This article is 1993 THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
INTERVIEWS AID CASE IN ARK. BOYS' DEATHS
Date: Tuesday, May 11, 1993
Section: Metro
Page: B1
Source: By Rob Johnson The Commercial Appeal
Memo: Different version, First B1
Edition: Final
West Memphis detectives have interviewed six or seven people who are shedding light on the circumstances surrounding the murders of three 8-year- old boys, the lead police investigator said Monday.
None of those people interviewed - four of them on Monday - is a suspect, said Inspector Gary Gitchell.
All of those interviewed are from West Memphis, Gitchell said.
Gitchell continued to sound optimistic about solving a case that began Thursday when police found the bodies of Michael Moore, Steve Branch and Christopher Byers.
Services have been set for each of the children. Services for Michael Moore will be at 3:30 p.m. today at Holy Cross Episcopal Church in West Memphis, where Michael was a member, with burial in Crittenden Memorial Park in Marion.
For Christopher Byers, services will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Ingram Boulevard Baptist Church in West Memphis with burial in Forest Hill Cemetery East in Memphis.
Services for Steve Branch will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Bradshaw's German- Aumon Funeral Home in Steele, Mo., with burial in Mt. Zion Cemetery in Steele.
The boys had suffered blows to the head, and their hands and feet were bound when searchers found them in a ditch.
They were in a wooded, undeveloped area known to neighbors as Robin Hood Park, where local children, including the three victims, long have ridden their bikes.
"The pieces are beginning to fit together a little better," Gitchell said Monday. "I'm confident we will solve this.
"We're talking with some individuals. We don't know what direction it's going to lead us in. We're making steady headway and progress."
Because the boys were found near a truck stop, a truck wash and Interstate 40, police say they have not ruled out the possibility that the boys' killer or killers were passing through town at the time.
In fact, police have interviewed several hitchhikers and transients who were near West Memphis about the time the boys disappeared last Wednesday, Gitchell said.
Police have found no evidence that the boys were killed during a cult-like ritual, as some West Memphians have been speculating, he said.
Gitchell refused, however, to discuss the crime scene, which lies hidden
from public view behind the trees and long strips of yellow police tape. Nor would he discuss any possible scenarios that led to the boys' violent deaths.
Gitchell said he did not expect to receive the medical examiner's final report or an FBI psychological profile until Friday.
THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
INTERVIEWS AID CASE IN ARK. BOYS' DEATHS
Date: Tuesday, May 11, 1993
Section: Metro
Page: B1
Source: By Rob Johnson The Commercial Appeal
Memo: Different version, First B1
Edition: Final
West Memphis detectives have interviewed six or seven people who are shedding light on the circumstances surrounding the murders of three 8-year- old boys, the lead police investigator said Monday.
None of those people interviewed - four of them on Monday - is a suspect, said Inspector Gary Gitchell.
All of those interviewed are from West Memphis, Gitchell said.
Gitchell continued to sound optimistic about solving a case that began Thursday when police found the bodies of Michael Moore, Steve Branch and Christopher Byers.
Services have been set for each of the children. Services for Michael Moore will be at 3:30 p.m. today at Holy Cross Episcopal Church in West Memphis, where Michael was a member, with burial in Crittenden Memorial Park in Marion.
For Christopher Byers, services will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Ingram Boulevard Baptist Church in West Memphis with burial in Forest Hill Cemetery East in Memphis.
Services for Steve Branch will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Bradshaw's German- Aumon Funeral Home in Steele, Mo., with burial in Mt. Zion Cemetery in Steele.
The boys had suffered blows to the head, and their hands and feet were bound when searchers found them in a ditch.
They were in a wooded, undeveloped area known to neighbors as Robin Hood Park, where local children, including the three victims, long have ridden their bikes.
"The pieces are beginning to fit together a little better," Gitchell said Monday. "I'm confident we will solve this.
"We're talking with some individuals. We don't know what direction it's going to lead us in. We're making steady headway and progress."
Because the boys were found near a truck stop, a truck wash and Interstate 40, police say they have not ruled out the possibility that the boys' killer or killers were passing through town at the time.
In fact, police have interviewed several hitchhikers and transients who were near West Memphis about the time the boys disappeared last Wednesday, Gitchell said.
Police have found no evidence that the boys were killed during a cult-like ritual, as some West Memphians have been speculating, he said.
Gitchell refused, however, to discuss the crime scene, which lies hidden
from public view behind the trees and long strips of yellow police tape. Nor would he discuss any possible scenarios that led to the boys' violent deaths.
Gitchell said he did not expect to receive the medical examiner's final report or an FBI psychological profile until Friday.
