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By Root 617 0

Oregon, was two thousand miles from West Memphis, but Driver’s interest in Damien followed the teenager there. Pam Echols and her children had barely settled into Joe Hutchison’s little apartment when Driver contacted juvenile authorities in Oregon, asking that they provide “courtesy supervision” of Damien for as long as he remained on probation. An Oregon juvenile counselor wrote that in his referral on Damien, Driver had “made the following comments: a) Damien and several others of his associates are involved in a Satanic cult; b) Damien and his girlfriend were both placed in a psychiatric hospital; c) Damien threatened to kill his girlfriend’s parents; d) Damien claims he is a witch; e) Damien and his girlfriend were planning to have a child, so that they could offer it as a sacrifice to Satan; and f) the authorities in Arkansas suspect that Damien’s parents are involved in this Satanic belief system.”62

With what might have been some trepidation, the Oregon counselor paid a call on the Echols family. He later wrote that Damien’s parents, Pam and Joe, said they were having no problems with the boy. Damien was not enrolled in school, the counselor noted, but was working full-time at his father’s gas station, earning $5 an hour. “Damien can express no hobbies or interests,” the counselor wrote, “and, when asked about what he does for fun, he says he never has fun.” For the record, he noted that amid other instabilities, even Damien’s name seemed to be in flux. The boy was named Michael Wayne Hutchison at birth, but had changed his name entirely when Jack Echols adopted him. The counselor reported, “Damien indicated that he changed his name from Michael to Damien because, at the time, he was involved in a conversion to Catholicism, and that Damien was the name of a saint he respected. At this time, Damien indicates he is in the process of having his name legally changed from Damien back to Michael Damien Wayne Hutchison. Damien is currently going by the name of Michael at his work place.”

The juvenile counselor also checked on Driver’s concerns. “Damien denies any involvement in a Satanic cult or beliefs in Satanism,” he wrote.

He expressed considerable displeasure with Mr. Driver in making such assertions. Damien did acknowledge a suicide pact that he and his girlfriend had made if the authorities or her parents attempted to keep them apart; however, he indicates that, following hospitalization, he no longer is interested in hurting himself or anyone else. Damien denies ever making threats of killing his girlfriend’s parents. Damien acknowledges he is a witch, and indicates this is his religious preference. He also distinguishes his religious beliefs from Satanism, indicating he believes in a series of gods and goddesses, and he sees this as his religious preference, which should not be of concern to state authorities. Damien felt that my inquiries in this area were an intrusion into his privacy, and declined to discuss the matters further.

The meeting was uneventful, and after it the officer recommended that Damien be supervised at “a minimum level” for the next four months—until December 11, 1992—when he would turn eighteen.

But Driver was far from satisfied. Two days later, Oregon officials received another letter from him, this one reporting that Damien had been “trying to get in touch with the young lady that was arrested with him.” Driver added that Damien’s attempt to contact his former girlfriend was “in violation of the terms of his probation,” although no records supported that contention. The Oregon authorities did not respond.

Damien could not escape Driver. He could not escape the turmoil in his family. And he could not escape the destructive forces at work in himself. Within two months of his parents’ reunion in Oregon, they were calling the local police, reporting that they were afraid Damien might be about to hurt someone—either himself or them. Officers took Damien into custody, and after discussing “his options” with him, they took him to a local hospital.63An examining doctor reported that Damien