HBO Documentary Films’ Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, the conclusion of the award-winning trilogy that spawned a world-wide movement to free three convicted men – Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley – known as The West Memphis 3, tells the complete story of one of the most notorious child murder cases in U.S. history.

Provocative and timely, the film chronicles stunning new developments, culminating in the startling and unexpected conclusion just a few months ago, when Echols, who was on death row, and Baldwin and Misskelley, who were serving life sentences without the possibility of parole, were finally freed from prison after more than 18 years.

“Almost 20 years and three films ago, HBO’s Sheila Nevins sent us on this journey to document the terrible murders of three innocent boys and the subsequent circus that followed the arrests and convictions of Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley,” says filmmaker Joe Berlinger. “To see our work culminate in the righting of this tragic miscarriage of justice is more than a filmmaker could ask for.”

On May 5, 1993, the bodies of three eight-year-old boys were found next to a muddy creek in the wooded Robin Hood Hills area of West Memphis, Ark. A month later, teenagers Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were arrested and later convicted of brutally raping, mutilating and killing them.

Following trials fraught with innuendoes of satanic worship, emotionally charged statements and allegations of coerced confessions, the defendants were convicted, despite a lack of physical evidence linking them to the crime.

With the support of HBO, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky have followed the story for almost two decades.  Arriving on the scene just days after the arrests, the filmmakers assumed they were making a film about guilty teenagers, as the local media was reporting an open-and-shut case.

They embedded themselves in the community for seven months prior to the 1994 trials and came to question the guilt of The West Memphis 3. By the time the trials were over, Berlinger and Sinofsky were convinced they had witnessed a modern-day witch-hunt.

Their first film, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996), shocked audiences around the world with its portrayal of a rush to judgment, and was followed by Paradise Lost 2: Revelations (2000), which revealed a flawed appeals process. The two films fueled a public and legal battle, raising awareness of the case and helping spark the worldwide movement Free The West Memphis 3, supported by celebrities such as Johnny Depp, Eddie Vedder and Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks.

Encouraged by the growing international support movement, HBO and the filmmakers began production on Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory in 2004. Says director and producer Berlinger, “We tried to make the film a self-sufficient viewing experience, so that you don’t have to have seen the previous films to fully comprehend this complicated case.”

Adds co-director Sinofsky, “We re-tell the early days of the case with footage we have never used before, so fans of the first two films will be viewing past events with a fresh perspective.”

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory reveals recent DNA and other forensic evidence (unavailable at the time of the murders), as well as other troubling developments, including allegations of juror misconduct, that suggest the trio did not receive a fair trial.  The film includes new interviews with Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley, who are now in their 30s, and many of the subjects of the first two documentaries, including John Mark Byers and Terry Hobbs, stepfathers of two of the victims and frequent targets of the media (and each other).

Besides drawing on 150 hours of footage shot since 2004, the filmmakers pored over hundreds of hours of original video and 16 mm footage from the first two productions, discovering compelling full-length scenes with new relevance.

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory also contains rarely seen news footage that is no longer available to the public, but had been meticulously archived by the filmmakers, as well as previously unseen photographs taken by Berlinger and director of photography Bob Richman over the course of 18 years.

The documentary ends with a stunning denouement, when Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley entered rarely used Alford pleas and were finally released from prison on Aug. 19, 2011, agreeing to plead guilty while asserting their innocence in order to secure their freedom, and most urgently, to get Echols off death row.

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory had its world premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival in its original form, and was subsequently updated and lengthened by 12 minutes to include The West Memphis 3’s remarkable release.

On Oct. 10, 2011, the three men, together in public for the first time since they left the Arkansas courthouse, were greeted with a standing ovation and the thunderous applause of 1,200 filmgoers at the conclusion of the world premiere of the longer version at the New York Film Festival.

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Without very much warning, the infamous trio dubbed the “West Memphis 3” was released from a prison in Arkansas on Friday after 17 years. Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr. and Jason Baldwin were freed after a complex plea deal, known as Alford pleas, were reportedly entered.

The three men were convicted in 1994 as teenagers of the brutal killings of three 8-year old boys in Robin Hood Hills. Prosecutors alleged that the boys were killed as part of a satanic ritual. According to police, the boys’ bodies were mutilated and left in a ditch. Each had been hogtied with his own shoelaces.  Echols was sentenced to death, Misskelley was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 40 years, and Baldwin was sentenced to life even though no evidence connected the three to the crime.

Over the years, three documentaries have been made on the West Memphis Three, pointing out the inconsistencies in the case. The small town of West Memphis, Arkansas was ill-equipped to handle the triple homicide and, according to some, wanted to pin the murders on someone quickly without doing much investigation.

“They will be free men … on suspended sentence,” prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington told reporters during a Friday press conference about the West Memphis Three. “Only time will tell as to whether this was the right decision.”

DNA testing was not available at the time of the defendants’ trials. In 2007, it was found that DNA collected at the crime scene did not match that belonging to any of the three men. DNA evidence on one of the shoelaces did match one of the victims’ stepfather, who many allege is the true killer. The DNA was not on the shoelaces used to bind his stepson but rather one of the other boys that were murdered.

In November 2010, the state Supreme Court ruled that all three could present new evidence in court.A new court date had been set for December, but on Thursday Judge David Laser ordered all three men transported to Jonesboro for today’s surprise hearing. In a brief statement released to the press, Laser only said that the hearing was to “take up certain matters pertaining to the cases” of the three defendants.

Experts believe that the Alford plea was used. An Alford plea means that the trio maintains their innocence while admitting that there is a substantial likelihood that the jury will convict. Many are speculating that the state wanted to release these men without admitting their mistake. The plea also makes it more difficult for the trio to sue the state over wrongful imprisonment.

“It’s not perfect,” Echols said in a press conference following the hearing. “It’s not perfect by any means but at least it brings closure to some areas and some aspects.”  Echols added that he was “still very much in shock [and] still overwhelmed.”

“We can still bring up new evidence; we can still continue the investigations we [have] been doing,” said Echols. “We can still try to clear our names. The only difference is now we can do it from the outside instead of having to sit in prison and do it.”

But Baldwin said he only took the deal to rescue Echols from death row.

“This was not justice,” Baldwin said. “In the beginning we told nothing but the truth — that we were innocent and they sent us to prison for the rest of our lives for it. We had to come here and the only thing the state would do for us is say, ‘Hey we will let you go only if you admit guilt,’ and that is not justice anyway you look it. They’re not out there trying to find who really murdered those boys, and I did not want to take the deal from the get-go. However, they are trying to kill Damien, and sometimes you just got to bite the gun to save somebody.”

John Mark Byers, the father of one of the children killed in 1993, said he believes Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley are innocent, adding that he is angry with the way the pleas are being handled.”This is not right, and the people of Arkansas need to stand up and raise hell. … Just because they admit to this today, it’s not over,” Byers said.

Over the years, the West Memphis Three have had a number of vocal celebrity supporters like Eddie Vedder, Johnny Depp, Metallica and the Dixie Chicks.

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