The Leeza Show Taping

[scheduled to air January 5th, 1999, but did not for reasons unknown]

December 4th, 1998

Grove suddenly looked up at me from his plate of pasta only about two hours ago, and with an astonished look on his face as though he’d just realized what had just happened said, "What just happened?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, wondering if he’d felt an earthquake or something.

"Today... The Leeza Show. The focus of the show was so different than what we’ve seen in the past. The bite mark evidence has really changed everyone’s mind about this case! It’s like we’ve seen it go from almost hopeless to very promising."

"We’ve got the right people on our side. You can’t ignore qualified experts. People were bound to gravitate toward this case and be supportive once they saw the facts rise to the surface."

"And we watched it happen," he said, looking down the table at the six people having dinner with him.

Here’s what happened: A few weeks ago one of the producers of the Leeza Gibbons Show contacted me and told me that she’d received an unusual amount of emails requesting that Leeza do a show on the West Memphis case. So many in fact, that it was obvious to them that something was going on here. Grove and I took all of the documentation that we could gather and went through the entire case point by point with these amazingly patient people who listened to every word we said. The show’s production schedule is almost unbelievably quick, so they had the whole thing ready in a matter of weeks, and suddenly, Kathy, Grove and I were preparing to go before the cameras yet again to state our opinions about this case. None of us are particularly camera savvy, and there’s a bit of a struggle with nervousness and hoping that we’ve got all of our facts down and ready to present. Stuttering and flustered silence is not allowed, although I succumb occasionally to a nervous "Um" once in a while. At least for this show none of us had to wear those crazy ear plugs that either squeal like banshees or pop out.

The Leeza Show flew Dan Stidham, Gail (Jason’s mom) and Pam (Damien’s mom) out from Arkansas, and finallysome of the people involved with this case had an opportunity to visit our side of the continent for a change. They also flew Richard Ofshe

and Brent Turvey to Los Angeles for the show. We were to appear on the show with this formidable panel of experts and moms, which would be intercut with footage shot of Mark Byers that had been taped a couple of days previous. The production staff of the Leeza Show came up with an amazingly tight show that touched on almost all of the important issues and facts that we’ve spent so long trying to get into the public eye. Seen by six million viewers, it will reach more people in one hour than our web site has in its entire existence.

Fortunately the show followed a recent trend by focusing on facts and scientific analysis of information as opposed to the hysterical superstitious nonsense about Satanic cults lurking behind every truck stop that we’ve heard over and over again on seedy talk shows like the Geraldo Show. We’ve had enough of that. We’ve grown out of fairy tales about devil worshippers - we want the real story now.

We arrived at nine thirty, and were briefed on the format and the specifics of the show by Julie and her transparent clipboard. The producers had all read the information we gave them, seen the web site and PARADISE LOST, and were up to speed on the case to an impressive degree. One of the producers, Lisa, even had our web site’s url memorized. It was clear that they were really into the case, and were approaching it with a refreshing open mindedness that has rarely been seen in news stories about this case. They didn’t take the easy way out by reporting myths and urban legends, they presented an educated and fair look at a very complicated case.

As Grove, Kathy and I sat there watching the show unfold before us, we were all amazed by how great it felt to see such professional coverage of the real issues and the things that are truly important about this case. 

About 15 supporters were there, waiting out in the chilly breeze between the sound stages at Paramount until they were herded into the studio where they were greeted by piece of candy on their seats, and an impossibly cheerful warm up guy.

Oddly enough, even the warm up guy knew more about this case than the average person seems to know. He did a commendable job of getting everyone relaxed and laughing and ready to

respond and participate with the show. I really wish we’d had more time to talk with these folks, but we were being hustled around by the Leeza people and our own nutty schedules. We’ll all have to gang up and have a West Coast WM3 Supporters dinner or something like that. We were trying to guess who everyone was, but matching screen name to faces is a very difficult task to do accurately. It was a relatively hectic situation, and we hoped like crazy that the people who showed up didn’t think we were being snobs because we were hanging around with a celebrity like Leeza Gibbons and all. A few loyal supporters actually changed into their Free The West Memphis Three shirts in the audience before the show started taping, and were eagerly answering questions asked by other audience members about the case.

We were a well informed group, and I think there were a few people who were impressed by how much we all knew about the case, particularly those who started out thinking that Damien, Jason and Jessie were guilty. By the end of the show, I think the entire audience was "converted." Nobody was seen leaving the studio with crutches, so apparently they were healed as well!

Finally, eleven thirty rolled around and the gale force air conditioner was shut down, the lights lowered and amid the pre-taped fanfare, Leeza emerged and introduced the case to the audience and the viewers. 

She showed some footage of the interview that she’d conducted with Mark Byers. Byers was dressed in a suit, with the ever present photo of Christopher pinned to the lapel, but this time Mark looked a little different. According to the Leeza staff, Byers had told them that he’d misplaced his teeth in a restaurant somewhere, and therefore was forced to participate in the interview without them. He recited his usual collection of statements until Leeza launched into him with some hardball questions about his alibi, his alleged drug use and his arrest record among other things. Byers claimed that he didn’t have an arrest record, and that "that little burglary charge out in the woods" had been dropped by the judge. I’d go into more detail about what he said, but I want everyone to watch the show when it airs. Byers said some surprisingly inaccurate things, made several contradictory statements, even more wild accusations and

of course his usual violent wishes of death for Damien, Jason and Jessie. He explained his wild theories and speculated about the murders.

Leeza spoke with Pam, Gail and Court TV’s Tim Sullivan briefly before allowing the ever sharp and well spoken Dan Stidham to clarify a few issues about the so-called confession of Jessie Misskelley. He was joined by Dr. Richard Ofshe, and between the two of them, they soundly debunked the "confession" while blasting the West Memphis Police Department in the process.

Finally, Brent Turvey was brought out to address questions about the bite marks, victimology and the wound analysis that was done during the original investigation. He corrected Tim Sullivan on a few erroneous comments he’d made, and gave his opinion as to the real nature of the
murders. He pointed out that the crime was committed in a rage, and that the rage had been clearly focused on Christopher Byers.

Leeza spoke about the bite marks that had been spotted by Turvey and later confirmed by a forensic odontologist, and how the three convicted young men had eagerly submitted to dental impressions. These impressions were then compared to the bite marks found on the bodies and shown not to match Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols or Jessie Misskelley. Turvey suggested that the person who bit this boy so brutally is the same person who killed them. He went on to discuss a few specifics of Melissa Byers’ mysterious death, and more video of the Byers interview was shown.

Near the end of the taping, Leeza approached Kathy, Grove and me but since the expert panelists went a little long, we were only given a brief spot. This, of course was fine with us, and in fact, the things that those people have to say are much more important and qualified than anything we non-experts could add. I did get a round of applause (sort of an old standby in the world of talk shows - I figure if I’d been female someone in the audience might have said "you GO girl!") when Leeza asked me what I’d like to see happen. "I’d like to see these three young men released from prison, this case reopened and the arrest and prosecution of the person who really killed those three little boys." A spontaneous burst of applause is not a bad note to go out on, considering I only had about two minutes to

say my piece.  Unfortunately Kathy and Grove never got a chance to say anything, but I can vouch for their preparedness. They were so ready. Oh well, maybe next time.

This had to be one of the most gratifying moments that we’ve experienced in our whole time with this case, because we were finally seeing the media take it seriously. Suddenly it felt as though the tables have truly turned, and we honestly have the whole world on our side for a change. There were no negative comments from the audience, and the production itself was smooth and professional all the way. I thanked Leeza for having everyone on the show and for being so smart about it, and she said "Well it’s just such an unbelievable story! Good luck with everything!"

We left the studio floating on a cloud, feeling that when this show airs, nobody will be able to deny the facts that were stated in there on that purple and blue set. Finally a larger chunk of the world will be able to see this case from an intelligent point of view free of the clutter of nonsense about human sacrifice.

The day before the show Grove and I had taken Dan on a whirlwind tour of Hollywood, but sadly it was a dismal gray day. We drove up near the Hollywood sign and could barely see it through the haze. We did visit Hollywood Boulevard, and coincidentally, the first star on the Walk of Fame that Dan saw was, guess who... .Leeza Gibbons. After the taping today, Dan and I were walking back to the parking lot and we spoke with a woman who was working on the set of a film that was being shot, and coincidentally she turned out to be from Arkansas, and not only that, but she had gone to school with Val Price and Brent Davis! Dan’s first visit to Los Angeles must have confirmed for him that this really is a small world we live in.

Today’s quick tour with Pam and Gail was more brief due to our schedule with the HBO crew, who are still shooting sequences for the sequel to PARADISE LOST, but at least the weather was better. We did a little souvenir shopping, and a quick drive through the Warner Brothers backlot before heading back to the house.

Damien called while we were talking with Pam and Gail,

and Pam was able to speak with Damien for a while. It was sad that this rare opportunity for her to speak with her son had to take place on the other side of the continent. Pam is a quiet woman who doesn’t talk much... until she gets on the phone with her son. It was nice to see that the two of them have such a great relationship. It was a crazy, action packed couple of days, in some ways reminiscent of our trips to Jonesboro. We again found ourselves surrounded by a great bunch of intrepid supporters. There were people we’d never met before, some new faces with familiar names, and some folks who have gone out of their ways many times already to show their support.

We can’t tell these people how much Damien, Jason and Jessie appreciate the fact that there are folks out here in the free world willing to sacrifice their time and money to just be there for them. Pam and Gail expressed something close to amazement at how the tables have turned since 1994.

"People are beginning to realize that there’s more to this story than what they saw on the news," Gail said. And it’s true. When Damien, Jason and Jessie are finally free and Kathy, Grove and I close down the support fund, the repercussions of this effort will be felt for a long time. The impressive number of people who are behind this cause, and the intelligence of everyone who shows up and wants to help is enough to restore anyone’s damaged faith in humanity. So many of you have decided that you’re going to make sure that this turns out good, and that this type of thing will never happen again - and if it does, the world will at least know that a network of people with computers all over the world can team up and do some good, take notes and keep their eyes and ears wide open.

Of course we still have a big battle ahead of us, but today certainly felt like a major victory. Hopefully this Leeza show will spark interest in the case with rest of the talk shows and news magazines, and we’ll soon be seeing three men being released from prison, and the horrible murders of three eight year old boys will finally be given the careful investigation and consideration that it deserved

but never received.

- Burk Sauls - December 4th, 1998 - 10:30PM