John Byers Case Study

1291 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Crime investigation and evidence

Elane Cun
December 10, 2013
Nick Sinigaglia
Philosophy 11

“The Unconsidered Suspect John Mark Byers”
The sickening and vicious murder of the three young West Memphis boys: Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Stevie Branch was and still is an uncommon case due to the choices of suspects and lack of evidence available. Evidence and information that have been revealed, indicates Christopher’s Byers step-father John Mark Byers as a reasonable suspect. John Byers has been established to be a man with a history of domestic violence’s and many other criminal activities. It has been discovered that there is a sensible motive, dishonesty in his statements/alibi, and possible physical evidences. From all those factors, it would be logical to take an interest in John Byers as a suspect in this horrifying murder.
In this case, there were multiple motives take in into deliberation, however the most interesting and promising motives for the crime belonged to John Byers. Byer has a criminal past with a history of domestic violence against his ex-wife Sandra Slone stated in the book Devil’s Knot “Byers came to the her house around 6 A.M, demanding to take the children, he then “began to threaten her, telling her he wanted full custody of the kids, that he was going to kill her” (pg 20)”. She also says “her ex-husband had threatened to kill her or have someone else kill her several times in the past; that she sought a restraining order against him (pg 21).” Not only was he violent to her, but to his own children. She told Lax the private investigator for the defense team that “he used to beat her and the children but did so in a way which left to visible marks or bruises when dressed” (pg 205). It is not only his blood related children he bea...

... middle of paper ...

...yers body. In addition with John Byers history of abuse with Chris and Chris being the only one with a “two old scars on his face, one on his chest and "a few" on his lower extremities. But the other two children have no old scars” (jivepuppi.com).
Christopher Byers was a problem child because of an attention disorder he had, which would provide problems for his parents. A women said “she overheard the couple continuing to discuss how they needed “to get rid of Chris” (pg 30). Having a problem child, being in trouble with the police, and a history of domestic violence clearly is an appropriate motive for this murder. John Byers ex-wife Sandra said in the Devil’s Knots that she automatically thought that John Mark Byers was the one to be blamed for this. With all the evidence presented and points towards John Byers, he should be looked at as a possible suspect.

Show More
Related

  • Monster By Walter Dean Myers Analysis

    528 Words  | 2 Pages

    I recently read a book called Monster by Walter Dean Myers, in which a sixteen year-old boy named Steve Harmon was arrested for being accused of shooting a drugstore owner, and watched a documentary titled Murder on a Sunday Morning about a fifteen year-old Brenton Butler being charged with murdering a woman at a motel. I found that the book and the documentary had many similarities and differences. I thought this because both cases are about a young African-American boy who is in custody for something that they did not do. Both police investigations didn't go thoroughly and just rushed through to arrest the boys immediately and are centered around a white defense attorney who tries to convince the jury that the male teen did not committed the crime by giving out evidence.

    Read More

  • Brenton Butler Murder Case Essay

    486 Words  | 1 Pages

    On May 7th 2000, fifteen year old Brenton Butler was accused of the murder of Mary Ann Stephens, who had been fatally shot in the head while walking down a breezeway of a hotel with her husband. Two and a half hours later, Butler is seen walking a mile away from where the incident occurred, and is picked up by the police because he fit the description of the individual who shot Mary Ann Stephens. However, the only characteristic of the description that Butler featured was the color of his skin. Police then brought Butler to the scene of the crime in order for Mary Ann Stephens’s husband, James Stephens, to confirm whether or not Butler was the individual who had shot his wife. Almost immediately, Stephens identifies Butler as his wife’s killer.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Murder In The Bayou

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    The book Murder in the Bayou: Who Killed the Women Known as the Jeff Davis 8?, written by independent journalist and private investigator Ethan Brown, tells the horrific true story of the bayou town of Jennings, Louisiana located in the heart of the Jefferson Davis parish. During the four year duration between 2005 and 2009, the town of Jennings was on edge after the discovery of the bodies of eight murdered women were found in the filthy canals and swamps. The victims became known as the “Jeff Davis 8.” For years, local law enforcement suspected a serial killer, and solely investigated the murders based on that theory alone. The victims were murdered in varying manors, but when alive they all shared many commonalities and were connected to

    Read More

  • Patsy Ramseysey Case Study

    1756 Words  | 4 Pages

    Everybody had an opinion on what happened at the Ramsey household on December 25, 1996. Most people believed that the family is responsible for killing JonBenet. Ever since that day, the public has held the Ramsey family under a cloud of suspicion. The family did everything they could do to defend themselves. They believe that an intruder must have done it, but most of the public believes that the family should be held responsible for the killing. The main suspect that police keyed in on was the mother of JonBenet. The reason for the suspicion of the mother was the 911 call made by Patsy Ramsey the day of the murder. In this 911 call, the mother seemed very suspicious. Patsy said “We have a kidnapping” ( McClish). “It seemed like she knew something she was not telling” (McClish 2001).

    Read More

  • Curtis McGhee Case Exoneration

    1396 Words  | 3 Pages

    Curtis McGhee was charged for the murder of John Schweer who worked as a security guard at a car dealership. Even though there were various suspects after the crime McGhee was charged based on a false statement, which was made by Kevin Hughes. Kevin Hughes was under police investigation for a stolen car ring, however while he was under police investigations the detectives pressured and instructed Hughes to confess, and Hughes stated that he, Harrington, and McGhee attempted to steal a car where Schweer used to work, and when he came to check Harrington shot him with a shotgun.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Loco Parentis By Robert Telford

    1073 Words  | 3 Pages

    While John 's mother never confronted her husband about his actions, or went to the police before the murder she did eventually confront the police during the trial. " Sandra Telford had her husband served with divorce papers at Riker," (Locos Parentis"). While this was the right thing in the end, later everyone was debating on whether or not she should go to jail as well, but in this case I believe that she was just as much as a victim as John and Chris were. For all the jury and police know she could have been physically abused, and even gas lighted by her husband which makes it even harder to leave. These possibilities make it harder to leave someone and with a total of 4,000 deaths every year related to domestic violence she could have been attempting to protect her own life. While she personally was not convicted of any crime in this case, Robert took a deal and got two to six years in prison, his son was sentenced to ten plus years. This particular sentence is unjust due to the fact that John could have been dealing with the abuse from his father starting from the time he was born, so he may not know right from wrong. Due to this factor and evidence in the case I believe John should be put into a mental hospital so he can attempt to learn right from wrong and get the therapy he obviously needs. Looking at the evidence against Robert I believe

    Read More

  • Case Report: “Lamb to the Slaughter”

    990 Words  | 2 Pages

    To conclude, despite all the possibilities and other theories of Mrs. Maloney committing the crime out of anger or severe frustration towards Mr. Maloney, there is no credible way to prove it. Mrs. Maloney simply killed her husband as a result of mental anguish, self defense and trauma inflicted upon her. Mrs. Maloney did not plan to kill her husband. She was simply a victim of her situation and could not control her actions. Mrs. Maloney should not be spending time in jail, but safe at home grieving the loss of her husband.

    Read More

  • The West Memphis Three Murder Trial

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    "The West Memphis Three Trial: Who was the real killer or killers?." The West Memphis Three

    Read More

  • Lee v. Gillis: Does Media Matter?

    1440 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dubbed the “Baton Rouge Serial Killer” Derrick Todd Lee was only one of two serial killers working the Baton Rouge area during the time between 1992 and 2004. Lee is a black male, who lived with his wife and children St. Francisville, LA. Lee had avoided being caught for many years because an eye witness had told authorities the suspect was a white male (Mustafa, Clayton & Israel, 2006). This information was very believable because most serial killers do not cross racial lines when choosing their victims and all of Lee’s victims were white except one (Mustafa, Clayton & Israel, 2006). Lee was eventually named as the suspect in 2002 when DNA tests revealed the killer was a black male (Stewart, Boyd, M., & Nunnally, D. (2002). He was arrested in 2003 and now lives on death row in Louisiana State Penitentiary.

    Read More

  • Nathaniel Ayers Case Study

    612 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nathaniel Ayers, 64 year old African American male whom is homeless, single, and does not have any children. No information received on employment. It is reported that he was born in Cleveland, Ohio on January 31, 1951. No information received on his religion practices. It is reported that Nathaniel has completed high school and started college at Julliard on a scholarship where he played the double bass.

    Read More

  • The Sam Sheppard Case

    818 Words  | 2 Pages

    On the morning of July 4, 1954, Marilyn Sheppard was violently beaten in her home in Bay Village, Ohio, on the shore of Lake Erie. She was four months pregnant and had been felled by 35 vicious blows (Quade). Right away Sam Sheppard was accused of being the victim to do this. Sheppard had told investigators that he had been asleep downstairs and was awakened by his wife’s screams. Sheppard said when he went upstairs and entered the room he was knocked unconscious by the intruder. He denied any involvement and described his battle with the killer he described as “bushy-haired” (Linder). After a police investigation, Dr. Sam Sheppard was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. With the hectic media covering it, they were quick in decision that it was him that committed the murder. This was an unfair trial, ruined a man’s life, and gave him no time for a career.

    Read More

  • Media’s Influence on JonBenet Ramsey’s Murder

    1609 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sue Grafton once stated: “Except for cases that clearly involve a homicidal maniac, the police like to believe murders are committed by those we know and love, and most of the time they're right.” This is clearly the thought the Boulder Colorado police conceived in the case of little beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey. As many have observed from the onslaught of media coverage, the day after Christmas 1996, six year old Jon Benet Ramsey was found buried under a white blanket, bound, beaten, and strangled to death in the wine cellar of their Boulder home. With such a strikingly rare and glamorous story of a six year old beauty queen dead, who was a part of a “perfect American upper-middle class family”, combined with a lack of a lead and ever mounting suspicion piling up against the parents it was no surprise to find that it was fuel to the media and soon stories sold and became a matter of competition between the press. So, like wildfire, this heart-breaking story spread, stretching across the nation, shattering the souls of the world. News broadcasts, magazine and newspaper articles, and television specials all shaped and molded peoples perceptions of this beautiful child’s murder, especially her parents, John and Pasty Ramsey’s involvement or lack there of. The police and FBI’s merciless quest to connect Jon Benet’s murder to her parents, seemed to cause the them to overlook important evidence, or at the very least dismiss suspicious findings that would otherwise send red flags to investigators. There are many contributors as to why this case remains unsolved including lack of investigative expertise, failure to protect valuable evidence, and focusing too much on the parents as suspects but, ultimately, the over involvement of...

    Read More

  • Texas V. James Broadnax Case Analysis

    1496 Words  | 3 Pages

    Your honor, we the jury are here today to give our decision on the punishment in the case before the court titled the state of Texas v. James Broadnax. Your honor, as you and everyone in the court room here today recalls, the defendant was charged of murdering two people in their mid-to-late twenties. For the record purposes sir, let the record show the two victims go by the names of Mr. Stephen Swan and Mr. Matthew Butler. Let the record also further indicate the defendant goes by the name of Mr. James Broadmax.

    Read More

  • Was Leo Frank Guilty for the Murder of Mary Phagan?

    2035 Words  | 5 Pages

    These are not the only reasons for urgency to find a killer; the Solicitor General of Atlanta’s circuit, Hugh M. Dorsey, desperately needed a successful conviction because he had recently failed to convict two accused murderers. He was concerned about putting together a case that would hold up in court; no matter what lengths he had to go to in order to accomplish this. Overtime, it became obvious that Dorsey did not necessarily believe that Frank was guilty, but recognized that the political values of his position were uncertain.

    Read More

  • Luis Toledo

    530 Words  | 2 Pages

    I do not believe someone else killed the kids. He probably thinks as long as they have no bodies, then he won’t get the death penalty. Works Cited Davis, J., & Saenz, S. (2014, February 26). Documents: Luis Toledo met with Yessenia's dad after his arrest. Retrieved from News 13: http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2014/2/25/luis_toledo_document.html#timeline Fernandez, F. (2014, February 17).

    Read More

More about John Byers Case Study

Open Document