West Memphis Three (Part Four: Trials & Tribulations)

About this episode

The episode discusses the emotional journey of filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky as they document the trials of the West Memphis Three.

"When we saw Damien and Jason being chained up and taken off, it was just so emotional, because we felt the wrong guys were being carted off." In June of 1993, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky were two young filmmakers coming off their acclaimed breakthrough and looking for a new opportunity. That's when an executive from HBO told them about a new story that had just taken place down in West Memphis, Arkansas, in which three teenagers were accused of killing three eight-year-olds. They assumed it would be a pretty straightforward story of youth violence. They spent their first few weeks with the victims' families and interviewed the prosecutors and police officials about the case. But then they met the defendants, everything changed for them. Over the next ten months, they were allowed unprecedented access to the courtroom, the families, the defendants, and the investigation... Learn more about this podcast at http://unresolved.me Check out the podcast store at unresolved.dashery.com If you would like to support this podcast, consider heading to https://www.patreon.com/unresolvedpod to become a Patron or Producer Become a supporter of this podcast…

Topics covered

• true crime
• courtroom access
• youth violence
• documentary filmmaking
• investigation
• wrongful accusations

Keywords

• West Memphis Three
• true crime
• documentary
• youth violence
• courtroom
• investigation
• wrongful conviction

Mentioned in this episode

Places: West Memphis, Arkansas

More episodes of Unresolved: A True Crime & Mystery Podcast

• Oli Herbert · June 12, 2026 · 51 min
• The Missing Six · June 5, 2026 · 50 min
• Preview: Joanna Lopez · June 2, 2026 · 5 min
• Preview: The Eunuch Maker · May 30, 2026 · 3 min
• Kylie Arellano · May 29, 2026 · 24 min
• Alan Holmes · May 28, 2026 · 31 min