This article is 1993- The Commercial Appeal
The Commercial Appeal
DEFENSE LAWYER BRINGS OUT NEW ALLEGATION
Date: September 28, 1993 Section: News Page: A8 Illustration: photo Source: Marc Perrusquia The Commercial Appeal Dateline: MARION, Ark.
Edition: Final
Two people say they told police they saw a teenage girl walking with murder defendant Damien Wayne Echols near the crime scene on the night three 8-year- old boys were murdered. The statements provided the fodder Monday for a bombshell accusation by defense attorney Paul Ford.
Ford charged at a court hearing that Echols's 16-year-old girlfriend Domini Teer was seen near the crime scene the night of the May 5 murders. Teer has not been charged. Ford's statement is the first public allegation that anyone other than three teenage defendants and the victims was near the crime scene.
Domini's mother, Brenda Dian Teer, reached at her residence Monday night, said she could not talk about the case. ''The attorney has told us not to make any comments.''
Ford also said he may argue that his client, defendant Jason Baldwin, was not at the scene, a small West Memphis woods off Interstate 40. Three teenage boys - Baldwin, 16, Echols, 18, and Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr., 18, - have been charged with the murders.
Gerald Coleman, Teer's court-appointed attorney, denied Ford's charge Monday. Reached by telephone after the hearing, Coleman, who represented Teer during questioning by prosecutors earlier this month, said Teer was at home the night of the murders, adding police already have discounted witness statements that Teer was seen with Echols around the time of the murders.
Ford did not elaborate on his accusation and declined to discuss it after the hearing.
But Narlene Hollingsworth, 42, who resides near the filthy, trash-strewn trailer where Teer and Echols lived together, said Monday she stands behind her allegation.
Hollingsworth and her 16-year-old daughter Tabitha said they told police two days after the murders that they saw Teer and Echols walking down a service road along I-40 around the time of the murders. Hollingsworth said Teer and Echols, dressed in muddy black clothes, were walking west, away from the Robin Hood park woods where the boys' bodies were found.
''I wouldn't change my story if I was dying,'' said Hollingsworth, a resident of the Lakeshore Estates trailer park. ''I know that freckled-faced, red-headed girl anywhere.
''It was Domini - not a boy.''
West Memphis police Insp. Gary Gitchell declined comment on all aspects of the case Monday outside court. However, two sources close to the investigation confirmed it was Hollingsworth's statement to police that supplied the substance for the new defense claim.
Narlene and Tabitha Hollingsworth said they were driving east down the service road in the family's red 1982 Ford Escort when they saw Echols and Teer about 9:40 that night. The pair were walking east along the road, about 500 feet from the murder scene, they said. The three boys were last seen at about 5 p.m. that day.
''They was dirty,'' said Tabitha. ''They were both wearing black.''
Narlene's ex-husband, Ricky Hollingsworth, 36, told a reporter he was also in the car. He said he saw two people along the road but wasn't sure who they were.
Sheila Glover, 33, manager of the Sonic restaurant at 120 W. Broadway in West Memphis, said a detective stopped by the restaurant shortly after the murders to talk with Tabitha Hollingsworth, who was working there at the time.
Detectives pursued several leads supplied by Hollingsworth and some of her relatives during the murder investigation, interviews by The Commercial Appeal show.
The Commercial Appeal
DEFENSE LAWYER BRINGS OUT NEW ALLEGATION
Date: September 28, 1993 Section: News Page: A8 Illustration: photo Source: Marc Perrusquia The Commercial Appeal Dateline: MARION, Ark.
Edition: Final
Two people say they told police they saw a teenage girl walking with murder defendant Damien Wayne Echols near the crime scene on the night three 8-year- old boys were murdered. The statements provided the fodder Monday for a bombshell accusation by defense attorney Paul Ford.
Ford charged at a court hearing that Echols's 16-year-old girlfriend Domini Teer was seen near the crime scene the night of the May 5 murders. Teer has not been charged. Ford's statement is the first public allegation that anyone other than three teenage defendants and the victims was near the crime scene.
Domini's mother, Brenda Dian Teer, reached at her residence Monday night, said she could not talk about the case. ''The attorney has told us not to make any comments.''
Ford also said he may argue that his client, defendant Jason Baldwin, was not at the scene, a small West Memphis woods off Interstate 40. Three teenage boys - Baldwin, 16, Echols, 18, and Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr., 18, - have been charged with the murders.
Gerald Coleman, Teer's court-appointed attorney, denied Ford's charge Monday. Reached by telephone after the hearing, Coleman, who represented Teer during questioning by prosecutors earlier this month, said Teer was at home the night of the murders, adding police already have discounted witness statements that Teer was seen with Echols around the time of the murders.
Ford did not elaborate on his accusation and declined to discuss it after the hearing.
But Narlene Hollingsworth, 42, who resides near the filthy, trash-strewn trailer where Teer and Echols lived together, said Monday she stands behind her allegation.
Hollingsworth and her 16-year-old daughter Tabitha said they told police two days after the murders that they saw Teer and Echols walking down a service road along I-40 around the time of the murders. Hollingsworth said Teer and Echols, dressed in muddy black clothes, were walking west, away from the Robin Hood park woods where the boys' bodies were found.
''I wouldn't change my story if I was dying,'' said Hollingsworth, a resident of the Lakeshore Estates trailer park. ''I know that freckled-faced, red-headed girl anywhere.
''It was Domini - not a boy.''
West Memphis police Insp. Gary Gitchell declined comment on all aspects of the case Monday outside court. However, two sources close to the investigation confirmed it was Hollingsworth's statement to police that supplied the substance for the new defense claim.
Narlene and Tabitha Hollingsworth said they were driving east down the service road in the family's red 1982 Ford Escort when they saw Echols and Teer about 9:40 that night. The pair were walking east along the road, about 500 feet from the murder scene, they said. The three boys were last seen at about 5 p.m. that day.
''They was dirty,'' said Tabitha. ''They were both wearing black.''
Narlene's ex-husband, Ricky Hollingsworth, 36, told a reporter he was also in the car. He said he saw two people along the road but wasn't sure who they were.
Sheila Glover, 33, manager of the Sonic restaurant at 120 W. Broadway in West Memphis, said a detective stopped by the restaurant shortly after the murders to talk with Tabitha Hollingsworth, who was working there at the time.
Detectives pursued several leads supplied by Hollingsworth and some of her relatives during the murder investigation, interviews by The Commercial Appeal show.
