The West Memphis Three

This Crime is Solved.. Or Is It?

From Wikipedia:


Three eight-year-old boys - Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore - were reported missing on May 5, 1993. The first report to the police was made by Byers' adoptive father, John Mark Byers, around 7:00 pm. The boys were last seen together entering Robin Hood Hills around 6:00 pm by a neighbor. Initial police searches made that night were limited. Friends and neighbors also conducted an impromptu but unsuccessful search that night, which included a cursory visit to the location where the bodies were ultimately found.

A more thorough police search for the children began around 8:00 am on the morning of May 6, aided by Crittenden County Search and Rescue personnel. Searchers canvassed all of West Memphis, but focused primarily on Robin Hood Hills, a frequent playground for children and the last location where the boys were reported seen. Despite a human chain making a shoulder-to-shoulder search of Robin Hood Hills, searchers found no sign of the missing boys. Search and Rescue personnel broke for lunch at 1:00 pm, but police and others continued searching.

Around 1:45 pm, Juvenile Parole Officer Steve Jones spotted a boy's black shoe floating in a muddy creek that led to a major drainage canal in Robin Hood Hills. A subsequent search of the ditch found the bodies of three boys. They were stripped naked and had been hogtied with their own shoelaces: their right ankles tied to their right wrists behind their backs, the same with their left limbs. Their clothing was found in the creek, some of it twisted around sticks that had been thrust into the muddy ditch bed. The clothing was mostly turned inside-out; two pairs of the boys' underwear were never recovered. All of the boys had been severely beaten on their heads and faces, and Byers had a fractured skull. He also had deep lacerations and injuries to his scrotum and penis.

The original autopsies were inconclusive as to time of death,[citation needed] but the Arkansas medical examiner determined that Byers died of blood loss, and Moore and Branch drowned.[6] A later review of the case by a medical examiner for the defense determined that the boys had been killed between 1:00 am and 5:00 am on May 6, 1993.

The official interpretation of the crime scene forensics for the case remains controversial. Prosecution experts claim Byers' wounds were the results of a knife attack and that he had been purposely castrated by the murderer; defense experts claim the injuries may have been the result of animal predation. Police suspected the boys had been raped or sodomized; later expert testimony disputed this finding despite trace amounts of sperm DNA found on a pair of pants recovered from the scene. Police believed the boys were assaulted and killed at the location they were found; critics argued that the assault, at least, was unlikely to have occurred at the creek.

And, then, from one of my readers:

Byers was the only victim with drugs in his system; he was prescribed Ritalin in January 1993, as part of an attention-deficit disorder treatment. (The initial autopsy report describes the drug as Carbamazepine.) The dosage was found to be at sub-therapeutic level, which is consistent with John Mark Byers' statement that Christopher Byers may not have taken his prescription on May 5, 1993

So far the best I can find is this. Take your time, I’m just curious on your take on this story.

The 3 teens accused are:

Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr. - DOB 7/10/75- 18 yo

Charles Jason Baldwin - DOB 4/11/77 16 yo

Damien Wayne Echols (was born Wayne Michael Hutcheson) - DOB 12/11/74 19 yo

The 3 boys Stevie (not sure if it’s Steve or Steven) Branch, Christopher Byers(adopted last name), & Michael Moore were last seen by a neighbor going in the woods called Robin Hood Hills where they were later found around 6p on 5/5/93 and the 1st call to the police was at 7p. They weren’t found until the next day. Also on 5/5/93 at 8:42 pm, workers in the Bojangles' restaurant about a mile from the crime scene (a direct route through the bayou where the children were found) in Robin Hood Hills reported seeing an African American male "dazed and covered with blood and mud" inside the ladies' room of the restaurant. The man was bleeding from his arm and had brushed against the walls. The man had defecated on himself and on the floor. The police were called, but the man left the scene. Defense attorneys later referred to this man as “Mr. Bojangles”. The police never went inside the restaurant that night but went back the next day after finding the dead boys. They eventually lost the “Mr. Bojangles” evidence before it could be tested.

Basically on May 5th 1993, three 8 year old boys went missing, they were found the next day in a drainage ditch naked and tied up… They didn’t have much to go on and seemed to have botched the investigation. About a month later they arrested 3 teenagers now called the West Memphis 3. One of the teens has an IQ of 72 and confessed after something like12 hours of interrogation in which only a couple hours were recorded (no parent or lawyer present), he later recanted. His confession and “Satanic Panic” in the Bible belt because the teens wore Black and listened to heavy metal music seems to have sealed their fate. They said that the boys were mutilated in a cult ritual but later evidence suggests it was animal activity. There was a Black man covered in blood that ran into the Bojangles restaurant next to where the boys were found acting all weird but when they called the police the officer went through the drive thru rather than go inside. After they found the dead boys the police went back to the restaurant and collected some blood evidence but then later lost it. Jesse Misskelly (the one that confessed) and Jason Baldwin received life plus 40 years.. Damien Echols (Jason’s best friend and only adult (18)) was sentenced to death. They’ve been appealing for new trials and everything else with the development of new evidence and jury misconduct but the same judge keeps denying every attempt. A lot of careers were made from the case so it might have something to do with that as to why they won’t admit maybe they were wrong. I don’t think they did it but from everything I’ve read there is room for reasonable doubt..

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This is a really ugly crime that has grabbed the attentions of the country once again as the push is on to prove the boys who were convicted for it are actually innocent. Another man, an unnamed black man, has been the subject of intense concern in the matter and should be, although I don't believe he actually is, a person of interest. As far as the authorities are concerned, they have their killers, boys who were found guilty mostly by association. They wore black and listened to heavy metal so they must be satanists! Or so said the prosecution in this case and the local community went into what is now called a "satanic panic" and summarily persecuted these young men. This case really grabs me hard for a number of reasons. For one, there has been absolutely no single murder attributed to "satanism" ever proven to have occurred in the U.S. and this is never, not even once. There are no real cults of satanists in America although there are a few nutcases running around singing AC/DC songs like Night Stalker and committing crimes while on drugs. The real live Church of Satan, now known as the Church of Set, exists in California and it's credo does not include murder, blood sacrifice or even torture; they do get hinky with nude alter figures and naked women who like to dance on tables once in awhile but they have yet to hurt anyone. Besides all of this, people still persist in believing that there are such entities as the Devils minions running around doing his bidding after performing blood rituals in the dark. There is just no proof that this is true; it's been dismissed as urban legend.

Second, I am personally offended by the references to heavy metal because I, myself, am a heavy metal and hard rock fan. Now, I admit I don't care for the death metal stuff which is too fast for me and mostly about murder and mayhem but I love a lot of the music. I won't name bands, though. Just that I like fast, flashy guitars and lots of drums and bass and leave it at that. I am just not that judgmental to assume that because someone worships a certain way or likes a certain form of entertainment they are evil or bad or guilty of murder. That's Taliban type stuff and just not Democracy. I still believe that people are innocent until proven guilty however tempting it is to condemn someone out of hand simply because I don't like them. So I couldn't resist this case. The charts may tell me that these boys really did do this thing and that they don't deserve my consideration, but I am willing to take that chance.

But the truth is the chart was really hard to figure out. I wasn't sure how to read it. This involved three victims instead of one and involved a possible three killers instead of one. The victims were only 8 years old so do you read it for the parents, for the children or for a combination of friends and family? This means a debate between the first, fifth and third houses. Which one makes sense? It was really hard to determine so I studied the charts for a long time before deciding whether they are viable. Of course, no matter what, the Moon depicts our victims, no matter how many, so I started there. I saw, right away, that in the chart for 6 pm, when the boys were last seen, the Moon is in the first house. This shows the boys in control of their situation, alive and well and doing what they please. They were "directing their own show", so to speak. This tells me right away that perhaps the first house is the place to start. I also note that the Moon is in Scorpio and is disposed of by Mars in Leo in the tenth and that Mars, in turn, rules the seventh. And this pattern tells a clear story. The boys are heading out to meet with someone specific. Their purpose at this time is to find this person. Mars is in the tenth so they are doing this "out in the open", in an area where they were easily seen. And they were seen. So this is working.




And then I move on to study the seventh house and see that both the Sun and Mercury are positioned there. What does this tell me? That the person they are "about to meet" is a older man and a younger person. This is most likely a father and son or daughter combination because Sun in Taurus is in the same sign as Mercury, also in Taurus. But there is enough distance between them, 12 degrees, to imply they may be loosely related in some way such as by marriage. And, then again, even though it's a full 12 degrees, it's still close enough to be under the Sun's beams, which hints at danger. This child, however related, is in danger from the older man. There is a shadow here. And these boys are on the way to see these people, perhaps unaware of the current state of affairs. To top this off, the Moon opposes the Sun and Mars, which disposes of the Moon, is square the Sun and Mercury. There is a disagreement here. They are meeting up with these people to "set things straight", perhaps.. or, perhaps... "to duke it out"? That singular Mars in Leo is pivotal and it is disposed of by the Sun, so it was the older man who called this "meeting" of sorts; or, simply, asked the boys to come. The first house, which appears to be the central force in this chart, is ruled by Venus, which is placed in the sixth. By traditional readings, a child who is missing who is ruled by planets placed in the sixth, will "never be seen again". I think this is pretty true to what happened, don't you?

I agree that the sixth house has many meanings, all of which can be broken down in various ways, depending upon the aspects and placements in the chart. For instance, the subject could be sick, could be held captive, could be sold into slavery or held in servitude. But, generally speaking, I see it as describing a looming danger of sorts, the seriousness of which can be seen in other placements. But Venus here is again disposed of by that singular Mars in the tenth, so I can say that whatever outcome this danger has, it is dependent upon the activities of the boys in their meeting with this person. It really all boils down to that. So, from this, I must surmise that the boys did not die by accident, they did not come upon a stranger who snatched them and killed them, they set about going to meet someone they knew and that person or persons was the last person to see them alive and likely was responsible for the carnage that was discovered the next day.

And what does this chart tell us about the person or persons who did this? Well, Mars is the marker and it is placed in the tenth house. This tells me that the person was one in a position of power over the boys, an adult, for sure. The tenth house points at patriarchal figures like the police, the teachers in school, the father figure, the authority that dispenses punishment for breaking the rules. This would be someone the boys feared and respected, that they were afraid to defy. Notice will you that the Sun and Mercury are both in Taurus, which is disposed of by Venus in the sixth house, again the ruler of the first. This is quite a loop the planets are creating, from one to the other, in a kind of private circle, excluding all other planets from the configuration. So I believe I have cornered the placements and aspects in this chart that define the event. In this regard, I consider the chart to be viable.




So I start rolling the charts forward. At 7 pm, things change a little but the picture remains clear. Mars, still ruling the first, has moved into the ninth house. Sun in Taurus remains in the seventh, but Mercury has moved into the sixth. Venus, the dispositor of the Sun, has moved into the fifth. The older man is waiting for the boys. The younger child, who had been with him earlier, has been set aside. This child is no longer present but I cannot say what has happened here. Mercury is in accidental exaltation in the sixth house. I believe this other child is safe, regardless of the stress of the sixth house; perhaps he or she has been set aside, held captive elsewhere? Locked in a bedroom? Hidden in the attic? It's hard to tell. But the real omen for me is the entrance of Pluto into the first house. I know that not many Astrologers consider Pluto in important force in event charts but I am one of the few who still do. The planet, or comet, or meteor, or whatever they are now saying it is, creates patterns in charts that are easily read and are proven accurate time and again. And if it is a meteor or a comet or a planetoid or whatever, just that fact alone indicates to me that other meteors or comets or planetoids or whatever must have a role to play as well. I am first and foremost a scientist and this regard I trust the results of my experiments and it is only through those experiments that I find things to be true. So far, Pluto has proven true to itself in too many experiments to be ignored. So bear with me.

Pluto arrives in the first house at around 7 pm, just in time for the death of these boys. It is in dignity if you are willing to credit it with partial rulership of Scorpio. Otherwise, it is merely ascendant, which is powerful enough for an event chart. The Moon is dexter and moving away from it, as well as being dexter to the square with Mars and moving away from that, so read this to say that the boys were not looking for a fight. But the Moon is sinister to an opposition with the Sun, which is the dispositor for Mars. Mars is no longer angular so the outcome of this is variable. But Mars does still rule the first house so it's placement matters. Here it has moved into the ninth, so it looks like the boys are going into the woods. The Moon, Mars and the Sun are loosely connected in a T Square, with Mars as the short leg. It is the connector that brings the first house and seventh house together. As the Moon ticks swiftly to an exact opposition with the Sun, I believe the boys are about to confront the man who has either agreed or demanded to meet with them. And this is happening out in the woods. Does this seem strange to you? That an adult male would insist on meeting three young boys in the woods? Remember that the originating chart had his rulership in the tenth, showing that he has authority over these boys and they would be hard pressed to ignore him. Remember that the Sun in Taurus, his marker, is disposed of by Venus and notice that Venus has moved into the fifth house. He is currently, at the 7:00 hour, preparing to meet with "children", as the fifth house denotes. Venus, in turn, is disposed of by that singular Mars, now in the ninth. He is preparing to meet them in the woods. And it doesn't look like there is more than one man; it also doesn't look to me that this man was a stranger.




Fixed stars also stand out for me. Caput Algol and the Pleiades both sit in the seventh house during the event. Pluto, in fact, is exactly opposite to Caput Algol. This a very strong indicator of violence and bloodshed. In fact, I would say, from personal experience with this placement, that this was a horrific event. The fixed star Miram is nearby which means that this man may have lied to the boys to get them to come to the woods. Mars is close to Asellus Austral which may mean that this man is a criminal type, someone who is ued to lying and cheating to get his way and may be known by many as sort of "sleazy". Pluto is also directly square to the fixed star Alfard so it may well be that one or more of the boys died by drowning. Refer to my teaching site and read the post on fixed stars for clarification on this.

This is a fascinating chart but it is pretty clear. These boys went to meet his man, someone they knew but perhaps not well, in the woods and they were killed there. I suspect the other child, the one that was sequestered earlier, was a girl. His daughter.. or stepdaughter.. perhaps? I suspect the meeting was about this girl. The childs' marker, Mercury, is in the first decan of Taurus, which is ruled by Venus, which describes a girl. She perhaps had already been punished for whatever caused this uproar and he was ready to fix the boys up as well. But he went way too far with the boys. Crazed violence. The fixed star Polis is near to Pluto in the first so the fire may have been fueled with alcohol. This man may have been very drunk or high on drugs. Whether this man was the same as the man they now call "bojangles" is not clear. However, it would be possible if this man had a daughter that these boys knew or that, at the very least, they were aware of the black man in their daily life and considered him an authority enough to demand their appearance there in the woods. Consider the authority or paternal figures in the boys life. Their teachers, their guardians, the parents of their friends.. anyone who would assert this kind of power over the boys. From there, you will find this man.




The 8 pm chart is very clear, as well. The Moon has moved into the twelfth and Pluto is right on the Ascendant. At that same time, the Sun has moved into the sixth. The boys are dead or dieing as a result of extreme violence (Pluto with Caput Algol) and the man who did this is in bad shape. He is injured. Killing these boys took the wind out of his sails and nearly killed him as well. The Moon is exactly opposed to the Sun, a full moon night, showing that the fight was hard and vicious and deadly; the boys did not go easily. And perhaps he had not intended to go this far, to merely beat them senseless, but the energies present this night pushed him over the edge. This was not a senseless, random crime. This man called out these boys and beat them to death out of rage over something. And I think it involved the girl; his daughter, his sister, his stepdaughter, somehow related. But is this man the same man as "bojangles"? Or was it someone they haven't ever considered? It is obvious to me, at this point, that the chart is not describing the boys they have convicted for this crime. Please remember that this is not my opinion or the result of a psychic reading. This blog is about Astrology and it is the simple reading of Astrology charts that renders this information. If you give credence to Astrology, then this result deserves consideration; however, you are free to dismiss it if it doesn't work for you.

Looking at the chart for the time when this man was seen in the restaurant, it is not clear if this man was related to the crime. I can say that it is possible. The seventh house ruler is still Venus and it has moved into the fourth house, which can be read as a restaurant. However, it can also be read as the man's home so the killer may have simply gone home and the man in the restaurant was the victim of a different drunken row. The marker for me is the Sun in the sixth, showing the killer to be in very bad shape, which is consistent with the man in the restaurant. It is interesting that both the Moon and Pluto in the twelfth house are in the sign Scorpio on this full Moon night; this shows the boys being in water, near a sewer most likely and in a place where they would not be readily seen or found. The twelfth house shows the grave and in Scorpio, the grave would be water but with Pluto also there, something stinking and rotten like a sewer or a drainpipe, which is close to where they were. I realize that the reports have said that two of them drowned but I had to point out how the fixed stars showed that in the chart. As I said, you can go to my teaching chart at http://theforensicastrologer.today.com and read the post on fixed stars to see that Miram has this effect. It is interesting learning.

I think the chart is successful in showing that a single man was responsible for the beating of these boys and not the group of men they have convicted. This saddens me greatly. I hate it when the system fails because without that system what do we have? The cops are dealing with matters that are far too important, far too grave, to take their jobs lightly and make such huge mistakes. To have simply overlooked this man in the restaurant is a gross miscarriage of justice; he could well have been their killer. However, of this I cannot be sure. The killer here is defined by the Sun in Taurus. This does not mean he is a Taurus or that he has planets in Taurus but that he is defined by those elements that are created by the Suns placement in the sign Taurus. This means that he is probably rather athletic; thick, short and strong. He is unlikely to be tall, skinny and lean. He probably does physical labor that keeps him in fine shape. He may also have artistic leanings but he would not be a fine artist but more of an artisan, making things with wood or stone. Traditionally this would give a broad or Roman shaped nose with a wide mouth. It might also give dimples. It also tends to a darker complexion rather than a fairer one but this does not restrict race. Many whites are dark skinned as well as many blacks are light skinned. But whatever race, this person would have a darker complexion than others of the same race.

This position gives a "do or die" temperament, with great resolve and stubbornness. This person does exactly what he says he will, he is pretty straight forward. He has a roaring temper, quite like an angry Bull, and tends to go all the way. Slow to anger, slow to quiet. This man may have been in many disputes in his neighborhood or workplace. He is hard to placate once ired. Disputes get him going and he will never admit he is wrong. He can be very mean and is often vengeful; he believes in an "eye for an eye" and it is likely that he felt wronged by these boys. Perhaps he believed that they had done something unkind to his daughter. Perhaps he was defending her honor. I realize the boys were only eight years old but teasing and bullying goes on at all ages and it would not take much to anger a man with a temper like this. Especially one who is strong and manly and loves to fight. This man is all about honor. He would be known for this sort of thing; he would not have hidden it.

After reading the charts, I am pretty sure that the boys they arrested are not the ones that did this. This is a sad truth about our system; it sometimes fails. It will be up to powers much greater than you or I to make sure this case is reopened and investigated again. Thanks to big names like actor Johnny Depp the case is getting more exposure and under the bright light of scrutiny, some Judge may decide to readdress it. But until that happens, there is nothing much any of us can do. But this was an interesting read none the less and a clear demonstration of how Forensic Astrology works.


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