Part Two

West Memphis, Arkansas, sits along the eastern edge of the state, separated from Memphis and Tennessee by the Mississippi River. In 1993, it was a small, working-class city with a population of approximately twenty-six thousand people. The area was economically depressed, with limited employment opportunities and high levels of poverty. Public services, including law enforcement, were under-resourced, and many families lived pay-cheque to pay-cheque.

The city was socially conservative. Church attendance was high, and religious values shaped daily life. Alternative belief systems, nonconformity, and subcultures associated with heavy metal music or the occult were often viewed with suspicion. In this episode, the investigation into the murders of three little boys continue. This is part two, in the story of the West Memphis 3.

Sources:

Documentaries: Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)

West of Memphis (2012)

Books: The Devils Knot – Mara Leveritt (2002)

How Does a Body Decompose in Water? - Biology Insights

West Memphis 3

What Sparked the Satanic Panic of the 1980s?

West Memphis Three | Background & Trial | Britannica

Broader DNA and genetic testing to be requested in West Memphis Three case - Talk Business & Politics

M-Vac to be Used on Evidence from West Memphis Three Murders

West Memphis Three: What You Should Know About Their Wrongful Conviction - Innocence Project

The West Memphis Three Trials (1994)

West Memphis Three Trials: The Transcripts

The Jesse Misskelley Trial (January 26 - February 4, 1994): Verdict

The Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin Trial (February 28 - March 18, 1994): Verdict

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Support the Pod: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/ZVB4D7FFZ2JXJ

Get in touch: deadquietthepod@outlook.com

Part One

West Memphis, Arkansas, sits along the eastern edge of the state, separated from Memphis and Tennessee by the Mississippi River. In 1993, it was a small, working-class city with a population of approximately twenty-six thousand people. The area was economically depressed, with limited employment opportunities and high levels of poverty. Public services, including law enforcement, were under-resourced, and many families lived pay-cheque to pay-cheque.

The city was socially conservative. Church attendance was high, and religious values shaped daily life. Alternative belief systems, nonconformity, and subcultures associated with heavy metal music or the occult were often viewed with suspicion. This type of social environment would later become significant as an investigation into the murders of three little boys unfolded.

Sources:

Documentaries: Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996) West of Memphis (2012) Books: The Devils Knot – Mara Leveritt (2002)

How Does a Body Decompose in Water? - Biology Insights

What Sparked the Satanic Panic of the 1980s?

West Memphis Three | Background & Trial

West Memphis 3

Britannica Broader DNA and genetic testing to be requested in West Memphis Three case - Talk Business & Politics

M-Vac to be Used on Evidence from West Memphis Three Murders

West Memphis Three: What You Should Know About Their Wrongful Conviction - Innocence Project

The West Memphis Three Trials (1994)

West Memphis Three Trials: The Transcripts

The Jesse Misskelley Trial (January 26 - February 4, 1994): Verdict

The Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin Trial (February 28 - March 18, 1994): Verdict

Follow us on socials: Facebook

Support the Pod: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/ZVB4D7FFZ2JXJ

Get in touch: deadquietthepod@outlook.com

On the outskirts of Ararat, two imposing sandstone buildings still stand as relics of Australia’s mental health past.

Aradale Lunatic Asylum, formerly known locally as mad mans hill — was once the largest psychiatric hospital in Victoria.

Just down the road, J Ward confined the state’s most violent and “criminally insane.”

Behind their thick stone walls, treatments blurred with punishment, and the line between care and cruelty disappeared.

Sources:

Book your visit — Aradale, Lunatic Asylum

Books: The J Ward Story – Graeme Burgin

Aradale, The Making of a Haunted Asylum – David Waldron, Sharn Waldron and Nathaniel Buchanan

Yarra Bend (Asylum 1848-1905; Hospital for the Insane 1905-1925)

vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/search/nattrust_result_detail/67299

Public Record Office Victoria Collection | PROV VPRS 7446/P0001, Ararat Asylum

Public Record Office Victoria Collection | PROV VA 2841

Lunacy Act, 1903, No. 1873 - Legislation - Australian Psychiatric Care

Aradale Lunatic Asylum History

Dr Eric Cunningham Dax | Mont Park to Springthorpe report.pdf

LLIFS - The story of Mr Bill Wallace - J Ward's oldest inmate | llifs.com.au

Aradale: A Historical Overview 1867-1994 | Making History

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Support the Pod: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/ZVB4D7FFZ2JXJ

Get in touch: deadquietthepod@outlook.com