Devil's Knot Page #8

that you took for the purpose

of sending to the crime lab is just lost?

Yes, sir.

That's my mistake. I lost a piece of evidence.

Now, Damien, this book on witchcraft,

where did you get that?

The library had these books they were

getting rid of for 10 cents each.

Damien, there's some pages

in there that are underlined in red,

references to the devil.

That was already done when I got it.

I think somebody had a report

to do 'cause all through the book

there's like little notes,

dates, and stuff like that in the margin.

Okay.

Damien, why do you like to wear black?

I was told I look good in it.

And it helped me deal with people.

It would make them think

"He's weird." And it kept them away.

You've looked into the

Satanic side of the occult, correct?

- I'm familiar with it.

- You familiar with Aleister Crowley?

Based on his writings,

he believes in human sacrifice, doesn't he?

He also believed he was God, so...

His writings indicated that children

were the best type of human sacrifice.

- Correct?

- Yes, sir.

But Crowley has no particular

significance to you?

I know who he is. I've read about him,

but I've never read anything by him.

Do you recognize this?

What is that?

It's a paper I had on different alphabets.

Where you could write

things nobody could read.

Whose names are written on it?

Mine. Jason's.

Our newborn son's,

and one that says Aleister Crowley.

(CROWD GASPS)

So the only other name on this

document besides yours,

your best friend and your son

is Aleister Crowley.

If you say so.

Now, when he interviewed you

before your arrest, did you tell Officer Ridge

that you'd been a member

of a white witch group for five years?

I told him I was a Wiccan.

I've never been a member of a group.

- Oh, he made that up?

- Yes.

Officer Ridge also asked you

why would someone kill these kids

and your response was that the person

was sick or a Satanist. Is that correct?

He asked me was it possible if they could be

Satanists, and I said "Yeah, I guess."

When Officer Ridge asked you how do you

think the person feels who did this,

your answer was,

"Probably makes them feel good.

"Gives them power."

Is that correct?

Or, I guess, Officer Ridge made that up, too.

No. I used common sense on that.

If someone was doing it,

they must have wanted to.

And if they were doing something they

wanted to it must make them happy.

So in your mind it is common sense

that killing three eight-year-olds

would make you feel good?

Whoever did it must have.

(SPECTATORS MURMURING)

ls there anything wrong

with wearing black in and of itself?

No.

Anything wrong with this

heavy metal stuff in and of itself?

No.

The Book of Shadows.

Anything wrong with that?

No.

But you don't look at these

things individually.

You have to look at them as a whole.

And when you look at all

this circumstantial evidence as a whole,

it proves that these

defendants committed this murder.

Now, all this Satanic stuff?

It doesn't matter whether I believe it.

It doesn't matter whether

the defense attorneys believe it.

It doesn't even matter

whether you believe in it.

The only thing that matters is

what these defendants believe.

Now, you look at history,

at all the people that

have been killed in the name of religion,

it is a motivating force.

It gives people who want

to do evil the justification for what they do.

And when you look at it all together,

you begin to see inside Damien Echols.

You see inside that person. You look inside,

and there's not a soul in there.

The first verdict reads as follows.

"We, the jury, find Damien Echols

"guilty of capital murder

-"in the death of Stevie Branch.

-(CROWD GASPING)

"We, the jury, find Damien Echols

"guilty of capital murder

in the death of Chris Byers.

"We, the jury, find Damien Echols

"guilty of capital murder

in the death of Michael Moore."

No!No!No!

"We, the jury, find Jason Baldwin

"guilty of capital murder

in the death of Stevie Branch.

"We, the jury, find Jason Baldwin

"guilty of capital murder

in the death of Chris Byers.

"And we, the jury, find Jason Baldwin

"guilty of capital murder

in the death of Michael Moore."

Now, do either of you have any

legal reason to give the court

as to why a sentence should not be imposed?

No, sir.

'Cause I'm innocent.

Pardon, I'm sorry, I didn't hear that.

Because I'm innocent.

Well, the jury has heard the

evidence and concluded otherwise.

Mr. Baldwin, you are hereby adjudicated

guilty on three counts of capital murder.

You are hereby sentenced

to the Arkansas Department of Corrections

to a term of life

without the possibility of parole.

Mr. Echols, you have been

adjudicated guilty on three counts

of capital murder as well,

the death of Michael Moore,

Chris Byers and Stevie Branch.

You are remanded to the

custody of the Sheriff

and to immediately be transported to the

Arkansas Department of Corrections

where on the 5th of May, 1994,

a lethal quantity

-of an ultra short-acting barbiturate

-(CROWD GASPING)

in combination with a chemical

paralytic agent,

will be injected into your

body until you are dead.

(CAMERAS CLICKING)

(CROWD CLAMORING)

Mrs. Hobbs.

I'm Ron Lax.

I know who you are.

And I don't hate you either.

Or them lawyers. Just don't forget about us.

- Don't... Don't let yourself forget about us.

- I won't.

I can't.

Ever since I saw your face on TV that first day,

I read the case files,

saw the photographs of your son.

I'll never be able to forget any of it.

And I know that you may not be

able to feel much compassion right now

for the boys accused of this crime.

I understand that, I really do.

But if these boys are innocent,

would you want three more families

to lose their children, too?

I found this in Terry's things.

It's Stevie's pocket knife.

His Grandpa Hicks gave him.

- Your father?

- Yeah, my father.

Stevie loved this knife.

Just like his new bike.

Everything his grandpa ever gave him.

He'd take it with him everywhere.

He always had it.

- I think he would have had it that day.

- The day he was killed?

I don't know why they didn't find it on him.

And I don't know why my

husband would have it now.

You suspect your husband

might have something do to with all of this?

I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know anything anymore.

After hearing Jessie's confession,

and all those things he didn't know

and the bloody man at Bojangles,

and Mark Byers and that bloody knife.

And those girls up on the stand,

acting like this is all just

some sort of game to them.

And what about Chris Morgan? They told me

that he confessed out in California,

and they wouldn't even let us hear

what he had to say on the stand.

It seems like everybody,

the police, the judge, everybody,

they all know who they want to think did this.

I don't know anymore.

Neither do I.

But I know in my heart that

Damien, Jason and Jessie did not do this.

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