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This week’s guest reveal requires a bit of context. So, here’s the story (thread).
In 1993, three boys were tragically murdered in West Memphis, AR. The authorities, suspecting the crime to be the work of devil worshippers, quickly landed on 3 teen suspects: Jessie Misskelley, Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols, a group who’d come to be known as the West Memphis 3
Echols was of particular interest to the cops - the 18 year-old wore black, listened to Metallica, and owned a number of Stephen King books. None of that PROVED anything, of course, but that didn’t stop the state from using it against him in a court of law.
Indeed, as seen in HBO’s excellent series of PARADISE LOST documentaries (and Amy Berg’s brilliant WEST OF MEMPHIS), all three young men were convicted of the murders, railroaded into prison despite there being no real evidence to indicate their guilt.
Jessie Misskelley got 40 years.
Jason Baldwin got life.
Damien Echols got sent to death row.
Jason Baldwin got life.
Damien Echols got sent to death row.
Years later, public outcry over the case and a series of appeals led the state of Arkansas to make a rare deal with the West Memphis 3: the trio were allowed to file what’s known as an Alford Plea. They'd be free, but their names would not be cleared. https://www.thedailybeast.com/west-memphis-three-freed-using-rare-alford-legal-plea
And so it was that in 2011 - nearly two decades after being sent to prison for a crime they didn’t commit - the West Memphis 3 were finally granted their freedom.
Anyway, as it turns out, Damien Echols is still very much a Stephen King fan...
So this week, THE KINGCAST is proud to welcome @damienechols to the show.
He’ll be taking on THE GUNSLINGER - a book he read over 30 times on death row.
Turns out THE DARK TOWER series meant quite a bit to Damien while he was in prison, and he’s got much to say about it.
He’ll be taking on THE GUNSLINGER - a book he read over 30 times on death row.
Turns out THE DARK TOWER series meant quite a bit to Damien while he was in prison, and he’s got much to say about it.
(One word of warning for this ep: our conversation with Damien deals with THE GUNSLINGER, but also covers the movie, and the DARK TOWER mythology as a whole - up to and including spoilers. So you might wanna set this one aside if you haven’t finished the books yet.)
