Pam Hobbs on WM3, Her Ex, and Meeting Damien Echols

West Memphis, Ark. - Pam Hobbs tries to stay busy, which helps her avoid mentally agonizing over whether the man she once loved as a husband could have been capable of committing the unspeakable crime that's torn her world asunder for 19 years.

"I'm not letting that thought dwell with me. However, I'm scared. I'm fearful...sometimes guilt stricken. I might have overlooked something…I really can't explain my emotions with that. I'm just numb to the feeling right now and praying that it's not true."

Yet with the emergence of three potential new witnesses allegedly implicating Hobbs ex-husband Terry as the perpetrator in the brutal 1993 killings of three West Memphis boys, including his own step-son Stevie Branch, Pam Hobbs has been forced to again relive the tumultuous time. That includes looking back on her often stormy relationship with her former husband and what she now sees as his strange behavior before and after her son's heinous murder. A strained marriage she reflects often found Hobbs and her at odds over his treatment of their children.

"Terry even in the beginning of our marriage it was sorta like a little bit of a jealously thing. That I paid more attention to my son than I did him."

She recalls what she felt was severe punishment levied at her son by her ex-husband, "He would take a belt...make them hold their hands in the air and would whup em. It would cause him and I to argue and he would tell me not to tell him how to discipline their children."

Hobbs alleges the relationship grew even more distant after the tragedy. As her despondency over Stevie's death grew deeper, Hobbs says Terry began to develop a cavalier attitude even before the autopsy results were divulged.

"He was telling me that I had to let go and go on with my life. And me telling him that I was as much in that ditch as may baby was..and not to tell me how to feel…I fought with him a lot. I was very angry at him and still feel anger towards him for not coming and letting me know that my son was missing."

Now firmly convinced in the innocence of Damein Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelly and with new revelations in the case arising, Hobbs declares it's imperative for the investigation into the murders to be re-opened by prosecutors.

"I am not going to rest. And I'm not going to stop screaming until Arkansas corrects what they messed up…To them it might be a murder case or something...But, this is my life. It's real. It happened. And I'm not going to shut up until they really take this seriously."

Hobbs has finally come to grips with the international interest surrounding the horrific 1993 West Memphis murderers. What she will never get over is seeing any depiction on screen or off of the graphic violence which took the life of her son Stevie Branch. During a recent trip to Utah, for a private screening of Director Peter Jackson's soon to be released movie "West of Memphis", Hobbs was assigned an assistant to help her through parts of the movie.

"When she squeezed my arm I knew it was time to close my eyes and when she rubbed my arm I knew it was okay to open my eyes."

Unlike other parents of the West Memphis victims who lobbied to exclude the HBO documentary "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory from a subsequent Academy Award nomination, Hobbs has honed a friendship over the years with the film's producers. She was given an edited copy of third film in the groundbreaking series.

"Joe and Bruce have always kept their word to me. They've been honest. I heard they've been nominated for the Oscar. I hope they win. I really do…It has caused the world to come together as one to fight for justice and for that I'm thankful."

It was while in Utah for the Sundance Festival Hobbs met for dinner with Damien Echols and his wife Lori Davis. A meeting that appeared to be therapeutic for two people who found they shared more than one common bond.

"When I met Damien it was overwhelming. He apologized to me for being...his actions as a teenager back then. I told him don't worry about it. I was a rebellious teenager my self once upon a time…When Damien hugged me and told me he was sorry for my loss. He wasn't going to give up until justice is served that wasn't put on. It was real. I felt it in my heart…I'm content in my heart that Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley did not murder my child."