The Tragedy at Robin Hood Hills: How the Media, Witchcraft, and a False Confession Imprisoned the West Memphis Three and Ultimately Led to their Freedom

Abstract

Beginning in the 1980s, America was plagued with a fear of Satanism and witchcraft. The establishment of Anton Lavey’s Church of Satan, the expansion of the Wiccan religion, and cult leaders like Jim Jones and Charles Manson making headlines in the decades prior, culminated in national anxieties over occult practices. In the midst of the hysteria, three gruesome murders of young boys occurred in the small town of West Memphis, Arkansas. Unable to comprehend the shocking homicides, the community turned to witchcraft to explain the unexplainable.