Friday, March 24, 2006

Robin Hood Hills revisited

Have you seen "Paradise Lost," the documentary about the Robin Hood Hills murders, also know as the West Memphis Three case?

Three Gothy kids, who really stood out in the poor, rural West Memphis area where they lived, were tried and convicted for horrendous child murders. I don't know who was guilty and who wasn't in this case, but the documentary definitely suggested some weird things were going on. The weird fact that has always stuck with me: The boys showed bite marks, and the stepdad of one of the murdered boys later turned up with no teeth.

Anyway, Damien Echols, kind of the leader of the three imprisoned boys, has published "volume one" of his life story. Interesting.

5 comments:

Finding My New Normal said...

That is weird. For some reason I knew nothing of these murders but now I am fascinated. Especially in light of the TN pastor murdered over the weekend by his wife. Weird! It seems to me that the step father is the guilty party here.

Anonymous said...

I've been following this story on and off since I saw the first "Paradise Lost" documentary on them a few years ago. I don't think any of them is completely innocent, but I do think that they did not kill those kids. The one step-father comes across as homicidally psycho to me.

Jen said...

Man, that was a pretty creepy story. I hope they get it all sorted out soon...

I hadn't seen that this book was out, thanks for pointing it out.

Anonymous said...

[G: The following is based on a posted comment I sent last week. If you have not received it, I apologize in advance for this follow-up message.....I know you are a busy person.]

If you let me know what was wrong with my comment (posted here last week and so far unpublished), I will do my utmost to suit my writing to your liking.

It is your site and you do have the final say; however, a differing opinion is not not meant as an affront.

If there is nothing I can say or do to help you understand why the term "Gothy" is detrimental to a vibrant and intelligent subculture, so be it, but I'd appreciate knowing why it is such a problem. Whether your reasoning is as innocuous as "I'd have to sort through all the subsequent, argumentative posts after it" or "I simply don't care to hear it," it would be preferable to being completely ignored.

I mean it when I say I love the site, I've been reading it for years, and I appreciate all the high weirdness you provide us readers regularly. However, when it comes to hearing that I, as a self-identified Goth, may be lumped together with potential and alleged murderers, I feel the need to question a writer's - *any* writers - choice of adjectives.

I appreciate your time in listening to my (further) rant on the subject and I look forward to reading more of your MSN items (they usually ROCK my world) as well as PCJM. More than that, I sincerely hope I have not offended you in any way.

Gael Fashingbauer Cooper said...

Diva: I had no way to respond to you (either time) since you didn't leave an email address!

The only reason I didn't post your first comment is I think you didn't get my post...I used the word "Gothy," not "Goth." Obviously it's important to you, but this post isn't about your subculture, but about a book.

I'd rather keep comments on topic because everyone can take offense or want to explain every single word choice and that way lies madness. I'm not offended, but next time you need to post a way to respond to you if you want a response.