The West Memphis Three: A Case Still Unfolding

In August 2025, more than thirty years after three young boys were murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas, a judge has finally approved advanced DNA testing on the evidence. For many, this ruling feels like a long-awaited crack of light in a case that has always been as much about hysteria and failure as it has been about justice.

Back in 2011, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley walked free after nearly two decades in prison. Their release came by way of an Alford plea, a legal compromise where they maintained their innocence but admitted the state had enough evidence to convict. It was a bittersweet deal: freedom without exoneration, release without full justice. Supporters called it a pragmatic victory; critics saw it as the state’s way of saving face while still keeping its original conviction intact.

Top: The 3 Victims Bottom: The Accused West Memphis Three

Now, new testing offers a chance to cut through decades of suspicion, myth, and controversy with something far more objective: science.

For years, attorneys and advocates for the West Memphis Three have pressed for additional forensic analysis. Technology has advanced dramatically since the early 1990s. Where older tests produced inconclusive results, today’s methods can extract far more detail from degraded or limited samples.

In April 2024, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that new testing could be pursued. And in August 2025, a Crittenden County judge gave final approval. The items in question include the ligatures used to bind the victims and hair samples collected at the scene, which have always carried enormous weight in this case.

If testing yields results pointing away from Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley, the men may finally gain something they’ve never had: a shot at full exoneration.

Cover illustration of Mara Leveritt’s book Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three. By Mara Leveritt

The West Memphis Three became a symbol of how fear and bias can derail justice. In the early 1990s, America was gripped by “Satanic panic.” Teenagers who wore black, listened to heavy metal, or dabbled in alternative beliefs were viewed with suspicion. Prosecutors leaned into this narrative, painting Echols and his friends as devil-worshiping outsiders. The courtroom wasn’t just a place of law; it became a theater of moral panic.

That climate, coupled with shaky confessions and questionable forensic work, led to convictions that many believe should never have stood. Documentaries, books, and investigative reporting have since kept the case in the public eye, turning the WM3 into reluctant icons of wrongful conviction.

What often gets lost in legal filings and headlines are the lives themselves. Jessie Misskelley entered prison with the mind of a teenager and has lived most of his adult life under the shadow of a coerced confession. Jason Baldwin, once the quiet, bookish kid of the group, has spent his post-release years working on behalf of other wrongfully convicted people. Damien Echols, sentenced to death and kept in isolation for years, continues to grapple with the trauma of solitary confinement and has rebuilt his life through art and writing.

For them, the new round of testing is not just about science. It’s about dignity, closure, and finally peeling away the last layer of doubt.

The testing has only just been approved, but the results will take time. And even then, outcomes may vary. DNA evidence could strengthen their case for exoneration if foreign profiles are found and exclude the three men. Point toward alternative suspects, reigniting investigative leads that were ignored or dismissed decades ago. Or, as painful as it may be, produce inconclusive results that prolong the limbo these men have lived in for years.

Jason Baldwin and his wife, Holly, at the world premiere of Devil’s Knot at the Ron Robinson Theater in Little Rock (Pulaski County); May 3, 2014. Photo by Mike Keckhaver

Regardless, the decision to test is itself a breakthrough. After decades of resistance, Arkansas courts are finally opening the door to truth. The West Memphis Three case isn’t just about three men. It’s about what happens when fear dictates justice, when shaky science is weaponized in court, and when the state clings to convictions instead of seeking the truth.

If these new tests reveal what many believe they will, the WM3 story could stand as one of the most striking examples of how far wrongful convictions can reach and how hard it is to undo them, even with the truth on your side.

Until then, all anyone can do is wait.

Note from Shelby:

This case is a reminder that justice delayed isn’t always justice denied; sometimes it’s just justice diminished. More than thirty years have passed, and I myself am only a few years older than the case. But the West Memphis Three were the first wrongful convictions I ever learned about, and now, a decade into this work, I can see how it shaped both the fight for justice and how I fight for it.