While the three teenagers were blamed for the murders and horrific injuries inflicted on the boys, Judge Dan claims that animals had actually caused the mutilations to the bodies. In the ditch, it was most likely an Alligator Snapping Turtle.
Stidham explained that a forensics expert saw a picture of one of the boys who had been “horribly mutilated” and labelled them as the “worst picture [he’d] ever seen” but added that the three convicted teenagers couldn’t “pull this off.”
Judge Dan Stidham, representing the West Memphis Three, has shed light on the events that led to the wrongful conviction of the three teenagers. He pointed out that new DNA technology, not available back in 2007 when the case was finally reopened, has revealed that the injuries to the boys’ bodies were likely caused by animal predation, such as turtles and raccoons rather than a satanic ritual.