Crittenden County judge clears way for DNA testing in West Memphis Three case

CRITTENDEN COUNTY, Ark. – An order signed in Crittenden County court on Friday begins a new chapter in the notorious West Memphis Three murders.

The order permits DNA testing of evidence in the case. The order is the result of an Arkansas Supreme Court decision in April 2024 that gave the Crittenden County court jurisdiction to decide on a petition for DNA testing after an earlier request had been turned down.

The order is for the West Memphis Police Department and the Arkansas State Crime Lab to turn the evidence over to a courier who will take it to Bode Labs in Virginia. It authorizes the use of MVac extraction DNA testing, a relatively new process of vacuuming material to extract DNA. MVac allows a finer analysis than using a swab to gather material.

The order acknowledges that in 1993, when the original case was tried, DNA testing was in its infancy. It continues that documented evidence exists that shows some of the evidence was handled in a manner not acceptable by contemporary forensic science standards.

The order did not give a timeline for the testing to take place, only that it should end with a written report of its findings by the lab.

The West Memphis Three case led to the conviction of the teenagers Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr. for the murder of three young boys. The murder and trial brought national attention, as did the calls for the pardoning of the three due to what advocates felt was an unfair trial after prosecutorial allegations of satanic influences took place.

Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley made an Alford plea in 2011, allowing them to walk out of prison. An Alford plea is a defendant claiming innocence but agreeing that the prosecution has enough evidence to make a guilty verdict likely.