Page "West Memphis Three" Paragraph 45

There has been widespread criticism of how the police handled the crime scene.

Misskelley's former attorney Dan Stidham cites multiple substantial police errors at the crime scene, characterizing it as " literally trampled, especially the creek bed.

" The bodies, he said, had been removed from the water before the coroner arrived to examine the scene and determine the state of rigor mortis, allowing the bodies to decay on the creek bank, and to be exposed to sunlight and insects.

The police did not telephone the coroner until almost two hours after the discovery of the floating shoe, resulting in a late appearance by the coroner.

Officials failed to drain the creek in a timely manner and secure possible evidence in the water ( the creek was sandbagged after the bodies were pulled from the water ).

Stidham calls the coroner's investigation " extremely substandard.

" There was a small amount of blood found at the scene that was never tested.

According to HBO's documentaries Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills ( 1996 ) and Paradise Lost 2: Revelations ( 2000 ), no blood was found at the crime scene, indicating that the location where the bodies were found was not necessarily the location in which the murders actually happened.

After the initial investigation, the police failed to control disclosure of information and speculation about the crime scene.