Devil's Knot Page #3

And all three of 'em teenagers.

My God, Jason Baldwin's only 16.

They'll need a good investigator,

and the court will never pay.

Tell those court appointed lawyers if they

want me, I'm offering my services.

Pro bono?

Are you sure you want to do that, boss?

I mean, we have got a lot on

our plate right now.

We got that big insurance fraud case.

This just isn't the best time

to be working for a cause.

You know how I feel about these death

penalty cases. It's the least I can do.

I know, but this crime is unthinkable.

What if they did it? Have you thought of that?

And what if they didn't? And even if they did,

I think three dead kids is enough.

I'm on my way.

Mr. Lax, I'm Dan Stidham.

I represent Jessie Misskelley.

This is Paul Ford from Jonesboro.

He represents Jason Baldwin.

And Val Price is the public defender

who's been appointed

to represent Damien Echols.

Please have a seat.

I understand Jessie has

recanted his confession.

Does that surprise you?

No. It's hard to believe anyone would confess

to such a crime if he hadn't done it.

Got any experts lined up?

I've got a doctor who will testify that Jessie

reasons on the level of a six to eight-year-old.

He was once diagnosed as mentally retarded.

- Do you think he's guilty?

- In my experience, most of them are.

PRICE:
So Mr. Lax,

if they're most likely guilty,

why volunteer to help us build a case?

LAX:
Because if you don't have a strong case,

the State is going to kill three young men.

And I can't stand by and watch that happen.

Now, tell me about Damien Echols.

STIDHAM:
He lives in a trailer park

with his family, on social assistance.

Difficult kid.

He's had serious run-ins with the law.

He spent time in juvenile detention.

Now being as I've been his probation officer

for as long as I've been,

he always seems to me to be like one of these

slasher movie-type guys.

His boots and coat, heavy metal music,

long, stringy black hair.

Now, may I... Have you seen his case file?

I mean, this boy is troubled.

He's been in and out of psychiatric wards.

And he said he was involved in the occult.

Oh, yeah. Some of his followers

included Jason Baldwin.

And of course, his pregnant girlfriend.

He's got her name carved on his arm.

- And I worry about that baby.

- Why?

Because of the rumor

that they're going to sacrifice it to Satan.

You're saying you actually believe that?

- You bet I do.

- Come on, Jerry.

All that occult-crime,

Satanic-panic stuff's been studied by the FBI

and they say it's all smoke and no fire.

I know what I've seen with my own two eyes.

And I'm telling you evidence of occult

activity was everywhere that summer.

In this old abandoned schoolhouse...

I mean, Steve Jones saw something.

It's like a picture I'd seen

in a book about the serial killer, Son of Sam.

Like somebody had restaged the scene.

Or re-enacted it. So ever since that summer

I've been telling the local police to watch him.

'Cause I knew something bad

was gonna happen.

I sent Steve Jones over to Damien's house.

And he found all sorts of

crazy stuff in Damien's room.

Evidence of his interest in the occult.

About a year ago, Damien told me

that the local devil worshippers

had reached the end of their

animal sacrifice stage.

And I'm talking about things

they do to receive power.

So that summer, he said they

were gonna take the next logical step.

Sacrifice a human. A human.

- Stevie.

- Pam. Dreaming again.

Dream.

Come here.

You have asthma and you smoke?

I guess I'm just self-destructive.

I spoke to your probation officer, Jerry Driver.

- He had a lot to say about you.

- I bet.

Said they found a lot of stuff in your room.

- Evidence of your interest in the occult.

- My notebooks.

They're just song lyrics I liked.

Quotes from my favorite books and movies.

What about the things you told him?

About devil worshippers

planning on making human sacrifices.

I was just messing with his mind.

That you threatened to eat your father

and out your mother's throat.

Driver's a liar.

It's not just Driver. There's a lot of people

saying things, damaging things.

Listen to this.

Why should I listen to you?

Why should I answer your questions?

Are you my lawyer?

No. I'm working with them.

You're working for them?

What are you, like a lawyer's assistant?

I'm an investigator.

But you won't be representing me in court.

No. No, I'm not allowed to do that.

So I'm just supposed to trust you?

Tell you everything?

If you want me to help you, yes.

Those cops are scary, okay?

They will do anything to get people

to say what they want to hear.

Why would so many people

say all these things about you?

Why did those girls say

people were witches back in Salem?

Any time anything weird

happens around here,

people blame it on devil worshippers.

And on me.

What about the incident when you were

locked up at the JDC in Jonesboro?

They say you drank some kid's blood.

I didn't attack him. He offered it.

I did that with a knife.

That's my girlfriend's name.

I've been cutting myself for a long time.

Why?

There's power in the blood.

It's how we get power.

Through drinking the blood of others.

By biting, cutting.

And rituals.

I've been doing it since

I was, like, 10 years old.

These people think I'm a Satanic leader.

I'm not.

They think I'm in a cult. I'm not.

I just have an interest in witchcraft

as a way to power, to control.

Pam, do you feel the people

who did this were worshipping, um...

- Satan? Yes, I do. I do.

- Why?

Just look at 'em.

They look like punks. They look like freaks.

You don't look like that

when you're, like, a normal person.

And they listen to that music.

And everybody knows they...

I heard from a bunch of people

that they been hearing that they been,

you know, worshipping Satan

and killing clogs and things like that.

REPORTER:
You think the way they

dress had something to do with the...

PAM:
Absolutely yes, I do. You don't dress

like that when you... When you, um...

- Pam, what are you holding?

-Oh, this? Um, this is

part of Stevie's Boy Scout uniform.

I got it back yesterday, and I've been

wearing it on my head, like that.

(LAUGHS) Did he like scouting?

Oh, yeah. He loved it. He loved it. He did.

He'd be so excited when he'd be having a day

that he'd go to Boy Scout meetings.

Um... Yeah, he did.

I saw you on TV.

What the hell are you doing?

You're supposed to be in mourning.

You're not acting right.

What's that supposed to mean?

On the TV.

Treating his scarf like some kind of prop.

Acting like a goddamn silly fool.

I'm not acting at all, Terry. Are you?

Is that what you've been doing?

I think maybe you're glad Stevie's gone.

'Cause you were always hard on him.

Way too hard.

What the hell are you talking about?

Every time I spent time with him,

or I fell asleep with him 'cause he was afraid,

you blamed him. You was jealous of him.

You shut up!

What? You'll hit me?

Now that he's gone, I'm all you got left?

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