Listen Now: American Scandal | The West Memphis Three

Against The Odds

Wondery

Cassie De Pecol, History, Society & Culture, Dolby, Mike Corey, Dolby Atmos, Atmos

4.7 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 25 November 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On May 5, 1993, three 8-year-old boys were brutally murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas. The tiny local police department launches an investigation but finds little physical evidence to lead them to a suspect. Eventually, outside pressure pushes them to charge someone with the killings, whether or not the evidence supports their conclusions.

American Scandal takes you deep into the heart of America’s dark side to look at what drives someone to break the rules and what happens when they’re caught. In our latest series, three teenage boys are falsely accused of a vicious triple homicide, but their story doesn't end with their trials or convictions. Instead, their plight will capture the imagination of the entire country and spark a campaign for justice that will last for almost two decades. Listen to American Scandal: The West Memphis Three: Wondery.fm/AS_IFD

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Transcript

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0:00.0	In 1993, three eight-year-old boys were brutally murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas. As the small-town
0:07.0	local police struggled to solve the crime, rumors soon spread that the killings were the work of a
0:12.2	satanic cult. Suspicion landed on three local teenagers, but there was no real evidence linking
0:17.8	them to the murders. Still, that would not protect them. Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham,
0:21.7	the host of Wondry Show American Scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in
0:26.3	U.S. history, presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our latest series,
0:32.2	three teenage boys are falsely accused of a vicious triple homicide, But their story doesn't end with their trials or
0:38.9	convictions. Instead, their plight will capture the imagination of the entire country and spark a
0:44.0	campaign for justice that will last for almost two decades. You're about to hear a clip from
0:48.8	American Scandal. Follow American Scandal on the Wondry app, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of American Scandal, The West Memphis 3, early and ad-free, right now on Wondery Plus.
1:02.7	From Wondery, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is American Scamp. On the night of May 5, 1993, the tiny police department in West Memphis, Arkansas was swamped with distress calls.
1:43.8	Three local eight-year-old boys had gone
1:46.0	missing, and no one had a clue where they'd gone. Michael Moore, Stevie Branch, and Christopher
1:51.5	Byers were second-grade boys from ordinary blue-collar families. They were best friends,
1:56.9	members of a local Cub Scout troop, and as inseparable in life as they would be in death.
2:02.3	The savagery of their murders shocked their local community.
2:06.2	Located on the eastern edge of Arkansas just across the Mississippi River from Tennessee,
2:11.1	West Memphis was the kind of town where everyone seemed to know everyone else,
2:14.8	and they all wanted to help find the little boy's killer.
2:18.6	But with a lack of hard evidence and limited resources, local police would struggle to resolve
2:23.7	the case, and as pressure mounted, they would cast around for clues with increasing desperation,
2:29.2	beginning to entertain any theory no matter how wild or unsubstantiated.
	...

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