The
West Memphis Three are three men who were tried and convicted as teenagers, in 1994, of the 1993 murders of three boys in
West Memphis, Arkansas.
Damien Echols was
sentenced to death,
Jessie Misskelley, Jr. was sentenced to
life imprisonment plus two 20-year sentences, and
Jason Baldwin was sentenced to
life imprisonment. During the trial, the prosecution asserted that the children were killed as part of a
Satanic ritual. A number of documentaries have been based on the case, and celebrities and musicians have held fundraisers in the belief that they are innocent.