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Terry Wayne Hobbs Terry Hobbs at the Misskelley trial. Note: This page was prepared in November of 2007. Much new information has become available since then and this page only reflects sources available at the time of writing. Terry Hobbs was born in 1958 in Northern Arkansas, one of four children, son of Edith Raylean McLeod Hobbs and Joe Dean Hobbs, Sr. Joe Dean Hobbs was a minister in the Apostolic Pentecost Church. He learned his trade as a butcher while in the military and went on to open thirty restaurants. In spite of this family wealth, Terry was having difficulties making ends meet in 1993. He had been working several years delivering ice cream for Memphis Ice Cream Company. The family house on S. McAuley Street had no phone. Terry Hobbs has been in trouble with the law on several occasions. In 1982, Hobbs, then 24, assaulted Mildred French, 54, in her home. This attack involved Hobbs entering French’s home then grabbing her as she left her shower. In November 1994, after a fight wherein he severely beat his wife, Pamela Hobbs, Pamela's brother, Jackie Hicks, Jr., came to intervene. Terry Hobbs shot him. He survived. Terry Hobbs was sentenced to six months in prison. He was arrested for drug possession in 2003. Pamela Hobbs took out a restraining order against him in 2005. They are divorced. In contrast to Mark Byers for whom there is an extensive interview regarding his actions on May 5th, 1993, there are no official statements from Terry Hobbs in the case records. His file folder at the West Memphis evidence rooms was virtually empty. From the book Blood of Innocents, Terry Hobbs is said to have arrived home about 4:30 pm on the afternoon of the fifth. By this time, Stevie Branch had gone off to play with Michael Moore and would not return. Terry drove his wife to her job at Catfish Island, a restaurant near the Blue Beacon. Terry was then responsible for caring for Amanda Hobbs, their four year old daughter. When I visited the West Memphis Police Department in 2004, an officer brought up the subject of Pamela Hobbs. This officer said that Pamela had no idea her son was missing until Terry Hobbs arrived at Catfish Island at approximately 9:30 pm and the missing person report was filed. I commented at least Terry Hobbs had been searching for Stevie. The officer let out a loud "ha!" and then made the action of zipping her lips. The reasons why Terry Hobbs has not been considered a suspect have not been elucidated by the West Memphis Police. Although the neighbors of Byers and Moore were questioned during the door-to-door surveys, the Hobbs neighbors were not. The homes of the Byers and the Moores, but not the Hobbs were searched as potential sources of fibers. Terry Hobbs was not questioned by the police regarding that evening. "Mr. Hobbs also stated that he had never been interview by the police regarding his whereabouts or any information he had to offer about the search." [Exhibit X. Declaration of Rachael Geiser.] He was not among those polygraphed.  Pamela Hobbs, 1993 Terry Hobbs Whereabouts on May 5th - Case Files Although many who searched were interviewed, the only ones who mentioned encountering Terry Hobbs were Officer John Moore, at the time of the missing person report, and Melissa and Mark Byers. Melissa Byers statements were general only stating that he searched, not when. Prosecutor John Fogleman:
About how many of you were looking?
Melissa Byers: Britt Smith, my son, another friend of Britt’s, Patsy - - Britt’s mother, Terry Hobbs, Pam Hobbs, my husband, myself, Dana Moore. [Melissa Byers testimony, Misskelley trial] In the Echols/Baldwin trial, Melissa is equivocal, vacillating between visiting each others houses to "she" or "they" visiting the Byers house.
Melissa Byers: Um - I know the Hobbs were searching. You
know, we'd
stop by each others - you know, she - they stopped by the house. You
know, there was - we was just searching. [Melissa Byers
testimony, Echols/Baldwin trial]
Mark Byers said that Terry Hobbs had contacted Dana Moore earlier that evening and said he had been searching since early on. From the context, the following account would have taken place at the time of Officer Meek's visit at 8:30 p.m. So then, the
police officer, if I'm
not mistaken, asked Dana, you know, how long have you been looking for
your little boy. And she told her, you know, well, for the last hour
and a half. And she said the Branch, uh, Stevie Branch, which his, you
know, Mr. Hobbs, she said, Terry, which is Stevie's daddy has been
looking for his since about 5 o'clock. 4:30, 5 o'clock. [John Mark Byers, May 19,
1993 interview]
Mark Byers went on to describe encountering Terry Hobbs during the search and indicated that Terry headed in the direction where the victims were found. Terry said, well,
he was going to
spread out down, you know, towards where they were found. I don't know
how far down that way he went, but he was going to look that way and my
son, Ryan and I and Richie Masters, just somehow Richie Masters showed
up to help look. And my son Ryan and I think, Brett Smith.
Richie
Masters goes with Brett Smith's sister. So that's how they were kind of
together. So, we're looking in that area kind of where the loop is. [ibid]
In contrast to where Hobbs went, this loop was in the Robin Hood Woods, south of the bayou and away from the victims were found. Richie Masters, Ryan Clark, Brett Smith and Robbie Young all described this search, but none of them mentioned Mark Byers or Terry Hobbs. This search took place approximately 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. according to different accounts. At trial, Byers described encountering Terry Hobbs after the Hobbs missing person's report (this would have been about 9:30 pm). Defense attorney Val Price:
Alright, you had testified earlier that you had left that, well,
alright, what time was it that you searched that area with Officer
Moore?
John Mark Byers: It was a little after 9, because he had told me that he had just taken a report from Terry Hobbs at Catfish Island. Then after Officer Moore showed up, Terry Hobbs pulled up. Price: Alright and so it was about 9:00 that you and Moore were out in that area that you just pointed to? Byers: It would have been a little bit after 9, after he took Mr. Hobbs' report. [Mark Byers testimony, Echols/Baldwin trial] Officer Moore described the encounter with Byers during the Misskelley trial. He did not mention Hobbs and said he didn't see any searchers other than Mark Byers. Fogleman:
Alright after taking this report from her did you participate in any of
the search?
Officer Moore: Yes sir. Fogleman: Alright and what involvement did you have in doing that? What did you do? Officer Moore: Okay, I went down, down the street from Catfish Island to an area and I met with Mr. Byers and he and I searched an area off Goodwin Street. [snip] Fogleman: Were there other people searching? Officer Moore: Uh, there was other people there but, there was no one out there searching while I was there. [Officer John Moore testimony, Misskelley trial] Mark Byers described a meeting of family members taking place approximately midnight that included Terry Hobbs. About the time I
got back to my
house, that's when I met uh, Terry's, uh, it would have been Stevie
Branch's grandfather. Pulled up in Dana Moore's yard in his truck, and
he walked over. We were kind of like all standing out under the
streetlight. Then it was me and my wife, Dana Moore, Todd was still at
work and then Terry Hobbs. A friend of his with a beard that
lived, I think he said on 17th street. . . (David Jacoby) [John Mark Byers interview,
May 19, 1993]
Byers also described encounters with Terry Hobbs the next morning, first near Catfish Island and later, about 9:30 or 10:00 a.m. when Hobbs, Byers and Steve Branch, Sr. sat together near the pipe that crossed the bayou. Terry Hobbs Whereabouts - Recent Evidence Terry Hobbs has recently spoken to the press about that day. "I worked that day like I've
worked everyday of my life," he said. "I
got home about 3 or 3:30, and Stevie had gone off riding his bicycle,
playing with Michael Moore." [West
Memphis Evening Times, July 24, 2007]
This conflicts with Pamela Hobbs who says Terry arrived home near 4:30, when she had to go to work. This was after Stevie Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers had come by and left the house. According to Pamela Hobbs, after Stevie and Michael had headed out to play, Christopher Byers dropped by briefly and left when the Muppet Show ended (4:00 pm). According to Pamela , the Jacoby's said Amanda was with them while searching for Stevie - while Terry said he took Amanda. According to Terry Amanda was with him during those hours. According to David [Jacoby] Terry left Amanda at his house with his wife Bobbyie. [Pamela Hobbs, WM3 Discussion Board, August 27, 2007]Regarding his search efforts that night, Terry Hobbs has said: “Her [Pamela's] dad and
mom came down; she went with them to look. . . I
went with a friend. At different times we'd go to the police
department. We spent all night driving around.” [ibid]
A recent interview by private investigation firm of Ron Lax has provided additional information. Mr. Hobbs described, among other things, how he and his then four year old daughter Amanda had searched in his West Memphis neighborhood for Mr. Hobbs' stepson, Steven, during the late afternoon and evening hours of May 5, 1993. Mr. Hobbs stated that he had also searched for Steven that night with David Jacoby and Pam Hobbs' father, Jackie Hicks, Sr.; that during that period they gone into the area known as Robin Hood Hills; and that at one point Mr. Hobbs (unaccompanied by Mr. Jacoby or Mr. Hicks) had approached, but not arrived at, the ditch where the bodies of the victims were later found. [Exhibit X. Declaration of Rachael Geiser.]Terry Hobbs confirmed being in the Robin Hood Hills area during his state interview. His friend, David Jacoby, helped fill out the events. Mr. Jacoby stated that at about 5 p.m. on May 5, 1993, Terry Hobbs had come to Mr. Jacoby's nearby residence in West Memphis, Arkansas, with his daughter, Amanda; that Mr. Hobbs had left at about 6 or 6:30 p.m.; that he (Mr. Jacoby) could not recall whether Amanda had gone with Mr. Hobbs when he left at that time; and that Mr. Hobbs had returned to the Jacoby residence after about an hour, i.e., at about 7 or 7:30 p.m. Mr. Jacoby also stated that at this time, he accompanied Mr. Hobbs to search for Steven Branch, and that at one point they had walked to a bridge over the big bayou just south of the ten mile bayou and looked around. [Exhibit X. Declaration of Rachael Geiser.]His interview with the state added some additional details. In his state interview, Mr. Jacoby recalled that Terry Hobbs had come to his residence in West Memphis at about 5:30 or 6 p.m. on May 5, 1993 and played guitar with Mr. Jacoby for about an hour before leaving. Mr. Jacoby said that later that evening he accompanied Terry Hobbs while searching for Steven Branch. [Exhibit Y. Declaration of Donald M. Horgan]Hobbs vs. Hobbs Pamela Hobbs has said she believes her ex-husband may have committed the murders, suggesting that she doesn't have confidence in his alibi. Pamela Hobbs has gone on to recount this incident: ". . . in 2002, at a point when she and Terry Hobbs were separating, she sent a package containing '14 or 15 knives' owned by her husband to one of the defense lawyers." [Arkansas Times, July 19, 2007] In the appeals exhibits, this discovery is attributed to Pamela Hobbs sister, Jo Lynn McCaughey. In her state interview, Jo Lynn McCaughey stated that several years ago, she had discovered fourteen knives in a night stand at the residence of Terry Hobbs. She stated that her father had later identified the knife as a pocketknife he had given to Steven Branch. [Exhibit Y. Declaration of Donald M. Horgan]Pamela Hobbs went on to make the statement, "Steven carried the knife all of the time and believed he would have had it on the day of his death." [ibid] Perhaps most damning are statements given by two of Pamela Hobbs sisters (presuming they were referring to 1993). Ms. McCaughey and Ms. [Judy] Sadler also stated that they had been present in the Hobbs residence during the evening of May 5, 2003 (sic) and that during the evening, Terry Hobbs had washed curtains, bed linens, and all items of clothing in the house. [Exhibit X. Declaration of Rachael Geiser.]Pamela has attested to the violent side of Terry Hobbs. When Terry and I first got married Terry resented the fact that I would lie down with Stevie to get him to sleep at time falling asleep myself so he told me he told his mother he resented that because I was suppose to be his wife and not fall asleep with my child. Terry would whip Stevie and Amanda with a belt making them hold their hands in the air so he would not hit their hands Stevie always got the worst end and if I thought he was to rough with either of my children we would end of in a shouting match because I would tell him to stop. [Pamela Hobbs, WM3 Discussion Board, September 1, 2007]On March 15, 1994, near the end of the Echols/Baldwin trial, the Hobbs appeared on the Geraldo Show. In spite of the fact the cases had yet to be decided, a caption identified the defendants as guilty, the alleged part being whether they were Satanic. MR. TERRY
HOBBS (Stepson Murdered By Alleged Satanic Teens)
[similar captions were written identifying Pamela Hobbs and Jackie Hicks, Sr.] Byers vs. Hobbs Mark Byers has recently come out in favor of the innocence of those in prison. He has said he has helped perform undercover work, making tapes of his conversations with Terry Hobbs. He has made some remarkable allegations about Hobbs past. The supporting evidence for these allegations have yet to appear.  May 10th note, Officer Calvin Stann Burch, representative of the meager info available regarding Terry Hobbs. |
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