The Devil's Justice: Tacit Aesthetic Knowledge and the Absence of Evidence in the West Memphis Three Murder Trial

Abstract

On May 5, 1993, three eight-year-old boys were reported missing to the West Memphis Police in Arkansas. They were found dead the next day, partially submerged in Robin Hood Hills Creek, a small green space popular with local kids. The ensuing “West Memphis Three” homicide trial resulted in one death sentence, two life terms, twenty years of civil action. At the heart of the case was the conviction of three teenagers for the murders with virtually no physical evidence and salacious allegations of Satanic Ritual Abuse, a conviction that is widely viewed as a substantial breakdown of the ideal flow of the justice system. This dissertation critically examines how and why the Satanic Panic narrative came to dominate the construction of justice in West Memphis. Analyzing contemporaneous news, court documents, and interviews with involved social actors, this dissertation first provides a critical narrative of the investigation, trial, and activism that followed and in doing so, demonstrate that a powerful narrative of satanic cult activity derailed the flow of justice. In particular, I first demonstrate that in the face of a heinous crime, the ensuing moral panic fueled by misinformation, rumors, fear, and mistrust demanded a narrative that maintained the existing symbolic universe. This need also made traditional explanations insufficient. As such, a global narrative about satanic cults provided an able substitute, offering moral and emotional clarity, reifying moral boundaries, and absolving the community. Second, I then examine how this global narrative was then tied to three local teenagers via what I call tacit aesthetic knowledge about the teens’ tastes and appearances, even when such knowledge contradicted known facts. This tacit aesthetic knowledge also allowed non-traditional experts and wider civil society members to insert themselves as ‘legal witnesses’ for a period of prolonged activism. I situate my work in a social constructivist context with a particular eye toward cultural narrative construction. I ultimately demonstrate that the Satanic Panic Narrative came to dominate the construction of the West Memphis Three trial because of moral panic in a local community which necessitated a narrative that met the dramaturgical needs of the community. Thus, the purpose of the ensuing investigation and trial transcended the application of law and was more heavily aimed to restoring moral order by prosecuting monsters. The community specifically developed and tied this narrative to the West Memphis three through powerful affective logic rooted in tacit aesthetic knowledge. My contributions are as follows. First, I apply a sociological lens to the West Memphis Three trial, explaining how and why the Satanic Panic narrative came to dominate the construction of legal justice in West Memphis. Second, I contribute nuance to discussions about how legal justice is socially constructed in extreme criminal cases. Theoretically, I contribute by developing and articulating the concept of tacit aesthetic knowledge.