how did melissa byers die

Hicks had gotten Hobbs down on the ground, when Hobbs reached into his pocket, pulled out the gun, and shot Hicks in the abdomen. Byers asked Metz to come over and see if she had a pulse. When it didnt, the praise heaped on Paradise Lost felt hollow. It has happened to a lot of people that just dont have the spotlight of a documentary, he says. The third boy, Byers, had died of loss of blood suffered during the removal of his penis. For 48 years, our progressive, alternative newspaper in Little Rock has been on the front lines of the fight for truth, and with your support, we can do even more. Mojo jumped up, Baldwin recalls. "[12], Waser met with Sheriff Powell, Chief Burton, and Investigator Witt to discuss searching the Byers' residence. Its something that Baldwin couldnt envision when he first agreed to let the documentarians interview him in jail in exchange for an honorarium, or even when Mojo played that VHS tape for him in 1997. For Rollins, it was a moral imperative: Id find myself up at 3:30 a.m. thinking about Damien. Melissa DeFir Byers was born on January 15, 1996. Attorneys for Darnien Wayne Echols, who was sentenced to death last May for the killings, made several efforts to at least raise the possibility that a family member of one of the victims was involved, especially after a knife belonging to Byers was discovered with human blood on it blood that matched the type of both him and his stepson Christopher. It had been a long fight to clear their names, and the odds seemed better than ever. All three boys were found guilty. "He ask [sic] John Mark if Melissa was dead. That included Mojo, who came calling around 2 a.m. that day trying to coax him out of his cell. Originally from Willard, Mo., she spent nearly three years reporting in Arkansas and Illinois before returning to Missouri and joining The Star in 2017. According to Dan Stidham, the attorney for Misskelley, that money became essential for the cash-strapped defense teams, who needed to pay for expert witnesses and other expenses. Did Byers do it? 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. But those findings did not solve the riddle of Byers death either. My first thought is, I hope this dude isnt trying to pull me into some type of escape, Baldwin says nearly a quarter-century later. Kissee said, I dont know how you put a pricetag on a little boy s life. But he said the Byerses believe their son would still be alive if police had begun searching for the three boys sooner, after Pamela Hobbs reported them missing. At this point, Ryan said he couldn't "take it anymore" and so he and Amanda left, drove around, got gas, and bought a soda. As for ordering Byers out of the district, Lambert said, such an arrangement can be legal if done with the agreement of the party being banished. On the street, it sells as much as $50 per tablet. Bakken and Sauls say they tried to avoid offering theories about the case publicly, opting instead to try to work through official channels. In addition, they seized six types of medication that had been prescribed for Melissa Byers. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. John Mark gave a voluntary statement to Waser as well. I cannot but I believe he did in my mind. Dan Stidham, the original attorney for Misskelley, who would also work on Baldwins and Echols appeals, says he has the answer. In the meantime, he has hired Larry Kissee, a lawyer in Ash Flat, to represent him in a lawsuit he is considering fling against the city of West Memphis. The hospital staff came to his aid and I excused myself to the visitor's room. But it wasnt in the ways its directors had hoped. All in all, in light of what I know about this case, I don't think the investigators looked at Byers hard enough and were too willing to opt for the easy way out in arresting the teens since they were "creepy" and fit the Christian mythic description of satanists. <> No physical evidence was produced linking any of the accused teen-agers with the crime, and no motive for the killings was introduced other than that the murders had been part of an demonic ritual. When he entered the house, Griffin wrote, he found Byers ex-wife on the floor and Byers brandishing an electric shock device known as a Power Zapper. The news came just one day after Jerry Lee Lewis fell victim to similar rumors. Baldwin remembers the dire circumstances laid out during the call. Mojo was right. In January 1995, John Mark Byers was found guilty on the charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Byers, 63, was once considered a person of interest in the 1993 killings of Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Steve Branch, all 8. Not enough drugs to kill her, and no signs of trauma. Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! That was more than the people deciding the case were able to hearthe presiding judge made the expert give most of his testimony without the jury in the courtroom because he questioned its relevance. He declared he. Melissa A. Metz also said that Byers stated "that he did not kill her and that he loved her. Kaitlyn Schwers covers breaking news and crime at night for The Kansas City Star. An additional part of the agreement was that Byers would leave the Third Judicial District, which is made up of Sharp, Lawrence, Randolph, and Jackson counties and not come back to them, or to Fulton County either. 6iE8vD2q%Q.B[.e(bJ R)Pku.~5YU>A(ZZqA:t5$y+FGpMv!. Emest R. Rose, Hardys chief of police, said that, with only a few exceptions, Byers account of that incident agrees with the accounts provided by other witnesses. Melissa was the biological mother of Chris Byers and Ryan Clark. Melissa Gilbert recently became the latest celebrity to fall prey to an online death hoax. That same year, Byers was arrested and charged with terroristic threatening for an assault on his former wife. [34], The final cause of death for Melissa was listed as "undetermined". Copper has been known to kill tomato plants if placed directly into the stem or base, but placing copper wire around the wound may not have the same effect. Ryan stated he knocked on the door to his parents' room and both answered him. He advised he went immediately to the bedroom and saw that Melissa was totally naked lying on the far side of the bed on her back. He said he left the home around 3pm when Ryan and his girlfriend were at the home. Supporting the Arkansas Times' independent journalism is more vital than ever. He got what he deserved.. Founded 1974, the Arkansas Times is a lively, opinionated source for news, politics & culture in Arkansas. how did melissa byers die. Growing up and over a 6 foot trellis and trailing back down to the ground, this plant looks incredibly healthy with no leaf loss anywhere. "[32], Two contusions, ranging from 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch, were noted as being located on Melissa's skull. Melissa Byers did not have a prescription for Dilaudid. As for Paradise Lost, it was the inciting incident in the two-decade chain of events that led to the release of the West Memphis Three. The documentarians found me in one of the worst things a person could go through, Baldwin says. Alright, investigator Gary Gitchell said. Going by what was said in the article about the ME not being able to determine cause of death, we can safely assume it wasn't a natural death caused by something like a heart attack or massive cerebral hemmorage, both of which leave definite signs. Melissa is the estate planning paralegal at Legacy Law Center. Melissa was the biological mother of Chris Byers and Ryan Clark. Mandy said that later that night Byers located the syringes and threw them away after police were done searching his home. He said he was at the Byers' residence on March 29th, 1996. The origin of the other needle puncture woundsin the groin, arms, and feetwas undetermined. There is some dispute then about how the pocket knife got into Byers passengers hand, but no one disputes that one did or that it belonged to Mark Byers. At midnight, Witt went to the house next door to interview Norm Metz, a neighbor who had followed John Mark Byers to the hospital. No distinct scarred needle tracks were present. Her body was sent for autopsy to the office of the medical examiner at the Arkansas Crime Laboratory in Little Rock. Don't miss out on the opportunity to make a difference with your subscription or donation to the Arkansas Times today. The other drugs found in the blood were at low or therapeutic levels which have not been associated with sudden death."[35]. The Paradise Lost cameras captured not only the defenses discussions, but the full testimony, in Misskelleys trial, of an expert on coerced confessions. Christopher Byers, also known as Christopher Murray, was born on June 23rd, 1984. Seed saving is a great way to ensure the survival of your plants, and it's also an economical choice. One of the boys in the altercation carried a pocket knife belonging to Byers. Melissa was the biological mother of Chris Byers and Ryan Clark. And the seemingly endless stream of threats against them and the frequent clashes with Mark Byers did nothing to dissuade them. The assaults are but another twist in a tragic saga. A benefit album was released in 2000, and the phrase made it into a Dawsons Creek episode when Pacey shouted Free the West Memphis Three over an airport intercom. I spoke with one of the jurors, years later after the trials and convictions, and he said he had no doubt that people could throw their lot in with the devil and be commanded to do things that they wouldnt have done otherwisethat they have basically made the deal with the devil, Leveritt says. Nobody was saying, This is an outrageous case that needs to be looked into.. The two reportedly fell asleep and Byers awoke to find Melissa unresponsive. Help us deliver the latest daily reporting and analysis on news, politics, culture and food in Arkansas. 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. He had, in fact, passed it, but it was after that that Misskelley gave his damning confession.z. Mike Houston of the Police Department said police who went to the house pieced together the following of what had transpired: Pamela Hobbs said that earlier in the day, her husband Terry had beaten her with his fists. The story felt personal for all of them, but especially Sauls: He had grown up in Florida and Georgia as an outcast obsessed with art and reading some of the same books Damien Echols had. Melissa Byers, Self: Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. They told reporters they wanted to escape the publicity that had engulfed them and live peacefully, but police say, rather, that, since arriving, the couple has disturbed the peace. stream I've been suspicious of the Byers family since the beginning. The sheriffs is now investigating an explosion and subsequent fire that destroyed 1976 Dodge Travelmate motor home that was parked in Atwoods driveway.). By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. At approximately 9:40 that night, Witt and eight other officers organized a search at the Byers home. [20] Waser asked to take a statement from Ryan, but was told that he was out with friends. Berlinger and Sinofsky began to take notice. Sun Sugar is a hybrid cherry tomato variety that has been thriving in my garden for over a year. Christopher, known to family and friends as "Chris" was one of three murder victims in the "Robin Hood Hills Child Murders" case. 2 0 obj But they werent just voices in the growing choir calling for the West Memphis Threes releasethey were leading the movement. She was laying on her back and was not breathing. Furthermore, there is evidence that suggests that plants grown in cement blocks do not suffer from BER (blossom-end rot), which c, Growing Tomatoes from Saved Seed: Tips to Achieve Maximum Germination Rate, Seed Saving: Tips for Ensuring Maximum Germination Rate And without substantial physical evidence, police zeroed in on a pair of teens they knew well: Echols, a self-professed Wiccan who wore all black and read Stephen King, and his best friend Baldwin, who was considered an outsider because of his love of drawing and bands like Metallica. Much of Cecil Hotel focuses on the amateur investigators who turned coincidences into conspiracy theories, ultimately accusing an innocent person of her death. When he was released in 2011, he met John Hardin, who worked with the West Memphis Three support group Arkansas Take Action, and the two bonded over a desire to do for others what had just been done for Baldwin. He advised that when he left, he almost flipped his car over he left so fast, spinning gravel. weaving supposedly anti-Christian and occult messages into their songs, he discovered her while Googling cold cases, funded an extensive private investigation, a November 2010 Arkansas Supreme Court ruling, biggest allies in the years before his 2020 death, acquitted of capital murder in 2018 after a 25-year legal saga. That inability on the part of the doctors to determine the cause of Melissa Byers death was what prompted Sheriff Powell to telephone Witt. I said, Im going to send some kids down there., Those kids turned out to be Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, the young documentarians who had recently completed the acclaimed Brothers Keeper, a film chronicling a death and the resulting trial in a small upstate New York village. Why wasn't he questioned about several other inconsistencies and "coincidences" surrounding his step-son's murder? Disintegrated by the Prototype Gate Explosion. The answer seems obvious. The 28+ Demodogs are seen falling after Eleven closes the gate. And that makes him hopeful that exoneration is on the horizon. They asked, instead, if he had ever used the knife. He and John Mark Byers were informed that Melissa was deceased at 6:30pm. But officials at the Marshal s Service say Byers was released, and no record apparently exists showing to whom he was released or why. So the minute youre done, you just want to know more. [2] Metz said that prior to her death she "seemed to be irritated and had a bad attitude. Bakken immediately showed her friends Burk Sauls and Grove Pashley, who were both equally gripped by what they had just watched. I think I introduced my dad to it because that was not his normal genre., Three Metallica songsOrion, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), and Call of Ktuluwould play throughout the documentary. Mojo, however, was considerably more fired up, believing the same thing many of Paradise Losts viewers did: that the movie showed an incredible miscarriage of justice, one that would surely be fixed. We were finally winning, he says. Melissa Byers was only 40 years old. Berlinger and Sinofsky expected a similar result to come quickly in the West Memphis Three case. With over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts, it's clear that our readers value our great journalism. Rather, they were fighting for something they believed in. He stated that when he touched her she did not feel right. (Its worth noting that despite the issues raised by Lindseys work, the first season of Up and Vanished renewed interest in the case, which ultimately led to arrests, albeit of people that Lindsey hadnt previously covered on the podcast.). We know that Melissa A. All of those factors combined to create a tipping point, says Leveritt. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. Melissa was carried out of the house unconscious and rushed to a hospital. Critics were effusive in their praise and stunned by the footageparticularly Roger Ebert, who wrote in a four-star review that at the end of the film I was unconvinced of their guilt. The film won Emmy and Peabody awards to go with more than a dozen other nominations. (Chief Medical Examiner). By the end of Paradise Lost, you cant believe they were found guilty, Bakken says. By 2005, Rollins himself had raised $100,000 for the cause. John Griffm, of the Marion Police Department, wrote in his report that a concened neighboradvised that she heard a woman screaming [and that] there were two small kids outside by themselves, unattended.. Melissa's return to the home coincided with her son's. I thought that was *very* strange, his insistence on re-living the whole thing. If convicted, each could receive a sentence of from three to 10 years . Records of what happened next are vague. The boy he was fighting was injured seriously enough to require hospitalization. This announcement really makes me wonder about Byers and the deaths of his step-family. Berlinger also concedes Revelations had some ethical problems, chiefly because it raised the possibility that Mark Byers committed the killings. Even today, years after his name was cleared and authorities ruled Lams death accidental, Morbid still receives threats. The specter of the church looms over Paradise Lost, best represented by an early scene in which Mark Byers leads his congregation in prayer and song. To authorities working in West Memphisa largely Southern Baptist communitysatanic activity seemed to be the most likely cause for the killings, in part because the boys bodies were bound and appeared to have been mutilated. In August 2011, Jason Baldwin was pulled from his prison cell under confusing circumstances once again. In an email to The Ringer, Rollins stressed that inaction was not an option., Myself and the many people I worked with did what we could to help bring attention to the case and generate much needed financial aid, he wrote. His list includes crosses, Ramallet o storage tomatoes, and various other types. A drug screen tested positive for hydromorphone (Dilaudid), but negative for alcohol). A tattoo of a heart and scroll were present on her right upper back, with the name Christopher written in the scroll. It can slow breathing, heart rate, and brain activity. But Berlinger also believes that the sequel is important for documenting the power of citizen activism. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. They procured the domain WM3.org and made a website, updating it with whatever information they could track down. [SNIP]. I went to a Baptist school and I got accused of being a devil worshiper because I was trying to learn how to write hieroglyphics, says Sauls, today a screenwriter and VFX designer. He says his students seem to have a better grasp on the idea of coerced confessions than any of his peers in 1994. 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. They found marijuana in a closet of the master bedroom and on a night stand in the other bedroom. Her body showed no visible signs of trauma. They even hired experts to examine the case, including a forensic criminal profiler who discovered what appeared to be bite marks on one of the victims that didnt match any of the convicted. We made a promise early on that we would never pretend to be law enforcement or detectives, Sauls says. But the lawyer quickly noticed inconsistencies in Misskelleys purported confession. Either way, after an emotional Season 4, it looks like Will's character . Ryan had been living with his biological father for the past six months. Sheila Nevins, the HBO exec who pushed for Berlinger and Sinofsky to make that initial trip to Arkansas, is most proud of the companys willingness to let her finance three documentaries over 18 years without knowing where they would go. NO PEACE YET: Melissa and John Mark Byers, now facing criminal charges themselves, hold a picture of their murdered son Christopher in their new home at Cherokee Village. In April 1994, eleven months after the murders, John Mark and Melissa Byers and their surviving son, Ryan, moved to Cherokee Village. Not just because John Mark Byers is so creepy (though he IS), but becausethe Byers boy was the only one who was sexually mutilated, AND Mr. Byerswas the one who reported the boys missing. It will be interesting to see if the police come up with anything on Mrs.Byers' death, and if so, if they will possibly re-open investigations intothe murders of the three boys. How many people from this familyhave died / been murdered??!! By becoming a subscriber or donating as little as $1 to our efforts, you'll not only have access to all of our articles, but you'll also be helping us hire more writers to expand our coverage and continue to bring important stories to light. 1 0 obj The sheer mountain moving amount of money it cost to prove the obvious innocence of Jessie, Jason, and Damien still staggers me. Filming the activists work seemed like the best place for Berlinger and Sinofsky to turn their attention; what better way to show the continued plight of the West Memphis Three than to show regular people dedicating their free time to fighting for them? Asked if the discovery of an illegal drug in the body of a possible homicide victim was not a finding worth listing, Clark affirmed that, There may be room for some further investigation as to how she obtained the drug. As for the needle marks in the bodys arms, feet, and groin, Clark said, In the pathologists opinion, all those wounds were probably done at the hospital.. I deeply admire that and I thought it was worthy of putting on film.. Now, he was being asked to consider something that he never dreamed he would: accepting a plea deal that would set the West Memphis Three free, but require them to give up their quest for exoneration. And here is another: A year and a half ago, it was Jackie Hicks who, as part of a search team scanning West Memphis for the missing children, was the first to discover the bodies of young Steve Branch and his two murdered playmates. <>/Metadata 79 0 R/ViewerPreferences 80 0 R>> [30], Melissa was described as wearing "a pair of blood-tinged panties". He knew that if he ever got out, hed want to do that in a more organized way. So when I saw this tiny little article in the Times, I wasnt about to free anybody that was guilty. Defense lawyers tried to suggest that family violence may have played a role in the killings, rather than satanic blood-thirst, as was alleged. He kept asking me, What is your opinion? He said, I think they ought to have fought it out, dont you?, I said, No, I dont. As of "The Piggyback", 825+ characters are known to have died throughout the show's run. Sheriff Powell is keeping his open. He was charged with a felony cocaine count and carrying a weapon. In 1996 they appeared on television again, this time in a highly praised documentary about the West Memphis murder case that was shown on HBO. That person reportedly contacted other relatives in Blytheville, and together they drove to Memphis, where they confronted Terry Hobbs about the assault. But I had to. 24 Jun . Peter Jackson, who would produce a separate documentary about the case titled West of Memphis in 2012, and his partner, Fran Walsh, funded an extensive private investigation and helped hire forensic experts to comb through evidence. Berlinger and Sinofsky, the latter of whom died in 2015 at age 58, were able to gain incredible and immediate access to seemingly everyone the case had touched: the families of the victims and the accused, the judge, the lead investigator, members of the community.

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