George Brown

7:10 p.m. CDT, August 18, 2011
UPDATE:
  • Sources: All three will admit guilt to the crime and two will be released with time served
  • Steve Branch, the father of one of the victims, tells us Damien Echols will be one of the men released
(Memphis 8/18/2011) WREG-TV has learned an agreement has been reached to release two of the West Memphis 3.

Multiple sources, including the father of one of the victims, have confirmed this will be announced at a special hearing Friday.

Steve Branch, father of WM3 victim Stevie Branch: "There's supposed to be a gag order on this but they're not going to gag me. They can put me in jail if they want to. I'll go to jail to stand up for my son's rights."

That hearing is scheduled to be held in Jonesboro, AR.

Damien Echols was sentenced to death, Jessie Misskelley, Jr. was sentenced to life imprisonment plus two 20-year sentences, and Jason Baldwin was sentenced to life imprisonment.

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Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers were found murdered and mutilated in a wooded area in West Memphis, Arkansas in May 1993.

Recent tests on DNA evidence, including material from the crime scene, was found to not be a match to the defendants.

Many say Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley were wrongly convicted because police needed a quick solution to the case.

Numerous celebrities have taken up the WM3 cause over the years.