Peter Jackson on West Memphis Three: It's not over
- 12 years ago
(ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION)
STORY: The high-profile case of the West Memphis Three murders might seem like an odd choice of films for director Peter Jackson, but the "Lord of the Rings" maker has come to the Sundance Film Festival with a documentary about the case and a new revelation of a possible suspect.
Jackson, who contributed financially to help the defense of the three convicted killers who are now out of jail nearly 20 years after the crime, and the legal team claim they have testimony that the stepfather of one of the victims is the real murderer.
Whether that allegation eventually proves true will await prosecutors' action in West Memphis, Arkansas where the murders took place in 1993, and so far the prosecution has stuck by its belief they had the right culprits all along.
But where Jackson and one of the West Memphis Three, Damien Echols, are concerned, their documentary "West of Memphis" and this new testimony takes the fight further.
Jackson and director Amy Berg debuted "West of Memphis" at Sundance on Friday (January 20), and simultaneously defense lawyers issued a press release detailing their new revelations.
The documentary follows the case of what many believe was the wrongful conviction of Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, who were teenagers when they were accused of killing three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993. The film chronicles the three until just after they were released last August in a legal maneuver known as an "Alford Plea," whereby the men plead guilty in their own best interest while asserting innocence.
STORY: The high-profile case of the West Memphis Three murders might seem like an odd choice of films for director Peter Jackson, but the "Lord of the Rings" maker has come to the Sundance Film Festival with a documentary about the case and a new revelation of a possible suspect.
Jackson, who contributed financially to help the defense of the three convicted killers who are now out of jail nearly 20 years after the crime, and the legal team claim they have testimony that the stepfather of one of the victims is the real murderer.
Whether that allegation eventually proves true will await prosecutors' action in West Memphis, Arkansas where the murders took place in 1993, and so far the prosecution has stuck by its belief they had the right culprits all along.
But where Jackson and one of the West Memphis Three, Damien Echols, are concerned, their documentary "West of Memphis" and this new testimony takes the fight further.
Jackson and director Amy Berg debuted "West of Memphis" at Sundance on Friday (January 20), and simultaneously defense lawyers issued a press release detailing their new revelations.
The documentary follows the case of what many believe was the wrongful conviction of Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, who were teenagers when they were accused of killing three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993. The film chronicles the three until just after they were released last August in a legal maneuver known as an "Alford Plea," whereby the men plead guilty in their own best interest while asserting innocence.