Show Notes
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.
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 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."
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.