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Police Records Were Disordered And Manipulated
- West Memphis PD showed disorganized, altered records and sloppy procedures during the investigation.
- Examples include wrong victim names, missing polygraph records, and a doctored case number changed to show 666 to feed a satanic narrative.
Satanic Panic Drove The Investigation Direction
- Community and police immediately leaned into a satanic-sacrifice narrative despite no physical evidence of ritual activity.
- That framing drove investigators to treat outsiders (goths, Wiccans) as suspects rather than follow forensic leads.
Damien's Religious Interest And Goth Style Made Him A Target
- Damien Echols had been interested in religion and renamed himself after a Catholic priest, which investigators used to suggest occultism.
- Echols' adoption of a black trench coat and gothic style marked him as an outsider in small-town Arkansas.