Tell me why Terry Hobbs DIDN'T do it - WM3

There's also the neighbor who reported seeing all three boys that afternoon being escorted away from her yard by TH. Soooo, you've got a purported history of abuse, the fact that most kids are killed by a parent/step parent, it would most likely take an authority figure to wrangle three boys without one running off, his alibi is crap, he had Stevie's pocket knife, it's likely the boys were killed somewhere other than the woods and TH had an empty house all to himself, family said TH was busy doing all this laundry while they were looking for the kids........all circumstantial, but I think it's way more likely that a man with an explosive temper and access to the kids would be the perpetrator over 3 high school boys, one of which is certifiably retarded, all of whom lived in tiny trailers with their extended families. Just MHO.

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Didn't Hobbs beat the crap out of Pam? From what i remember he was pretty abusive towards Stevie, Amanda, and Pam. There was also a claim that he sexually abused his daughter, and Stevie. The day before Stevie died, he asked his mom to leave Hobbs.

Hobbs also shot Pams brother. Pams brother ended up dying from the wound after surgery.

Out of all thats accused, Hobbs has the most violent past. Way more than a high school threat made by Damien, or his goth behavior.

Here's Pams declaration Kinda hard to read because it's so depressing.

To me Hobbs has all the attributes of a killer. Abusive towards wife and kids, sexual abuse of daughter, killed an animal (neighbor's cat), on and on. And, too, he worked in a slaughterhouse, which I believe desensitizes a person to killing. Plus he didn't really have an alibi, changed his story so much, had Stevie's knife.... I believe he did it, maybe had an accomplice.

His alibi isn't as shaky as people tell it. As far as I know, nobody asked Jacoby about Hobbs' timeline until a decade or more after the murders. I find it difficult to believe he remembers the details of how and when everything happened that night after so much time had passed. If you take Jacoby's word for it a decade and a half later, you have to ask yourself why he was the only one of the boy's parents who wasn't accounted for for any significant (albeit still very short) amount of time that day and why nobody thought to ask about it at the time. Everyone assumed he had Amanda in tow all night, but if not, why wouldn't Jacoby or his wife say anything about that until way later on? Wouldn't anyone find it odd at the time that he dropped off his 4 year old daughter for a few hours to look for his stepson only for him to end up dead that night? Wouldn't they mention this at some point? Also, I'd have to refer back to the trial transcripts, but as I recall, many of the other people looking for the boys that night mention seeing Hobbs around at one point or another, which would narrow his window of opportunity even further.

I've always suspected it was Hobbs, but the fact that everyone seems to have such a strong opinion on this case makes it hard to find unbiased information, so I can't even say I'm 100% sure.

I know you want reason why people think TH didn't do it, but no one mentioned the hair evidence.

So, while hair evidence has been largely discredited as something definite in many courts, a hair resembling TH's in physical attributes was found at the scene of the crime (tangled in with a shoelace, iirc). It did not physically resemble the hair of any of the WM3. I feel like had the police done what police usually do, which is investigate the families, they would have realized early on that TH (and JMB for that matter) were stronger suspects with stronger motives.

Also, a lot of talk about mental illness on this thread where mental illness = guilt. I know quite a few people with bipolar disorder (runs in my family) and manic depression. Many of them have made threats to harm themselves or others with no follow through, and this resolved when they were helped my mental health professionals. Also, many parents don't understand depression in their teens--you can be afraid because you don't understand, and there's a difference between ideations of violence and committing violence. I'd really like people to step back and learn more about mental illness before rushing to judgment.

I'm more likely to believe that someone with a history of domestic violence, including alleged molestation of his stepchildren. It's almost always the parent, which didn't mean it is in this case, but if the case is just as strong (more so imo) against another suspect, then that creates reasonable doubt, and honestly NO ONE should be found guilty in a court of law with what is available now. This case makes me skeptical of any defendant (which is how the justice system is supposed to work, burden of proof on the prosecution).

Anyway, not sure where I'm going. I just tried to read some "in favor of guilt" materials from the WM3, but can't find anything with legit sources and citations. I'm trying to see the other side, so if anyone has documentation and recordings, and not witness testimony, I'd be interested.

Britt244, I'm lame and don't know how to tag, but have you checked this out yet?: https://thewestmemphispuzzle.com/

Another rabbit hole... see ya down there! Haha

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http://callahan.8k.com/pdf/t_hobbs_interview.pdf

The Terry Hobbs theory never felt quite right to me. Maybe because it seems too easy. I feel like nothing in this case will ever be clear cut, and in fact we will most likely never know who murdered those boys. In West of Memphis it struck me as though the filmmakers were building up the case with the same desperation and intensity that lawmakers had the case against the boys originally, as if we have to know who did it in order to believe the boys innocence. The testimony from the family didn't ring so true to me after having just seen 2 witnesses lie on the stand at the boys trial. The hair was found on the shoelace of Stevie that had been used to tie his hands, and Stevie and Terry lived in the same house. Pam didn't mention anything unusual about that night and Terry's behaviour until the theory was presented to her. Now she and John Mark Byers apparently feel intensely that Hobbs did it, when at the time they felt just as intensely that the boys did it and never once thought of him as a suspect. I just feel like now Hobbs is being construed as guilty for all the seem reasons the boys were; based on his past, rumours, and emotional clouding. Granted, the evidence against him is more sturdy, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to see people go after him. He certainly isn't a good man or a good father, but that doesn't correlate to him being a murderer in my mind.

My primary reason for continuing to believe in their guilt is the fact that all of the alleged evidence against Hobbs was not reported at the time of the murders in 1993, at the time the three killers were tried in 1994, or during the long post-conviction period between 1994 and 2005. The accusations from Pam and her family were never brought up until 2006 or so when Hobbs and Pam were in the midst of a nasty divorce and child custody battle. Then the defense got an MtDNA result that, while inconclusive, could be misrepresented in the court of public opinion, so they stopped accusing John Mark Byers and started accusing Terry Hobbs.

There is also the matter of the Alford pleas, in which the killers acknowledged that the state had sufficient evidence to convict them again. They were facing hearings at which they would bear the burden of proof, with inconclusive DNA evidence (that isn't really all that exculpatory under the facts of the case) and a group of meth-addicted witnesses that were going to fold like cheap suits on cross-examination at said hearings. They also faced Miskelley's confessions being used, including those made while he was incarcerated and in spite of the "Free the West Memphis Three" efforts.

Finally, I find it implausible that one man could control all three boys, savagely murder them and then interact with other family members and searchers without anyone sensing something wrong. Again, none of the statements about washing clothing, or abusing Steve were ever mentioned to detectives investigating the murders. To me, that means that they weren't true when they were made 14 years later.

I'm so glad you posted this. I've been wondering the same thing for a while now. So Damien had anger issues, okay. How does that make him a better suspect than Hobbs? (It doesn't.)

He did it. Theres no evidence to suggest he didn't do it. There is evidence he did it.

He's the only person in the world who's hair was found at the scene. Only person who has multiple family members who say he admitted to it.

His own alibi witness denies he was with him for large portions of the night and says that Hobbs lied, that he in fact did see the boys that day. As did his neighbor who said she saw him in the front yard talking to the boys on their bikes.

He did it. He should fucking hang