Show Notes
In this gripping continuation of the West Memphis Three case timeline, Paul Day and Kristin Rich dive deep into the chaotic night of May 5, 1993, after Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Stevie Branch disappeared.
From the moment the sun sets under a massive, bright waxing gibbous moon, the episode follows the desperate searches by the families and police. Paul and Kristin reconstruct key moments in detail: Pam Hobbs learning her son is missing while at work at Catfish Island, Officer John Moore taking reports, frantic foot searches in Robin Hood Hills and Devil’s Den, and the memorable “mosquito incident” at the pipe bridge.
You’ll hear about Jackie Hicks Sr.—Stevie’s grandfather, an expert hunter and Army veteran—rushing from Blytheville without socks, tracking bicycle trails by moonlight, and the chilling “evil presence” felt by multiple searchers in the woods. The episode explores family panic attacks, Terry Hobbs and David Jacoby’s nighttime searches behind Blue Beacon, Mark Byers’ calls for help, and shocking police miscommunications during the critical overnight hours.
With emotional firsthand accounts, precise timeline anchors, and analysis of how these overlooked evening events shaped the entire investigation, this episode sheds new light on the fear, confusion, and urgency of that fateful night.
A must-listen for anyone following the case, true crime fans, or those interested in victim advocacy and investigative breakdowns.
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."