Jessie before recent court action
As many of us feared, there has been some unfortunate fallout for Jessie Misskelley due to his decision to remain in Arkansas so he could be close to his dad. After his release from prison, Jessie, his fiancee Susie, and her two children were living with a friend he’d known since before his arrest–a divorced man who had custody of his child.
Three weeks ago, police turned up to take the child away. At a court hearing the following week, a judge told the friend that he could have his child back–but only on the condition that Jessie, a confessed child killer, leave the house. Since then, Jessie, Susie and the kids have struggled to find a place to live–a situation made more difficult because Jessie still does not have a job.
When word of the problem was relayed to filmmakers Peter and Fran Jackson in New Zealand, the couple offered to pay Jessie’s rent for a year. With that, they recently located a house near a longtime friend of the family. They have gotten the utilities turned on with the help of donations supporters sent to WM3.org. and will be moving in this week. Jessie and Susie have asked me to extend their thanks to the Jacksons and to everyone else who has helped during this difficult time.
On a personal note, I’d like to add that, while an Arkansas court saw fit to remove Jessie from a stable home he shared with friends, officials of other countries have seen so little risk in the two men who also confessed to murders as part of last August’s Alford plea, that they admitted Damien Echols into New Zealand and Jason into The Netherlands, where no restraints have been placed on their associations. Yet, while most of the world sees through the lie inherent in the August plea, the punishment of Jessie Misskelley in Arkansas goes on.
