Abomination: Devil Worship and Deception in the West Memphis Three Murders (4 page)

He stated that his belief was there was a goddess and not a god. He stated that everyone in the group works toward a divine light and upon reaching that stage they become like gods themselves. He has been a member of this group for about five years, he stated.
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Damien confirmed he liked to read books, and one of his favorite writers was Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey, author of
The Satanic Bible
. According to Ridge, Damien said that:

He figured that the killer knew the kids went into the woods and even asked them to come out to the woods...he stated that the boys were not big, not smart, and they would have been easy to control. He also felt the killer would not have been worried about was screaming due to being in the woods and close to the expressway. He further stated that the killer probably wanted to hear the screaming.
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When asked by police who did the crime, Damien Echols responded with one word---”Satanists.” During questioning, Damien offered information to the investigators that only the killer would know. Surprisingly, he said that the murderers had urinated in the mouths of the three boys. This evidence was unknown to the police at the time of the interview, and would only be confirmed by the medical examiner after the completion of the autopsies.

Damien also said that the penis was a symbol of power in Wicca and that the number three was numerologically significant. He also stated that the person who committed the crime probably felt good about the murders and it felt good that they had the power to do what they had done. Damien also said that the more innocent victim would be, the more power the perpetrator would have received from the sacrifice. He added that the Book of Revelations was his favorite book of the Bible, as the Devil was handling out all the punishment. When asked who he thought committed the crime, Damien suggested LG Hollingsworth, Domini Teer’s cousin. Coincidentally, Hollingsworth was also at the police station to be interviewed about the murders. The full transcript of the police notes is included below:

May 10th, 1993

Damien Echols Interview

Lieutenant Sudbury and Detective Ridge

On Monday, Sudbury asked Echols to come to the police station for additional questioning. Both Lieutenant Sudbury and Bryn Ridge conducted the interview:

On 05/10/93, Damien Wayne Echols who is also known as Michael Wayne Hutchinson came to the West Memphis Police Department for an interview concerning any information that he may have concerning the above noted homicide. Present during the interview were Lt. James Sudbury of the Crittenden County Drug Task Force, myself Detective Bryn Ridge, and Damien Echols. A subject description was filled out that contained information about Damien’s residence, his vital statistics, and his family. At this point Damien was not considered to be a suspect and only general knowledge questions were being asked. Damien was very calm and even cold as he answered the questions concerning his background and any knowledge he may have had concerning the homicide.

Damien stated that he was a member of a white witch group that he referred to as Wicca. He stated that his belief was there was a goddess and not a god. He stated that everyone in the group works toward a divine light upon reaching that state they become like gods themselves. He has been a member of this group for about 5 years he stated.

Damien stated that he had met one person that he considered to be a priestess. He stated that the person he met was Deanna Holcomb who he stated lived in the Harbor Yard, Hardin Village area of Marion on Cabrale Cove. He stated that she worshipped cats in what she did with her form of witchcraft.

Damien stated that on Tuesday 05/04/93 he was at home from when he got out of bed at about 10:30 to 11:00 a.m until he got up at about 12:00 noon when he left and went to Lakeshore. He stated that he has a lot of friends at Lakeshore since he used to live there with his stepfather Jack Echols.

Damien was wearing a necklace that he claimed that he had just bought at the Mall of Memphis on the Saturday before this interview. The necklace had a pentagram as a pendant that Damien explained meant some type of good symbol for the Wicca magic that he was in.

Damien stated that on Wednesday he was with Jason Baldwin and Domini Teer and that they had gone to Jason’s uncle’s house on Center Street in West Memphis. He couldn’t give a specific address but said that it was near Alexander’s Laundry Mat where he stated that he called his mother to pick him up.

He stated that his mother picked him up along with Domini Teer and took Domini home. Domini is Damien’s girlfriend who is pregnant with Damien’s baby. Domini lives in Lakeshore Trailer Park with her mother. Damien stated that after he and his mother dropped Domini off that he along with his mother, sister (Michelle), and father (Joe Hutchison) had gone to the residence of Susan Sanders and visited for a while. he stated that he was at their residence at about 3:00 to 5:00 PM on that date and after leaving the residence he went home where he stated that he got on the phone with a Holly George who he states lives in Bartlett, Tennessee. He stated that he got off of the telephone with Holly after talking for a long time at about 11:30 PM that night.

Damien stated that on Thursday he went to Lakeshore where he stated with Domini. he stated that he heard the boys were missing from Jason Baldwin while he was a Lakeshore that day. He then stated that he heard that the news that the boys were missing from Jason’s mother.

Damien stated that Steve Jones from the Juvenile Authority had been by to see him a day or two before and that Steve had told him about how the boys testicles had been cut off and that someone had urinated in their mouths.
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He stated that Steve stated that could have been the reason that the bodies were placed in the water so that the urine could have been washed out.

Damien had an opinion for who could have done the murders as being someone sick and that it was some type of thrill kill. He also stated that the penis was a symbol of power in his religion known as Wicca. He also stated that the number 3 was a sacred number in the belief.

When asked about Jason Baldwin he described a Jason Baldwin that lived in west that was not his friend Jason Baldwin. He claimed that the other was mean and that he had been known to kill snakes which he claimed was just for the “hell” of killing. This Jason was described as being about 5'9" tall, 18 years old, and 300 pounds. He stated that he thought Jason was known to smoke dope but, he was not queer.

Damien stated that he knew LG Hollingsworth through Domini. He thought that LG was a relative by marriage. He stated that LG was kind of weird in that on one occasion he wanted to trade girl friends with Damien for a night.

Damien stated that he felt that it was probably one person because if it were more than one person somebody would probably tell about it sooner or later. He said that there would be a fear of squealing by one of the person in the act if it were more than one person.

When asked if the water had any type of meaning in the Wicca or black magic, Damien stated that water was a demon type symbolism and that all people have a demonic force. He further stated that people have control over the demonic force in them.

When asked about how he thought the person felt that had done the homicides, he stated that the person probably felt good about what he had done and that he felt good that he had the power to do what he had done.

When asked why he thought the victims were so young, he stated that the younger the victim then the more innocent the victim would be. That in turn meant that the more innocent the victim would be the more power that the person would have gotten from the sacrifice.

Damien went further to explain that in his Wicca religion he knew that evil done comes back three times. He stated that meant that any evil done by a person would be rewarded by the person doing the deed having three times the evil done to him in revenge.

Damien stated that his favorite book of the Bible was that of Revelations because of the stories in it about what was being done by the Devil and the suffering done by people at the hands of the Devil.

Damien stated that he figured that the killer knew the kids went into the woods and even asked them to come out to the woods. He stated that the boys were not big, not smart, and they would have been easy to control. He also felt the killer would not have been worried about the boys screaming due to it being in the woods and close to the expressway. He further stated that the killer probably wanted to hear the screaming.

Damien mentioned that he thought that it was scary that we were doing psychological profiles and that he was on an antidepressant that he said was Amipromin.

When asked what he thought the person who killed the boys was feeling now, Damien stated that the person probably thought it was funny and that he didn’t care whether or not he got caught.

When asked what kinds of items we should be searching for, he stated that we should be looking for stones in the area, candles, a knife, and some type of crystals.

Damien was asked what kind of cigarettes he was smoking and he stated that he smoked the cheapest brand that he could find.

Damien stated that he felt the murderer would be someone local and that the person would not flee from the area.

Damien was asked about his sex life and he stated that he now thought sex was boring.

It was noted that Damien had the tattoo of “E”, “V”, “I”, and “L” across his left knuckles and he stated that Jason Baldwin had the same tattoo on his knuckles.

Damien was asked if he would submit to having hair samples taken and blood samples. He stated that he did not object to the samples being taken. It was further asked if he would be willing to take a polygraph examination if one could be scheduled and he again stated that he would take the test.

Lt. Sudbury then left the room and attempted to set up a polygraph examination to determine if he was being truthful in his statements. I asked Damien if he considered himself to be intelligent at which time he stated that he thought he was very intelligent. He stated that he dropped out of school but that he was self taught and that he was very smart and more intelligent than most people.

Lt. Sudbury had asked questions throughout the interview that he had listed. Lt. Sudbury kept notes himself as to the answers that Damien had given to his questions.

Notes from Sudbury report concerning urinating in the mouth at this time Damien was turned over to Detective Durham for a polygraph examination.

After a time, Detective Durham came and met with me and other officers and reported that Damien had been untruthful and according to the polygraph was involved in the murders. It was determined at this time Detective Durham and Lt. Sudbury would continue the interrogation that had begun when it was discovered that he was being untruthful.
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A full record of the polygraph report is included below:

West Memphis police department p. 93-0021

Polygraph report

To: Det. Ridge date of exam may 10,1993

Complainant number case file number 93-05-0666

Subject: Damien Wayne Echols SSN. ***-**-****

Purpose of examination

Homicide investigation

Remarks:

In the pretest interview, the subject denied having been in Robin Hood Hills on Wednesday, May 5, 1993. He denied being present when the victims were killed and denied having killed any of the victims. He also said he did not know who killed the three victims.

A ten question polygraph test was formulated and three polygraph charts were conducted. The test contained the following relevant questions:

Q.#3. At any time Wednesday or Wednesday night, were you in Robin Hood Hills? "NO"

Q.#5. Were you present when those boys were killed? "NO"

Q.#7. Did you kill any of those three boys? "NO"

Q.#9. Do you know who killed those three boys? "NO"

Q.#10. Do you suspect anyone of having killed those three boys? "NO"

It is the opinion of this polygraph examiner that this subject recorded significant responses indicative of deception when he answered the above listed relevant questions in the manner noted.

Conclusion: Deception Indicated

In the post test interview, the subject denied any involvement in this crime. After approximately forty-five minutes, I asked the subject what was he afraid of? He replied: "the electric chair." He then said that he liked the hospital in Little Rock. (He said he had been treated there for manic-depression) after a short period of time, the subject ceased to deny his involvement. (admission through absence of denial) he then said: "I will tell you all about it if you will let me talk to my mother." Detective Ridge brought his mother in to my office to talk to him. After talking to his mother, he again denied being involved in the murders. After approximately twenty minutes, I asked: "Your'e never going to tell anyone about this but your doctor, are you?" he replied: "No"
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