Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory Page #6

here to the law school

At the university of Arkansas

in little rock

In hopes of proving

why the defense team

For convicted killer

Damien Echols says

He is innocent.

Good morning,

ladies and gentlemen.

My name is

Dennis Riordan.

We represent petitioner

Damien Echols

In the eastern district

of Arkansas

Here in little rock,

Arising out of

the 1994 trial-

Trials really-

Of three teenagers

who were tried and convicted

For the murders of three

eight-Year-Old boys.

And we are here today

to discuss the evidence

That establishes

that no reasonable juror

Would convict

Damien Echols

Essentially knowing

what we know today.

The heart

of this presentation

Is four experts who we

will be calling today,

Who provided

the core

Of the new evidence

before the district court.

They are:

Werner Spitz,

Probably the country's

leading forensic pathologist,

Certainly the author of the

bible of forensic pathology;

Richard Souviron, renowned

forensic odontologist

Who was the key witness

for the prosecution

In convicting

Ted Bundy;

Tom Fedor,

who is a d. N.A. Expert

To discuss

the new d. N.A. Evidence;

And John Douglas,

who headed

The criminal analysis unit

of the f. B.I. For 25 years.

But what is

the new evidence

That proves not merely

that this was an unfair trial,

But that innocent men

were convicted?

And with that, Ill turn

to my partner don Horgan.

Good morning.

I'm gonna take

a minute or two here

Just to review some of

the d. N.A. Evidence

That has recently

surfaced in the case.

First with

a little background-

In 2001, Arkansas,

like a lot of other states,

Passed a statute

that allows

Convicted criminal

defendants

To challenge their convictions

with new d. N.A. Evidence

That shows them to be

actually innocent.

Under that

state statute,

Relevant items from the

crime scene in this case

Were tested at the laboratory

chosen by the prosecution,

And that's bode

laboratories in Virginia.

In late 2005, bode issued

its first report

Showing d. N.A. Profiles

of genetic material

Found on the victims

and on other

Pieces of evidence

from the crime scene.

In the end,

none of the bode reports

Could link any of the d. N.A.

Provided by the defendants

To the victims

or to the crime scene.

New evidence has emerged

in west Memphis, Arkansas.

Male reporter:
new evidence

released today claims

Testing unavailable

in 1993

Shows no d. N.A. From

the three imprisoned defendants

Was found on the bodies

of the murdered boys.

For 14 years,

john mark byers

Was convinced he knew

who tied up and killed

His eight-Year-Old son

and two other cub scouts

In a brutal

mutilation murder.

Now byers and

the state of Arkansas

Have been shown

new evidence

That the father tells

a. B.C. News

Has changed his mind

about the guilt

Of the three boys known as

the west Memphis three.

I hated you.

I believed with all my heart

you killed my son.

And Im sorry

for that.

The question is

Why am I

so different now

Than years back?

Uh...

coming to deal

with things,

Coming to deal with

That I know

I did all I could

To keep Christopher safe,

that it wasn't my fault.

No, I wasn't

a perfect dad,

But I- I did

the best I could.

I'm just a country boy

from marked tree.

That you kill my son,

You made me

madder than hell

And I wanted

to kick somebody's ass.

Male reporter:
Damien Echols

quit talking to reporters

After getting warnings

from his attorneys.

Last week, Echols said mark

byers committed the murders.

Does it come

as a surprise, mark?

Mark byers:

we don't have any comment.

He's got knowledge

about the area.

He knows when the search

is over with.

He's big enough

that he can

Carry the boys there

and throw them in.

His son was

the only one mutilated.

The other two

weren't mutilated.

All of the pieces

fit together

With a person

like byers.

Male reporter:

after the sentencing,

The mother and stepfather

of Christopher byers

Moved out of

west Memphis.

Echols claims

byers is the real killer.

I think basically in a fit

of anger he killed them.

He's got to be the biggest

pathological liar.

I hope he rots and burns

in hell for eternity.

I hate his guts

More than anything

on the face of the earth.

Mark and Melissa Byers

moved to Cherokee village

To get away

from the memories

Of their son's murder

in west Memphis.

But the trouble

followed them.

Jenna newton:

they're accused of taking

$20,000 worth of property

from a neighbor's house.

But that's only the beginning

of their legal problems.

According to

court documents,

Mark byers was

with a juvenile

Who allegedly assaulted

another young man.

Byers says he let the

boys fight in his presence

Because he wanted to make

sure it was a fair fight.

All I could

think about is

Thinking about my son

getting beat to death.

Byers stood by watching

the fight holding a gun.

Now a few of the byers'

neighbors say

They now have questions

about mark byers

And the west Memphis

murders.

These are for you,

Melissa.

Male reporter:
Byerss

wife did die recently.

An autopsy showed small

amounts of drugs in her body,

But nothing that should

have caused her death.

So that death

remains a mystery.

I made

a good scapegoat.

I made a good target.

But I didn't care.

You know, there was

no one left but me.

- Burn, you son of a b*tch, burn.

- And I really didn't care.

- Burn. Go to hell. Burn.

- I mean, deep down inside

- I knew I didn't kill anybody.

- I'll stomp on your grave.

- I felt like the state had...

- I'll stomp on your grave.

...who they're supposed

to have.

Burn and go to hell!

But what's right

and what's wrong

Are two different

things.

And the right thing is

That these three men

are innocent.

That's the right thing.

And, yes, it was hard

for me

To stand up and admit

that I was wrong,

But wrong is wrong.

This is a letter

From Damien Echols,

Varner unit,

p. O. Box 400,

Grady, Arkansas.

"Dear john,

first I want to start off

By apologizing to you.

I know how it feels

to be accused

Of something

you didn't do.

Now, all these

years later,

I see just

how wrong I was

And Im sorry.

I did the same thing

to you

That everyone else

did to me.

The second thing

I want to say

Is thank you.

I know it can't

have been easy

To put aside

all of your emotions

And look

at the evidence

With cold, hard logic,

But you did.

I can't help

but believe

There's a reason

for all of this

For both of us.

Take care

And know that my thoughts

are with you.

Damien Echols. "

Hi.

Bruce Sinofsky:

how are you doing?

I'm doing good.

Glad you came back.

How long has it been since

the last time you were here?

We were talking

about that in the car.

- 10 years.

- 10 years.

It's been a long time.

Damien Echols:
time is

very, very strange in here.

I'm-

I'm surprised by things

sometimes, I guess.

Like being told

that I have arthritis

Or looking

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