Crooked Tree: A West Memphis 3 Podcast

Paul Day and Kristin Rich
  • 5.0 (41)
  • True Crime

Welcome to this long-form podcast series on one of the most controversial and heavily debated true crime cases in American history: the West Memphis Three. In this series, Paul Day — victim advocate, evidence researcher, and longtime friend of the Byers family — teams up with Kristin Rich, a criminologist and victim advocate who has immersed herself in the case for years. Together, they embark on an in-depth journey that tells the story from the victims’ perspective. Focusing on the three eight-year-old boys — Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Stevie Branch — whose lives were tragically cut short on May 5, 1993, in West Memphis, Arkansas, Paul and Kristin draw on their extensive research, personal connections to the families, and deep knowledge of the victims’ personalities, family dynamics, and the West Memphis community. This series delivers fresh perspectives, previously undiscussed details, and thoughtful analysis that challenges surface-level narratives. Expect detailed timelines, evidence discussions, family insights, and open conversation as the hosts carefully unpack what happened that spring afternoon in 1993 — and why things were not as they first appeared. Whether you’re new to the West Memphis Three case or have followed it for years, this respectful, victim-focused series offers a compelling and meticulously researched re-examination. New episodes will continue building the most comprehensive account to date. Recommended prior viewing/listening: The groundbreaking documentary Paradise LostExplore the full case files at the Callahan WM3 website Subscribe now and join Paul and Kristin for what promises to be an epic, long-running exploration of truth, justice, and the events surrounding the murders of Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Stevie Branch.

  1. 2d ago

    Q&A #5: The “Evil” Tattoo, The Phone Confession & Other Listener Questions

    In this Q&A episode of Crooked Tree: A West Memphis 3 Podcast, victim advocates and researchers Paul Day and Kristin Rich dig into detailed listener questions drawn from the case files surrounding the May 1993 murders of Christopher Byers, Stevie Branch, and Michael Moore. They open with thanks to community members who shared insights on Wicca and a call for a polygraph examiner to independently review Damien Echols’ charts. The questions then take center stage: Was Damien still at the West Memphis Police Department during the anonymous 3:36 p.m. May 10 call claiming responsibility for the killings—and could the voice have been his? Did Detective Bryn Ridge routinely ask religious and occult questions of multiple suspects? Why did Damien place himself at the Sanders house from 3–5 p.m., and did he wear a watch? Could an innocent person have inferred “two drowned and one was mutilated”? Did Jason Baldwin ever have “evil” tattooed across his knuckles? What does a fuller timeline from the boys’ last sightings to discovery look like, and is there evidence one person (or more) restrained all three? What about the gunshot heard in the woods during the search, and was Terry Hobbs known to carry? Finally, how much of Damien’s troubled past reached the jury, and did it drive the guilty verdicts? As always, Paul and Kristin stay grounded in the documentation, clarify earlier points, correct misconceptions, and share what the records actually show—while teasing deeper dives still ahead. Join the discussion in the Facebook group and keep the questions coming.

  2. Oct 13

    Episode 20: The Tacit Confession

    On May 10, 1993—the day that never ends—Damien Echols leaves a grueling interrogation with Detectives Ridge and Sudbury and walks straight into a polygraph with Detective Bill Durham. What follows is a tense, unrecorded session of pretest questions, ten carefully crafted polygraph queries, and a high-pressure post-test interview that would haunt the West Memphis Three case for decades. Damien denies every relevant question about the murders. Durham scores every answer as deception. Pressure mounts. Damien claims he asked for an attorney three times; Durham insists he never did. Then comes the moment that gives this episode its name: after nearly an hour of confrontation, Damien reportedly stops denying involvement—an “admission through absence of denial,” later called a tacit confession. He mentions the electric chair. He asks to speak to his mother. And the exact wording of what he said next remains bitterly disputed. Pam Hutchinson is brought in. The prosecutor hovers nearby. Biological samples are collected. Anonymous tips flood the department—one claiming credit for the killings, another pointing a finger at Damien and a close friend. By the time the sun sets, an 18-year-old has gone from person of interest to prime suspect, and the machinery of the investigation has locked into place. Join Kristin and Paul as they break down the polygraph results, courtroom testimony, conflicting accounts, and the chilling sequence of events that turned May 10 into a point of no return…and the day isn’t over yet.

  3. Oct 6

    Episode 19: Damien's Interview from Hell

    In this pivotal episode of Crooked Tree, forensic geologist and victim advocate Paul Day and criminologist and victim advocate Kristin Rich take a meticulous, slow-crawl look at one of the most consequential moments in the West Memphis Three investigation: the May 10, 1993, interview of Damien Echols at the West Memphis Police Department. Beginning at 11:54 a.m., Echols—brought in with his mother—sits down with lead Detective Bryn Ridge and Lieutenant James Sudbury. What starts as a “person of interest” conversation lasting roughly 90 minutes ends with Damien labeled a suspect. Paul and Kristin carefully compare Ridge’s sparse interview notes, his later handwritten report, and the final typewritten version that would be used at trial, revealing subtle shifts, omissions, embellishments, and a troubling conflation of Wicca with Satanism. They also examine how Sudbury filled out his 32-question occult questionnaire largely by listening in and mapping Damien’s answers onto the form—sometimes out of sequence and without direct questioning. No audio recording exists of the interrogation. The hosts unpack the subject description focused on tattoos, Damien’s statements about his beliefs, alibis, the crime, and potential suspects, then follow the trail into the polygraph examination and the escalating pressure that followed. Drawing on trial testimony from Ridge, Damien, and others, they show how these documents and leading questions shaped the narrative that would haunt the case for decades. A cautionary deep-dive into note-taking, confirmation bias, the dangers of unrecorded interrogations, and the moment a teenager’s decision to talk to police changed everything. Essential listening for true-crime fans who want the granular details behind the headlines.

  4. Sep 29

    Episode 18: Covenant of the Divine Light

    In this episode of Crooked Tree, hosts Kristin Rich and Paul Day turn their focus to Murray Farris, an 18-year-old West Memphis resident whose name appears on Jerry Driver’s list of possible occult-linked individuals. On the evening of May 9, 1993—hours after Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin were questioned—Farris walks into the West Memphis Police Department. What follows is a revealing interview. Farris describes his involvement in a small group identified as the Covenant of the Divine Light, a personal blend of Wiccan practice, biblical study, and protective symbolism including a pentagram medallion bearing the Tetragrammaton. He names associates, downplays any sinister intent, and, almost as an afterthought, offers a detailed description of a heavyset, blonde, bespectacled man in his late 30s known as “Lucifer”—leader of an “evil cult,” driver of a cream-colored van, and resident near Earle, Arkansas. The next day brings more: a tip from a local Baptist youth counselor confirming that Farris and Chris Littrell were at a church youth night the evening the three boys vanished, followed by a lengthy fax from NYPD cult expert Detective Marcos Quinones outlining classic signs of occult crime scenes—missing organs, nine-foot circles, candle wax, inverted crosses, pentagrams, and more. Kristin and Paul examine how this information lands with investigators already primed by the era’s Satanic Panic, how it intersects with Damien Echols’s circle, and why the police’s growing interest in ritualistic motives begins to take sharper shape—even as the physical evidence at the crime scene fails to match many of the classic markers Quinones describes. A pivotal look at the investigation’s early pivot toward the occult, the people drawn into its orbit, and the cultural climate that shaped what detectives chose to see.

  5. Sep 22

    Episode 17: God, the Devil, and Damien

    In the hours and days after the bodies of Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers are recovered, West Memphis investigators begin receiving tips steeped in the era’s widespread fears of satanic ritual abuse. A call from a Texas Child Protective Services worker about alleged ritualistic killings in Gilmer, TX sets an early tone. Lieutenant James Sudbury and juvenile officer Steve Jones quickly zero in on Damien Echols, interviewing the teenager at his family’s trailer on May 7 based on their shared belief that the crime shows “overtones of a cult sacrifice." By Mother’s Day, May 9, the focus intensifies. Drug Task Force officers follow up on rumors of devil worship at Lakeshore Trailer Park, interview Damien, his pregnant girlfriend Domini Teer, and best friend Jason Baldwin, and administer a pointed questionnaire crafted by Sudbury. A contemporaneous tip from neighbor Narlene Hollingsworth places Damien and Domini near the service road by the Blue Beacon looking dirty—directly contradicting their alibis—and draws in additional names from the local “cult cops,” Jerry Driver and Steve Jones. This episode traces how the occult theory rapidly takes root in the investigation, examines the content and context of those early interviews and questionnaires, and raises the questions still hanging over the case: What was the Covenant of the Divine Light? Who was LG Hollingsworth, and how was he connected? What really happened on the service road the night the boys disappeared? And how did Damien Echols move from alternative teenager to primary person of interest in less than 72 hours?

  6. Sep 15

    Q&A #4: Cub Scout Leaders, Dismemberment Profiles & Other Listener Questions

    In this gripping Q&A installment of Crooked Tree: A West Memphis 3 Podcast, West Memphis Three researchers and victim advocates Kristin Rich and Paul Day confront listener questions that cut straight to the heart of the case—and the shadows still lingering over the 1993 murders of Christopher Byers, Stevie Branch, and Michael Moore. They open by addressing accusations of bias, revealing how their close ties to the Byers and Branch families formed only after years of independent, evidence-driven research—and why those relationships change nothing about the facts they’re presenting. From there, the episode descends into the unresolved details that continue to haunt the investigation: Did the victims’ parents or the search teams even know the unnamed creek existed before the bodies were found? What really happened to Stevie’s stolen bicycle, and why was he so fiercely protective of the new one? Where exactly were the boys’ bikes recovered in the murky waters of Ten Mile Bayou—and what do the missing tracks in the Discovery Woods suggest? Kristin and Paul dig into one of the investigation’s most glaring failures: the near-total failure to thoroughly interrogate the families in those critical first days. They examine the Cub Scout leader who had regular contact with the boys, the polygraphs that cleared some while raising questions about others, and the mysterious cloth material recovered from Michael Moore’s hand—evidence whose true origin remains murky. The conversation turns darker still with a detailed look at the offender profile of someone capable of the dismemberment injury inflicted on one of the boys. Drawing on studies of sexual sadists, body-disposal methods, and multi-offender crimes, the hosts explore what the violence—and what was not done to the other two children—may reveal about the killer’s motives, experience, and whether this was the work of one person or more. Along the way they address non-public crime scene materials, the reliability of the polygraphs administered by Bill Durham, a widely circulated (and thoroughly debunked) serial-killer theory, the partial print recovered early in the case, and the origin of the podcast’s haunting theme music. They also clarify their strong working relationship with the current West Memphis Police Department—separate from the investigative failures of 1993. No spoilers are held back this time. Every question is answered. And the episode ends with a chilling preview of what’s coming next: the first deep dive into how Damien Echols and two other teenagers were pulled into the investigation—and how that fateful focus began. Submit your questions via Facebook, X, Instagram, or YouTube. The search for answers continues.

  7. Sep 8

    Episode 16: West Memphis Confidential

    In this episode of Crooked Tree: A West Memphis 3 Podcast, forensic geologist and victim advocate Paul Day and criminologist and victim advocate Kristin Rich pull back the curtain on the law-enforcement climate surrounding the murders of Christopher Byers, Stevie Branch, and Michael Moore. Why did West Memphis Police Inspector Gary Gitchell decline substantial help from the Arkansas State Police—even as three children lay dead and the department reached out to the FBI? The hosts examine the West Memphis–Crittenden County Drug Task Force, its high-profile seizures of cash, vehicles, and guns, and the cloud of investigations that hung over it in early 1993. Through contemporary newspaper reporting, they document allegations of confiscated property diverted for personal use, unaccounted cash, weapons handed out far beyond the evidence locker, and the subsequent state and federal probes that followed key officers for years. Names that surface repeatedly in the boys’ case—James Sudbury, Tony Miller, Shane Griffin, and others—also appear in these drug-unit controversies. The episode traces how those parallel scandals, personnel changes, and later criminal cases (including firings, indictments, and other serious misconduct) raise hard questions about integrity, priorities, and culture inside the agencies investigating the murders. Paul and Kristin are careful to distinguish individual failings from the trauma many officers carried, while underscoring why these issues matter to understanding the investigation itself. A clear-eyed look at the institutional backdrop of one of the most scrutinized cases in true-crime history.

  8. Sep 1

    Episode 15: An Unbiased Profile

    In the chaotic days after the bodies of three eight-year-old boys were discovered in West Memphis, the police—facing few solid leads—turned to the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit in Quantico for an offender profile. They sent a case summary and victimology reports, hoping for scientific direction. What they received instead was generic interview guidance. No profile ever came. In this episode of Crooked Tree, victim advocates Paul Day and Kristin Rich examine the only truly unbiased profile ever produced in the West Memphis Three case: the public analysis offered by Memphis psychologist Dr. L.D. Hutt Jr. before any arrests were made. Drawing solely on publicly available facts, Hutt described a young white male familiar with the neighborhood who likely knew at least one of the victims—an assessment that aligns closely with national statistics on juvenile homicides. Paul and Kristin break down the incomplete and sometimes inaccurate information forwarded to the FBI, the detailed victimology reports that humanize Michael Moore, Christopher Byers, and Steve Branch, and the broader science of behavioral analysis—including organized versus disorganized offenders and the dangers of confirmation bias. They also revisit the grim 1993 peak in child murders and the consistent pattern that most young victims are killed by someone they know. This is the episode that peels back the early investigative decisions and shows how an independent expert, free of the case’s later pressures, read the evidence in real time. Essential listening for anyone seeking a clear-eyed look at the profiling that never guided the original investigation—and the one that still stands apart.

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About

Welcome to this long-form podcast series on one of the most controversial and heavily debated true crime cases in American history: the West Memphis Three. In this series, Paul Day — victim advocate, evidence researcher, and longtime friend of the Byers family — teams up with Kristin Rich, a criminologist and victim advocate who has immersed herself in the case for years. Together, they embark on an in-depth journey that tells the story from the victims’ perspective. Focusing on the three eight-year-old boys — Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Stevie Branch — whose lives were tragically cut short on May 5, 1993, in West Memphis, Arkansas, Paul and Kristin draw on their extensive research, personal connections to the families, and deep knowledge of the victims’ personalities, family dynamics, and the West Memphis community. This series delivers fresh perspectives, previously undiscussed details, and thoughtful analysis that challenges surface-level narratives. Expect detailed timelines, evidence discussions, family insights, and open conversation as the hosts carefully unpack what happened that spring afternoon in 1993 — and why things were not as they first appeared. Whether you’re new to the West Memphis Three case or have followed it for years, this respectful, victim-focused series offers a compelling and meticulously researched re-examination. New episodes will continue building the most comprehensive account to date. Recommended prior viewing/listening: The groundbreaking documentary Paradise LostExplore the full case files at the Callahan WM3 website Subscribe now and join Paul and Kristin for what promises to be an epic, long-running exploration of truth, justice, and the events surrounding the murders of Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Stevie Branch.

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