Father's Day
Although not recognized as a national holiday until it was signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon in 1972, the first Father’s Day (sometimes misspelled "Fathers’ Day") was celebrated in 1908 in Fairmont, West Virginia. Grace Golden Clayton wanted to memorialize the lives of 210 miners, who were also fathers, lost in the Monongah mining disaster earlier that year. The date was chosen by Clayton as the Sunday closest to her recently deceased father’s birthday. Since the holiday was not registered by the state of West Virginia, a Spokane, Washington woman, Sonora Dodd, was credited with the invention of the holiday until Nixon’s proclamation, when the story of Grace Clayton was revived. Father’s Day is now observed annually on the third Sunday in June. Some fifty foreign nations, including Australia, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and Canada, celebrate an International Men’s Day, which celebrates "boys and men who are fathers."
The fathers and stepfathers of Christopher Byers, Stevie Branch, and Michael Moore need to be remembered today, noting that while they lost sons, they have other children who were still very young when their brothers were taken from them, and who needed them just as much, and always will. When Father’s Day comes around, we fathers naturally reflect on what kind of fathers we are, what kind of father our dads were, and how our children have fared under our care. The fathers and stepfathers of the three victims of the West Memphis child murders feel the pain of any father who has lost a child, but it becomes most acute on those days that act as markers of their loss. Birthdays, Mother’s Day, and of course the anniversary of the day of the murders, and again on Father’s Day.
For the rest of us, we should take today to appreciate what it means to be a father, that it is a privilege and responsibility to have children entrusted to us for care and guidance. When we shirk from that responsibility, society suffers. And when we abuse or neglect those whose care we are accountable for, there is a cost. When I study crime statistics and prison overcrowding problems, I know that more often than not there is a father who could have made the difference for that son, and did not. As fathers, we can’t let that be our legacy.
Happy Fathers Day.
I like most of the article except the following line:
The fathers and stepfathers of Christopher Byers, Stevie Branch, and Michael Moore need to be remembered today...
Mark adopted Christopher so he was his father. This the only actual stepfather is Terry Hobbs. He doesn't deserve to be honored in this way IMO..
Reply to this
Jason - Why not Terry Hobbs? He may have been a stepfather to Stevie, but he was a father to Amanda. And does being a stepfather make one less of a parent? I'm interested in your feedback.
Reply to this
Because this is supposed to be Mark Byer's blog, and Mark has stated that Terry Hobbs killed all three kids.
Reply to this
If this is your website you are more then entitled to your opinion. The problem as I see it is this blog is in Mark's name. If someone didn't know better they would think these were his thoughts.
As far as Amanda, if you believe the allegations that Terry molested her, that is no reason to honor him. Nobody has come forward at this time claiming to have witnessed Terry killing the kids but there are ex-in-laws claiming to have witnessed the molestation. With that in mind I wouldn't necessarily accuse him of anything, as he likes to sue, but I sure wouldn't honor him either.
Reply to this
Actually Jason, I never used the word "honor." I merely said "remembered." You are certainly free to feel any way you want toward Terry Hobbs, but you have no proof. You have the current scapegoat (unless, of course, he really is guilty of the murders) in Terry Hobbs, but if you haven't read Devil's Knot, I suggest you do so. There, a skilled, experienced journalist spends more time trying to hang the murders on Mark Byers than she does providing proof that the three are innocent. In her next book - along with and Berlinger and Sinofsky's next movie, Amy Berg's upcoming film, and past TV specials Larry King Live, 48 Hours Mystery, and most recently True Crime with Aphrodite Jones - guess who she'll be taking aim at? The eintire supporter community has total amnesia when it comes to the subject of John Mark Byers. I'm not on anybody's side here, Jason, and I'm not running an advocacy site. There are plenty of those around. I'm just telling the story.
I don't know how you could confuse my thoughts for Mark's. This is a book about Mark by me. It's pretty simple. This blog serves to promote that book and stimulate discussion. I'm not sure how you would think other wise. The blog title states that the blog is about "The New Book" by "Greg Day." Pretty cut and dried. My name is at the bottom of every page as the copyright holder. I am not a ghost writer or a co-author. I am the author, and all content is mine. Have you read the intro to the book? Might help clear some things up. The author's note (not published on the web) will clear it up even further.
Hope that helps.
Reply to this
And on a technical note there was only one stepfather so if you choose to honor Terry it should be changed from the plural to the singular.
Reply to this
Well that's true Jason. Mark is technically Christopher's adoptive father, as distinguished from a stepfather or biological father.
Again, I'm not honoring Terry Hobbs. But I do have a list of some 400 men whom you might want to talk to - including three in Arkansas, you'd say - who were wrongly convicted of capital crimes. I'll save my condemnation for Hobbs if and when he's behind bars after a fair trial.
I meant to address your comments about the allegations that Amanda Hobbs was molested by her father. I know a lot of people have been looking real hard for evidence on that. An unmarked journal page was included in Hobbs v Pasdar beginning on pg 102 of document 38-9. It begins "This book belongs to Amanda Hobbs." Do you have to identify that your own journal is owned by you? I don't. Read the document and see what you think. If the defense has come up with something, then we should see it at the evidentiary hearing.
Reply to this
Hi, Greg.
I was reading your conversation with Jason and forgive me for the intrusion, but as the mother of two little girls and a former little girl, myself, I have to say a few things about Terry and Amanda Hobbs...Notwithstanding the issue of DNA matching Terry Hobbs found at the crime scene in West Memphis, I believe that the worst thing you can do to a sexual assault victim is to claim they're lying about the abuse - especially when the victim is a child.
I can't imagine why a child would claim her father molested her if it were untrue. I realize false allegations do occur and that there are usually adults manipulating behind the scenes when it does occur. However, I also know too well what it feels like to be called a liar when finally coming forward with something as traumatic as child sexual abuse by a parent or other loved one.
With regard to the diary entry, as I said I have two daughters and was once a little girl myself. In my notebooks, diaries and coloring books from ages 5 through 16, my name is scrolled across many a page. (My grandmother kept many of them as memorabilia from childhood)
My daughters both 'announce" just about everything - verbally and in writing. For example, "I have to go pee" (6 yr old) and "A-----'s Room" (name ommitted intentionally) written on the bedroom door in bright red letters. (10 yr old)
It's not like we don't know whose room it is, or can't see that the little one is doing the pee pee dance. It's that kids are egocentric like that. They mark things and announce commonplace things for themselves, mostly, because that's how they think (and talk)- for themselves!My girls also write their names over and over again in various styles of lettering, in notebooks and journals; on book bags and clothing tags. You can't necessarily gauge what would be reasonable for an adult by what is reasonable for a child.
One last thing (just food for though is all)...adult children of sexually abusive parents tend to be immature in a lot of ways. Even if the diary is more recent, it could be that she still sort of thinks like a child. I'm not saying this is the case, but just as you've said we shouldn't scapegoat the men who have been accused as the real killers, and specifically stated there has not yet been hard evidence of Terry Hobbs molestation of his daughter, Amanda, we can;t go in assuming she made up the story about her father, either.
P.S. I still write my name and info on the inside cover of my college course notebooks in case they get lost. At times, they have all served as journals when I wasn't home to reach the one I keep under my mattress.
Reply to this
Hi Tina,
There's no intrusion at all. Threads are wide open
"I believe that the worst thing you can do to a sexual assault victim is to claim they're lying about the abuse - especially when the victim is a child."
I’m not saying she was lying. I’m saying she wasn’t sure. If you read her diary entry it is very non-specific. "I used to tell my mom that my dad messed with me. Now I don’t remember." She says she was four years old when she told her mom this, but that she doesn’t remember. So who told her? Any guesses? Maybe it was the person who hates Terry Hobbs more than anyone else does?
And is it any less horrible to falsely accuse someone of sexually abusing their daughter? Amanda is not a "sexual assault victim." She’s not even an alleged victim because she doesn’t claim Terry abused her, just that IF he did she doesn’t remember. She does remember being beaten, which oddly Pam doesn’t seem to talk about. This is more of Terry’s violent side, which is pretty well documented.
" . . . we can’t go in assuming she made up the story about her father, either."
I think legally you have to assume she made it up, or at least that it can’t be proven, since she can’t remember it. And if there was some way to prove it (even a confession isn’t bulletproof, though you’ll never see that), what does it have to do with the matter at hand, which is Hobbs alleged complicity in the murders? The DNA is not conclusive, but combined with strong enough circumstantial evidence, there might be a case. Either way, I doubt that any allegations of sexual abuse - that Amanda doesn’t remember - would be admissible.
Reply to this
Hi, Greg. Thanks for responding. I agree that it might be difficult to prove when she doesn't remember the specifics of the abuse and I see your point that Pamela Hobbs probably hates her ex more than anyone else (except possibly the other victims' families) and I am all for an "innocent until proven guilty" approach, since that's what I think we all agree was denied the three men convicted of this crime.
I'll also admit I have not personally read the diary entry, so I can only go on others' reports of its contents. I was mostly responding to the issue of the diary entry naming its owner.
Again just a thought, but...there are a number of reasons why sexual assault victims block out what occurred in their childhoods once they grow up to face the atrociousness of what's been done to them. To my knowledge, Pam isn't the only one who recalls these reports made by her daughter, is she? I believe I recall her parents' statements that they always feared something was going on. PTSD may explain a victim's lack of recollection. She was four years old after all. That was many years ago.
While unproven allegations might not be
the best, most conclusive evidence of a history of behavior, it is as indicative of deviant behavior as the "violent nature" Mr. Hobbs seems to have had. His attack on his brother-in-law and acts of domestic violence will certainly be held admissible, as character evidence.
Damien Echols was made out to be the devil in flesh, at a ripe old 18 yrs of age, with less character evidence than that, to be quite honest. Wouldn't you agree?
Respectfully,
Tina Musgrove
Reply to this
Hi Tina. It isn't that she doesn't remember the specifics about it, she doesn't remember it at all, which means someone told her that she said it. It may all be true; it wouldn't surprise me at all. Rather than speculate, since I am no expert in this area, I transcribed and posted the diary entry so you can read it in it's entirety and make up your own mind.
"Damien Echols was made out to be the devil in flesh, at a ripe old 18 yrs of age, with less character evidence than that, to be quite honest. Wouldn't you agree?"
Well, yes and no. Echols was definitely the designated fall guy at the Echols/Baldwin trial. Not only did he look the part in contrast to Baldwin, but his lawyer inexplicably put him on the stand where Brent Davis proceeded to take him apart. Even Jose Baez was smarter than that.
But to say that there was less "character evidence" against Echols than there is against Hobbs is a bit of a stretch. Echols' extensive history of mental illness was well documented. Was it relevant? If it goes to motive, as they say, it usually is. But Echols' depression and other diagnosed mental illnesses don't equal a triple homicide anymore than sexual abuse of your child. Hobbs' history of violence IS well documented and may be more relevant than allegations of sexual abuse. He apparently had an explosive temper, something that would, I believe, be a precursor to such a violent act.
But that's just my take. I truly hope that there are new trials ordered for the three so that we can all, as Pam Hobbs said, "sleep better." Or as Lorri Davis said, "I want to know who did it. We all want to know who did it."
Reply to this
Greg,
I agree there, we all want to know who did it...and for the families, as well as the three men in prison, it will never be enough to prove Damien, Jason and Jessie didn't do it (although that is certainly where we have to begin)- the quest will have to continue on to a search for the real killer(s), and what's as sad as it is crazy, is that just like Terry Hobbs, there are other suspects the police never even considered, or else dismissed as suspects as soon as they considered them at all. In cases like this, with or without a documented history of violence and mental illness, the parents are usually prime suspects.
I still can't understand why that happened, and while we all have our theories, I don't think anybody can really know for sure what possessed the authorities like Driver and Gitchell to target teenagers when so many better, more probable suspects existed, even in 1993. As you said, however, the young, impulsive and slightly egotistical persona Damien presented at trial sure did "look the part", but then the same could be said about Mark Byers, despite his new moral image. Damien even admitted he knows he didn't help his case any by acting the way he did.
The fact is, in this country, people accused of a crime are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, by an unbiased jury, within the constraints established by the US Constitution that define a fair trial. Those safeguards were entirely disregarded and the boys' rights violated on such fundamental levels that they more mirror the actions of Nazi Germany, than those of (nominally)the most liberated and democratic nation there is today. Looking like a killer (according to the perception of a less than marginally sophisticated jury in fear of damnation) and being a killer are two very different things.
As for mental illness, I understand the image many people hold of a mentally ill individual as potentially violent and there are many documented cases where that fear may be justified...But again, Byers admitted he was taking antipsychotic medications and was diagnosed as manic depressive in his polygraph test. That didn't make him a killer, either.
While I am not, personally a sufferer of bipolar disorder (manic-depression)my kids and husband all are and they haven't a dangerous bone in their bodies. Violence is a learned behavior.
I just want to be sure that all the stereotypes are dealt with equally and demonstrate that what looks like a duck and walks like a duck may well be a goose...are there similar characteristics? Yes. Can the person who doesn't know what a goose is be expected to adequately judge it's identity? Certainly not...he might be inclined to label him a duck because he has feathers and webbed feet! (It's the best analogy I could come up with,lol)
Reply to this
Tina, I don't think you understood my comment at all, but that's ok
Reply to this