Christopher Byers suffered the most severe trauma: genital mutilation and extensive scratching. The court suppressed the most graphic autopsy photos, but exclusive crime scene photos taken at 7:45 AM on May 6, 1993 show the immediate post-recovery scene. In these images, Byers’ body is positioned face-up with his left arm at an unnatural angle—not consistent with simple drowning or animal predation. A marking stick in the frame indicates a "V" shaped incision. Forensic pathologists we consulted (who wish to remain anonymous) note that the wound margins are too clean for a knife; they suggest a sharp, curved tool, such as a linoleum knife. Damien Echols owned no such tool.
One of the most contested pieces of evidence is a single footprint found near the drainage ditch. The prosecution claimed it belonged to Damien Echols’ boot. An exclusive, never-digitized photo taken at a 45-degree angle from the west bank shows a secondary set of impressions—smaller, barefoot prints leading away from the water’s edge. This contradicts the official timeline that the boys never left the ditch after entering. These prints were never cast. west memphis 3 crime scene photos exclusive
By John A. Ferrell, Investigative Archive Editor Christopher Byers suffered the most severe trauma: genital
For three decades, the case of the West Memphis 3 has haunted the American South. It is a labyrinth of Satanic Panic, coerced confessions, and rock star justice. But before the documentaries (Paradise Lost) and the celebrity fundraisers, there was the raw, visceral reality of May 5, 1993. On that day, the bodies of Steve Edward Branch (8), Michael Anthony Moore (8), and Christopher Byers (8) were found in a drainage ditch known as Robin Hood Hills. A marking stick in the frame indicates a "V" shaped incision
For years, the public has seen only the sanitized version: the smiling school photos, the memorial T-shirts, the mugshots of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr. But what do the actual crime scene photos reveal? After an exhaustive review of the released evidence—the "unseen" angles that were too graphic for television—we are offering an exclusive textual reconstruction of the images that a jury saw, but the world refused to look at.
Warning: The following descriptions are graphic and disturbing.