West of Memphis Page #6

case was primarily to analyze the case to see

does it really fit the three people

they have in prison?

I didn't wanna know anything

about them.

I don't want to become prejudiced

and be swayed in any way.

If I do an analysis like this, you may not

like what I have to say. I'm not a hired gun.

When I work on a case like this,

I work for the victims.

No matter who brings me in,

I'm working for the victims.

This appeared to be

what we call a lust murder.

There's blunt-force trauma inflicted

on these children.

There was evidence of sexual mutilation

to one of the victims.

Three victims were hog-tied

with their shoelaces

from their wrists to their ankles.

And on the surface, it appeared

to be a sexually motivated crime.

The focus of the investigation

is always on the families.

You start from there,

and you work your way out.

There were some police notes

where they had looked

into the possibility

that a stepfather might be involved.

BYERS:
They take me back to

the police station and said:

"We have information

that you are involved in this crime

and that you did it."

RIDGE :
I may have

information that you have something to do

with the disappearance of the boys,

and, ultimately, of the murder.

"BYERS". It's almost more than I can

believe, you know, what you just said to me.

And it makes me so mad inside

that I just kind of got to hold myself

here in this chair.

I had hair removed.

I had to have over 30 pubic hairs

pulled out, plus the roots.

"FUDGE". We're gonna interview

the other two fathers.

We're gonna ask them

the same questions.

They said, "We're gonna do

the other family members"

just like we gonna do you."

JACKSON:
The assumption is that the crime was

unusual, it was bizarre, it was grotesque.

Even when

Paradise Lost 2 comes out,

and they are presenting

an alternative scenario,

they're going to an equally theatrical

possible perpetrator in John Mark Byers.

"Dearest Damien."

There are many things we can do

that can shed light on the truth

of what happened to those boys.

It is impossible

to do something this heinous

and not leave a personal imprint.

We need to do extensive

investigative work on Byers,

"investigative work

that the police failed to do."

DOUGLAS:
I went down to the

Memphis area and conducted

an interview with Mark Byers, or

attempted to conduct an initial interview.

I knocked on his door,

he came out, his wife came out,

and pretty much,

he wanted to kick me off his porch.

He didn't wanna talk to me.

BYERS:
It was daily grind, fighting on the

Internet with people, being in a place

and someone recognizing me

and get up and go call their friends,

then all of a sudden, I got a mob,

and I got to sneak out the back door

because I know

a ass-kicking's coming.

LORRI:
"We need to find all of Mark Byers'

living relatives. We need to find Ryan Clark."

We need to figure out a strategy

for getting him to talk.

We need to know where

and at what time

they went looking for Christopher

on May 5th.

We need to locate all

of Byers' vehicles

that he owned at that time

and Luminol-test them.

We need to access

Byers' ex-residence

and Luminol-test every floor surface

in the house.

Lots of questions,

and not many answers.

But right now

we're still stumbling around in the dark

"looking for a light switch."

Mark Byers, he had a tough life.

He has a criminal history,

got busted for some prescription drugs.

But he is not the type of personality

that would perpetrate a crime

like the crimes I was looking at

here in West Memphis.

When we learned the case,

the timeline just

didn't add up to us.

JACKSON:
Beyond the theatrical

nature of Mark Byers,

he didn't have a motive,

he didn't actually have the opportunity.

It became clear to us that,

you know,

people were looking at Byers

because they thought he was

the sort of person who could do this.

And our reaction to that was

the reason Damien got convicted

was that people thought he was

the sort of person who could do this.

When I was in the Bureau,

we came up with a crime

classification manual we designed.

We considered Satanic

because these cops were

bringing back these cases to us.

Satanic murders, Satanic murders.

There were classes being offered

all over the country.

Oprah Winfrey had shows,

Geraldo Rivera had shows,

it was all over here.

Another area that you might

find Satanic ritual carving

is in the stomach area.

This is not a Satanic...

This is not a ritual. It's a murder.

It's a murder

maybe by one crazy guy.

If you're calling this Satanic,

we could have

just as many murders

where a Bible is left there.

Does that make it a Christian murder?

It's a Bible? I mean, no, it's nuts.

It's just one, you know, crazy person.

Police say Satanists in our area

often conduct their rituals

in remote, wooded areas.

FOGLEMAN:
At some point did Damien

invite you to some meeting?

He did.

STIDHAM:
The West Memphis

Police didn't seem interested

in corroborating anything,

they just took everything at face value.

A cult, Satanic meeting.

FOGLEMAN:
Okay.

I got a phone call from

a lawyer in Fayetteville

who had Vicki Hutcheson

sitting at her desk.

Would you raise your right hand?

STIDHAM:
Said, "She's ready to recant her

trial testimony, how fast can you get here?"

She obviously asked for immunity

from the state,

which they refused to grant.

So here's the State of Arkansas at

the Rule 37 hearings still stonewalling,

still refusing to let the truth shine

on this case.

Damien and I stood back,

and then these kids took

their clothes off,

and I looked at Damien,

and I said, "I want to leave."

I testified to it, but I lied on the stand.

STIDHAM:
It was frightening to

listen to her tell the truth,

the truth that I knew had existed

all these years.

The truth that she wouldn't

come out and say

because she was afraid

of what would happen to her.

WOMAN:
You mentioned

that you went and met.

Jerry Driver

at the Marion Police Department.

I'm trying to remember.

I do, I know who she is.

It's just kind of back in my mind

somewhere.

What did they ask you to do?

Do I think... They asked me,

do I think I could get, um, Jessie

to introduce me to Damien.

DRIVER:
All we asked her was to go

in and see what she could find out.

Now that was with police department's

knowledge and consent.

He's the one that suggested:

"Well, if you're gonna have Damien over,

you to need to have demon books

on your coffee table."

The only thing she was coached

to do was to not get caught,

because we were actually afraid

that if she got caught, he'd kill her.

HUTCHESON:
Damien looks down

at those demon book things.

And I said, "Why are you so nervous?"

And he said, "Well, you'd be nervous too

if they thought you killed

three little kids."

And I said, "Why would they think you,

of all people?"

And he goes, "I'm... Because I'm weird,

I guess, you know." And I was like...

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