'West of Memphis' full of real-life twists and turns

One might assume that a story already covered by a trilogy of documentaries, numerous books, countless articles and with a trail of celebrity supporters including Johnny Depp, Eddie Vedder and Natalie Maines had already earned enough attention. The young men known as the West Memphis Three — Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley — became modern-day folk heroes as the story of their imprisonment over the graphic, sensational 1993 murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, Ark., spread during their nearly two decades in jail.

By Mark Olsen

December 23, 2012