Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (2012)

Every bit as fascinating/maddening as the first two films covering the Robin Hood Hills murders.  It also does a really good job of "catching up" viewers who are new to the subject (e.g. Gary, who watched this with me but hadn't seen the first two installments).

So the "West Memphis 3" are finally free, but they'll never get back the years they spent in prison.  Whether or not they're guilty (I don't believe they are), there's no debating that the investigation was mishandled, and very little room for argument that the prosecution came anywhere close to proving their case.  Seeing the thinning hair and new spectacles on the convicted three alongside their boyish figures at the original arrest and trial was startling.

I grieve for the three murdered children, but also for a community that can throw away three MORE young lives just for the illusion of justice.  I truly hope Baldwin, Echols, and Misskelly will be able to find their way as adults in a world without metal bars.  They deserve piles of cash and, more importantly, apologies.

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