Update on the Status of the Book

As most of you are aware, many things have changed between the middle of 2007 and today. Although we had hoped to publish Untying the Knot: John Mark Byers and the West Memphis Child Murders by late 2008, we underestimated the pace at which the case of the West Memphis Three would crawl through the courts. There have been events and delays which have necessitated our decision to keep any publishing date open in order for the book to conclude with the true ending of the story. We also did not - could not - foresee how Mark Byers would react to new evidence collected as part of the Echols habeas petition. As it becomes more and more likely that after interminable delays, the case is finally - at least for Damien Echols - winding its way out of the Arkansas courts and probably into federal court, we think it makes sense to wait. Regardless of your opinion on the guilt or innocence of the West Memphis Three, they are entitled to their day in a court that is not presided over by the same judge who convicted them. That day is coming, and we want it included in the book. The fate of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley are intertwined with that of Mark Byers, as it is with the other victims’ families, and the families of the convicted men. The deep divisions that exist between these factions are understandable and complex, but this much is certain: at the end of this tragic story, nobody really wins. The victims’ families will still be without their sons. Melissa Byers died in the shadow of Christopher's death. The families of the West Memphis Three have been without their boys for all these years as well. "I grew up without a brother", says Matt Baldwin today. The careworn face and obvious mental duress of Gail Grinnell, Jason’s mother, is enough to break one’s heart. If the law decides that the West Memphis Three are indeed guilty of the crimes for which they have been convicted, thousands of supporters, the Echols, Misskelley, and Baldwin families will have lost, as will Mark Byers, who has come to believe so fervently in the innocence of the three. There is also the possibility that they will be granted new trials. The prevailing legal and popular opinion today reveals a belief that new trials would result in acquittals for all three men. Probably so. But an acquittal is not a verdict of innocence, as in the case of a pardon. An acquittal merely reflects the jury’s decision that the prosecutor failed to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Sam Sheppard knew all about that. There’s always a lingering doubt.

Perhaps most problematically, if the West Memphis Three are declared innocent - or rather "not guilty" - we would then be forced to face the reality that there is a killer on the loose. Who really killed Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Steve Branch on May 5^th 1993? What kind of resources can we expect the State of Arkansas to devote to solving a sixteen-year-old murder? An investigation must be opened, but the trail is ice cold. If the only person ever physically linked to the crime scene - Terry Hobbs - is ever investigated and cleared, there is a likelihood that the killer or killers will never be caught. Jack the Ripper. The Lindberg Kidnapping. The murder of Marilyn Sheppard. The Black Dahlia. JonBenèt Ramsey. It happens more frequently than we’d care to think about. Pray it doesn’t happen here.

We’ll keep you updated.

GCD August 21, 2009