Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills - Trials Coverage

Trials Coverage

The first trial to be covered in the film is that of Misskelley, a trial which was severed from those of Echols and Baldwin since it was Jessie who submitted a confession. A lot of emphasis is placed on the fact that there is a strong possibility that the confession was coerced. Interviews are conducted with Jessie's family and friends, Misskelley himself and his attorney Dan Stidham. Misskelley is sentenced to life in prison.

Part two of the film documents the trials of Echols and Baldwin. Like the coverage of Misskelley's trial, there are interviews with both defendants, their attorneys and their families. The families of the victims also share their views.

During the course of the filming, John Mark Byers, the stepfather of one of the victims (Christopher Byers), gives the filmmakers a knife which has blood in the hinge. The filmmakers turn the knife over to police, who examine it; the DNA is similar to that of himself and the boy but the evidence is nonetheless inconclusive since the DNA evidence produced was fragmented and can not provide concrete links.