More WM3: Byers' Dad Supports Echols

For those of you following along, a day or two ago attorneys for Damien Echols filed a 700-page brief stating that new forensic evidence shows that Echols and the two other men charged in the West Memphis killings of 1993 are innocent. Now -- and I was blown away when I read this -- John Mark Byers, the father of Christopher Byers, is speaking out and saying he believes Echols and the others are innocent as well.

The reason this strikes me as so profound is because during the 1990s, Byers made the round of many talk shows, angrily condemning Echols for the death of his son. Now he says, "I didn't want to see it...I felt like Benedict Arnold. I'm going against everything I believed for 14 years." Byers added, "I want these three men to know I'm here for you...I hated you for years. I believed with all my heart you killed my son -- and I'm sorry for that."

Although there had been public speculation that Byers himself was the killer, police say he was never a suspect.

Want to see the new evidence for yourself? Here's a link to video of the legal team's press conference.