This year, many gardeners are looking for new varieties of tomatoes to try out in their gardens. Melissa Byers did not have a prescription for Dilaudid. The news was devastating beyond just word of his friends suffering. "[8], Fred Waser from the Sharp County Sheriff's Department was filling his patrol vehicle with fuel when he heard over the radio that an ambulance has been dispatched in his immediate area. No distinct scarred needle tracks were present. By the end of Augustfive months after the deathhe still had received no word from the crime lab concerning the autopsy results. But I had to. Why wasn't he questioned about several other inconsistencies and "coincidences" surrounding his step-son's murder? But they were saying that he was about to die.. He just didnt know it would take another 14 years to happen. It is worth noting that these are the two parents who have made the most TV, print, and film appearances. [9], Waser's report indicated that two EMTs were performing CPR on Melissa when he arrived. At one point, Melissa looked into the camera declaring her hatred for the three accused teen-agers and the mothers that bore them. In another scene, John Mark and the father of one of the other murdered boys appeared shooting pumpkins which they pretended were the defendants. He advised that when the EMTs got to the residence, Mark kept telling them, Theyve got to bring her back. Metz advised that Ryan kept mumbling something and he did not seem coherent. Originally from Willard, Mo., she spent nearly three years reporting in Arkansas and Illinois before returning to Missouri and joining The Star in 2017. The murder charge was filed after the child told a school counselor on Nov. 29, 2017, that she saw her mothers body in the basement of the familys home in the 2400 block of College Avenue. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Support came from unlikely corners: a classroom of kids who held a cookie sale that raised $30, local bands in Chicago who held a benefit show and sent $150. In 1973, when John Mark Byers was 16 years old and living in Marked Tree, police there were called to his home by his parents, who said he was threatening them with a knife. A few minutes he would calm down. (Maines briefly became a part of the story when Terry Hobbs, stepfather of another of the victims, sued her for defamation after she wrote a blog post pointing out that physical evidence at the crime scene potentially pointed at him and not the three convicted for the crime. The 1998 Arkansas Times Academic All-Star Team nominees. When he entered the house, Griffin wrote, he found Byers ex-wife on the floor and Byers brandishing an electric shock device known as a Power Zapper. Sharp County Sheriff T.J. "Sonny" Powell wouldn't say whether the. Stranger Things: Halloween Sounds From the Upside Down, Stranger Things: Worlds Turned Upside Down, Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town, Back broken after being telekinetically thrown against a wall, Accidentally killed during experimentation, Injuries sustained after their van was telekinetically flipped. She also described seeing lots of blood in the home and seeing the body in the basement with what she thought was a stab in the back. But then the verdicts arrived: Both Baldwin and Echols were found guilty on all counts, just like Misskelley had been six weeks before them. At this point, Ryan said he couldn't "take it anymore" and so he and Amanda left, drove around, got gas, and bought a soda. At that point. Melissa left her husband to live with her parents and had only been living at home for two to three weeks before she passed away. Melissa Byers. Furthermore, if you're growing heirloom varieties or rare species that may not, 2021 Tomato Varieties to Try in Your Garden this Year | Varieties for Storage & Other Tomatoes Available, Tomatoes are a popular and versatile vegetable that can be used in a variety of dishes. It is documented that the morning after his arrest, Shelby County authorities placed Byers in federal custody, in the hands of U.S. marshals. Melissa Byers. As for ordering Byers out of the district, Lambert said, such an arrangement can be legal if done with the agreement of the party being banished. Dan Stidham, the original attorney for Misskelley, who would also work on Baldwins and Echols appeals, says he has the answer. They werent telling me I was lying, even if they may have been saying that in their minds. By 2005, Rollins himself had raised $100,000 for the cause. The news came just one day after Jerry Lee Lewis fell victim to similar rumors. The attorneys representing Echols and Baldwin believed that the juries wouldnt accept the prosecutions versions of eventsthat they were too fantastical and tied to second-hand informationand that without conclusive proof, their clients would walk. The bruises on her arms and scalp were noted, but the medical examiners did not opine as to how they occurred. Powell told Witt that a woman named Melissa Byers had been taken by ambulance from her residence in Cherokee Village to Eastern Ozarks Regional Hospital. Our monthly magazine is free at over 500 locations in Central Arkansas. There he met with local law enforcement officers and with John Mark Byers, Melissas husband. Filming the activists work seemed like the best place for Berlinger and Sinofsky to turn their attention; what better way to show the continued plight of the West Memphis Three than to show regular people dedicating their free time to fighting for them? When they searched online, they found little to no information about the case. He had been expecting a visitation, but was instead led to the prison chapel office, where inmates were typically brought only if someone close to them had died. A trial is scheduled for next March. Jackie Hicks, Pamela Hobbs brother, came from the house and confronted Terry Hobbs again. Beyond the black-and-white print of the newspaper, there was a movement brewing. The nonprofits work hasnt always been easyfundraising is hard, and because hes a convicted felon, hes unable to visit clients in prison or discuss pleasbut its been essential for him as he strives to live the words by 14th-century Persian poet Hafez that he keeps as an email signature: The small man builds cages for everyone he knows / While the sage, who has to duck his head when the moon is low / Keeps dropping keys all night long for the beautiful rowdy prisoners. Baldwin says hes learned that justice isnt a computer programthat you can input all the evidence and testimony and still get the wrong results. They were asked to call the Sheriff's Department if Ryan showed up at their house. I had a friend who was working on 20/20, and they had done a film about exorcism in one of the magazine pieces, Nevins says. He went to the bedroom and saw Melissa on the floor, completely naked. Metz responded by asking Byers why he didnt call an ambulance. Donna and John Kingsbury, who live next-door to the house where the Byerses moved, have sought a restraining order against their new neighbors, alleging that Mark Byers whipped their 5-year-old son with the metal end of a swatter, that shots have been fired at their house, and that Melissa Byers threatened them, saying, Wel1 put you in a hole you cant get out of, and I lost my Christopher. A tattoo of a heart and scroll were present on her right upper back, with the name Christopher written in the scroll. Attorneys for Darnien Wayne Echols, who was sentenced to death last May for the killings, made several efforts to at least raise the possibility that a family member of one of the victims was involved, especially after a knife belonging to Byers was discovered with human blood on it blood that matched the type of both him and his stepson Christopher. Chances are, if death was from natural causes, it came about by arrythmia,which leaves no traces after death. He kept asking me, What is your opinion? He said, I think they ought to have fought it out, dont you?, I said, No, I dont. [1] Norm Metz, the neighbor living at 73 Skyline, confirmed that Ryan came back to live with his mother and father two weeks before March 29th. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. When it didnt, the praise heaped on Paradise Lost felt hollow. Sun Sugar is a hybrid cherry tomato variety that has been thriving in my garden for over a year. But officials at the Marshal s Service say Byers was released, and no record apparently exists showing to whom he was released or why. > > NightShade HDZ@prodigy.com>. [19], The following day, Waser visited Byers' home and was informed of Melissa's recurring drug habit. The problem facing Sheriff Powell was that no one at the hospital could figure out why. He went to watch television with Amanda and then he said they went into his bedroom to listen to music. But none of the conditions the pathologists observed would normally prove fatal, either alone or in combination. The two met with Byers' neighbor, Metz, who expressed concern over Byers' step-son, Ryan Clark, as he had not returned to the residence after reportedly leaving abruptly while Melissa was being worked on. endobj Her body showed no visible signs of trauma. In July, John Mark Byers was involved in an incident in which a group of teen-agers fought while Byers reportedly stood watch with a rifle to make sure the fight went on. Melissa Byers, Self: Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. Kaitlyn Schwers covers breaking news and crime at night for The Kansas City Star. Byers said he was worried because he had asked Ryan to take his girlfriend, Amanda, home and come right back. Berlinger says that after months of filming, the parents of one of the victims raised the issue of payment. There is a lot of suspicion surrounding him, especially in light of what's happened to his stepfamily in these past 3 years. Speaking by phone last month, he comes across, in many ways, like the person Berlinger says he encountered in prison in 1994: polite, deferential, soft-spoken. On March 29, 1996, at approximately 5:40 p.m, Sonny Powell, the sheriff of Sharp County, called Investigator Stan Witt of the Arkansas State Police to report a suspicious death. It was so emotionally taxing to watch and go through it again, he says. She died on March 29, 1996 in Arkansas, USA. Our collection includes both England & Wales birth, marriage and death index for 1837-2006 as well as an extensive collection of Parish records dating back as far as the 16th century. It ranges from Mark Byers, the crusading stepfather who became one of the West Memphis Threes biggest allies in the years before his 2020 death, to famed FBI criminal profiler (and Mindhunter inspiration) John E. Douglas. But the feud between neighbors is minor compared to two other incidents, both of which have resulted in the filing of charges against the couple. Benjamin H. Byers was convicted of first-degree murder, armed criminal action and child endangerment in connection to the killing following a trial in March. Melissa Byers died at age 35 years old on July 2, 2010. Buried in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Some of the boys in the group said that Byers told them, Youd better not mess with me. We were finally winning, he says. It will be interesting to see if the police come up with anything on Mrs.Byers' death, and if so, if they will possibly re-open investigations intothe murders of the three boys. He claimed that Ryan told him on a number of occasions that his step-father had been in on the murder of the three children in West Memphis, AR, Stevie Branch, Chris Byers, and Michael Moore. Melissa Byers (mother of Chris Byers) died believing they were guilty. Anyone have any info about how the oldest boy died? One of those shows, Truth & Justice With Bob Ruff, became the basis for an Oxygen docuseries last year titled The Forgotten West Memphis Three, which took a closer look at the three victims and tried to shine new light on the evidence. Last summer, the home of a Cherokee Village woman was burglarized, with an estimated $20,000 worth of furnishings taken. But inside, he was just another prisonerBaldwin didnt know who he could trust. Don't miss out on the opportunity to make a difference with your subscription or donation to the Arkansas Times today. Misskelley, who reportedly had an IQ of 72, changed his story several times, and only a small part of his statements was recorded. Stranger Things Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. The Byerses, who did not respond to requests for an interview, have also sought a restraining order against the Kingsburys. 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