While the three men whose lives were drastically affected by the murder of three West Memphis, Arkansas boys may be out of prison and relatively free, justice has not been served as the real killer (or killers) has yet to be convicted. But with the 2011 release of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelly Jr. (aka The West Memphis 3), interest in the already well publicized true life murder mystery is understandably high. Those unfamiliar with the story would be well advised to check out Paradise Lost, the 1996 HBO documentary that covered the murder story, as well as the arrest, trials and convictions of three teenagers now known as the West Memphis 3. But for those looking for a more dramatic version of the events (if that's even possible), Devil's Knot is in the works.
Today Deadline is reporting that Mireille Enos has joined the cast of Devil's Knot. She'll play Vicki Hutcheson, a key witness in the trial and the mother of an 8-year-old boy. Enos is no stranger to murder mysteries. Many may recognize her as the star of AMC's drama The Killing, in which she plays lead homicide detective Sarah Linden.
Based on Mara Leveritt's 2003 book Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three, the Atom Egoyan-directed film will star Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth, and follow the trials, which saw the three teenagers convicted for murders that many are convinced they had no part in. At the time, it was believed that the teens murdered the children as part of some ritual related to witchcraft and satan worshipping, but based on what we're shown in the Paradise Lost documentary, it really just looks like a lot of discrimination on the part of a small town determined to make sense of a truly horrific crime, against a few kids who were outsiders, wore black and listened to Metallica.
As previously announced, Witherspoon will play Pam Hobbs, the mother of one of the three murdered boys. It's known that Hobbs was once convinced Echols, Misskelly and Baldwin were responsible for her son's death, but then came to believe - like many others - that the WM3 were wrongly accused. Meanwhile, Firth is set to play Ron Lax, a private investigator who supported the defendants and worked for their cast pro bono.
It's going to be interesting to see a dramatic telling of this fascinating and disturbing story. The cast is certainly shaping up to be a good one, and given the support the WM3 has gotten from Hollywood over the years, it wouldn't be all that surprising if some more familiar faces joined the project.
