In May of 1993, three eight year-old boys were found brutally murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas. A month later three teenage boys, Jessie Misskelley, Jr., Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols stood accused of the crime and within a year all three were convicted and one was sentenced to death.
The trial and its aftermath made national headlines as the police work and the trial were roundly criticized. This is the third documentary that filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky have made about the boys who became known as the “West Memphis Three.” Their first came just a few years after the trial in 1996, the second in 2000.
This final installment follows the story of Misskelley, Baldwin and Echol’s release from prison after spending 18 years behind bars. Bizarrely, under the terms of their release, all three had to plead guilty to the crimes they say they never committed. We’ll talk to Berlinger and Sonofsky about what it’s like to follow a story for nearly two decades and discuss the controversies surrounding their Oscar nomination.
Guests:
Joe Berlinger, co-director, "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory"
Bruce Sinofsky, co-director, "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory"