Testimony Points to Hobbs as Suspect in WM3 Murders

Little Rock, Ark. - New sworn statements now accuse Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of one of the West Memphis Three victims as the real killer in the nearly 20-year-old murder of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas.

The accusations came from three friends of Hobbs' nephew, back in December.

A non profit Arkansas group, who fought for the innocence of the West Memphis Three, says the significance of these new accusations is still up in the air.

Steve Branch says he knows who killed his eight-year-old son, Stevie, and his two little friends in 1993.

"I've never fingered anybody for the killings except for Echols, Baldwin and Miskelley, I believe they did it then, believe they did it now."

But, the West Memphis Three were freed last year. New accusations now point to little Stevie's stepfather, Terry Hobbs, for the killings.

"I think the defense attorney's are just trying to build up enough hoopla to cause a reasonable doubt so they can get a Governor's pardon or Presidential pardon, don't think there's anything to it," says Branch.

John Hardin with Arkansas Take Action thinks differently, "We are going to continue to bring evidence as it comes to us."

Hardin says they're dedicated to exonerating the West Memphis Three and finding justice for the little boys.

Sworn statements from three new witnesses claim Terry Hobbs confessed to his brother that he killed young Christopher Byers, Michael Moore and his stepson, Stevie Branch, in 1993. One person said it was referred to as "The Hobbs Family Secret."

"Would this in and of itself be enough to go in front of a jury and say Terry Hobbs did it? No, but when you put everything together there is enough reason to suspect or at least say lets take a long hard look at this guy," says Hardin.

Hobbs has denied any involvement in the murders, as he told Fox 13's Les Smith in 2010, "You know what's sad about it, Les? You isolate yourself and this is not fair. I haven't done nothing wrong to anybody."

Branch says the West Memphis Three, Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr., and Jason Baldwin were the real killers, released after they took an Alford Plea. Branch plans to talk with legislatures about abolishing the law, which allowed them to plead guilty while maintaining her innocence.

Friday's news release from Arkansas Take Action reads as follows:

Terry Hobbs' nephew, Michael Hobbs Jr., allegedly told his friends "my uncle Terry murdered those three little boys," according to declarations under penalty of perjury recently given to Damien Echols' defense team. The three new witnesses were polygraphed about what they stated Michael Hobbs, Jr. told them.

"One day Michael picked us up in his truck. He was very quiet and upset. Michael then said to us, 'you are not going to believe what my dad told me today. My Uncle Terry murdered the three little boys.' According to Michael, his dad called this 'The Hobbs Family Secret' and he asked us to keep it a secret and not tell anyone."

Another witness stated, "One night last winter, Michael and I were playing pool in his basement when the third friend asked about the West Memphis Three case which had been in the news. Michael responded by saying, 'My uncle killed three kids in West Memphis.' Michael was dead serious when he said this."

The three little boys referenced in the declarations were found brutally murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993. DNA consistent with Terry Hobbs, stepfather of victim Stevie Branch, was later discovered in the knot of a shoelace used to restrain victim Michael Moore. Three eyewitnesses have also provided sworn statements that they saw Terry Hobbs with the three children on the day of the murders, immediately before they disappeared. Terry Hobbs has maintained that he never saw the three boys the day they were murdered.

A third witness stated that he was at Michael Hobbs Jr's home in 2003 or 2004 when he was told by Hobbs Jr. that the two of them could not go down to the basement to play pool because Michael Hobbs Sr. was down there having a conversation with Hobbs Jr.'s uncle. The witness said that he "listened with Michael Jr. at the top of the stairs. I heard two men talking. One appeared to be very upset even crying and he said 'I am sorry, I regret it.' The other man was trying to console him and said, 'You are in the clear, no one thinks you are a suspect, those guys are already in prison.'"

Echols' attorney, Stephen Braga of Ropes & Gray, said: "This is critical new information which reveals that the people closest to Terry Hobbs, his family members, may know much more about Terry's involvement in the West Memphis Three case than they have ever acknowledged. If this is the Hobbs Family Secret, then what a horrific cost that secrecy has imposed on the lives of so many people - perhaps most significantly Pam Hobbs who deserves to know what really happened to Stevie on the night of the murders, as do the Byers and Moore families. With the secret now out, let's hope that someone in the Hobbs family