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in theWest Memphis Evening Times noted that ever since the murders, “the rumor mill in Crittenden County has been grinding on overtime. The level of supposition reached wildfire proportions after the three teens were arrested last week, and community comment linked them with Satanism. Public curiosity being what it is, in the absence of any hard, cold facts other than the names, ages and addresses of the suspects, speculation is bound to continue.” The editorial advised that “giving the public a bare framework of facts surrounding these murders would have gone a long way toward suppressing the rumor and supposition. It seems to us that’s much more dangerous to these defendants’ eventual fair trial than the truth would be. But beyond that, the failure of the courts to allow the public even a limited knowledge of the facts in this case means Crittenden Countians have no choice but to take on faith the word of the police and prosecutors that this crime has been solved and that the community can breathe a sigh of relief…. While this community has no particular reason to distrust its law enforcement officials, a little reassurance wouldn’t hurt. But the case remains shrouded in secrecy, and the public’s questions remain unanswered. We hope, above all else, that our faith in the law enforcement and judicial system is justified. We just wish we knew for sure.”

134. Rainey’s order sealing the normally public records was affirmed by circuit judge Ralph Wilson Jr.

135. Reporters did ask a few questions about the variations in Jessie’s confession. One reporter for theWest Memphis Evening Times asked Fogleman about the part in which Jessie had said that the boys were murdered at around noon, when it was known that they were in school. Fogleman’s answer was terse: “Obviously, the time is wrong.” TheCommercial Appeal also took note of Jessie’s apparent “confusion about the issue.” The principal of Weaver Elementary School confirmed that the victims were in school all day, but the principal of Marion High, where Jason attended, refused to release attendance records that would have supported his claim that he had been in class there all day. In another article, the paper noted that the transcript of Jessie’s statement “places commas in unusual places.” For example, it reported that at one point the transcript quoted Jessie as saying, “Well after, all this stuff happened that night, that they done it, I went home about noon, then they called me at nine o’clock that night, they called me.”

136. The Reverend Rick McKinney warned, “Satanism is out there. Parents and young people need to be aware of its reality.” He advised that “a fascination with horoscopes is an early sign. If you go to the library and look for information on horoscopes, they will send you to the occult section.” And he added, “There is definitely a connection between hard metal music and Satanism.” The Reverend Tommy Stacy, another Baptist, said the situation in West Memphis called for “spiritual warfare.” But it was warfare, he advised, that was best left “in the hands of the Lord and law enforcement.” Yet another Baptist minister, the Reverend Tommy Cunningham, began a series of sermons on satanism. He told an overflowing crowd, “Satan wants us to believe he is a nonreality. If he convinces us of that, then his work is carried out best.”

137. The psychologist, Dr. Paul King, was identified by the paper as the author ofSex, Drugs and Rock and Roll: Dealing with Today’s Troubled Youth.

138. Quotes about cults ran the gamut. “Cult experts gave warning in 1992,” a front-page Sunday headline in theCommercial Appeal read. John Mark Byers told theCommercial Appeal that even after the arrests, he and Melissa remained afraid that members of a satanic cult might be free in the community. The paper reported that Byers believed “that others may have seen the three defendants ‘all bloody and muddy and wet’ after the murders”—others who “knew that these three little boys were going to be sacrificed.” “My wife and I are scared,” Byers told the paper. “The devil is at work, and recently,