THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
ONE SUSPECT WAS 'SCARY,' TALKED OF WORSHIPING THE DEVIL
Date: Saturday, June 5, 1993
Section: News
Page: A1
Illustration: photo
Source: By Marc Perrusquia The Commercial Appeal
Staff reporter Laura Coleman contributed to this story.
Edition: Final
Michael Wayne Echols carried a cat's skull around with him at school and routinely dressed in black.
A couple of years ago he took to calling himself Damien, presumably after the antichrist character popularized in a series of Hollywood movies.
When the 18-year-old Marion (Ark.) High School dropout was named Friday as one of three teenagers accused of murdering three West Memphis boys last month, several classmates and others said they weren't surprised.
"He just scares me talking about him," said Roni Hendrix, 16, one of several Marion students who described Echols as a serious youth who seemed distantly obsessed. "When I saw it (the announcement of the charges) on TV it didn't surprise me at all."
Several acquaintances said Echols told them he was a devil worshiper.
Separating fact from fiction was difficult Friday. West Memphis police released few details about Echols and the other two suspects, while relatives
closed doors in reporters' faces.
People who would talk disagreed about how deeply Echols may have been involved in satanic activity.
"He was kind of disturbed," said former classmate Keith Chism, 16, a junior at Marion High School who said he thought Echols was out to get attention. "He (told me last year) he just did it to get attention because if he didn't do it, nobody would like him or pay attention."
Chism said Echols - who was known to all as Damien, the name he had printed under his picture in the school yearbook - went to great lengths in his unusual behavior.
Chism said Echols often brought a cat skull to school, sitting sullenly in classes. Chism said Echols once flunked a business course the two students took together, compiling a "zero average" in his tests and graded papers. ''While everyone else was working, he was just playing with that skull," Chism said.
Roxanne Harrison, parent of one of Echols's former friends, said she was frightened by the young man. Harrison said Echols once told her in her house at 1850 N. Avalon that he was a "devil worshiper," displaying several satanic poems he had written.
"I run him off," said Harrison, who said Echols routinely wore a long black trench coat even during summer months. "I told him to his face: 'You get out and don't come back.' "
Although Harrison forbade her 13-year-old daughter, Jennifer, from having contact with Echols last year, she said he brought her family more trouble after the murders of the three West Memphis boys May 5.
"My daughter kept on telling me when this happened, 'Mama, he done it. Mama, he done it,' " Harrison said. "She said, 'Mama, he said there's going to be two more killed' . . . she was scared to go outside."
Daughter Jennifer, who just completed eighth grade in Marion schools, said Echols started acting strange in recent years. He frequently dressed in black T-shirts and black pants, she said, claiming among his heroes heavy metal performers Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica.
"He started writing all these poems about devil worship and I just tried to get away from him," Jennifer said. After the murders, "everybody was saying it was him," Jennifer said.
In earlier Marion yearbooks, Echols is listed as Michael Hutchison. Friends said they believe he was adopted by a stepfather a few years ago and changed his name to Echols.
A man who answered the door Friday at a trailer at 2706 S. Grove in West Memphis - the
address police gave as Echols's home - said he was the teen's natural father. The man, who said his last name was Hutchison, declined comment.
Echols had been staying with his girlfriend at the dilapidated, stench- filled mobile home rented by her mother in Lake Shore Mobile Home Park north of West Memphis, just a few streets away from where Jason Baldwin, another suspect, lives.
No one was home at the trailer Friday afternoon, but its owner, Pam Hollingsworth, allowed a reporter and photographer inside. The floor in one room was covered in cat feces, and garbage and food were found throughout the home.
On a window was a framed compact disc case titled Grim Reaper, with "See you in hell" handwritten at the bottom. Strewn across the bedroom floor were cassette tapes of heavy-metal artists.
Hollingsworth, who said she's talked to Echols several times, said she was afraid of him.
"He said the devil had chosen him. He said, 'The devil tells me what to do and I do it.' "
ONE SUSPECT WAS 'SCARY,' TALKED OF WORSHIPING THE DEVIL
Date: Saturday, June 5, 1993
Section: News
Page: A1
Illustration: photo
Source: By Marc Perrusquia The Commercial Appeal
Staff reporter Laura Coleman contributed to this story.
Edition: Final
Michael Wayne Echols carried a cat's skull around with him at school and routinely dressed in black.
A couple of years ago he took to calling himself Damien, presumably after the antichrist character popularized in a series of Hollywood movies.
When the 18-year-old Marion (Ark.) High School dropout was named Friday as one of three teenagers accused of murdering three West Memphis boys last month, several classmates and others said they weren't surprised.
"He just scares me talking about him," said Roni Hendrix, 16, one of several Marion students who described Echols as a serious youth who seemed distantly obsessed. "When I saw it (the announcement of the charges) on TV it didn't surprise me at all."
Several acquaintances said Echols told them he was a devil worshiper.
Separating fact from fiction was difficult Friday. West Memphis police released few details about Echols and the other two suspects, while relatives
closed doors in reporters' faces.
People who would talk disagreed about how deeply Echols may have been involved in satanic activity.
"He was kind of disturbed," said former classmate Keith Chism, 16, a junior at Marion High School who said he thought Echols was out to get attention. "He (told me last year) he just did it to get attention because if he didn't do it, nobody would like him or pay attention."
Chism said Echols - who was known to all as Damien, the name he had printed under his picture in the school yearbook - went to great lengths in his unusual behavior.
Chism said Echols often brought a cat skull to school, sitting sullenly in classes. Chism said Echols once flunked a business course the two students took together, compiling a "zero average" in his tests and graded papers. ''While everyone else was working, he was just playing with that skull," Chism said.
Roxanne Harrison, parent of one of Echols's former friends, said she was frightened by the young man. Harrison said Echols once told her in her house at 1850 N. Avalon that he was a "devil worshiper," displaying several satanic poems he had written.
"I run him off," said Harrison, who said Echols routinely wore a long black trench coat even during summer months. "I told him to his face: 'You get out and don't come back.' "
Although Harrison forbade her 13-year-old daughter, Jennifer, from having contact with Echols last year, she said he brought her family more trouble after the murders of the three West Memphis boys May 5.
"My daughter kept on telling me when this happened, 'Mama, he done it. Mama, he done it,' " Harrison said. "She said, 'Mama, he said there's going to be two more killed' . . . she was scared to go outside."
Daughter Jennifer, who just completed eighth grade in Marion schools, said Echols started acting strange in recent years. He frequently dressed in black T-shirts and black pants, she said, claiming among his heroes heavy metal performers Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica.
"He started writing all these poems about devil worship and I just tried to get away from him," Jennifer said. After the murders, "everybody was saying it was him," Jennifer said.
In earlier Marion yearbooks, Echols is listed as Michael Hutchison. Friends said they believe he was adopted by a stepfather a few years ago and changed his name to Echols.
A man who answered the door Friday at a trailer at 2706 S. Grove in West Memphis - the
address police gave as Echols's home - said he was the teen's natural father. The man, who said his last name was Hutchison, declined comment.
Echols had been staying with his girlfriend at the dilapidated, stench- filled mobile home rented by her mother in Lake Shore Mobile Home Park north of West Memphis, just a few streets away from where Jason Baldwin, another suspect, lives.
No one was home at the trailer Friday afternoon, but its owner, Pam Hollingsworth, allowed a reporter and photographer inside. The floor in one room was covered in cat feces, and garbage and food were found throughout the home.
On a window was a framed compact disc case titled Grim Reaper, with "See you in hell" handwritten at the bottom. Strewn across the bedroom floor were cassette tapes of heavy-metal artists.
Hollingsworth, who said she's talked to Echols several times, said she was afraid of him.
"He said the devil had chosen him. He said, 'The devil tells me what to do and I do it.' "
