Summary Of The Film 'Paradise Lost'
West Memphis Three
Paradise Lost is a documentary that follows the trial of the Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley. They were accused of killing three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. All three were convicted in 1994. Damien received the death penalty and the other two both received like sentences. These three teenagers would become known around the world as the West Memphis 3.
The film Paradise Lost and the sequel, Paradise Lost 2, only covered this story up into the year 2000. However, due in large part to the publicity from these two films, a lot has happened in the case in the past 10 years. One major development is the amount of celebrity endorsements. The documentaries really highlight the mistakes and …show more content…
Byers was one of the parents of one of the young boys who where brutally murdered. He was by far the most outspoken about the trial during the first two documentaries. There was also his menacing 6ft. 6in height. These factors, along with some history of violence and a criminal record, really made Byers an easy target. To add to these factors, in 1996 Melissa Byers, Mark’s wife, died mysteriously. Her cause of death was deemed undetermined by the coroner. This raised more suspicion by those who thought Mark was involved in the murders. However, Mark Byers was able to reduce some of this scrutiny by willingly taking polygraph tests and submitting samples of his DNA. Since the documentaries, Byers has been released from jail on drug charges and is currently working on a book about how the West Memphis murders have affected his life. He has also changed his position on who he believes committed this crime. Originally, he felt very strongly about the West Memphis 3 and their involvement in the murders. In the past few years, because of new DNA evidence, Byers now believes Terry Hobbs is responsible. The deciding factor came when it was determined that Hobbs’ DNA was found on one of the boys articles of clothing. No one else had any form of DNA anywhere on the boys or the crime scene. This means Hobbs’ is the only person physically linked to the murders by evidence. Terry Hobbs was the stepfather of …show more content…
If I was in their situation, I believe that I would have done the same. I know Jason had an especially hard time with the decision, and reasonably so. I can only imagine how hard it must be to be in prison for a crime you didn’t commit. Being released would be great, but having your name cleared would make it mean so much more. So I can understand why Jason would want to go to try and take his chances with getting cleared. Unfortunately, Damien didn’t have that same luxury. Not only was he on death row, but also he had a child and wife waiting for him. The guilt Jason would have felt if the trial didn’t go as planned would have been unbearable. I like to think I would take a deal that isn’t necessarily my best option, to save a friends
Paradise Lost is a documentary that follows the trial of the Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley. They were accused of killing three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. All three were convicted in 1994. Damien received the death penalty and the other two both received like sentences. These three teenagers would become known around the world as the West Memphis 3.
The film Paradise Lost and the sequel, Paradise Lost 2, only covered this story up into the year 2000. However, due in large part to the publicity from these two films, a lot has happened in the case in the past 10 years. One major development is the amount of celebrity endorsements. The documentaries really highlight the mistakes and …show more content…
Byers was one of the parents of one of the young boys who where brutally murdered. He was by far the most outspoken about the trial during the first two documentaries. There was also his menacing 6ft. 6in height. These factors, along with some history of violence and a criminal record, really made Byers an easy target. To add to these factors, in 1996 Melissa Byers, Mark’s wife, died mysteriously. Her cause of death was deemed undetermined by the coroner. This raised more suspicion by those who thought Mark was involved in the murders. However, Mark Byers was able to reduce some of this scrutiny by willingly taking polygraph tests and submitting samples of his DNA. Since the documentaries, Byers has been released from jail on drug charges and is currently working on a book about how the West Memphis murders have affected his life. He has also changed his position on who he believes committed this crime. Originally, he felt very strongly about the West Memphis 3 and their involvement in the murders. In the past few years, because of new DNA evidence, Byers now believes Terry Hobbs is responsible. The deciding factor came when it was determined that Hobbs’ DNA was found on one of the boys articles of clothing. No one else had any form of DNA anywhere on the boys or the crime scene. This means Hobbs’ is the only person physically linked to the murders by evidence. Terry Hobbs was the stepfather of …show more content…
If I was in their situation, I believe that I would have done the same. I know Jason had an especially hard time with the decision, and reasonably so. I can only imagine how hard it must be to be in prison for a crime you didn’t commit. Being released would be great, but having your name cleared would make it mean so much more. So I can understand why Jason would want to go to try and take his chances with getting cleared. Unfortunately, Damien didn’t have that same luxury. Not only was he on death row, but also he had a child and wife waiting for him. The guilt Jason would have felt if the trial didn’t go as planned would have been unbearable. I like to think I would take a deal that isn’t necessarily my best option, to save a friends