Copyright 1994, The Commercial Appeal
The Commercial Appeal (Memphis)
March 7, 1994, Monday, Final Edition
SECTION: NEWS, Pg. 1A,
LENGTH: 1720 words
HEADLINE: Mystery, intrigue, bad-check charges follow 'cult' witness
BYLINE: By Marc Perrusquia, The Commercial Appeal
BODY:
Victoria Hutcheson alarmed colleagues two years ago when she
complained of a brain tumor and suddenly left her clerical job in a
northwest Arkansas law firm.
Her former associates became concerned again recently when
Hutcheson resurfaced on the other side of the state as a high-profile
witness in the West Memphis triple-murder case. Hutcheson testified in
Jessie Lloyd Miskelley's trial that she saw him and co-defendant
Damien Wayne Echols at a satanic esbat meeting, and her 8-year-old son
Aaron could be called as a witness in the trial of Echols and Charles
Jason Baldwin, which resumes today.
''We were worried sick,'' said Jim Rose, a Fayetteville, Ark.,
attorney. Rose said he last saw Hutcheson in August 1992 when she
requested a medical leave from his law firm, then moved away without
notice.
In her wake, Hutcheson left a string of arrest warrants for
allegedly writing hot checks.
''She told us that she had a brain tumor and that she had a
brother-in-law in Little Rock that was a brain surgeon,'' Rose said.
''We really felt sorry for her.''
Mystery and intrigue have surrounded Hutcheson since she testified
during the Misskelley trial about the cult meeting, which may have
been connected to the murders of three 8-year-old boys. Misskelley,
18, was sentenced last month to life plus 40 years in the murders.
Hutcheson is stirring more questions as the second week of
testimony begins today in Jonesboro, Ark., in the trial of two other
teenagers also charged with the brutal murders of West Memphis Cub
Scouts Christopher Byers, Steve Branch and Michael Moore.
Hutcheson, 30, and her son played key roles in a police
investigation that led to the arrests last June 3 of Misskelley,
Echols, 19, and Baldwin, 16. Echols and Baldwin are on trial in
Jonesboro and could face the death penalty if convicted.
Police said a tape recording of Aaron's voice saying, ''Nobody
knows what happened but me,'' sparked Misskelley's confession when it
was played to him. The recording has led to wide speculation that
Aaron, who was friends with the three murder victims, was at the
murder scene the night of the May 5 slayings. Police said Aaron
identified all three defendants, but they have released few details.
Hutcheson testified five weeks ago that Misskelley spent the night
before his arrest at her trailer. Hutcheson also testified she
''played detective'' in the month between the murders and the arrests,
luring Echols to her home with books on the occult and attending an
outdoor cult meeting with Misskelley and Echols.
Hutcheson's life since she left her job a year and a half ago in
the hilly college town of Fayetteville has been one of contrasts and
criminal allegations. She moved eastward across the state, settling
into the low-income trailer parks on the flat Delta outside West
Memphis.
Records show authorities in west Arkansas have at least six
outstanding arrest warrants for Hutcheson on misdemeanor charges for
allegedly writing bad checks and failing to appear in court. Since
moving to the West Memphis area, Hutcheson has been involved in at
least three incidents involving allegations of financial wrongdoing
but has not been formally charged, records show.
The Fayetteville Police Department has five outstanding arrest
warrants on misdemeanor charges involving Hutcheson, records show.
Three warrants were issued for allegedly writing hot checks totaling
$ 195 in 1992, while two warrants were issued in January 1993 for
failing to appear to answer the charges, records show.
The warrants were issued in the name of Victoria Ann Anderson, the
name she used at the time because of her marriage to Charles Anthony
Anderson.
Authorities in Rogers, Ark., have one outstanding warrant against
Hutcheson for failure to appear on misdemeanor charges of allegedly
writing three hot checks in 1992 totaling more than $ 102. Hutcheson
pleaded not guilty on July 7, 1992, but later failed to show up in
court that December, records show.
Hutcheson denies any wrongdoing. She said there are ''probably
more'' warrants for her arrest than the six located by a reporter last
week, but said a failed marriage and financial difficulties were
responsible for that.
Hutcheson also said she believed at one time she had a brain
tumor, differing with characterizations by Rose, her former boss who
now may be called to testify about her credibility.
Defense attorneys have indicated they may scrutinize Hutcheson and
her son to a much greater degree than was done in the first trial.
''The defense is going to fabricate anything they can,'' said
Hutcheson, a pale, auburn-haired mother of two. ''It doesn't matter
anymore. Whatever they want to say about me is what they can say.''
Hutcheson earned a reputation as an efficient employee over the
years. According to her resume, she has worked a number of secretarial
and cashier jobs since graduating from Bentonville (Ark.) High School
in 1981 and American College in Fayetteville in 1990.
''She was a good employee one of the best typists I've ever
seen,'' Rose said.
Yet along the way, several employers have raised questions about
her integrity.
''She's a very likable person . . . but she's untrustworthy,''
said Ruth Bolden, 50, a West Memphis photography studio operator who
said Sunday that she plans to fire Hutcheson and has changed the lock
on the door to her business. Bolden said her business has suffered
several discrepancies between receipts and cash recently.
Rose said he also noticed small cash discrepancies in client
accounts after Hutcheson left.
Records show Hutcheson worked nine days last April for the Delta
Express gas station and convenience store in Marion, leaving her job
amid controversy.
Marion assistant police chief Don Bray said a Delta Express
official informed police about a ''$ 200 error'' on a customer's credit
card. Bray said he interviewed Hutcheson and another employee who
worked the same shift, but could find no wrongdoing.
Hutcheson worked at Delta Express from April 13 until April 22 of
last year, according to personnel records at the company's Tulsa,
Okla., offices. A Delta Express representative said corporate policy
forbids releasing the terms on which employees leave the company.
''They (Delta Express officials) never did prove to me there was a
shortage,'' Bray said. ''To me, there never was any proof there was a
crime.''
Bray said he conducted his last interview with Hutcheson about the
credit card controversy on May 6, the day police found the bodies of
the three West Memphis boys.
Hutcheson visited the Marion police station that day, bringing her
son Aaron along. Bray said Hutcheson told him she held Aaron out of
school because three of his friends were missing.
Bray said he questioned Aaron for the first time that day,
touching off a series of police interviews and raising numerous
questions about what happened the night the three boys disappeared.
Aaron told police several versions about events the night of the
murders, sources said. Hutcheson has said she didn't learn her son was
at the murder scene that night until 10 days later. She said Aaron
spent that night with a babysitter and later failed to mention the
incident because he was afraid and confused.
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. Prosecutors also called a witness last week who testified to
seeing four young boys walking near the murder scene about 6:30 p.m.
that day.
Authorities have suggested the murders were occult-related.
Hutcheson testifed that after the murders she saw Echols and
Misskelley among 10 to 15 people at a Wednesday night satanic esbat
meeting. Judge David Burnett limited details of Hutcheson's testimony;
she said later in an interview that she left the meeting after seeing
people painted black taking off their clothes.
Defense attorneys suggested at the first trial that Hutcheson's
involvement in the case was motivated by possible reward money for
solving the murders, but they provided few details to back up their
claims. Yet defense attorneys this time appear poised to launch a
full-scale attack on Hutcheson's credibility, and they have indicated
they also will closely scrutinize Aaron if he testifies.
Hutcheson has denied an interest in reward money. She told the
jury in the Misskelley trial: ''Those boys I loved and I wanted their
killers caught.''
Among several questions that remain unanswered in Hutcheson's
account is why she maintained close ties to both the victims and the
defendants. Hutcheson lived briefly in the West Memphis neighborhood
among the victim's families, then moved a couple of miles away about a
month before the murders to Highland trailer park where Misskelley
lived.
Bolden said Hutcheson often told customers in her photography
studio that Aaron was in the woods that night off Interstate 40.
Repeating an account that Hutcheson shared with a reporter after the
Misskelley trial, Bolden said Hutcheson has maintained Aaron saw John
Mark Byers, father of murder victim Chris Byers, in the woods that
night.
According to the account told to Bolden, Aaron was in a treehouse
waiting for his three companions to climb up when he saw Byers, who
''beats up on Chris and everything and then tells the other boys, the
big boys, Jessie and Damien,'' to finish the job.
Defense attorneys have been pointing a finger at Byers in open
court, but he has emphatically denied any involvement. Police Insp.
Gary Gitchell said Aaron identified the three defendants ''and no one
else.''
''I honestly don't know what to believe anymore,'' Bolden said.
''You just have to stand back and look at all this information, and
question all of it.''
GRAPHIC: Photo; (Color) Victoria Hutcheson
The Commercial Appeal (Memphis)
March 7, 1994, Monday, Final Edition
SECTION: NEWS, Pg. 1A,
LENGTH: 1720 words
HEADLINE: Mystery, intrigue, bad-check charges follow 'cult' witness
BYLINE: By Marc Perrusquia, The Commercial Appeal
BODY:
Victoria Hutcheson alarmed colleagues two years ago when she
complained of a brain tumor and suddenly left her clerical job in a
northwest Arkansas law firm.
Her former associates became concerned again recently when
Hutcheson resurfaced on the other side of the state as a high-profile
witness in the West Memphis triple-murder case. Hutcheson testified in
Jessie Lloyd Miskelley's trial that she saw him and co-defendant
Damien Wayne Echols at a satanic esbat meeting, and her 8-year-old son
Aaron could be called as a witness in the trial of Echols and Charles
Jason Baldwin, which resumes today.
''We were worried sick,'' said Jim Rose, a Fayetteville, Ark.,
attorney. Rose said he last saw Hutcheson in August 1992 when she
requested a medical leave from his law firm, then moved away without
notice.
In her wake, Hutcheson left a string of arrest warrants for
allegedly writing hot checks.
''She told us that she had a brain tumor and that she had a
brother-in-law in Little Rock that was a brain surgeon,'' Rose said.
''We really felt sorry for her.''
Mystery and intrigue have surrounded Hutcheson since she testified
during the Misskelley trial about the cult meeting, which may have
been connected to the murders of three 8-year-old boys. Misskelley,
18, was sentenced last month to life plus 40 years in the murders.
Hutcheson is stirring more questions as the second week of
testimony begins today in Jonesboro, Ark., in the trial of two other
teenagers also charged with the brutal murders of West Memphis Cub
Scouts Christopher Byers, Steve Branch and Michael Moore.
Hutcheson, 30, and her son played key roles in a police
investigation that led to the arrests last June 3 of Misskelley,
Echols, 19, and Baldwin, 16. Echols and Baldwin are on trial in
Jonesboro and could face the death penalty if convicted.
Police said a tape recording of Aaron's voice saying, ''Nobody
knows what happened but me,'' sparked Misskelley's confession when it
was played to him. The recording has led to wide speculation that
Aaron, who was friends with the three murder victims, was at the
murder scene the night of the May 5 slayings. Police said Aaron
identified all three defendants, but they have released few details.
Hutcheson testified five weeks ago that Misskelley spent the night
before his arrest at her trailer. Hutcheson also testified she
''played detective'' in the month between the murders and the arrests,
luring Echols to her home with books on the occult and attending an
outdoor cult meeting with Misskelley and Echols.
Hutcheson's life since she left her job a year and a half ago in
the hilly college town of Fayetteville has been one of contrasts and
criminal allegations. She moved eastward across the state, settling
into the low-income trailer parks on the flat Delta outside West
Memphis.
Records show authorities in west Arkansas have at least six
outstanding arrest warrants for Hutcheson on misdemeanor charges for
allegedly writing bad checks and failing to appear in court. Since
moving to the West Memphis area, Hutcheson has been involved in at
least three incidents involving allegations of financial wrongdoing
but has not been formally charged, records show.
The Fayetteville Police Department has five outstanding arrest
warrants on misdemeanor charges involving Hutcheson, records show.
Three warrants were issued for allegedly writing hot checks totaling
$ 195 in 1992, while two warrants were issued in January 1993 for
failing to appear to answer the charges, records show.
The warrants were issued in the name of Victoria Ann Anderson, the
name she used at the time because of her marriage to Charles Anthony
Anderson.
Authorities in Rogers, Ark., have one outstanding warrant against
Hutcheson for failure to appear on misdemeanor charges of allegedly
writing three hot checks in 1992 totaling more than $ 102. Hutcheson
pleaded not guilty on July 7, 1992, but later failed to show up in
court that December, records show.
Hutcheson denies any wrongdoing. She said there are ''probably
more'' warrants for her arrest than the six located by a reporter last
week, but said a failed marriage and financial difficulties were
responsible for that.
Hutcheson also said she believed at one time she had a brain
tumor, differing with characterizations by Rose, her former boss who
now may be called to testify about her credibility.
Defense attorneys have indicated they may scrutinize Hutcheson and
her son to a much greater degree than was done in the first trial.
''The defense is going to fabricate anything they can,'' said
Hutcheson, a pale, auburn-haired mother of two. ''It doesn't matter
anymore. Whatever they want to say about me is what they can say.''
Hutcheson earned a reputation as an efficient employee over the
years. According to her resume, she has worked a number of secretarial
and cashier jobs since graduating from Bentonville (Ark.) High School
in 1981 and American College in Fayetteville in 1990.
''She was a good employee one of the best typists I've ever
seen,'' Rose said.
Yet along the way, several employers have raised questions about
her integrity.
''She's a very likable person . . . but she's untrustworthy,''
said Ruth Bolden, 50, a West Memphis photography studio operator who
said Sunday that she plans to fire Hutcheson and has changed the lock
on the door to her business. Bolden said her business has suffered
several discrepancies between receipts and cash recently.
Rose said he also noticed small cash discrepancies in client
accounts after Hutcheson left.
Records show Hutcheson worked nine days last April for the Delta
Express gas station and convenience store in Marion, leaving her job
amid controversy.
Marion assistant police chief Don Bray said a Delta Express
official informed police about a ''$ 200 error'' on a customer's credit
card. Bray said he interviewed Hutcheson and another employee who
worked the same shift, but could find no wrongdoing.
Hutcheson worked at Delta Express from April 13 until April 22 of
last year, according to personnel records at the company's Tulsa,
Okla., offices. A Delta Express representative said corporate policy
forbids releasing the terms on which employees leave the company.
''They (Delta Express officials) never did prove to me there was a
shortage,'' Bray said. ''To me, there never was any proof there was a
crime.''
Bray said he conducted his last interview with Hutcheson about the
credit card controversy on May 6, the day police found the bodies of
the three West Memphis boys.
Hutcheson visited the Marion police station that day, bringing her
son Aaron along. Bray said Hutcheson told him she held Aaron out of
school because three of his friends were missing.
Bray said he questioned Aaron for the first time that day,
touching off a series of police interviews and raising numerous
questions about what happened the night the three boys disappeared.
Aaron told police several versions about events the night of the
murders, sources said. Hutcheson has said she didn't learn her son was
at the murder scene that night until 10 days later. She said Aaron
spent that night with a babysitter and later failed to mention the
incident because he was afraid and confused.
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. Prosecutors also called a witness last week who testified to
seeing four young boys walking near the murder scene about 6:30 p.m.
that day.
Authorities have suggested the murders were occult-related.
Hutcheson testifed that after the murders she saw Echols and
Misskelley among 10 to 15 people at a Wednesday night satanic esbat
meeting. Judge David Burnett limited details of Hutcheson's testimony;
she said later in an interview that she left the meeting after seeing
people painted black taking off their clothes.
Defense attorneys suggested at the first trial that Hutcheson's
involvement in the case was motivated by possible reward money for
solving the murders, but they provided few details to back up their
claims. Yet defense attorneys this time appear poised to launch a
full-scale attack on Hutcheson's credibility, and they have indicated
they also will closely scrutinize Aaron if he testifies.
Hutcheson has denied an interest in reward money. She told the
jury in the Misskelley trial: ''Those boys I loved and I wanted their
killers caught.''
Among several questions that remain unanswered in Hutcheson's
account is why she maintained close ties to both the victims and the
defendants. Hutcheson lived briefly in the West Memphis neighborhood
among the victim's families, then moved a couple of miles away about a
month before the murders to Highland trailer park where Misskelley
lived.
Bolden said Hutcheson often told customers in her photography
studio that Aaron was in the woods that night off Interstate 40.
Repeating an account that Hutcheson shared with a reporter after the
Misskelley trial, Bolden said Hutcheson has maintained Aaron saw John
Mark Byers, father of murder victim Chris Byers, in the woods that
night.
According to the account told to Bolden, Aaron was in a treehouse
waiting for his three companions to climb up when he saw Byers, who
''beats up on Chris and everything and then tells the other boys, the
big boys, Jessie and Damien,'' to finish the job.
Defense attorneys have been pointing a finger at Byers in open
court, but he has emphatically denied any involvement. Police Insp.
Gary Gitchell said Aaron identified the three defendants ''and no one
else.''
''I honestly don't know what to believe anymore,'' Bolden said.
''You just have to stand back and look at all this information, and
question all of it.''
GRAPHIC: Photo; (Color) Victoria Hutcheson
