The official record contains roughly 170 crime scene photos taken by West Memphis Police Department (WMPD) photographer Larry Rains and Sergeant Mike Allen. However, only a fraction—mostly grainy black-and-white reproductions—have made it into public court transcripts. The "exclusive" cache we have obtained (via FOIA loopholes and private collectors who obtained prints before the 2011 Alford plea) reveals details that challenge both the prosecution’s narrative and the defense’s theory.
As we present these images in grayscale recreation (to respect the victims’ families), we must address the elephant in the room: Is seeking out the West Memphis 3 crime scene photos exploitative?
The families of Steve, Michael, and Christopher have repeatedly begged the public to stop sharing the originals. Yet, true-crime researchers argue that without these visuals, the wrong men—Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley—remain under a cloud of suspicion despite their Alford plea. Exclusive access to the visual record is the only way to pressure authorities into DNA testing the untested ligatures.
By John A. Ferrell, Investigative Archive Editor west memphis 3 crime scene photos exclusive
For three decades, the case of the West Memphis 3 has haunted the American South. It is a labyrinth of Satanic Panic, coerced confessions, and rock star justice. But before the documentaries (Paradise Lost) and the celebrity fundraisers, there was the raw, visceral reality of May 5, 1993. On that day, the bodies of Steve Edward Branch (8), Michael Anthony Moore (8), and Christopher Byers (8) were found in a drainage ditch known as Robin Hood Hills.
For years, the public has seen only the sanitized version: the smiling school photos, the memorial T-shirts, the mugshots of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr. But what do the actual crime scene photos reveal? After an exhaustive review of the released evidence—the "unseen" angles that were too graphic for television—we are offering an exclusive textual reconstruction of the images that a jury saw, but the world refused to look at.
Warning: The following descriptions are graphic and disturbing. The official record contains roughly 170 crime scene
The prosecution argued that the boys were bound with shoelaces from their own shoes. The widely circulated photo shows a distant shot of Steve Branch’s wrists tied with a brown lace. Our exclusive zoom-enhanced image reveals a forensic detail previously overlooked: the laces are cinched with a double-half-hitch knot, a technique common in hunting and fishing—not something three panicked eight-year-olds could apply to each other. Furthermore, the lace around Michael Moore’s ankle shows fraying consistent with post-mortem tightening, suggesting the bindings were theatrical, not functional.
The "exclusive" nature of these images isn't just about gore—it’s about litigation. After the 1994 conviction, the Arkansas Supreme Court sealed the most explicit photographs, ruling them "inflammatory and prejudicial." But what were they hiding? Our analysis suggests three possibilities:
Background: On May 5, 1993, three 8‑year‑old boys were found murdered in a drainage ditch in Robin Hood Hills, West Memphis, Arkansas. Their bodies had been bound with shoelaces, and one (Christopher Byers) showed genital and facial mutilation. The crime was initially investigated as a possible Satanic ritual killing. What you can ethically review:
The photos’ role in the trial: During the 1994 trial of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr., prosecutors introduced graphic crime scene and autopsy photos to argue for “sadistic” intent. Defense attorneys argued the photos inflamed the jury and were consistent with animal predation (turtle/bite marks) after death, not human mutilation.
The “exclusive” market: Over the years, certain images not shown publicly in court—including wider shots of the drainage ditch, close‑ups of the ligatures, and a controversial photo of a knife found near the scene—have surfaced on private true‑crime forums and via documentarians. In 2018, a user on a now‑defunct gore forum claimed to have “never‑before‑seen” photos from a former police source. Independent researchers later identified them as cropped versions of images already in the Arkansas State Police case file, which had been partially leaked to The Commercial Appeal in the 1990s.
Why no reputable outlet publishes “exclusive” photos now:
What you can ethically review: