The Police Department of West Memphis is to be both blamed and praised. A crime of this stature would be a heavy burden for any department to solve but, having the disadvantage of addressing a case with this much depth was difficult beyond their training. This is not to criticize the police, but to illustrate the difficulty that had befallen them. The boys had been questioned separately, and all of them had said that they were not responsible and didn’t know who was. I believe all three were telling the truth. On more than one occasion they were questioned, about their friendship and the crimes. Both Jason and Damian denied having anything to do with this crime. Unfortunately, Jessie Miskelly Jr. who has an IQ of about 70, did the most damage to the investigation. The police had to have more than what they had to make some kind of arrest. At that point, Jessie was the most willing to talk so they would base their interrogation on him, and the statements he had, and was preparing to make a full confession.

Jessie was brought into questioning having been warned of his rights. His father had to give the police his ok to question Jessie Jr. about the murders, basically waiving Jessie’s rights and allowing the police to question him at length. In this way, the police led him into a scenario, by asking him over and over until he said what they wanted to hear. The first time Jessie was asked about what time did this all happen? Jessie Jr said around noon. The cops must have known right then this young man was telling tales since school records showed all three boys were in school that day, all day. Jessie had no firsthand knowledge of the crime and the transcripts bear this out. Jessie, when asked after his conviction if he understood what he was testifying to, he admitted he didn’t. He appeared confused, as if he thought he was telling them what they wanted to hear, it would be over and he would go home. I believe that this defendant did not have a grasp of intent to kill. In fact, I’m quite sure, having seen some of the materials from this scene there really isn’t any way this young man could have had any idea how the situation would turn out but since he knew he didn’t do it, it didn’t matter what he said to the police. He knew he was innocent.so the cops could play this silly game to him. He truly did not have the mental capacity to understand that this wasn’t a game. He implicated both Jason and Damian. Before long, Jesse Senior went to get his son after the questioning and found out his son was being held on charges stemming from the incident with the three young boys deaths.

Both Damian and Jason were at Damian’s trailer. His parents were out at a casino and had rented a vcr and gave the kids pizza money. It was Damian, his sister Michelle, Jason and Domini Teer, Damian’s girlfriend. It is an unusual procedure to have the warrants served at night, and the officers came in the premises and removed the occupants while they began a search. The found the boys in the back bedrooms; Michelle his sister, had yelled when she saw the headlights. The back two bedrooms were to be searched and there was a general panic over the fact that they thought that they were dealing with seasoned criminals, Satanists, hardened kids when in reality, none of them had even bothered to finish high school.

Damian was the leader according to West Memphis police. He was the instigator, and characterized as a Satanist who changed his name to Damian to model the demon seed in the low budget horror flick,”The Omen”. Another urban myth:Damian changed his name to honor a priest by that name,Father Damian, an 18th century priest who cared for lepers on an island. This is but one of the many rumors and publicity that made the climate for hate towards whoever was evil and sick enough to do this. The minute the three were in custody, the local police made a statement that they had arrested three boys, in connection with the triple slaying. There’s a saying in a favorite film that says, “The media controls millions of minds with their buying and selling of fear,” Everyone in the community believed what they were being told because they wanted to, they were so scared, they literally needed it. Damian was an articulate young man, well read in many subjects and was a writer himself. He liked heavy rock like Metallica, and had tried to find a religious experience with no success. He usually dressed all in black. Where I live, that describes about half the males in their age group at the time that fit that description. West Memphis could sleep easily knowing the monsters who committed such atrocities were behind bars. Jessie, that first night probably wondered why he was there. He had changed his story to fit their story,that was what he thought he was supposed to do. If he told them what they wanted him to, they would let him go home. What happened?