It was among the most heinous crimes Arkansas had seen.
It was May of 1993. Three young boys, found brutally murdered in a ditch near the Robin Hood Hills neighborhood in West Memphis.
It didn't take long for police to zero in on three teenage suspects -- Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr. and Jason Baldwin, soon to be known nationwide as the West Memphis Three.
Misskelley, who reportedly had an IQ of 72, was questioned for hours without a parent present. He confessed to his and the other two teens' involvement, but quickly recanted. Then a few months later made another damning statement.
The three were tried the next year. Misskelley and Baldwin would get life. Echols, who his lawyers say was unfiarly tarred with allegations of Satanism, was sentenced to death.
Almost immediately questions rose about the three teens' guilt. Three influential HBO documentaries were made about the case and numerous books written, casting doubt on the investigation and Misskelley's confession. Well-known actors and musicians lent their support.
Eventually, after allegations of juror misconduct and new DNA evidence that did not match the suspects, the three were released on an Alford plea deal in 2011. The three did not admit guilt, but accepted sentences that amounted to time already served.
Although not cleared of the crimes, the three have continued to maintain their innocence. As far as the police and prosecutor's office is concerned, they did their jobs and the case is solved. They really don't have much incentive to go digging again.
But in 2022, Echols and his legal team petitioned to have new, more advanced genetic DNA testing done on crime scene evidence. At first they were told the evidence was lost in a fire. Then, after more than a year, it was discovered intact by the West Memphis Police Department. But a Crittenden County judge turned down the request for new testing.
Echols took the matter to the state Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor last week.
Will the new testing conclusively clear Echols and his co-defendants? Probably not. Without evidence of another suspect or suspects many will continue to insist police had the right three perpetrators all along. But maybe, just maybe, it will reveal something that leads authorities closer to the truth about what happened to those three young boys in 1993.
And that's what we all are supposed to want, isn't it?