This is a fairly well known case but if you don’t know what it is, three children were murdered in Arkansas, three teenagers were convicted for the crime, there was a documentary made about the trial, and then a lot of people tried to get that case reexamined because they felt it had been mishandled and that the teenagers were actually innocent. Star Rating: ★★★★☆ The Book: Devil’s Knotĭevil’s Knot is a true crime book about the murders in Robin Hood Hills, the West Memphis Three trial, and the supporters that came out for them after their conviction.

There are also a lot of movies about this case that I happened to watch around the same time so I thought I’d compare them too. I picked this book because I had been looking to read something about this case and it does start with the letter D.

With close-up views of its key participants, this award-winning account unravels the many tangled knots of this endlessly shocking case, one which will shape the American legal landscape for years to come.52 Books in 52 Weeks – Book 22/Week 22 – Title Starting with the Letter ‘D’ Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three by Mara Leveritt The guilty verdicts were popular in their home state-even upheld on appeal-and all three remained in prison until their unprecedented release in August 2011. Jurors sentenced Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley to life in prison and Damien Echols, the accused ringleader, to death. Despite the witch-hunt atmosphere of the trials, and a case which included stunning investigative blunders, a confession riddled with errors, and an absence of physical evidence linking any of the accused to the crime, the teenagers were convicted. Then suddenly, detectives charged three teenagers-alleged members of a satanic cult-with the killings. Remains the most comprehensive, insightful reporting ever done on the investigation, trials, and convictions of three teenage boys who became known as the West Memphis Three.įor weeks in 1993, after the murders of three eight-year-old boys, police in West Memphis, Arkansas seemed stymied. In 2011, one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in American legal history was set right when Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley were released after eighteen years in prison. *A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING REESE WITHERSPOON AND COLIN FIRTH*

Devil's Knot by Mara Leveritt