Release of West Memphis Three No Perfect Ending

JONESBORO, Ark. - The families of the victims and accused were all in attendance at the West Memphis Three hearing Friday morning, and brought with them the anxiety, fears and doubts they've lived with for 18 years.

Make no mistake; it was not the perfect ending. For six families forever tied together by one monstrous tragedy for the last 18 years, the surprising release of the West Memphis Three can only be described as a glass half empty... or a glass half full.

"You're in prison on capitol murder. But yet, now that you'll agree to a lesser charge they're going to let you go free. Do the citizens of Arkansas realize how crazy that is?" said Mark Byers, father of murder victim Christopher Byers.

On a day where an expedited resolution brought together both the families of the three slain 8-year old boys and the hopeful parents of the three men accused and convicted of their murders, the mixed feelings, the accusations, and the unproven alibis which have haunted this case for years all spilled out again, running the gamut from tears of joy to raw bitterness over the convoluted outcome.

For those of us who've followed this human saga, each of the family members on both sides, have become so familiar through the years.

"I can't wait to be able to put my arms around him," Pam Metcalf said of her son, West Memphis Three's Damien Echols. "I really can't explain it."

However an enraged Steve Branch, father of murder victim Stevie Branch, said, "If these animals are released you're just going to give the key to everybody who's on Death Row right now to open up their cells and walk out here with all the rest of us." Stevie's mother, Pam Hobbs, added, "How would you feel? Let me answer it that way."

There is the quiet and supportive Jessie Misskelley Senior, a man who's always believed in his son's innocence, and, in a way, naive enough to think his son can return to some sense of normalcy after his release. He said home was as "safe as any place he can go. There's nobody there to bother him. Everybody knows."

The towering figure of Mark Byers was engulfed by reporters as he loudly challenged the veracity of the judicial decision.

"If the defense has all the strong evidence that they've said, DNA, circumstantial evidence, and we all know who it points to. It doesn't point to the West Memphis Three. It doesn't point to me. So, what's being hidden?"

"They're turning him lose, but they still ain't got the killer," said Misskelley, Sr. "The truth is not out yet."

While Misskelley, Jr. may return home for a time, neither Damien Echols nor Jason Baldwin were specific about what's next for them.