Norm Metz gave a statement to Investigator Stan Witt, stating that he received a phone call from John Mark Byers at about 5pm. She stated that she lived with Byers and "discovered that he was nothing but a pathological liar. If convicted, each could receive a sentence of from three to 10 years and a fine of up to $10,000. By subscribing or donating to the Arkansas Times, you'll not only have access to all of our articles, but you'll also be helping us hire more writers and expand our coverage. To Powell, her death looked like a possible homicide. The 1998 Arkansas Times Academic All-Star Team nominees. That inability on the part of the doctors to determine the cause of Melissa Byers death was what prompted Sheriff Powell to telephone Witt. When Alex Sinofsky is asked about his fathers work on the film, he recalls the frequent trips and long hours spent editing film on a Steenbeck he kept in the house. Berlinger and Sinofsky began to take notice. <> He drove to 75 Skyline to assist. Melissa Byers, Self: Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. Donna and John Kingsbury, who live next-door to the house where the Byerses moved, have sought a restraining order against their new neighbors, alleging that Mark Byers whipped their 5-year-old son with the metal end of a swatter, that shots have been fired at their house, and that Melissa Byers threatened them, saying, Wel1 put you in a hole you cant get out of, and I lost my Christopher. Stranger Things: Halloween Sounds From the Upside Down, Stranger Things: Worlds Turned Upside Down, Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town, Back broken after being telekinetically thrown against a wall, Accidentally killed during experimentation, Injuries sustained after their van was telekinetically flipped. Byers surfaced periodically in the extensive coverage of the case, once supplying a knife to makers of an HBO documentary that was found to have blood from his adopted son on it. % If the state of Arkansas has a deep and abiding belief that the West Memphis Three are child murderers and did these terrible crimes, then shame on them for letting them out after 18 and a half years because a bunch of celebrities are whining about it, Berlinger says. Christopher Mark Byers. The nonprofits work hasnt always been easyfundraising is hard, and because hes a convicted felon, hes unable to visit clients in prison or discuss pleasbut its been essential for him as he strives to live the words by 14th-century Persian poet Hafez that he keeps as an email signature: The small man builds cages for everyone he knows / While the sage, who has to duck his head when the moon is low / Keeps dropping keys all night long for the beautiful rowdy prisoners. Baldwin says hes learned that justice isnt a computer programthat you can input all the evidence and testimony and still get the wrong results. Her body was sent for autopsy to the office of the medical examiner at the Arkansas Crime Laboratory in Little Rock. Like Misskelley in the first trial, Baldwin received a life sentence. When the pair got the call from Nevins, they mobilized immediately, landing in Arkansas shortly after the arrests. Even today, years after his name was cleared and authorities ruled Lams death accidental, Morbid still receives threats. No, he said, according to a transcript of that interview. Sun Sugar is a hybrid cherry tomato variety that has been thriving in my garden for over a year. The 33 Unnamed Hawkins Lab Employees are seen through the lab's security cameras and throughout the hallways. Melissa left her husband to live with her parents and had only been living at home for two to three weeks before she passed away. It was nude and lying on the stretcher where she had died. This is not a smoking-gun-type case.. But its closing moments point to how the filmmakers felt: that a horrific tragedy had just been compounded by a monumental miscarriage of justice. It can slow breathing, heart rate, and brain activity. Our monthly magazine is free at over 500 locations in Central Arkansas. "[7], At approximately 5:30pm, an ambulance responded to Cherokee Village where Melissa was reported as being unresponsive. There are some interesting "events" in his criminal past, including threatening a 5 year old and forcing a couple of teens into a knife fight. Waser noted in his report that Byers was sitting outside of his home with a woman by the name of Mandy Beasley. But it wasnt in the ways its directors had hoped. While Berlinger says that the work of people like Bakken and Sauls was more impressive than that of any celebrity, its undeniable that the famous and influential brought a megaphone and funding mechanism to this case that most never get. For Rollins, it was a moral imperative: Id find myself up at 3:30 a.m. thinking about Damien. Melissa was the biological mother of Chris Byers and Ryan Clark. By going into the courtroom and sticking with the case for its entire duration, Berlinger and Sinofsky were able to capture what may have otherwise been lost to time or left out of transcripts. By collecting seeds from your own garden or buying them in bulk, you can save money on future purchases. Few celebrities at the time did as much as Henry Rollins, however. It was agreed that a search should be conducted and Byers was approached. Police followed a trail of blood drops throughout the house and into the basement. Waser described the subsequent events as follows: "After signing the request he apparently passed out and fell towards the counter. The governor of the state of Arkansas who will one day pardon the West Memphis Three is probably in junior high right now, he says. Join us in the fight for truth. In September, Melissa Byers was charged with disorderly conduct after a neighbor reported that Melissa had threatened to kill her family. Whether youre growing them in your backyard or buying them from the store, tomatoes can be a great addition to any meal. She died of undetermined causes on March 29, 1996. But from the start, their residence there was marked by turmoil, including several incidents verging on violence: In early 1994, shortly after their arrival, John Mark and Melissa Byers were jailed in Sharp County on charges of residential burglary and theft after more than $20,000 in antiques were taken from a neighbors home. Metz could not remember it but thought it started with the letter D. Metz advised that John Mark Byers also told him he thought her death was a drug overdose and that they were going to accuse him of smothering her. Waser helped the EMTs move Melissa onto a backboard so she could be placed in the ambulance and taken to the hospital. By 2005, Rollins himself had raised $100,000 for the cause. Before granting his permission for the search, John Mark Byers had told a deputy sheriff that police would probably find a small amount of marijuana in the house. He was a . Hopper mentions in "The Weirdo on Maple Street" the last suicide in Hawkins prior to Benny Hammond was an unnamed person in 1961. The second time he requested a towel. Beyond the black-and-white print of the newspaper, there was a movement brewing. This article was updated after publication to add more context about the honorariums paid to the families of the victims and the West Memphis Three and also to correct the time frame in which Berlinger and Sinofsky informed HBO about the changing scope of the documentary. I thought that was *very* strange, his insistence on re-living the whole thing. The two met with Byers' neighbor, Metz, who expressed concern over Byers' step-son, Ryan Clark, as he had not returned to the residence after reportedly leaving abruptly while Melissa was being worked on. To Powell, her death looked like a possible homicide. None of the three believed that, but Echolss healthand the possibility that even if he survived, he would still be on death row should the fight for retrials failmade it an imperative. Melissa DeFir Byers was born on January 15, 1956. [5]Byers said that they heard Ryan knock on the bedroom door around 3:20pm and then they both went back to sleep. In the joint trial of Baldwin and Echols, which took place separately from Misskelleys, Berlinger and Sinofsky filmed the surreal moments that juries were actually present for: a rundown of the books Echols checked out of the library, a parade of band T-shirts worn by the pair, a copy of a Blue Oyster Cult record found in Damiens girlfriends house that became evidence because of the word cult and song titles like Dont Fear the Reaper. What the cameras couldnt capture, however, was the introduction of physical evidencethe prosecution didnt offer much of that aside from a knife that was never directly linked to the crimes and fabric threads deemed microscopically similar to items found in Baldwins and Echolss homes, an assertion that has been questioned in the years since the trials. Melissa is the estate planning paralegal at Legacy Law Center. The following is a list documenting the deaths of characters throughout the four seasons of Stranger Things. But Echolss situation changed Baldwins thinking. It even predicted that Eddie would die in Volume 2, and that's exactly what happened. Melissa was the biological mother of Chris Byers and Ryan Clark. Nor was the Dilaudid mentioned on the page listing the medical examiners findings. A longer trail of violence followed the lives of Melissa and Mark Byers, the mother and stepfather of Christopher Byers, another of the young victims of that crime, who, besides being murdered, was also found castrated. It was born out of genuine admiration for the fact that these guys took the time out of their lives to dedicate, to go down to Arkansas, to build a website, to really step out of their lives, Berlinger says. Chances are, if death was from natural causes, it came about by arrythmia,which leaves no traces after death. When told about the finding of blood, Byers changed his statement, claiming that he had used the knife to cut deer meat to make jerky. Melissa DeFir Byers was born on January 15, 1956. West Memphis is in the heart of the Bible Belt: just a two-hour drive from where, legend has it, the devil tuned Robert Johnsons guitar, in a state thats 46 percent evangelical Protestant. Varieties for 2021 In the opinion portion of the autopsy report it was stated that "no specific anatomical cause of death was found." After the murders, restitution was made for the watches, and the matter was never prosecuted. "She advised he told her a cigarette made a excellent fuse, that you could light it, and due to slow burning, it would give you time to get away. "[12], Waser met with Sheriff Powell, Chief Burton, and Investigator Witt to discuss searching the Byers' residence. A heavy metal test was conducted and none were found. Nico has put together an impressive list of tomato varieties for 2021. You dont know who I am. Byers denies saying that. Gilbert's fans were. He said he left the home around 3pm when Ryan and his girlfriend were at the home. In February, Netflix released Berlingers Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, a docuseries that looked at the 2013 death of Elisa Lam, a Canadian student who died while vacationing in Los Angeles. In June 1996, Paradise Lost debuted on HBO, bringing the story of the West Memphis Three to TV sets and showing the power of the camera in the courtroom. "), Also, the guy I think was Byers said that the last time he saw his son, he was giving him a beating because the son had been riding his bicycle in the street or something like that. Daniel Stidham of Paragould is the lawyer for Jessie Misskelley, who was accused, along with Echols and Jason Baldwin, of killing the three West Memphis children. Waser assisted in photographing Melissa at the hospital and bagging evidence. In fact, for the better part of 1993, it was nearly impossible to find anyone who believed they were innocent. I cannot but I believe he did in my mind. And there were some signs of deteriorating health, such as obesity, narrowing of some arteries, and a gallstone. It s not between you, its between them. And, Rose added, he does admit to saying that, too., The boys did back off, in part because Byers was holding what appeared to be a gun. On March 29, 1996, at approximately 5:40 p.m, Sonny Powell, the sheriff of Sharp County, called Investigator Stan Witt of the Arkansas State Police to report a suspicious death. Hes subdued when discussing the facts of the case, but he comes alive while recounting his work with the Jaycees while in prison, or buying Metallicas Black Album when it came out in 1991. When there wasn't one he started CPR. Ryan had been living with his biological father for the past six months. Misskelley, who reportedly had an IQ of 72, changed his story several times, and only a small part of his statements was recorded. Ryan said Byers then began CPR on Melissa. 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