IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
WESTERN DIVISION
TERRY HOBBS,
Plaintiff,
v.
NATALIE PASDAR, et al.,
Defendants.
CV NO.: 4-09-CV-0008BSM
DECLARATION OF SHEILA HICKS MUSE
I, Sheila Hicks Muse, declare as follows:
l. "My name is Sheila Hicks Muse. I am over the age of 21 and competent to give this declaration.
2. All of the information set forth herein is within my personal knowledge and is true and correct.
3. I am the aunt of Steven Branch or "Stevie," who was one of the three little boys, murdered in Robin Hood Hills area of West Memphis, Arkansas on or about May 5, 1993.
4. Pam Hobbs, the mother of Stevie, is my sister.
5. Pam was married to Terry Hobbs. Terry Hobbs is a party in the suit, Terry Hobbs. v. Natalie Pasdar, et al, CV No.: 4-09-CV—008BSM. I know Terry very well.
6. The press has really covered the case of the West Memphis 3. Newspapers and television stations across the country have covered the murders, the trials and whether the West Memphis 3 are guilty.
7. In 1993 when Stevie was murdered I was 19 years old. Through all of Stevie’s life I had been close to him. I took care of Stevie when he was a baby. When I was 11 years old, I began babysitting for Stevie when he was born. I would change his diapers and feed him. I also babysat Judy Sadler, my sister. So Judy, Stevie and I were very close. We remained close as he grew up. When Stevie was eight, I was only 19, so we were fairly close in age.
8. For all of his life, Stevie would come too Blytheville from Indiana (when they lived there) or West Memphis to stay with my parents and of course I lived with my parents. When Terry and Stevie and Pam were living in West Memphis he would come up to Blytheville almost every weekend. If he didn't come up to Blytheville, Judy and I would go stay with Stevie at Terry and Pam’s house. Through all this time together, I became very close to Stevie and he often confided in me.
9. When I was dating my first husband, Michael, Stevie got real close to him. When I got married, Stevie would frequently come stay with us. When I got pregnant, Stevie stayed with me quite a bit. He stayed at my house the weekend before he was murdered.
10. Once, when Stevie came to stay with me and Michael it looked like there was a welt from a belt on him. Stevie also wore little half shirts with karate pants and
the pants fell down a little bit and there was a welt. He didn't want to tell me where the mark came from but when I pressed him, he said that his dad made him play "dead cockroach." He said whenever I get in trouble, Terry makes me lay down on my back on the floor and raise my arms and legs in the air and when I have to put them down because I get tired, Terry whoops me. I asked Stevie if he wanted me to tell and do something about it, and Stevie told me not to tell because he was afraid that Terry would kill him and his mama (Pam) if he told.
11. Stevie told me that he often heard Pam and Terry fighting. Once, he heard Pam and Terry arguing in the bedroom and that he got up and went to the bathroom and then Stevie went into Pam and Terry’s bedroom and he saw Terry on top of Pam, who was on the floor, and Terry was choking Pam. Terry told Stevie to get out of there.
12. Stevie was very scared of Terry. Stevie told me that Terry made Stevie call him Daddy Terry. Stevie said that he hated Terry and he didn’t want to call him Daddy Terry. Stevie said my father, his grandfather, was his daddy.
13. Right before Stevie died, Stevie’s cub scouts troop were having a father-son camping trip. Stevie said that Terry had been mean and told him that he would not go. My dad agreed to go with Stevie.
14. Stevie told me on that on many occasions, Terry had locked Stevie in the closet as punishment for things he had done. I have personal knowledge that Terry beat Stevie on multiple occasions. Stevie did talk about running away a lot.
15. Not long before Stevie died, I asked Stevie if he wanted to come to live with me or with my parents. Stevie said that he couldn’t, because his mom wouldn’t leave, and he had to stay with his mom to protect her from Terry.
16. In November of 1997, I was newly married and I was having Thanksgiving at my house in Steele, Mo. Pam and Amanda were going to come, but Pam wanted to know if Terry could come. I said I would have to talk to the family because I was not inclined to let Terry come since he had shot my brother Jackie so severely. I spoke to Jackie, and Jackie said that it was okay for Terry to come.
17. So, Terry came to Thanksgiving dinner. I was setting the table and Terry and Amanda were not in the house. I walked outside to see where they were. Brandon followed me outside. When you walked outside our front door, there was a front porch, they weren’t there. To the left of the house, there was a carport that went all the way back. To the left of that, there were some steps that led to a the bedroom door. Terry was sitting on the top step and Amanda was sitting on his lap, straddling him facing him. She was doing a circular, grinding motion on his crotch. Terry was holding Amanda's hips and was guiding her and making her do it. I grabbed Brandon’s arm in shock. I think Terry saw us and real quick, Terry grabbed Amanda and spun her around so that she was still sitting on he lap/crotch but facing away from Terry. She looked up at him and said, "Daddy, we not play sexy?" like, she was asking, why did you stop? He shhushhed her and said, remember, pinky promise. I did not tell my family right then because I knew that my father would kill Terry and I did not want him to spend the rest of his life in jail. Later I told my mother and Pam about it. Pam did not believe it. She thought pinky promise referred to something innocent, but she had not seen and heard what I saw and heard.
18. At first my family was not convinced I should have married Brandon because we married soon after my divorce from my first husband. Terry knew this. One time Brandon and I were at Terry and Pam's house barbecuing and Terry told Brandon I always carry two bullets in my gun, one for Jackie Sr. and one for Jackie Jr.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct and that this declaration was executed in Mississippi County, Arkansas.
