West Memphis Three | Crime and Punishment | 2

American Scandal

Wondery

True Crime, Exhibit C, Society & Culture, History, Documentary, History Daily, American History Tellers, Lindsay Graham

4.6 • 18.7K Ratings

🗓️ 2 December 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A month after the brutal murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, a suspect confesses to police. His testimony leads to the arrest of two other local teenagers, who police accuse of conducting a Satanic ritual sacrifice. As the trial dates near, critics claim the affair has become more like a witch hunt than a legitimate investigation.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Want to get more from American Scandal? Subscribe to Wondery Plus for early access to new episodes,
0:06.4	add free listening, and exclusive content you can't find anywhere else. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondry
0:11.5	app or on Apple Podcasts. American Scandal uses dramatizations that are based on true events. Some elements
0:19.0	including dialogue might be invented, but everything is based on historical events. Some elements, including dialogue, might be invented, but everything is
0:22.2	based on historical research. This episode contains descriptions of murder, violence against children,
0:28.4	and discussions of suicide. Listener discretion is advised.
0:31.6	Music It's late on June 3rd, 1993, in a trailer park in West Memphis, Arkansas.
0:53.2	Two police officers march 18-year-old Damien Eccles out of his parents' trailer with his hands cuff behind his back.
0:59.8	Moments later, his friend Jason Baldwin, follows.
1:03.0	The convoy of police cars surround the trailer, their lights glaring yearly through the darkness.
1:08.5	It's been almost a month since the mutilated bodies of three
1:11.7	eight-year-old boys were discovered in a wooded area off the interstate on the outskirts of
1:16.1	town. Now Eccles and Baldwin have been arrested on suspicion of committing the terrible crime.
1:23.0	Eccles is strangely calm as he shoved into the back of a police car, but Baldwin's eyes are wild
1:28.7	with fear. He's just 16 years old and looks even younger than that. At 5'8 and weighing just
1:35.1	112 pounds, he's dwarfed by the police officers who push him into the car next to Eccles.
1:40.5	Hey, I don't understand what's going. You've got the wrong people. My name's Jason Baldwin.
1:46.1	I'm just 16. Man, they know that, Jason. With a skid of gravel, the police car moves off. Baldwin
1:53.3	stares at Eccles. How can you be so calm about all this? I guess I've sort of been waiting for this to happen.
1:59.2	You're relieved? No, no.
2:01.6	Yeah, I don't know.
2:03.1	I told you.
	...

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