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Miscellaneous Articles |
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12/26/97: The Strange Demise of Melissa Byers 12/26/97: This Is a Deep Story 10/04/02: Medically defeated [about Melissa Byers] 10/27/94: Mark and Melissa Byers Discuss Past, Problems [scroll down] 11/14/96: The Lost Boys, Phoenix New Times 12/00/96: Witness Claiming Reports Are False: Michael Carson... [p. 2, scroll down] 01/13/98: Missing $28,000 Puts Youth Probation Office... [p. 3, scroll down] 05/06/98: New trial sought for figure in WM murders, Log Cabin Democrat 05/20/98: Damien Echols: Still Fighting For Justice [p. 4, scroll down] 06/03/99: Byers Gets 8 Years [p. 5, scroll down] 06/25/99: The Origin of Satan (prison mail practices), Arkansas Times 03/24/00: Kids, cops and confessions, Arkansas Times 03/31/00: The Silence of the Governor: 'Paradise Lost' Stirs Dispute, Ark. Times 08/10/00: The fight to free the West Memphis 3, Salon.com 01/00/01: A Roshi on the Row, Shambala Sun 03/16/01: West Memphis Child Killer Goes Back to Court, WMC-TV 03/21/01: WM3 Supporters Picket Justice Building [p. 5, scroll down] 07/12/02: Lawyer's use of funds called felony, Jonesboro Sun 09/14/02: DNA tests sought for Echols, others, Jonesboro Sun 10/04/02: Devilish questions, Arkansas Times 11/15/02: Investigation clears Price of criminal wrongdoing, Jonesboro Sun 06/19/03: Court agrees to 'final' delay of condemned killer's appeals, WMC-TV 06/27/03: Musicians speak out for West Memphis Three, Salt Lake Tribune 07/08/03: West Memphis Three, KAIT 07/11/03: Delay yields no new DNA tests in West Memphis murder, WMC-TV 09/05/03: The Devils' Advocates, LA Weekly 10/02/03: High Court Hears Another Argument in 1993 Child Murders, KATV 10/03/03: West Memphis 3 convict pushes for new trial, WMC-TV 10/03/03: Top Court Hears Echols Case, Times Record 10/16/03: High Court Turns Away Echols Appeal, KATV 10/17/03: Court Says No Hearing For Killer, Times Record 10/17/03: Court rejects argument to reopen Echols case, Jonesboro Sun 10/30/03: West Memphis 3 leader loses another appeal, WMC-TV 10/31/03: Court rejects Echols' bid for new trial, Jonesboro Sun 01/09/04: The Architect and the Inmate, Arkansas Times 07/22/04: Ever Feel Cheated? Echols Speaks from Death Row, The Stranger 10/07/04: Complete Fabrication, Arkansas Times 10/07/04: What I Did Was Wrong, Arkansas Times 10/07/04: They Messed with My Words, Arkansas Times 10/29/04: The Devil's Advocates, Daily Journal 10/29/04: Defense Lawyers Claim Juror Misconduct, Daily Journal 01/20/05: Convicted Killer Damien Echols' Appeal Denied, KATV 05/03/05: In Depth: Damien Echols, KARK-TV 05/04/05: In Depth: Damien Echols, KARK-TV 05/05/05: In Depth: Damien Echols, KARK-TV 05/07/05: Seventy Cities Host Fundraisers for the WM3, WMC-TV 07/28/05: 'Satanic' Killers Hope to Prove Innocence, BBC News 01/09/06: Governor Not Inclined Toward Clemency, KAIT 04/06/06: Attorney: WM3 Deserve New Trial, KTHV 05/13/06: Celebrities Call for Release of WM3, CNN 07/14/06: WM3 Supporters Deliver Letters to Huckabee, KATV Mark and Melissa Byers Discuss Past, Problems Angela Roberts, The News Staff 1994-10-27 SHARP COUNTY - Criminal charges, restraining orders and a feud some have compared to the Hatfields and McCoys, are issues that Melissa and John Mark Byers are facing after moving from West Memphis in an effort to leave the past behind them. Their eight year-old son, Christopher, along with two other boys was brutally murdered in May of last year and after a year of national and local news coverage the Byers wanted to start over and chose Sharp County as their new home. Since moving to Cherokee Village the Byers have been charged with residential burglary, a felony, and Mark Byers has been charged with a misdemeanor of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Melissa said they thought they had found the perfect place to live and raise their older son, Ryan, but Mark said it's been a "fiasco." Both the Byers sat at their kitchen table and talked of the West Memphis nightmare and the problems they have experienced since moving here. At first things were fine, they both agreed, saying they had made good friends with their next door neighbors, John and Donna Kingsbury. What began as a close friendship with backyard barbecues, fishing trips and over the counter coffee conversations has erupted into a war zone with both sides issuing restraining orders against the other. Marks said the blowup came between the two couples when he swatted the five year old son with a fly-swatter and the Kingsburys allege the spanking left bruises. "We kept the Kingsbury’s children all the time and we had permission to disciple them," Mark Byers said, "How could they think I would hurt their child, after what happened to ours?" Both Byers said when they go to the store, people follow them around and are always making comments. Mark and Melissa Byers feel the accusations made during the trial planted doubt in some peoples minds. "We are victims turned into villains," Mark Byers said. Mark and Melissa Byers said they had never seen any of the three boys convicted of the murders, but one had repeatedly accused Mark Byers of being involved in the murders. "In court they looked like choir boys but I remember what they looked like when they were arrested," Mark Byers said adding they looked like animals. Byers said he felt Damien Wayne Echols accused him because he was the most vocal of the group. "I was interrogated for hours from some guy from Quantico, Va, and I had to give hair and blood samples," Byers said. "I was a baseball coach, a boy scout leader and sang at the First Baptist Church," Mark Byers said, "So why would anybody think I would know anybody in a cult?" "We have never been involved in cult activities and have not been approached by anyone in the community thinking that we are," Mark Byers said. The Byers will be the first to say they are not considered upstanding members of the community since the charges of burglary and contributing to the delinquency of a minor have been filed. It was nothing to look out the door everyday and see Ryan with friends, but now they say parents don’t want their children associated with their son. Both Byers contend they had nothing |
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| -Marilyn Manson, commenting on the Rollins benefit album |