Grady, Arkansas. Population 523.
The heart of the southern Delta.

Some of the best farmland in the world..
Surrounding one of the toughest places in Arkansas.

This is about as close to death row as anyone from the "outside" will ever get.
The visitation area at Varner.
Concrete blocks and a plexiglass window -- for protection from the worst of society.

It is the meeting place for my conversation with Damien Echols.

"One of the reasons I`m doing an interview now when I haven`t in so long is just to get the story out to the people who haven`t heard it yet."

At last -- Damien Echols is breaking his silence.

"You`re probably the only person I`ve seen in Arkansas associated with the media that`s shown the most integrity in the things that I`ve seen, the pieces you`ve worked on the news."

Echols has called death row "home" since shortly after his triple murder conviction in 1994.
He was 19 at the time.

"They sent me to this environment where i`m being housed with the most despicable people on the face of the earth. I`m being housed with every sort of degenerate and criminal that you could imagine and it`s just like I`m thrown in there. And it was pretty bad." (reporter) "How did you get through it?" (Echols) "I didn`t have a choice. Just one day at a time."

Echols is the center-piece of a trio known as the "West Memphis Three."
The three teenagers convicted of killing three little boys on May 5th, 1993.
A crime so horrible -- many in the tight-knit religious community --believe it was a satanic ritual..
Including police, prosecutors --and the jurors who decided echols` fate.

(reporter) "You were portrayed as this devil worshipping child killer." (echols) "Right." (reporter) "Did you kill those three little boys?" (echols) "No I did not. I never even saw those boys before in my life. I`ve never hurt a child in my life. I have a child of my own and there`s no way I would do something like that. I can`t imagine something like that happening to my child. No way." (reporter) "Did you worship the devil?" (echols) "No, absolutely not." (reporter) "Did you take part in satanic rituals?" (echols) "Absolutely not." (reporter) "Did you sacrifice animals?" (echols) "No." (reporter) "Did you drink blood?" (echols) "No."

(reporter) "I see a little smile on your face." (echols) "Just so absurd thinking.. Having to answer something like that. Just that people would actually believe things like that in this day and age. That something like that was going on. No. I never had anything to do with anything like that."

(reporter) "They thought it at the time and honestly Damien, they think it now."

(reporter) "Damien Echols is the killer. What do you say to that?" (echols) "Before you make up your mind on something like that, please pay attention to the facts. Please actually look into the case. There are websites online where you can look at the motions and the briefs that are filed. Please don`t just go by hearsay."

But what about the confession?
Jessie Misskelley admitted to the crime -- and implicated Echols and Jason Baldwin.
Critics say police coerced the confession from the borderline mentally retarded teenager..
And soon after -- Misskelley recanted.. But it was too late.

(reporter) "But people say, well Misskelley said he did it. He did it. Confession. A confession`s a confession."

(echols) "That`s been a really sore point for me throughout this whole thing is.. I think of these police who instead of going out and looking for the person who actually did this, instead of doing DNA testing, hey could`ve did DNA testing 12 years ago. They chose to mentally torture a retarded kid to bring about the result they wanted instead of actually going for the real killer."

But the victims` parents -- along with prosecutors and police -- have always stood by their investigation.

"You get that in any type of high-profile case. Regardless, it`s always police botched the case up."

A few years after the trials.. a world-wide audience heard the story..
In an HBO documentary.
"Paradise Lost" grabbed the attention of millions.
And for the first time -- cast serious doubt on the convictions.

But the documentary showed Echols as an arrogant teen-ager.. obsessed with his appearance.. not someone on trial for triple murder.
Thursday night -- you`ll hear what he was thinking during his
trial -- and why he acted that way.

We`ll also look at the notoriety surrounding the case -- along with what`s next for Damien Echols -- and the West Memphis Three.