West Memphis Three

Th case is back in court this detailed article focuses on the appeal:

Unfortunately, the key events in the WM3 case have unfolded within a community that had little trouble in believing that Satan is real and at work in the world, and that the three children were killed in a ritual sacrifice to the Devil. That, in essence, was the prosecution case – though the state prosecutors never did risk putting Satan on the witness stand, for cross-examination.

Echols in particular, became a target. He wore a black trench coat even in warm weather, rented books on paganism from the local library, listened to Metallica and other heavy metal bands, and wrote doomy, melodramatic poetry. Echols had received treatment for depression, and been briefly hospitalized. At 19, he also exuded an air of bored teenage defiance that did him no favours in the courtroom. Taken together, that was about all it took to make Echols a prime suspect – and from there, it proved a fairly short journey to death row.

Breakthrough for the West Memphis Three
Scoop.co.nz, New Zealand -Apr 13, 2008