Category: WM3

Dinner with Pam

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Friday evening Pam brought our grand babies down to stay with Amanda for the weekend.  It’s always good to spend time with the grand babies and Amanda will have them for us to visit with all weekend.  Since Pam was in town, the two of us went to dinner at Piccadilly’s in Memphis.  We enjoyed talking about the grand babies, how they were doing in school and about life in general.  We visited about 45 minutes before Pam had to head back home.

Reward or Buy-off

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It amazes me that the defense team persists in pursuing a closed case.  Posting billboards in the communities where my family live is reprehensible, especially when the billboards offer to buy my family and/or friends. This is harassment, pure and simple.  I’m tired of being continually blamed for a crime I did not commit in an effort to paint three convicted killers in a positive light.  They pled guilty. They refused a new trial.  
This isn’t about the three who have been released; this isn’t about me or my family.  This is about three little boys who were killed, who can never come back. There are three families’ who will never get to watch their children grow up, have their first date, graduate or get married.  It’s time to let those three families remember their loved ones in peace and quit trying to blame them for their children’s deaths.

Thank You Letter to the Academy

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February 26, 2012
President Tom Sherak
Chief Executive Officer Dawn Hudson
Chairman Robert P. Epstein
AMPAS
Awards Office
8949 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills CA 90211
Re: Paradise Lost III: Purgatory

Dear AMPAS Officers and representatives:

We, the parents of the murdered West Memphis, Arkansas, children, would like to thank the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for not awarding an Oscar to Paradise Lost 3 : Purgatory. Since August 19, 2011, we have witnessed many new and painful injustices. It started with the release of our children’s killers – Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. We are pleased and relieved to know that we did not have to suffer yet another injustice with this film being awarded an Oscar. Your decision not to reward a biased documentary that celebrates convicted child murderers was the right one and the only positive occurrence we have seen since their release. For this we are truly thankful to the Academy.

That said, this documentary never should have been nominated in the first place. From an artistic standpoint alone, it is filled with staged scenes, contrived dialogue, and was closer to fiction than to fact. It is difficult to believe the same institution that honored Harlan County USA, just to cite one example, saw fit to nominate a film that should not share that honor. The documentary feature award category has been cheapened, possibly beyond repair, because of this outrage. This was bad reality television. It was not a documentary as the Academy has honored in the past.

Society has grown coarse. The late Senator Daniel “Pat” Moniyhan was famous for his quote that society was “defining deviancy down.” Sen. Moniyhan had no clue how right he would be proved. When convicted murderers are honored at a worldwide televised event and mingle with an institution’s members as equals, it is difficult to imagine how much further down deviancy can be defined. We hope AMPAS found that bottom this year.

With both gratitude and sorrow,
Todd Moore, father of Michael
Diana Moore, mother of Michael Moore
Steve Branch, Sr., father of Stevie Branch, Jr.
Terry Hobbs, stepfather of Stevie Branch, Jr.

The Real West Memphis Three – Stevie, Michael and Christopher

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For many years I have been documenting the things that have happened to my family since Stevie was murdered in 1993.  Many people have told me to deal with things, to get over death and move forward.  It is much easier said than done.  The journals I have kept during the past 18 years contain my deepest thoughts, my dreams, and most importantly, the struggles and trials I have suffered through the years.  There have been tears, anger, guilt and grief.  Injustice has been served to the victim’s family in a move to discredit the prosecution of those convicted of murder.  Victims and families around the world should be outraged about the course of this case and the additional heartache and pain caused to the families of Stevie, Michael and Christopher.  It is my sincere hope that other families can find peace in their darkest hours.  It is with great anticipation that I have been working with an individual to compile these journals into a story that is begging to be told. The two of us anticipate, one way of the other, to publish this story in the near future.
Sincerely,
Terry W. Hobbs
Overview
In 1993, three eight year old boys were brutally murdered and three teenagers were subsequently convicted and sentenced for this crime.  The three convicted killers spent almost eighteen years in prison and, like most criminals, continued to proclaim their innocence.  While in prison, these three teenagers gained an almost cult-like following of people worldwide, including celebrities, producers and attorneys; all of whom lobbied for the freedom of child killers.  
In the quest for their freedom, fingers have been pointed toward variety of people who could have committed the murders of three cub scouts.  One of those fingers is pointed toward Terry Hobbs, the step-father of Stevie Branch.  This story is about the devastation the murder of a child has on a family and the relentless pursuit to frame Terry for the murders of Stevie Branch and his friends.   The West Memphis Three, Who they really are:  as told by Terry Hobbs.

Terry Hobbs issues statement about WM3 release Submitted by Jason Plank, WMCTV.com Thursday, August 25th, 2011, 1:08pm

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Terry Hobbs, the step-father of Stevie Branch, released the following statement Wednesday about the release of the West Memphis 3:

I will never be able to find words to come close to expressing the constant and deep pain of the last 18 years. So many people’s lives were drug into a living nightmare with the death of those three little boys, May 5, 1993. The cost of suffering that unbelievable loss which has been paid by the families of all those involved, victims and accused, can never be counted, and the rumors and accusations that have flown ever since that day have torn lives and families apart. I am one of those who continue to pay that cost, but there are many, many others and my heart goes out to them. From the very beginning until this moment state and local officials has reassured me at every turn of the case there has never been one speck of interest in me as a suspect.

What I will also never be able to find words for is the thanks I feel for the support of my Lord, my family, my friends, my church and the state of Arkansas. They will have to read it in my eyes and feel it in my return of support for them all. I’m glad this part of the nightmare is over. I hope and pray for all of the families to move on with their lives from this point with a sense of hope and peace, trusting that the Lord knows all, loves all, and when sincerely asked forgives all. I’m moving on with my life leaving this part of the nightmare as part of the past.

I’ve prayed for Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jesse Misskelley more than once, and as recently as last night. I’ve asked the Lord to work a miracle of forgiveness in me toward them, and believe he is already answering that prayer. My hope for them is that they live good and productive lives for the rest of their time on this earth. One thing I believe all who have been touched by this tragedy can agree on is that the truest victims in all
of this continue to be Michael Moore, Christopher Byers and my step-son Stevie Branch.

From this point on I will have nothing at all to say about the case. According to the state of Arkansas and in my own heart and mind it is closed, and I am leaving it that way. From this point on I will talk about my love for Stevie, what he has always and will continue to mean to me, and look for-ward to seeing him again in heaven, where there will only be peace and joy and love forever.

Witnessed by: Dr. Steve Stone
Pastor
Heartsong Church
August 24, 2011