Devil's Knot_ The True Story of the West Memphis Three - Mara Leveritt [74]
“Yea, though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death,” he began, “I shall fear no evil. And I’m not scared of the devil. I know who my comforter is. Thy rod and thy staff comfort me. And I thank you, Lord, for letting me be able to believe in that with all my heart.”
Apparently turning his attention from God to the defendants, Byers continued, as though addressing them directly, “I hope you all really believe in your master, the Satan, sleuth-foot devil himself, ’cause he’s not going to help you. He’s going to laugh at you, mock at you, and torture you. He doesn’t need your help. The devil’s got all the devils he needs.”196
At another point he railed: “Jessie Misskelley Jr., Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols, I hope your master the devil does take you soon. I want you to meet him real soon. And the day you die I’m going to praise God. And I make you a promise. The day you die, every year on May 5, I’m going to come to your graveside. I’m going to spit on you. I’m going to curse the day you were born. And I’m sure, while I’m standing there, I’m going to have to have other bodily functions let go on your grave. I promise you, as God is my witness, I’ll visit all three of your graves.”
Compared to the speech by Byers, what the families of the defendants said to the filmmakers sounded subdued. Jessie Misskelley Sr., weathered and wearing a work shirt, told them simply, “Little Jessie told me he didn’t do it, he didn’t have anything to do with it, he wasn’t there. And I believe him. I think the cops just can’t find who done it, and they’ve got to put it on somebody.”
Jason’s mother, Gail Grinnell, looked gaunt and nearly distracted as the camera rolled. “I want to tell the whole world my son is innocent,” she said, “because I know he is innocent. I know where he was, and I know he’s innocent, and I want to tell the world, and I want the world to know.”
Damien’s biological father, Joe Hutchison, said, “This boy is not capable of the crime he’s been arrested for. I’ve seen him take a little kitten and love it just like you’d love a little baby. It’s like a nightmare you can’t wake up from. Our son is innocent. We intend to prove it.”
But while most who had parts in the tragedy appeared anguished and subdued, John Mark Byers seemed to relish being in front of the cameras. Berlinger and Sinofsky filmed him seated in front of the pool in his backyard, expounding on angels and demons; at the pulpit of a local Baptist church, singing a hymn; and with his neighbor Todd Moore in a field shooting pumpkins with handguns. In that scene, Byers, wearing a cowboy hat, did most of the talking, as he loaded his gun. “There’s a few people I wouldn’t mind going on and shooting with it,” he said, “but hopefully, the courts and the justice system will take care of ’em.”197
Chapter Thirteen
The Bloodstained Knife
BY THE SECOND WEEK OFJANUARY1994, reporters were gathering in Corning, Arkansas, where Jessie’s trial was about to begin. One of them asked prosecutor Fogleman about some of the questions that had been raised at the pretrial hearings. Citing professional ethics, he said he could not discuss the police investigation, the rumored lack of physical evidence, or attorney Stidham’s contention that Jessie’s statement had been coerced. “I can’t comment on specifics,” Fogleman said, “because I sincerely want these defendants to receive a fair trial.” He added, however, that he had “never seen a police department work any harder on a case” than the West Memphis police had worked on this one.198
On January 17, the day before jury selection was scheduled to begin,