“Devil’s Knot” author visits Mountain Home to discuss book

MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. (KAIT) - Acclaimed author and investigative writer Mara Leveritt visited Arkansas State University-Mountain Home on Tuesday.

Leveritt is the author of many books, including “Devil’s Knot,” which discusses the “West Memphis Three.” She has won a handful of awards for her writing.

Leveritt explained March 7 the case caught her attention, and after the trials, she went to work on her novel.

“I was really interested in how the jurors came to guilty verdicts. Based on the reporting I saw, I couldn’t understand what convinced them,” she said. “As soon as the trials were over, I went to the West Memphis police and filed a Freedom of Information Act request, then I got to begin to go through their files and see into the investigation.”

Leveritt said many questions remain surrounding the investigation and trials, and that’s why she wrote the book.

“The state opted to agree to an Alford plea, and they avoided staying in prison longer. They also let the state brush this off of its desk, but it didn’t resolve anything. I think it deepened the questions of what went on there.”

She was expected to speak about her experience as an investigative writer.

Her visit comes after Damien Echols, one of the three men convicted in the case, filed a motion to the Arkansas Supreme Court to not dismiss an appeal to retest DNA in the case.

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