'West Memphis Three' Freed

New DNA evidence failed to link the men to the crime, and the state Supreme Court ruled in November that all three could present new evidence to the trial court in an effort to clear them.

A decision was pending on whether the three would get a true trial. In essence, the deal made today negates the need for that.

Three US men convicted as teenagers of kidnapping, torturing and mutilating three eight-year-old Cub Scouts in May 1993 were set free on Friday after serving nearly 20 years in jail.

The "West Memphis Three" -- Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley -- were convicted in a 1994 trial marked by local hysteria over allegations that the grisly killings were part of a Satanic ritual.

Three US men convicted as teenagers of kidnapping, torturing and mutilating three eight-year-old Cub Scouts in May 1993 were set free on Friday after serving nearly 20 years in jail.

The "West Memphis Three" -- Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley -- were convicted in a 1994 trial marked by local hysteria over allegations that the grisly killings were part of a Satanic ritual.

The West Memphis Three, a group of men convicted of killing three 8-year-old Cub Scouts and dumping their bodies in an Arkansas ditch changed their pleas Friday, resolving a year-long effort to win their freedom.