A Twilight Kill
The phases of the moon are tricks of light and
shadow. For the moon to be full, it must rise when the sun sets. On May
5th, 1993, as daylight disappeared, the round moon crested the Memphis
skyline. The Mississippi River, at that time turbid and swollen from a
season of floods, separated the Tennessee metropolis from its Arkansas
namesake, West Memphis, a trucking hub and home to 30,000. With dusk
deepening over the small town, three eight-year-old boys had already
been missing for two hours. By the next day they would be found dead,
brutalized, hog-tied and sunken in a ditch.
Dana Moore, mother of victim Michael Moore, saw the
three at a distance. Her son was in his cub scout uniform aboard his
bicycle while his second grade schoolmates, Chris Byers and Stevie
Branch shared a bike. Childhood friend, Kim Williams reported
accompanying Michael and Stevie to the edge of a patch of woods called
Robin Hood Hills. Another childhood friend said Chris Byers dropped by
his house. This neighbor said Chris told him his stepfather had whipped
him and he was running away from home.
Mark Byers, the stepfather of Chris, was a hefty six
foot five. Full-bearded and sporting long hair often tied back in a
ponytail, the left side of his face drooped from damage from seizures.
Changing into overalls and a long-sleeved shirt he undertook a frantic
eighteen hour search, patrolling the neighborhood with his wife,
Melissa and his thirteen year-old stepson, Ryan. He would later
complain of receiving virtually no help from the authorities. "I called
the Sheriff's Department the second time. I said, look, I've had one
police officer out here helping me look for these boys." [Mark Byers,
May 19, 1993 interview] Byers would describe two occasions when his
search took him to the area where the victims were found. "I was out
looking until 4:30 a.m. I walked within 10 or 15 feet of where the
bodies were found and I didn't see them." [Mark Byers, quoted in West
Memphis Evening Times, May 7th, 1993]
Terry Hobbs, wiry tough with a thick frowning
mustache and a glassy gaze, was the stepfather of victim Stevie
Branch. He described beginning his search well before nightfall,
including passing near the discovery site. Recently, Hobbs' companion
during his search has contradicted his account. Terry would wait until
the evening closing time at his wife's restaurant to inform her of her
son's disappearance.
Within two years, Terry Hobbs, Mark Byers and Dana
Moore would each be convicted of violent crimes. Hobbs shot and wounded
his brother-in-law. Mark Byers would be convicted of using a gun to
incite a child to engage in a fist fight. Moore would strike and kill a
pedestrian
with her car. Melissa Byers would die in the presence of her husband,
the cause of death undetermined.
