- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Flipboard
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Tumblr
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
Peter Jackson isn’t just directing the two Hobbit films. He’s also playing host to West Memphis Three member Damien Echols, who was recently on death row in America before being released.
Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh worked for years behind the scenes to get Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jesse Misskelley freed after the three men had been convicted as teenagers of killing three 8-year-old boys in the Arkansas town of West Memphis in 1993.
STORY: ‘The Hobbit’ to Premiere in New Zealand
The men later plead guilty to lesser charges and were released with time served, but have publicly maintained their innocence.
During a press conference in New Zealand on Friday that was reported by the Associated Press, Jackson revealed that he had applied for an exemption to immigration laws, allowing him to bring Echols to New Zealand.
“He’s come here to work with us on a couple of things,” Jackson told reporters. “We’re doing investigative work, we’re doing forensic work… with the purpose of getting a complete pardon.”
He also said that Echols is not working on The Hobbit.
don’t know what to make of [them],” says director Peter Jackson.”]
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day