After serving 18 years in prison for a murder they pleaded not guilty to, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley (known as the West Memphis Three) were freed this past Summer. It’s been a long uphill battle for the three and their supporters. And while it’ll take some time for them to adjust back into civilization, one of the West Memphis Three may be transitioning into the fantasy world of hobbits.
It being reported that Echols is currently visiting director Peter Jackson and partner Fran Walsh on their set of The Hobbit, the movie adaptation to the Lord Of The Rings prequel. Furthermore, there is talk that Echols will actually play a small role in the epic fantasy. First off, you may be thinking to yourself “what the hell is Echols doing on the set of The Hobbit in the first place?!” Well, you may recall that Jackson and Walsh quietly played a role in helping the West Memphis Three financially and legally for the past few years. So it’s too shocking to learn that Echols is visiting the set. But actually playing a small role in The Hobbit? We didn’t see that coming.
Whether Echols’ appearance in the film will actually happen, though, has yet to be confirmed. You will, though, get to see the West Memphis Three on the small screen when Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (the third film in a documentary series about their case) airs on HBO early next year.
