Grab your death metal albums and don't talk to the cops without a lawyer because today we're gaining a broader understanding of the satanic panic of the 80s and 90s and how it greatly impacted the case of the West Memphis Three

In part one of this series we told you about Stevie, Michael, Chris and the murders that would forever change West Memphis Arkansas.
We told you things the way that they seemed, now it’s time to get into things the way that they actually were.

In this episode we try and gain a broader understanding of the "Satanic Panic" and it’s origins (from preschools to memoirs to rock music) while examining how this same search for satan narrowed the murder investigation by the West Memphis Police Department in 1993
We learn about the way polygraphs were used in the investigation and why they held so much weight for the police and some of the people who may have gotten off without much questioning.

We also include passages from Damien’s book Life After Death and the book Jason Baldwin helped write with Mara Leverit, Devil's Knot. 
We end this episode with a confession from Jesse Misskelley and the arrests of Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin.

There’s so much to unpack in this episode and this case!

Sources:

Jenkins, P (1992). Intimate enemies: moral panics in contemporary Great Britain. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

Victor, J (1998). "Construction of Satanic Ritual Abuse and the Creation of False Memories". In DeRivera J; Sarbin T (eds.).

Believed-In-Imaginings: The Narrative Construction of Reality. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

Finkelhor, David; Williams, Linda Meyer; Burns, Nanci; Kalinowski, Michael (1988). Sexual Abuse in Day Care: A National Study; Executive Summary (Report). Durham, North Carolina: University of New Hampshire.

Michelle Remembers, Lawrence Pasdar and Michelle Smith (1980)

Court Documents:
http://callahan.mysite.com/custom.html

Murders in West Memphis-
https://www.jivepuppi.com

Young WC; Sachs RG; Braun BG; Watkins RT (1991). "Patients reporting ritual abuse in childhood: a clinical syndrome. Report of 37 cases". Child Abuse Negl. 15 (3): 181–89.

Damien Echols, Life After Death

Mara Leverit, Devil's Knot (with Jason Baldwin)

Goleman, Daniel (October 31, 1994). "Proof Lacking for Ritual Abuse by Satanists". The New York Times.

Fraser, GA (1997). The Dilemma of Ritual Abuse: Cautions and Guides for Therapists. American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc

Spanos, NP (1996). Multiple Identities & False Memories: A Sociocognitive Perspective. American Psychological Association. pp. 269–85.

McLeod, K; Goddard CR (2005). "The Ritual Abuse of Children: A Critical Perspective".

Wood, JM; Nathan, D; Nezworski, MT; Uhl, E (2009). "Child sexual abuse investigations: Lessons learned from the McMartin and other daycare cases"

Further Viewing: 

Geraldo Show - March 16, 1994 Transcript

Maury Povich Show - August 2, 1994 Transcript

CNN - "Presumed Guilty: Murder in West Memphis" - January 14, 2010 Transcript

Piers Morgan...