My name is Samuel Joseph Dwyer. I am 30 years old and I live in West
Memphis. In 1993, I lived in the Lakeshore Trailer Park with my mother. We
lived in the middle of the trailer park near a big lake. We had been living there for
about four years by 1993.
I recognize Jason Baldwin who is here today as having lived in the same
area two trailers down. (BMHR 2293). He lived with his mother, his step-father,
and two brothers. His brothers’ names were Matthew Baldwin and Terry Baldwin.
I am about two years younger than Jason. His brother Matthew was about
my age and his younger brother Terry was a few years younger. (BMHR 2294).
I was friendly with both Jason and Matthew in 1993. We were pretty good
friends by then. I used to go over to Jason’s home. It was just like the other
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trailers. It had a living room, three bedrooms, and a kitchen. There were video
games set up in the far bedroom. When we went to Jason’s we would play video
games, and sometimes we lifted weights. Then we would go to my house and we
would play basketball.
I attended Marion High School. We used to get there by bus. You would
catch the bus right down the street. We were usually at the bus stop around 7:30 or
so. I rode the same bus as Jason. So did his brother Matthew.
We used to get out of school at 3:15. We would ride the bus home. We
would get home at about 4:00 p.m.
Jason was quiet. He used to keep to himself. He liked to draw a lot. We
used to ride bikes around. I never remember our going to an area called Robin
Hood Woods or Robin Hood Hills. I know where that area is. As far as I know,
Jason never went there. When we would ride, we would go to a set of woods
between the Lakeshore Trailer Park and the I-55 interstate. There were bike trails
there. We would look at different snakes and stuff. (BMHR 2297).
I remember his mother. She was attentive.
I do remember at times that his younger brother Matthew and I would sneak
out at night. I never recall Jason doing that.
Everybody knew everybody else out there. I knew that Jason used to hang
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out with Carl Smith, Jeremy Smith, and his younger brother. He would also hang
out with Adam Phillips. We would all hang out together. (BMHR 2299).
I remember being in school and hearing about the three boys who had been
killed. It was definitely a shocking thing. I remember hearing about Jason’s arrest
on the radio. I was totally surprised.
I had seen Jason several times between the time the three boys got killed and
when Jason was arrested. He continued to ride the bus with us.
The police never interviewed me. I’m not sure about some of the others. I
know they spoke with Adam Phillips.
I was never contacted by anybody who was working for Jason’s defense. I
never heard of any lawyer working for Jason or anyone else working for him
coming and talking to the people at Lakeshore. (BMHR 2301-02).
I did know Jessie Misskelley. He liked to ride bikes like the rest of us. His
step-mother lived on the same street as Jason and I. Jason was living with his dad
in Highland, and sometimes he would stay in Lakeshore. I don’t recall his being
there that often. I used to hang out with Jason very regularly. I don’t recall Jessie
being there at all.
Jason was not a guy that I thought of as being a fighter. Same with Jessie. I
remember Jessie breaking up a fight. (BMHR 2303).
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I knew Damien Echols. He was older than we were. He lived around the
corner. Damien didn’t fit in at all. All of us liked to play basketball and swim and
stuff. He didn’t do any of those things. He used to dress all in black.
Jason never did anything that caused me to believe that he had been involved
in killing anyone. He was always the same guy. (BMHR 2304).
I remember the scuba diver who found a knife out in back in the lake. I also
remember that it was Jason’s mother who threw the knife in the lake. She did not
want him to have any knives. She had found one and she threw it out there out of
anger. I am sure that this happened before the three boys were killed.
Jason sometimes carried a pocket knife, but that was about it. All of us did.
Everybody had kind of a collection, “... we kind of collected them.” (BMHR
2306).
Baldwin’s mother was very protective. Once his younger brother and I had
snuck out and his mother found us. She was always looking after them. (BMHR
2307).
I do not recall Jessie Misskelley and Damien Echols hanging out together.
Nor do I recall ever seeing Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley together. I would see
Baldwin and Echols together, but not the three of them. Nobody I know in my age
group would have said they ever saw them together. (BMHR 2308).
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We would often go play the video games out in front of the local Walmart in
West Memphis. That would happen after school.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MICHAEL BURT
I don’t recall any attorney for Misskelley trying to contact me. I didn’t hang
out with him a lot, but my impression of him was that he was a good guy. He
broke up a fight once. I thought he had a sense of compassion that was
incompatible with these charges.
CROSS EXAMINATION BY KENT HOLT
I think that Echols’ mother lived not too far from us. I knew that
Misskelley’s step-mother lived in Lakeshore and that from time-to-time he would
come over and stay there.
I had lived in Lakeshore since I was about 11 years old. I was 14 at the time
of this incident. I did sign an affidavit indicating that I did not like Echols. He had
a certain way of talking and holding himself that I didn’t like. He would do things
to get attention (BMHR 2314). I did not like hanging around Damien Echols and
so I would not hang around with Jason Baldwin when he was with Echols. I did
hang around with Baldwin at Baldwin’s house though (BMHR 2316).
I acknowledge that I was aware of when they found the knife in the lake. I
did not come forward to indicate that I had seen Baldwin’s mother throw the knife
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in the lake before that. But I can explain why that happened. We were all terrified
because we were being profiled because of our rock and roll t-shirts and our long
hair. Everybody thought that we were part of a cult thing. It was totally made up,
but we all felt that we could have been picked out as suspects. News channels
were out there trying to film us walking down the street. But I would have talked
to an investigator had one come to talk to me. (BMHR 2318).
I cannot say that the knife that was thrown in the lake is the one that was
retrieved by the law enforcement divers. I recall his mother having thrown the
knife into the lake, and his being upset at her. I thought he might have other
knives, but we all collected knives at the time.
Baldwin never talked to me about having been involved in the crime, and
there was never even mention of it. We never heard about Robin Hood Hills. I
know the area now, but I had never been there before. We would not go out in that
area. We would go to other locations, but not as far as Robin Hood Woods.
(BMHR 2320).
I saw Jason Baldwin in a fight once. He got in a fight with somebody who
was younger than he was, and Jason was punched in the nose.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY JOHN PHILIPSBORN
Baldwin never expressed any interest in satanism or witchcraft.
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RECROSS EXAMINATION BY KENT HOLT
I remember that Baldwin, like others, had a trench coat. It was a fashion
thing. I know he also drew rock and roll-related drawings. He was really good at
drawing. There wasn’t any kind of cult or satanism talk. (BMHR 2324).
