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The Case Against the West Memphis 3 Killers: A Condensed, Revised Version of "Blood on Black" and "Where the Monsters Go"
The beaten, bound and mutilated bodies of three 8-year-olds, Christopher Byers, Michael Moore and Stevie Branch, were pulled from a muddy ditch in a wooded area in West Memphis, Ark., on May 6, 1993. The boys had gone missing the day before.
Weeks of investigation led to arrests of Damien Echols, 18, Jason Baldwin, 16, and Jessie Misskelley Jr. on June 3, 1993, after the 17-year-old Misskelley confessed that he and two friends murdered the boys. All three were convicted. The convictions held up on appeal.
Eventually, thanks to Hollywood celebrities and misleading documentaries, the killers walked free.
They passed up the opportunity to present new evidence, taking instead guilty pleas that allowed them to claim they were innocent. No exonerating evidence, despite many years of investigation and a defense fund in the millions of dollars, was produced.
They became known as the West Memphis 3.
This is a combined, revised, condensed version of “Blood on Black” and “Where the Monsters Go,” written by Gary Meece, a veteran Memphis Commercial Appeal journalist and the former managing editor of the West Memphis Evening Times.
Weeks of investigation led to arrests of Damien Echols, 18, Jason Baldwin, 16, and Jessie Misskelley Jr. on June 3, 1993, after the 17-year-old Misskelley confessed that he and two friends murdered the boys. All three were convicted. The convictions held up on appeal.
Eventually, thanks to Hollywood celebrities and misleading documentaries, the killers walked free.
They passed up the opportunity to present new evidence, taking instead guilty pleas that allowed them to claim they were innocent. No exonerating evidence, despite many years of investigation and a defense fund in the millions of dollars, was produced.
They became known as the West Memphis 3.
This is a combined, revised, condensed version of “Blood on Black” and “Where the Monsters Go,” written by Gary Meece, a veteran Memphis Commercial Appeal journalist and the former managing editor of the West Memphis Evening Times.
268 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 16, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 6, 2020
4.0 stars—Being a lover of true crime, I have watched multiple documentaries and read several books on the subject of the West Memphis 3. The case has taken multiple twists and turns over the years, ultimately resolving wIth the release of all 3 defendants several years ago when they pled guilty via a best interest plea to the murders. Each of the defendants has maintained his innocence from beginning to end and even appear regularly on television professing their innocence. Since their convictions, every documentary I’ve watched and every book I have read have beat the drum strongly for their innocence, the lack of evidence and mistakes made in the trials that led to their convictions. That is until I read “Blood on Black”. “Blood on Black” takes the opposite view and sets forth the argument that the West Memphis 3 were guilty and deserved everything they got. The research is extensive and seems to come primarily from the Callahan website, that is the most detailed examination of the case I have ever read. The book makes compelling cases for the defendants’ guilt and seems to focus on the fact that the three were much more connected to bizarre occult/devil worshipping practices than they want to let on. It also reveals a huge number of statements that were originally given to investigators that were very incriminating against Echols and Baldwin that were all recanted after the defense attorney investigator met with the witnesses. So much so that the prosecutor made a compelling argument that the defense attorney investigator was either tampering or Intimidating the witnesses that had come forward. After believing for years that the 3 defendants were 100% innocent, I am now firmly on the fence and am leaning towards guilty. I look forward to part 2 of this colossal research project but just wish the author had hired an editor to organize the material and correct all the grammatical issues. Long quotations (including irrelevant portions of interviews) printed word for word also take away from the enjoyment of the book. But for amateur sleuths interested in this topic, this is definitely the book for you,
January 14, 2022
In short, it’s a rambling, semi-incoherent mess driven by anger and an insufferable self-righteousness. This isn’t journalism, it’s an uncle’s Facebook post that got (self-)published.
Having been fascinated by this story for some time but having mostly heard accounts that come down on the side of the West Memphis 3’s innocence, I figured the least I could do was delve a bit into the non-supporters arguments. You’d think a book by a man who has seemingly made it his life’s work to prove the guilt of the WM3 years after such a project can do any good (or earn any money) would at least have something interesting to show for that obsession—something polished and coherent. You’d be wrong.
I’ve seen positive reviews for Meece praise him for having “just the facts.” This is plainly untrue as Meece loves to editorialize and sneer every chance he gets—not only at the WM3 but also at the numerous folks in this story either struggling with mental illness, living below the poverty line, involved in non-Judeo Christian subcultures, or all of the above. Still, he acts like the sheer accumulation of information that he presents speaks for itself so what we get is a tedious cut-and-paste job from various transcripts that make no attempt clarify grammar or add punctuation. The book is unreadable.
When they say “nothing but the facts,” what they really mean is “confound the reader with an exhausting onslaught of names, dates and quotes in a poorly crafted slog that never saw an editor.” How a professional newspaperman with a decades-long career could put together something so amateur is astonishing, but it honestly might be just the sleight of hand Meece relies on to convince the less discerning reader that he’s successfully made some kind of case. Meece seems to have an awareness that everything he throws at you can’t add up to a logical picture, so instead he delivers a big, hazy mess that is too scattered and obtuse to pick apart but still leaves you with sinister feelings about the WM3. How else is one meant to take a statement like, “Chris said that Murray Farris said that Frankie Knight said his brother had said [Damien] helped kill the three boys”? Or the statement, reprinted in its entirety, of a teenage girl who genuinely believed Damien was sending her telepathic messages. Or any number of other statements from witnesses whose reliability Meece doesn’t even care to bolster, but who prove convenient at muddying the waters and making the WM3 feel guilty enough. There is nothing new here. This is the story exactly as told in 1993.
On the occasion Meece tries to craft a logical theory out of the muck he puts before you, it usually results in an utter failure of guesswork. He embarrassingly speculates that someone referred to multiple times in an interview transcript as “the mommy” is Pam Hutchison—a bizarre turn of phrase for even her own children to use, and the speaker is decidedly not her son. Seemingly Meece never considered that this is just a shoddy transcription of the name “Domini”—a far more logical subject in the multiple times the reference is made, i.e. “Domini said she was with Damien all the time” as opposed to the baffling “the mommy said she was with Damien all the time”—especially considering the interviewee is a relative of Domini’s. Meece’s case rests almost entirely on weak speculations based on ambiguities, which makes it that much more flimsy.
The real root of why this is such a terrible book is that Meece is a man with an ax to grind. He clearly despises Damien, Jason and Jessie. He’s a local West Memphis journalist who seems to have become so emotionally invested in their guilt that he couldn’t see straight. He spends a lot of his word count debunking the idea that the WM3 were convicted for being “outsiders” or “occultists,” but one gets a sense of him protesting too much here. There’s a tangible contradiction in the sections of the book where Meece tries to insist that Christian despotism had nothing to do with the WM3 case only to then turn around and include blood-curdling descriptions of the occult straight out of the Satanic Panic playbook, punctuating himself by reassuring the reader that this isn’t crazy because a majority of Americans are similarly on guard against the literal powers of Satan. Believe me, it is entirely possible to have nagging doubts about the WM3’s innocence without going to the extreme of painting literally every thing these boys ever did as indicative of “latent psychopathy” or Satanism (the Satanic angle is flimsy even if they are guilty). In some ways, Meece is the villain of his own book—a scornful authoritarian representative of so many who couldn’t wait to see these boys behind bars, precisely because of their outsiderness, or because it really was a bit of a witch-hunt, despite his insistence to the contrary.
As a final observation, I will say that the list of first-hand witnesses that Meece gives in his preface who outright refused to talk to him and went so far as to block him on social media to be rid of him is very funny. Talk about posting your L’s.
Having been fascinated by this story for some time but having mostly heard accounts that come down on the side of the West Memphis 3’s innocence, I figured the least I could do was delve a bit into the non-supporters arguments. You’d think a book by a man who has seemingly made it his life’s work to prove the guilt of the WM3 years after such a project can do any good (or earn any money) would at least have something interesting to show for that obsession—something polished and coherent. You’d be wrong.
I’ve seen positive reviews for Meece praise him for having “just the facts.” This is plainly untrue as Meece loves to editorialize and sneer every chance he gets—not only at the WM3 but also at the numerous folks in this story either struggling with mental illness, living below the poverty line, involved in non-Judeo Christian subcultures, or all of the above. Still, he acts like the sheer accumulation of information that he presents speaks for itself so what we get is a tedious cut-and-paste job from various transcripts that make no attempt clarify grammar or add punctuation. The book is unreadable.
When they say “nothing but the facts,” what they really mean is “confound the reader with an exhausting onslaught of names, dates and quotes in a poorly crafted slog that never saw an editor.” How a professional newspaperman with a decades-long career could put together something so amateur is astonishing, but it honestly might be just the sleight of hand Meece relies on to convince the less discerning reader that he’s successfully made some kind of case. Meece seems to have an awareness that everything he throws at you can’t add up to a logical picture, so instead he delivers a big, hazy mess that is too scattered and obtuse to pick apart but still leaves you with sinister feelings about the WM3. How else is one meant to take a statement like, “Chris said that Murray Farris said that Frankie Knight said his brother had said [Damien] helped kill the three boys”? Or the statement, reprinted in its entirety, of a teenage girl who genuinely believed Damien was sending her telepathic messages. Or any number of other statements from witnesses whose reliability Meece doesn’t even care to bolster, but who prove convenient at muddying the waters and making the WM3 feel guilty enough. There is nothing new here. This is the story exactly as told in 1993.
On the occasion Meece tries to craft a logical theory out of the muck he puts before you, it usually results in an utter failure of guesswork. He embarrassingly speculates that someone referred to multiple times in an interview transcript as “the mommy” is Pam Hutchison—a bizarre turn of phrase for even her own children to use, and the speaker is decidedly not her son. Seemingly Meece never considered that this is just a shoddy transcription of the name “Domini”—a far more logical subject in the multiple times the reference is made, i.e. “Domini said she was with Damien all the time” as opposed to the baffling “the mommy said she was with Damien all the time”—especially considering the interviewee is a relative of Domini’s. Meece’s case rests almost entirely on weak speculations based on ambiguities, which makes it that much more flimsy.
The real root of why this is such a terrible book is that Meece is a man with an ax to grind. He clearly despises Damien, Jason and Jessie. He’s a local West Memphis journalist who seems to have become so emotionally invested in their guilt that he couldn’t see straight. He spends a lot of his word count debunking the idea that the WM3 were convicted for being “outsiders” or “occultists,” but one gets a sense of him protesting too much here. There’s a tangible contradiction in the sections of the book where Meece tries to insist that Christian despotism had nothing to do with the WM3 case only to then turn around and include blood-curdling descriptions of the occult straight out of the Satanic Panic playbook, punctuating himself by reassuring the reader that this isn’t crazy because a majority of Americans are similarly on guard against the literal powers of Satan. Believe me, it is entirely possible to have nagging doubts about the WM3’s innocence without going to the extreme of painting literally every thing these boys ever did as indicative of “latent psychopathy” or Satanism (the Satanic angle is flimsy even if they are guilty). In some ways, Meece is the villain of his own book—a scornful authoritarian representative of so many who couldn’t wait to see these boys behind bars, precisely because of their outsiderness, or because it really was a bit of a witch-hunt, despite his insistence to the contrary.
As a final observation, I will say that the list of first-hand witnesses that Meece gives in his preface who outright refused to talk to him and went so far as to block him on social media to be rid of him is very funny. Talk about posting your L’s.
January 26, 2023
I like to look at both sides of any issue, and this book claimed to have evidence that proved the West Memphis 3 were guilty. Now, I don't know if they are or not. I vacillate between guilty and not guilty because this case is an absolute shit show. This book didn't help clarify anything for me. All this book contained were rumors and unreliable witness testimony. It appears to me that everyone involved in this case is a liar because of the amount of inconsistent stories and changes statements from both sides. No one can keep their stories straight, which leads me to believe we need to disregard what anyone says.
Something that bothered me was the number of people, including Jessie Misskelley, who said a group of satan worshipers would go out to the woods and kill and eat dogs. I would think there would be some proof of this, like people who could verify that their dogs had come up missing. There was also the issue of Damien Echols claiming he had been talking on the phone to a girl at the time of the murders, and at first the girl denied his claim only to confirm years later after the case became well known. My question is: why didn't anyone think to check phone records? Instead, it's something that could've been easily verified but now it's too late and we'll never know.
All in all, if you're interested in titillating rumors about satan worship and orgies in the woods, maybe you'd like this book. If you're looking for more concrete facts and evidence, I would say not to waste your time. It's sad, but I think we'll never know if the West Memphis 3 brutally murdered Steve Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers; and now are walking free, or if someone else did it and never served a day in prison for their crimes.
Something that bothered me was the number of people, including Jessie Misskelley, who said a group of satan worshipers would go out to the woods and kill and eat dogs. I would think there would be some proof of this, like people who could verify that their dogs had come up missing. There was also the issue of Damien Echols claiming he had been talking on the phone to a girl at the time of the murders, and at first the girl denied his claim only to confirm years later after the case became well known. My question is: why didn't anyone think to check phone records? Instead, it's something that could've been easily verified but now it's too late and we'll never know.
All in all, if you're interested in titillating rumors about satan worship and orgies in the woods, maybe you'd like this book. If you're looking for more concrete facts and evidence, I would say not to waste your time. It's sad, but I think we'll never know if the West Memphis 3 brutally murdered Steve Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers; and now are walking free, or if someone else did it and never served a day in prison for their crimes.
November 2, 2017
The prosecution side of the WM3 case - not the documentary versions
This was also a quick and good read. After reading Echols Life After Death, I had to read the other side’s version. This whole case seems to stem from the private investigator Ron Lax, coming in on the defense side and trying to create reasonable doubt. Sounds like he was against the death penalty, and didn’t want three more lives taken. But where’s the Justice for these little boys? Why would all these people come in and give statements or confessions, then recant? Very weird and strange case all around, but I lived briefly in Midwest a couple states Northwest of where this happened, and probably had in laws who knew people like ones in this case. Is it something in the water, around there, along the Mississippi River, or what? Good Book leaning on the Prosecutor’s side.
This was also a quick and good read. After reading Echols Life After Death, I had to read the other side’s version. This whole case seems to stem from the private investigator Ron Lax, coming in on the defense side and trying to create reasonable doubt. Sounds like he was against the death penalty, and didn’t want three more lives taken. But where’s the Justice for these little boys? Why would all these people come in and give statements or confessions, then recant? Very weird and strange case all around, but I lived briefly in Midwest a couple states Northwest of where this happened, and probably had in laws who knew people like ones in this case. Is it something in the water, around there, along the Mississippi River, or what? Good Book leaning on the Prosecutor’s side.
October 18, 2021
Whether you believe the "West Memphis Three" are guilty or not, this book is essential reading for everyone with an interest in the "Child Murders of Robin Hood Hills". The idea that the three guys were arrested simply because they were into metal and wore dark clothing is simply not true, as this book shows. Damien Echols especially comes across as a manipulative, sociopathic creep, the kind of dude I would have arrested, too, if I was a cop in West Memphis in the early 90s. "Blood on Black" is very detailed, so I wouldn't recommend this book to newbies, but to more, let's say, advanced students of the case this is a must - especially to those who believe the Paradise Lost film trilogy says all there is to be said about guilt and innocence in the case.
May 15, 2025
As someone who has been following this case since the late nineties/early 2000's, I appreciate the depth of research that Meece has assembled, and I appreciate that the book pushes against the mainstream opinion of the case in ways that make one think and consider different angles and possibilities. It's not particularly well-written, however, and it's unprofessional in the way it's laid out. I gave it three stars based purely on compilation of content and research (which obviously continued well into and past 2015), but it reads in some ways like a two-star document that needed an editor/proofreader.
September 20, 2026
This was a very difficult book to get through - I almost gave up trying to read it twice. It is very poorly-written, full of spelling and grammar mistakes, and is just confusing. The writer is all over the place and goes back and forth between referring to people by their names at the time of the murders and their future married names. The writer sounds confused, and honestly sounds like he just wrote down his whole stream of consciousness, and then never went back to move things around in a way that made more sense. This book needs some serious work.
May 14, 2025
I read part of this and listened to part of it. Honestly the virtual voice is difficult to listen to, so many mispronunciations and the cadence is weird. This book has a lot of good information but is clearly biased. If you are looking for a book that goes over the evidence without inserting the writer opinion, this is not the book for you. There is a ton of information in this book that you will not get from any of the author's that think the WM3 are innocent.
March 14, 2020
Brilliant
I am new to this case. I first read Devils Knot and looked on the WM3 website and came away with they are innocent. But reading this book has changed my mind completely. Only criticism I can give is some spelling mistakes,double of same sentences etc. I will.Defoe be recommending this cannot wait to read part II.
I am new to this case. I first read Devils Knot and looked on the WM3 website and came away with they are innocent. But reading this book has changed my mind completely. Only criticism I can give is some spelling mistakes,double of same sentences etc. I will.Defoe be recommending this cannot wait to read part II.
June 12, 2020
Hmmm....
I've read several books on the WM3. This book made me really look into facts, rumors, etc. Still not sure about guilt or innocence but made my original thoughts change. If these 3 are guilty it sicken me to think of this horrific crime & are now back on the streets ??
I've read several books on the WM3. This book made me really look into facts, rumors, etc. Still not sure about guilt or innocence but made my original thoughts change. If these 3 are guilty it sicken me to think of this horrific crime & are now back on the streets ??
May 4, 2026
Really could not get into this book, and tried on a few different occasions. A little bit disappointed as I was looking forward to reading it.
August 19, 2023
Very interesting read that gives the reader a different perspective than the series Paradise Lost.
July 4, 2017
Blood on Black: The Case Against the West Memphis 3, Volume I
and
Where The Monsters Go: The Case Against the West Memphis 3 Killers, Volume II
This two volume study is the most thorough and definitive case study of this crime in book form.
Numerous books have been written about the murder of three 8 year old boys in West Memphis, TN in 1993
Gary Meece had the opportunity to draw upon all of the accumulated knowledge available at this time
and he was able to make a thorough and logical analysis of this puzzling case.
The pronouncements of celebrities who have inserted themselves into the drama surrounding this case served
to mislead a portion of the public into believing three innocent teenagers were unjustly convicted of the child murders.
Four documentaries about this case with selective editing have garnered great sympathy for the convicted killers.
Now they are out of prison and have taken advantage of their infamy to continue to weave tall tales that paint them as
the victims in this case.
If you are interested in finding out the facts, presented in a very readable and intriguing manner, I highly recommend this two volume set.
and
Where The Monsters Go: The Case Against the West Memphis 3 Killers, Volume II
This two volume study is the most thorough and definitive case study of this crime in book form.
Numerous books have been written about the murder of three 8 year old boys in West Memphis, TN in 1993
Gary Meece had the opportunity to draw upon all of the accumulated knowledge available at this time
and he was able to make a thorough and logical analysis of this puzzling case.
The pronouncements of celebrities who have inserted themselves into the drama surrounding this case served
to mislead a portion of the public into believing three innocent teenagers were unjustly convicted of the child murders.
Four documentaries about this case with selective editing have garnered great sympathy for the convicted killers.
Now they are out of prison and have taken advantage of their infamy to continue to weave tall tales that paint them as
the victims in this case.
If you are interested in finding out the facts, presented in a very readable and intriguing manner, I highly recommend this two volume set.
May 15, 2018
Rereading for detailed evaluation. Those who follow know why.
November 27, 2018
Solid choice in this topic
This was the first book i read on the West Memphis Three and found it extremely informative and attention grabbing.
This was the first book i read on the West Memphis Three and found it extremely informative and attention grabbing.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews