THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
Published on 06/17/93
BURGLARY REPORTS SEALED IN CASE OF SLAIN BOYS
By: Bartholomew Sullivan
Reports of two burglaries more than a year ago in the West Memphis neighborhood where three 8-year-old boys were found dead last month have become part of the police investigation into the killings.
In one of the burglaries, the family's Yorkshire terrier was stomped to death, its blood body left in the master bedroom while the house was "trashed," said Greg Harrison, 33, who lived there but has since moved.
Wednesday, when The Commercial Appeal asked to see reports of that burglary, and one other, police said the records were covered by Municipal Court Judge William P. Rainey's June 4 order sealing all investigative files in the triple slaying.
Police Inspector Gary Gitchell, the lead detective on the case, said someone tipped the police to the Harrison burglaries in the month prior to the arrest of three suspects June 4.
"This whole case is just so huge," he said. "Anything to do with (it), be it significant or insignificant, we followed up on."
Harrison said that his house had been burglarized three times prior to the April 1992 incident when his dog was killed.
Harrison also said he gave police a description of three men and the car he suspected was involved in the last burglary.
Harrison's home at 1594 Goodwin backed up to the part of Robin Hood Park where the bodies were found. Harrison and his wife moved out of West Memphis after the last burglary.
Three teenagers have been charged with capital murder in the May 5 deaths of Weaver Elementary School second-graders Steve Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore.
Michael Wayne Echols, 18, Charles Jason Baldwin, 16, and Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr., 17, are being held without bond at undisclosed locations. Their court-appointed lawyers say all three plan to plead not guilty.
Deputy Prosecutor John Fogleman said that, from what Gitchell told him, the burglary reports do belong in the investigative file. "I'm not saying any crime is related. I'm saying it's part of the investigative file.
"The investigative file involves any and all tips the police received related to the murder," Fogleman said.
Jerry Driver, chief county juvenile officer, said he sought help from outside experts after an increase in satanic-related graffiti and reports of animal sacrifice about a year ago. In a statement, Misskelley described activities of a cult to which he said he belonged for the three months before his arrest.
Published on 06/17/93
BURGLARY REPORTS SEALED IN CASE OF SLAIN BOYS
By: Bartholomew Sullivan
Reports of two burglaries more than a year ago in the West Memphis neighborhood where three 8-year-old boys were found dead last month have become part of the police investigation into the killings.
In one of the burglaries, the family's Yorkshire terrier was stomped to death, its blood body left in the master bedroom while the house was "trashed," said Greg Harrison, 33, who lived there but has since moved.
Wednesday, when The Commercial Appeal asked to see reports of that burglary, and one other, police said the records were covered by Municipal Court Judge William P. Rainey's June 4 order sealing all investigative files in the triple slaying.
Police Inspector Gary Gitchell, the lead detective on the case, said someone tipped the police to the Harrison burglaries in the month prior to the arrest of three suspects June 4.
"This whole case is just so huge," he said. "Anything to do with (it), be it significant or insignificant, we followed up on."
Harrison said that his house had been burglarized three times prior to the April 1992 incident when his dog was killed.
Harrison also said he gave police a description of three men and the car he suspected was involved in the last burglary.
Harrison's home at 1594 Goodwin backed up to the part of Robin Hood Park where the bodies were found. Harrison and his wife moved out of West Memphis after the last burglary.
Three teenagers have been charged with capital murder in the May 5 deaths of Weaver Elementary School second-graders Steve Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore.
Michael Wayne Echols, 18, Charles Jason Baldwin, 16, and Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr., 17, are being held without bond at undisclosed locations. Their court-appointed lawyers say all three plan to plead not guilty.
Deputy Prosecutor John Fogleman said that, from what Gitchell told him, the burglary reports do belong in the investigative file. "I'm not saying any crime is related. I'm saying it's part of the investigative file.
"The investigative file involves any and all tips the police received related to the murder," Fogleman said.
Jerry Driver, chief county juvenile officer, said he sought help from outside experts after an increase in satanic-related graffiti and reports of animal sacrifice about a year ago. In a statement, Misskelley described activities of a cult to which he said he belonged for the three months before his arrest.
