Starting in 1996, HBO began changing the television landscape with the first installment of a series of documentaries that did for 3 men what Serial and the Making of a Murderer is currently doing now in other formats. The
Paradise Lost trilogy told the tragic story of the West Memphis 3 and the unsolved murders of 3 children they were wrongly accused of killing. The stories of
Damien Echols, Jesse Misskelly, and
Jason Baldwin -- 3 teens who lived in West Memphis, Arkansas and due to their love of heavy metal, curiosity of religions and passion for horror movies were accused of murdering 3 children in their neighborhood in 1993. The films told their story and helped bring attention to the case that would grip in nation. The men were sentenced to life in prison with Echols sentenced to death row. In 2010, the men were released from prison based on new evidence and in taking an obscure Alford Plea -- they had to plea guilty but were able to maintain their innocence in the case. Now free, this triology brought their case to the masses and eventually into history.
