terry hobbs 2021

TERRY HOBBS OBITUARY Terry Roland Hobbs, 62, of Sweetwater, passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2021. 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? According to Dan Stidham, the attorney for Misskelley, that money became essential for the cash-strapped defense teams, who needed to pay for expert witnesses and other expenses. Not everyone believes that the West Memphis Three are innocent of the killings of Michael Moore, Stevie Branch, and Christopher Byers. Hold for Elkhart County. West Memphis is pretty much like a second Salem," Echols stated in the 1996 documentary Paradise Lost: The Murders at Robin Hood Hills. The third put forth the unusual theory that the killings were committed as a cult ritual. Two questions plagued the conservative, middle-class community: Why would anyone commit such a heinous act, and, more importantly, who? The idea of the average citizen becoming embroiled in a criminal investigation isn't far-fetched in 2021, . https://t.co/dXOtQkmjee. Terry Hobbs, one of the men named in the documents. In the Bible Belt, the Satanic Panic took hold with a vengeance. "Everyone has a story and this just happens to be mine," said Hobbs. Making his way through the muck on his hands and knees, Ridge soon discovered clothing twisted around sticks and thrust into the ditch's bottom. Terry Hobbs, Todd Moore, and Dana Moore still maintain that Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley murdered their sons. According to Griffis, black hair, black T-shirts, and black jeans were signs that a kid was in league with the devil. Despite an offer of a reduced sentence, Misskelley ultimately recanted his statements and refused to testify against Echols and Baldwin. June 29 Terry Hobbs, 34, 1718 Spyglass Lane, Mishawaka, booked on a warrant from Elkhart County. So when I saw this tiny little article in the Times, I wasnt about to free anybody that was guilty. Among those active in the cause were singer Eddie Vedder of the band Pearl Jam, the country music trio The Dixie Chicks, punk rock icon and poet Henry Rollins, and actor Johnny Depp. Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care. Hobbs was Branch's stepfather. Another hair found near the crime scene on a tree stump was found to be consistent with the DNA of Hobbs friend, David Jacoby, according to court documents obtained by Oxygen.com. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Iwould journal something and put it in the box, said Hobbs. Maines won the lawsuit; police have never named Hobbs a suspect or charged him in connection with the killings.). Rather, they were fighting for something they believed in. (Its worth noting that despite the issues raised by Lindseys work, the first season of Up and Vanished renewed interest in the case, which ultimately led to arrests, albeit of people that Lindsey hadnt previously covered on the podcast.). The great irony of the 18-year quest to free the West Memphis Three is that it didnt begin as a crusade. 24 to Jun. He was an actor, known for Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988), Fast Food (1989) and In the Heat of the Night (1988). I just checked again and HE IS STILL MISSING. He was handed the phone. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. Theres no smoking gun. Although blood scrapings were taken, the West Memphis police lost the evidence. Minutes later, Sgt. West Memphis 3 / Terry Hobbs 2022 Update New Scott 94.5K subscribers Subscribe 241 Share 20K views 8 months ago https://www.crimeonline.com/2022/05/. On 04/08/2021 Terry Hobbs was filed as a Bankruptcy - Chapter 13 lawsuit. of Auburndale, FL passed away Monday, August 16, 2021. The concept of citizen investigations intrigues Berlinger just as much as it did in the 1990s, though today hes often more concerned with the moral implications. By the end of Paradise Lost, you cant believe they were found guilty, Bakken says. Terry Roland Hobbs <p>Terry Roland Hobbs, 62, of Sweetwater, passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2021.</p> <p>Terry was born on September 11, 1959 in Sweetwater, to Jack Harvey and Marjorie Hobbs .Terry graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1977. Its something that Baldwin couldnt envision when he first agreed to let the documentarians interview him in jail in exchange for an honorarium, or even when Mojo played that VHS tape for him in 1997. This is a brand new website dedicated to the internationally famous musician, Terry Gibbs. Terry Wayne Hobbs was born on May 21st, 1958. A hair found on one of the ligatures to bind the boys, however, was found to be consistent with the DNA of Hobbs, according to court documents obtained by Oxygen.com. Although Griffis' testimony was dramatic, it showed only a tenuous grasp of occult knowledge much of it, including a reference to a cult called "Crytos," was simply made up. He says his dad and Berlinger werent seeking notorietydocumentaries certainly werent a means to get rich or famous in those days. Unaware of what was to come, Allen explained that he just wanted to ask him some questions. A statement he made to the producers of Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills did little to help his public image. His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. Pam Hobbs divorced Terry Hobbs in 2004 and has reversed her position on the West Memphis Three's guilt. People have come out of the woodwork and said this and this and people have done things and a lot of them are wrong, said Hobbs. 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. Well, perhaps not nobody. Their bikes were found by a pipe nearby. During Misskelley's trial, Hutcheson testified that she had attended an "an occult Satanic meeting" she referred to as an "esbat." Pam Hobbs divorced Terry Hobbs in 2004 and has reversed her position on the West Memphis Three's guilt. MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com)More than 25 years after the murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis,a new book gives a first-person account of what was happening behind the scenes. West Memphis is in the heart of the Bible Belt: just a two-hour drive from where, legend has it, the devil tuned Robert Johnsons guitar, in a state thats 46 percent evangelical Protestant. Since the West Memphis Three were released, no one else has been charged in the murders of Stevie, Christopher and Michael. The pair abruptly fled to Oceanside, Calif., four days after the murders. The nonprofits work hasnt always been easyfundraising is hard, and because hes a convicted felon, hes unable to visit clients in prison or discuss pleasbut its been essential for him as he strives to live the words by 14th-century Persian poet Hafez that he keeps as an email signature: The small man builds cages for everyone he knows / While the sage, who has to duck his head when the moon is low / Keeps dropping keys all night long for the beautiful rowdy prisoners. Baldwin says hes learned that justice isnt a computer programthat you can input all the evidence and testimony and still get the wrong results. Wherever it was screened, Berlinger says, it was followed by intense Q&As from audience members who couldnt believe what theyd just watched. View Source Suggest Edits Memorial Photos Flowers Created by: Legend Added: 11 Aug 2021 Find a Grave Memorial ID: 230642037 Jessie took a polygraph. And without substantial physical evidence, police zeroed in on a pair of teens they knew well: Echols, a self-professed Wiccan who wore all black and read Stephen King, and his best friend Baldwin, who was considered an outsider because of his love of drawing and bands like Metallica. Other details that have come to light include that many wounds on the slain children, originally attributed to human bites and/or a serrated blade, were the result of animals feeding on the bodies. 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. Misskelley and Echols were 36; Baldwin was 34. This is before considering the 2013 dramatized movie based on the events (and Leveritts book), Stidhams plans to release the book Harvest of Innocence, and how elements of the case made their way into True Detectives third season. October 13, 2018 - Happy 94th Birthday Terry! He says his students seem to have a better grasp on the idea of coerced confessions than any of his peers in 1994. I couldnt not watch it at this point. In 1994, Dr. Dale W. Griffis was a retired police officer who had embarked on a second career as a self-styled consultant on occult and cult-related crime. Published: Dec. 21, 2021 at 9:56 PM CST WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. Who Killed The Forgotten West Memphis Three? Spotting a small, black tennis shoe in the water, Jones radioed for help. When it didnt, the praise heaped on Paradise Lost felt hollow. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, defense attorneys working for the West Memphis Three filed multiple appeals on their behalf scrutinizing the lack of physical evidence against them. But I had to. He said, J.B., youre going home, man, youre going home.. Cinemorgue Wiki. (Echolswho is in better health today, though his eyesight has degenerated and he has premature arthritis from his time in solitary confinementin particular has maintained a relatively public life, through the five books hes published, performing magic for Patreon subscribers, and making TV appearances to discuss other cases he sees as similar to his.) "I knew from when I was real small that people were going to know who I was," Echols said in 1994. (Despite Misskelleys statement, the coroners examination found no injuries on the victims consistent with sexual assault.) She has since expressed her belief that her ex-husband was involved in the murders, citing the discovery of her son's favorite pocket knife in Terry Hobbs' belongings. I wouldn't do something like that. Social media didnt fully exist yet, but the group managed to harness the potential of the nascent information superhighway to bring attention to their cause. We made a promise early on that we would never pretend to be law enforcement or detectives, Sauls says. A native of Winter Haven, born December 21, 1964, Terry has been a lifelong resident of Auburndale. They couldnt have been cooler, recalls Berlinger, who would go on to direct the 2004 documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster alongside Bruce Sinofsky. On August 19, 2011, all three accepted the deal and were immediately released from prison. The only possible culprits were 18-year-old Damien Echols, a poor teen with an interest in the occult and a record of mental illness, his friend Jason Baldwin, a quiet kid whose talent for art tended toward dark subjects, and Jessie Misskelley, a 17-year-old misfit with an IQ of 73. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of Terry Hobbs to show support. They were released after prosecutors agreed to an Alford plea, in which the men maintained their innocence but pleaded guilty. The second is by looking at it as an act of passion and perseverance. Here were these guysat best they were neutral. Timeline Of The West Memphis Three Victims, Motivations For Investigating The West Memphis Case. A later confession during the trial phase would prove equally problematic. I don't know if the other 2 did, but even if they did polygraphs aren't admissible in court. Example video title will go here for this video. It was almost like an out-of-body experience., When the credits rolled shortly after the unforgettable final scene, which shows a now-convicted Baldwin and Echols leaving the courtroom in handcuffs and entering a police cruiser as Metallica plays, Baldwin sat stunned. The killings came at the peak of the so-called Satanic Panic, a time of heightened worries about ritualistic abuse. Although Damein Echols had a teenager's typical disdain for authority, he nevertheless trusted that the system would work in his favor. Hobbs said, I still believe in my heart that Jessie, Jason, and Damion, 'Feels Like Home:' electrical failure from a light fixture caused December fire that killed 1, Shelby County reporting an increase in drug-related overdoses, largely due to fentanyl, Severe weather threat is over | Prepare for a sunny weekend, Daylight saving time starts soon. The three have always maintained their innocence. That story line would make up the bulk of 2000s Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, a rare sequel for a documentary, especially before the streaming era proved that true crime series like Making a Murderer and The Staircase could maintain audience interest for years. In June 1996, Paradise Lost debuted on HBO, bringing the story of the West Memphis Three to TV sets and showing the power of the camera in the courtroom. Baldwins attorneys even avoided putting him on the witness stand or mounting much of a defense, believing the burden was on the state. One of the prosecution's key pieces of evidence linking Jason Baldwin to the crime a survival knife with a serrated edge recovered from a lake behind his home has also come under scrutiny. We didnt see them grow up.. (WJHG) By Nikki Sheaks Published: Jul. Berlinger and Sinofsky expected a similar result to come quickly in the West Memphis Three case. But inside, he was just another prisonerBaldwin didnt know who he could trust. It wasnt hard for him to imagine his teenage self ending up in Echolss situation. The causes most high-profile moment came in 2000, when Trey Parker said the slogan at the MTV Movie Awards while collecting an award for Best Musical Sequence. This family in-fighting led to him shooting his brother-in-law. One of those shows, Truth & Justice With Bob Ruff, became the basis for an Oxygen docuseries last year titled The Forgotten West Memphis Three, which took a closer look at the three victims and tried to shine new light on the evidence. Hobbs has never wavered in his conviction that justice was served the first time around. The story felt personal for all of them, but especially Sauls: He had grown up in Florida and Georgia as an outcast obsessed with art and reading some of the same books Damien Echols had. He just didnt know it would take another 14 years to happen. He died on April 4, 2019 in Panama City Beach, Florida, USA. All of those factors combined to create a tipping point, says Leveritt. Even though they said they didnt murder the three boys, they are technically convicted killers. Over the years there has been lots of speculation and finger pointing as to who was responsible. - The West Memphis 3: Free (2012) . But they were saying that he was about to die.. Stating that she would ask around, Hutcheson agreed to "play detective.". March 8, 2021, Terry Hobbs passed away on March 8, 2021 in Boise, Idaho. Even without a smoking gun, the circumstantial evidence was enough for a conviction in a place like Crittenden County, Arkansas. He graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1977. Dan Stidham, the original attorney for Misskelley, who would also work on Baldwins and Echols appeals, says he has the answer. William Holford Griffiths. Terry Hobbs USAF Ret. It was born out of genuine admiration for the fact that these guys took the time out of their lives to dedicate, to go down to Arkansas, to build a website, to really step out of their lives, Berlinger says. On the evening of May 5, 1993, three 8-year-old boys disappeared from the streets of West Memphis, Ark. Titled West of Memphis, the film, directed by Amy J. Berg, presents an overview of the West Memphis Three's 18 years in prison, the revelation of new evidence, and explores the possibility of an alternate suspect. Investigators kept minimal notes and omitted pertinent details including criminal records. This case was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, Tennessee Western Bankruptcy. On Aug. 11, 2011, the West Memphis Three entered the courtroom for the final time. Now a judgewho coincidentally works part time in the courtroom where Misskelley was convictedStidham spends time speaking to law students about the judicial system. Debates still occur regularly onlinethe West Memphis Three subreddit is fairly active for one on a 28-year-old caseand podcasts have looked at the crime from all angles. Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of West Memphis Three murder victim Stevie Branch, has denied any involvement in slayings of Branch and his two friends. When the pair got the call from Nevins, they mobilized immediately, landing in Arkansas shortly after the arrests. Updated: 9:42 AM CDT June 11, 2019. As reported by the Arkansas Times, examination of the shoe laces used to bind Michael Moore contained hair "not inconsistent" with that of Stevie Branch's stepfather, Terry Hobbs. People in West Memphis are going to tell their kids stories. The footage included raw jailhouse interviews with the defendants, strategy sessions held by legal teams on both sides, and extended monologues from Mark Byers, the tall, goateed stepfather of one of the victims, who spoke as though he were reciting the Book of Revelation and who, at one point in Paradise Lost, fired a handgun at a pumpkin while reciting the names of the accused. As the 20th century turned to the 21st, the movement seemed to be picking up steam. It hurt all over again, he said. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. Armchair detectives of today, I think a lot of them dabble in conspiracy theory, Berlinger says. The districts current prosecuting attorney, Keith Chrestman, did not respond to requests for comment for this article, but his predecessor Scott Ellington, whose office negotiated the deals, told The New York Times in 2011 that while new trials would have likely resulted in acquittals, We dont think that there is anybody else. The Moore family has been outspoken about the end result, vehemently protesting the 2012 Oscar nomination for the third Paradise Lost installment. The state of Arkansas continues to attempt to prevent this testing from happening., New technology and advances in science would now allow us to test DNA in amounts so small that it would have been previously impossible. Damien Echols (@damienechols) July 7, 2021 Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of Branch who was under suspicion but never charged, said he welcomes new DNA testing. Branded the, What has never been definitively answered, however, is who committed the 1993 murders, and , Due to marital problems stemming from Stevies death, the couple divorced in 2004, reported, The test results showed that no genetic material on the crime scene evidence was a match to Echols, Baldwin or Misskelley, reported the, The West Memphis Police Department interviewed Hobbs, who was dismissive of the findings, claiming the hair could have been picked up during a visit to his home since the victim "played with our little boy regularly," according to the, "They said close to the crime scene because at one time I did walk near where they had found the kids with Terry Hobbs But I didn't wear hats back then, my hair could have blown around anywhere, Jacoby told Memphis NBC affiliate, A year after the DNA results were released, Hobbs sued Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines for defamation, claiming she implied he was a murderer on the bands website and at a 2007 rally, according to, In 2009, three witnesses filed affidavits claiming they saw Hobbs with the murdered boys the night they disappeared, contradicting Hobbs previous statements to police, according to. there are no assignments to cushion your grade, so either pass or fail. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. The idea of the average citizen becoming embroiled in a criminal investigation isnt far-fetched in 2021, decades removed from the launch of WM3.org. In November, Judge David Burnett, who had presided over the trial, was elected to the state senate. It was a call about Damien Echolshe wasnt dead, but his wife, Lorri Davis, feared he might be soon. Theyve had several victories, including the case of Daniel Villegas, who was acquitted of capital murder in 2018 after a 25-year legal saga. I deeply admire that and I thought it was worthy of putting on film.. Metallica had never licensed a song for a film before, but when they learned about the case, Berlinger says, they made an exception. 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. 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. A source said the evidence was transferred to shipping containers where there was a fire, and some of the evidence was destroyed. eyewitness evidence surfaced 16 years later. Initially, Misskelley repeatedly denied having knowledge of the crime, aside from rumors that Damien Echols was involved. Jesse was gonna take it anyway. I had a friend who was working on 20/20, and they had done a film about exorcism in one of the magazine pieces, Nevins says. For the next two hours and 29 minutes, the two inmates sat in near silence watching Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, the landmark documentary released on HBO 25 years ago this week that captured the trials of Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley Jr., and Damien Echols, the three teenagers convicted in 1994 of the crimes that ripped through the small, working-class community of West Memphis, Arkansas. Among them was a disoriented, muddy, and bleeding African-American man who stumbled into a West Memphis Bojangles restaurant men's room less than a mile from the crime scene. But they never had any physical evidence that connected us to this crime, Echols said in 2012. The Alford plea is a seldom-invoked and somewhat confusing legal maneuver, but the basics are fairly straightforward. More than 25 years after the murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis,a new book gives a first-person account of what was happening behind the sce More than 25 years after the murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis,a new book gives a first-person account of what was happening behind the scenes. As for Paradise Lost, it was the inciting incident in the two-decade chain of events that led to the release of the West Memphis Three. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. All three had been submerged face down in the mud, stripped naked, and bound with their shoelaces. I didnt want to stop with us being that close. Berlinger and Sinofsky began to take notice. Sheila Nevins, the HBO exec who pushed for Berlinger and Sinofsky to make that initial trip to Arkansas, is most proud of the companys willingness to let her finance three documentaries over 18 years without knowing where they would go. But most notably, his initial timeline of events didnt match what was known about the crimes, and every time he offered a detail that diverged from the accepted chronology, the interrogating officers seemed to steer him back in the direction of the official version. Reaching its apex in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Satanic Panic was a wave of paranoia rooted in the belief that Satanic cults intent on corrupting the souls of the young had infiltrated American society. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family. Its no surprise the juries found the prosecutions narrative compelling, Leveritt says: For them, the image of killer satanists headbanging to Metallica was more than plausible. Yet, Judge David Burnett accepted Griffis as an expert. Terry Hobbs Net Worth. Once there got to be this global pressure, and there was a big concert here with really big-name musicians within a mile of our Supreme Court building, things started suddenly to change, she says. While thats cooled from the days of concerts in the shadows of the Arkansas Supreme Court building, the documentaries still live on HBO Max, where they pull in new viewers to this day. Terry Roland Hobbs September 11, 1959 ~ September 11, 2021 (age 62) Terry Roland Hobbs, 62, of Sweetwater, passed away on Saturday, September 11, 2021. Damion Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley were convicted of murdering the children in 1994. In her recantation, Hutcheson stated that when she asked Echols directly if he had killed "those three kids," he replied, "No. "They said close to the crime scene because at one time I did walk near where they had found the kids with Terry Hobbs But I didn't wear hats back then, my hair could have blown around anywhere, Jacoby told Memphis NBC affiliate WMC-TV in 2013. What a story it is. I think we were the first internet sleuths, but we were not internet sleuths.. This article was updated after publication to add more context about the honorariums paid to the families of the victims and the West Memphis Three and also to correct the time frame in which Berlinger and Sinofsky informed HBO about the changing scope of the documentary. February 27, 2023 (76 years old) View obituary. Nobody was saying, This is an outrageous case that needs to be looked into.. Other possible suspects includedBrian Holland and Chris Morgan, two young men from Memphis, Tenn., with a history of drug offenses. Baldwin remembers the dire circumstances laid out during the call. One person who has come up in the investigation is Terry Hobbs, although police have never named him a suspect or charged him in connection with the case. Inevitably, the West Memphis Three case always comes up. So the minute youre done, you just want to know more. Essentially, it allows the accused to assert their innocence while pleading guilty, conceding that the prosecution has an overwhelming amount of evidence to procure a conviction. Its evidence that Damien Echols attorneys wanted to do new DNA testing on. Its headlined by not only the films directors, but also Sheila Nevins, its executive producer and winner of 32 individual Emmy awards, more than any other person in history. With the area secured, Detective Bryn Ridge volunteered to search the ditch. They didnt even think he would physically survive through December, Baldwin says. every single person in my class was either . MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com) - More than 25 years after the murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, a new book gives a first-person account of . Terry Hobbs, Actor: Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers. Luminol tests, which reveal the hidden presence of blood, were not performed at the scene until six days later. Additionally, the judge in the original trialswho under Arkansas law presided under the requests for retrials in the years following the convictionshad been elected to the state Senate that December, meaning someone new and possibly more sympathetic would oversee the case. After 18 years in prison, the West Memphis Three were finally free, but not exonerated. As the West Memphis Three languished behind bars for 18 years, thousands of supporters called out for their freedom while others vehemently declared their guilt. They werent telling me I was lying, even if they may have been saying that in their minds. Because I was thinking, if you haven't done anything, then they can't prove you did something you haven't actually done. With a large population of fundamentalist Christians, the American South was particularly subject to occult paranoia. . I don't entirely think Hobbs did it, but I . In this first confession, Miskelley often agreed to details suggested by the police or attributed to prior statements which he did not make. I still believe in my heart that Jessie, Jason, and Damion Echols [sic] are responsible for what happened to our children, Hobbs told Memphis ABC affiliate WATN in June 2019. Terry Hobbs is the one suspected of murder and the wounds that were inflicted on my nephew were where turtles bit his face. (WMC) - Its a case that has captured the nation and certainly the Mid-South. Blood and urine samples from both men were collected and sent to the West Memphis Police Department. To send flowers or plant a tree in memory of Terry Hobbs, visit the Tribute Store. By staying on this subject for the next couple of decades, they gave these men a chance and really decades of freedom afterward. Terry was born on September 11, 1959 in Sweetwater, to Jack Harvey and Marjorie Hobbs .Terry graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1977. He said Boxful of Nightmares is his memoirs unedited. The judge ruled that Hobbs could not establish actual malice, and ordered Hobbs to pay Maines legal fees amounting to more than $17,000, according to the Associated Press.