a few examples of what was omitted from the documentaries:
• Jessie Misskelley confessed to the crime at least five times to police, prosecutors, even his own attorneys with his hand on a Bible. Misskelley confessed the first time after less than four hours of police questioning. That questioning was done with permission from his father. He continued to repeatedly confess in the year that followed.
• Damien Echols amassed a mental health record 500 pages long in the years immediately prior to the murders. In his own handwriting, he classified himself as a "homicidal, suicidal, schizophrenic, sociopath" just a months before he brutally murdered my son.
• Read Damien Echols' current Twitter account to discover his deep-seated interest in skulls and the occult. There he also recently described artwork depicting a man sawing off his own arm as "breathtaking." In addition, Echols is obscenely profiting off the death of my son by selling his narcissistic books, promoting his self-serving movie, and tattooing murder groupies with his "mark." For two hundred dollars, you can have this sociopath tattoo an “X” on your arm. These Twitter posts and money-making schemes are a slap in the face to me, my family and my dead son.
• The movies omit the fact that these three men had no alibis. Damien Echols' and Jessie Misskelley's alibis completely fell apart on the stand in the 1994 trials. Jason Baldwin's attorneys didn’t even bother to present an alibi.
• Fibers consistent with a robe in Jason Baldwin's home and a shirt in Damien Echols’ home were found on the victims. Blue candle wax found on Chris Byers' shirt was consistent with candle wax found in Damien Echols bedroom.
• The crime lab found that three different knots were used to hogtie the three victims with their own shoelaces. This points toward multiple killers rather than one killer. Witnesses say that Mr. Bojangles, the disoriented man near the crime scene that night, had a cast on one arm. No one person could have subdued and hogtied three energetic young boys--not Terry Hobbs and certainly not the one-armed Mr. Bojangles.
• A knife that could have been used in the murders was found in a lake behind Baldwin's home. It was a unique knife with a place hold a compass on the end that witnesses described as similar to one owned by Echols.
• A car full of eyewitnesses placed Echols near the crime scene, covered with dirt, on the night of the murders.
• Numerous friends, acquaintances and cell-mates came forward with tales of confessions from all three defendants.
Throw out one or even several of those facts, and there would still be enough to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
I sat through those trials. The basic facts need to be put out there. Otherwise, it makes a mockery of my son’s short life.254
17. MAGE, MAGICK, MAGICKIAN:
Damien Echols
By the way, Mr. Echols spells that word “magick,” just as one of his favorite writers, the very spooky Aleister Crowley, did.255
Released in August 2011 after nineteen years on death row, Damien Echols received the attention of the national media as an unjustly condemned prisoner. As the preceding information abundantly shows, Echols not only deserved prosecution for the the murders based upon all the evidence collected by West Memphis Police, but was justly found guilty of the heinous crimes.
Not only has Echols not refrained from the practice of witchcraft, the following evidence will show that he has continued to maintain a disturbing affection for the occult. His associations, tattoos, photographs and even his Twitter posts point conclusively to an obsession with witchcraft, and does effect the understanding of what practices he engaged in prior to his arrest in May of 1993.
While in jail, an art exhibit in 2006 featured some of Damien Echol’s artwork. Owls, ghouls, and most prominently, butterflies are common in the prints. In the occult, butterflies symbolize both transformation and sacrifice. Butterflies also symbolize a form of trauma-based mind control.
Echols signs his books with the symbol of a skeleton key
As referenced earlier in the book, while in jail, Echols practiced translating the English alphabet into a secret alphabet. The prosecution focused on the writing seen above as proof of his interest in Satanism. After his release, Echols began the process of covering his body with tattoos of an occult nature. Among a numerous variety of all black tattoos, four are shaped in magic circles with magical sigils, and around the circumference of the circles, is script in another secret alphabet, the Theban script used by Wiccans. He has one placed on his left breast,
one on each shoulder, and one on his left forearm.
“Magician” spelled four times in Theban
around the cricumference of the circle.
From what I can discern, one word here is “success”
Right Shoulder, Sigil Magic, Black Dragon, Bats
Deaths Head with Sigil on left shoulder
“Thumbs up”
Aleister Crowley used the “thumbs up” hand sign to represent the horns of Pan, the Horned God of Wicca, and a representation of the Devil. Crowley wrote and published a brief book of five poems in 1942 with the title of “Thumbs Up!”256 Readers unfamiliar with the occult probably did not realize an esoteric, as opposed to the exoteric, meaning of the book title.
Another blatant indicator of Damien Echol’s obsession with Satanism is his continued use of the “thumbs up” hand sign, which he manifested prior to his arrest in 1993, while in jail, after release, and also on the cover of his biography Life after Death.
Photo taken by mother in 1993
Echol’s Instagram title: Archmage11
Kik tag: Magician11
As stated earlier in the book, eleven is the all-important number in Aleister Crowley’s magical system.
Echols with film director Peter Jackson
Abomination: Devil Worship and Deception in the West Memphis Three Murders Page 30