Show Notes
In this episode, Kristin Rich and Paul Day dive deep into one of the most intriguing and under-examined leads in the West Memphis Three case: the mysterious "Tattooed Man."
On May 5, 1993, Ken Govar picked up a hitchhiker east of Little Rock. The man’s angry demeanor, inconsistent stories, terrifying tattoos (including a bone with dripping blood and a devil on its haunches), and specific request to be dropped off at a Flash Market just 1,600 feet from Devil's Den in West Memphis raised immediate red flags. Govar’s detailed police interview, composite sketches, and sharp observations paint a chilling picture of a man who didn’t add up.
Kristin and Paul break down the timeline, the man’s physical description, his strange behavior, and how close this encounter was to the victims’ last known movements. They also explore a related tip involving a suspicious cab fare to Tennessee and examine the West Memphis Police Department’s handling (and public denials) of these leads.
This episode examines a classic “legend” of the case alongside Bojangles Man—one that raises serious questions about certain transients, missed opportunities, and the sheer number of potential persons of interest around the Robin Hood Hills that afternoon.
A must-listen for anyone following the WM3 case, true crime deep dives, or unsolved mysteries.
Hosts: Kristin Rich & Paul Day – West Memphis 3 researchers and victim advocates.
Available now wherever you listen to podcasts.
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More from Crooked Tree: A West Memphis 3 Podcast
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."