THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
FRIEND OF SLAIN BOYS, 8, IMPLICATED
VICTIM'S DAD, DEFENSE ATTORNEY CLAIMS
Date: Friday, February 18, 1994
Section: News
Page: A1
Source: By Bartholomew Sullivan and Marc Perrusquia
The Commercial Appeal
Dateline:
Edition: Final
An 8-year-old boy whose mother said she attended a satanic cult meeting with two defendants in the West Memphis triple-murder case has made statements implicating the father of one murder victim, a defense lawyer claims.
Val P. Price of Jonesboro, who represents Damien Wayne Echols, told Circuit Judge David Burnett in court in Jonesboro Wednesday that 8-year-old Aaron Hutcheson "has made numerous statements" and that in one said "a Mark Byers was present at the time of the murders."
On Thursday, Victoria M. Hutcheson verified that her son, Aaron, said Byers was in the woods on the night of May 5 last year when 8-year-olds Christopher Byers, Michael Moore and Steven Branch were brutalized. Christopher Byers was also sexually mutilated.
Byers, 36, was not available at home or by telephone and did not return phone messages Thursday. He did tell The Associated Press: "As far as him saying he saw me out there, that's a bald-faced lie." Byers said, "He (Aaron) made the comment that he heard me hollering for Christopher and all. (But) he said he was too scared to holler back because they, the people doing the killing, were closer to him than I was."
At the center of the controversy is Aaron, a friend of the three victims, who has given several statements to police, including one on tape that was played to the jury at Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr.'s murder trial last month in Corning, Ark. In it he said, "Nobody knows what happened but me." That statement led to speculation that the boy might be an eyewitness to the murders.
The boy's mother said she has not seen statements her son gave police. But she said Aaron told her he saw Byers in the woods the night of the murders "hurting" Christopher.
"That's not the first time Aaron saw Byers hurting him," she said.
Psychiatrists treating Aaron assert the boy has been ritually abused, Hutcheson said. State prosecutors have subpoenaed his medical records from the East Arkansas Regional Medical Center in West Memphis.
West Memphis Police Insp. Gary Gitchell said Thursday that Aaron never implicated Byers during an interview with police. "I've never seen anything like that in writing," said Gitchell. "He's never said it to any of us."
Aaron Hutcheson implicated Echols, Misskelley and Charles Jason Baldwin, ''and no one else," Gitchell said. "There has been nothing to indicate Byers was involved with this whatsoever." Baldwin, 16, and Echols, 19, go on trial Tuesday in Jonesboro on capital murder charges. Misskelley was found guilty of first- and second-degree murder on Feb. 4 and was sentenced to life in prison plus 40 years.
Also in court Wednesday, Price's co-counsel representing Echols, Scott Davidson, said the defense team wants to see a tape of an interview with Byers filmed by a New York-based documentary film crew.
In the interview filmed at the West Memphis crime scene, according to Davidson, Byers allegedly described an assault he suffered when he was 18 or 19 years old in which he was tied up, sodomized and thrown in a ditch. According to police, the three 8-year-olds suffered the same fate, although whether they were sodomized has been disputed by Baldwin's defense lawyers.
Davidson also asserted that representatives of the film crew delivered a knife to West Memphis police, and that they got it from Byers. When the knife was delivered was not clear. Burnett has said he is inclined to let jurors see another knife, which was found behind Baldwin's house on Nov. 17, but has withheld a final ruling.
Hutcheson said she didn't learn that Aaron said he witnessed the murders until 10 days after the May 5 slayings.
Aaron was with a babysitter the night of the murders, she said. After the murders, Hutcheson shielded her son by sending him to stay with a relative in Fort Smith, Ark., she said.
"I sent him away. I knew it was going to get hideous," she said. Aaron failed to mention he witnessed the murders because he was afraid and confused, she said.
Aaron has told police several versions about what happened the night of the murders, sources say. But Hutcheson said she has "no doubt" her son was there that night.
In an interview, Hutcheson also elaborated on testimony she gave in the Misskelley trial about attending a cult meeting with Echols and Misskelley. Hutcheson testifed she saw about 10 to 15 people at a Wednesday night ''esbat" meeting, but the judge limited her testimony and she did not describe details then. She said she saw what she took to be the beginning of an orgy, with people painted black taking off their clothes.
According to court records in Shelby County, John Mark Byers is a self- employed jeweler. Crittenden County court records show that Burnett accepted a 1988 guilty plea from Byers after he was charged with "threaten(ing) to cause the death of Sandra Byers." Ryan Clark, the victim Christopher Byers's half-brother, said Sandra Byers is his father's ex- wife, now a resident of Missouri. She could not be reached Thursday.
The felonious threat occurred on Sept. 9, 1987, according to court records. Byers successfully completed three years' probation on May 5, 1992, a year to the day before his son was killed.
Shelby County records show Byers was arrested by Shelby County Sheriff's narcotics officers in July 1992 at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, spent a night in jail, but was never charged.
Aaron's mother said Thursday that Byers telephoned her Wednesday night, angrily asking to speak with her son. "He said Aaron saw him in the woods yelling for the boys. He said, 'Isn't that right?' He said: 'Tell me the statement (Aaron gave police). Can I talk to Aaron?' "
Hutcheson said she told Byers he could not talk to her son. Aaron has been receiving pyschological treatment since the murders, and doctors have advised that he not speak to anyone about the slayings, she said.
Hutcheson said she has asked for protection from the prosecutor's office and the West Memphis police, but said they have been unresponsive. Gitchell declined comment on whether security for the youth is being provided.
"I'm scared to death," Hutcheson said. "West Memphis won't do nothing. I'm getting ready to get the hell out of town."
FRIEND OF SLAIN BOYS, 8, IMPLICATED
VICTIM'S DAD, DEFENSE ATTORNEY CLAIMS
Date: Friday, February 18, 1994
Section: News
Page: A1
Source: By Bartholomew Sullivan and Marc Perrusquia
The Commercial Appeal
Dateline:
Edition: Final
An 8-year-old boy whose mother said she attended a satanic cult meeting with two defendants in the West Memphis triple-murder case has made statements implicating the father of one murder victim, a defense lawyer claims.
Val P. Price of Jonesboro, who represents Damien Wayne Echols, told Circuit Judge David Burnett in court in Jonesboro Wednesday that 8-year-old Aaron Hutcheson "has made numerous statements" and that in one said "a Mark Byers was present at the time of the murders."
On Thursday, Victoria M. Hutcheson verified that her son, Aaron, said Byers was in the woods on the night of May 5 last year when 8-year-olds Christopher Byers, Michael Moore and Steven Branch were brutalized. Christopher Byers was also sexually mutilated.
Byers, 36, was not available at home or by telephone and did not return phone messages Thursday. He did tell The Associated Press: "As far as him saying he saw me out there, that's a bald-faced lie." Byers said, "He (Aaron) made the comment that he heard me hollering for Christopher and all. (But) he said he was too scared to holler back because they, the people doing the killing, were closer to him than I was."
At the center of the controversy is Aaron, a friend of the three victims, who has given several statements to police, including one on tape that was played to the jury at Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr.'s murder trial last month in Corning, Ark. In it he said, "Nobody knows what happened but me." That statement led to speculation that the boy might be an eyewitness to the murders.
The boy's mother said she has not seen statements her son gave police. But she said Aaron told her he saw Byers in the woods the night of the murders "hurting" Christopher.
"That's not the first time Aaron saw Byers hurting him," she said.
Psychiatrists treating Aaron assert the boy has been ritually abused, Hutcheson said. State prosecutors have subpoenaed his medical records from the East Arkansas Regional Medical Center in West Memphis.
West Memphis Police Insp. Gary Gitchell said Thursday that Aaron never implicated Byers during an interview with police. "I've never seen anything like that in writing," said Gitchell. "He's never said it to any of us."
Aaron Hutcheson implicated Echols, Misskelley and Charles Jason Baldwin, ''and no one else," Gitchell said. "There has been nothing to indicate Byers was involved with this whatsoever." Baldwin, 16, and Echols, 19, go on trial Tuesday in Jonesboro on capital murder charges. Misskelley was found guilty of first- and second-degree murder on Feb. 4 and was sentenced to life in prison plus 40 years.
Also in court Wednesday, Price's co-counsel representing Echols, Scott Davidson, said the defense team wants to see a tape of an interview with Byers filmed by a New York-based documentary film crew.
In the interview filmed at the West Memphis crime scene, according to Davidson, Byers allegedly described an assault he suffered when he was 18 or 19 years old in which he was tied up, sodomized and thrown in a ditch. According to police, the three 8-year-olds suffered the same fate, although whether they were sodomized has been disputed by Baldwin's defense lawyers.
Davidson also asserted that representatives of the film crew delivered a knife to West Memphis police, and that they got it from Byers. When the knife was delivered was not clear. Burnett has said he is inclined to let jurors see another knife, which was found behind Baldwin's house on Nov. 17, but has withheld a final ruling.
Hutcheson said she didn't learn that Aaron said he witnessed the murders until 10 days after the May 5 slayings.
Aaron was with a babysitter the night of the murders, she said. After the murders, Hutcheson shielded her son by sending him to stay with a relative in Fort Smith, Ark., she said.
"I sent him away. I knew it was going to get hideous," she said. Aaron failed to mention he witnessed the murders because he was afraid and confused, she said.
Aaron has told police several versions about what happened the night of the murders, sources say. But Hutcheson said she has "no doubt" her son was there that night.
In an interview, Hutcheson also elaborated on testimony she gave in the Misskelley trial about attending a cult meeting with Echols and Misskelley. Hutcheson testifed she saw about 10 to 15 people at a Wednesday night ''esbat" meeting, but the judge limited her testimony and she did not describe details then. She said she saw what she took to be the beginning of an orgy, with people painted black taking off their clothes.
According to court records in Shelby County, John Mark Byers is a self- employed jeweler. Crittenden County court records show that Burnett accepted a 1988 guilty plea from Byers after he was charged with "threaten(ing) to cause the death of Sandra Byers." Ryan Clark, the victim Christopher Byers's half-brother, said Sandra Byers is his father's ex- wife, now a resident of Missouri. She could not be reached Thursday.
The felonious threat occurred on Sept. 9, 1987, according to court records. Byers successfully completed three years' probation on May 5, 1992, a year to the day before his son was killed.
Shelby County records show Byers was arrested by Shelby County Sheriff's narcotics officers in July 1992 at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, spent a night in jail, but was never charged.
Aaron's mother said Thursday that Byers telephoned her Wednesday night, angrily asking to speak with her son. "He said Aaron saw him in the woods yelling for the boys. He said, 'Isn't that right?' He said: 'Tell me the statement (Aaron gave police). Can I talk to Aaron?' "
Hutcheson said she told Byers he could not talk to her son. Aaron has been receiving pyschological treatment since the murders, and doctors have advised that he not speak to anyone about the slayings, she said.
Hutcheson said she has asked for protection from the prosecutor's office and the West Memphis police, but said they have been unresponsive. Gitchell declined comment on whether security for the youth is being provided.
"I'm scared to death," Hutcheson said. "West Memphis won't do nothing. I'm getting ready to get the hell out of town."
