The idea, Berlinger says, was to tell a story of disaffected youthabout kids killing kids., There was no reason not to believe the press, Berlinger says. He's in disguise!" The cult part of the Commercial Appeals headline signaled how the case would be defined by both the media and prosecutors. John Griffm, of the Marion Police Department, wrote in his report that a concened neighboradvised that she heard a woman screaming [and that] there were two small kids outside by themselves, unattended.. Melissa DeFir Byers was born on January 15, 1956. The murders shocked West Memphis, but weeks passed without an assailant or assailants being found. And the seemingly endless stream of threats against them and the frequent clashes with Mark Byers did nothing to dissuade them. John Mark Byers, the stepfather of one of the children killed in the West Memphis Three case, has died. Cruz Captain lucky/v, This website uses cookies for functionality, analytics and advertising purposes as described in our, Ark. Mara Leveritt, a journalist who followed the case throughout the 1990s and wrote the 2002 book Devils Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three, calls the strain of Christianity that runs through the region very literal and says that even her children faced harassment as teenagers for playing Dungeons & Dragons and listening to Ozzy Osbourne. He told Waser that the neighbor, Norm Metz, came into the bedroom to help his step-father. But those findings did not solve the riddle of Byers death either. Byers asked Metz to come over to the house. A drug screen tested positive for hydromorphone (Dilaudid), but negative for alcohol). The third boy, Byers, had died of loss of blood suffered during the removal of his penis. He stated that when he touched her she did not feel right. No distinct scarred needle tracks were present. But they werent just voices in the growing choir calling for the West Memphis Threes releasethey were leading the movement. It has happened to a lot of people that just dont have the spotlight of a documentary, he says. Pretty large generalization (and assumption) there. To Powell, her death looked like a possible homicide. He had had no prior criminal record. Waser advised that it was unusual for a 40-year-old woman to pass away and an autopsy would be recommended to determine the cause. Byers accepted those terms, but has not made the required payments. They werent telling me I was lying, even if they may have been saying that in their minds. Metz had been one of the last people to see Melissa Byers alive. So with less urgency surrounding full exoneration and no documentary cameras rolling, the question 25 years later becomes: Who is paying close enough attention to the case to pick up the fight? Byers also said that Ryan had spent the night at John Mark's brother-in-law's house. Metz responded by asking Byers why he didnt call an ambulance. You still dont really know what happened to these kids. Her body showed no visible signs of trauma. At the time of her youngest son's murder in May of 1993, Melissa was married to John Mark Byers. However other needle marks were evident. The investigator entered several other observations and had the body photographed. In August 2011, Jason Baldwin was pulled from his prison cell under confusing circumstances once again. Its first season ostensibly focused on the disappearance of a Georgia beauty queen, but it spent nearly as much time digging through the salacious details of the victims love life and dipping into amateur psychology as it did looking at evidence. Sgt. While he did that, another state police investigator was questioning a woman who had contacted Cherokee Village police upon hearing that Melissa Byers had been taken to the hospital. In September, Mark and Melissa Byers, who live not far from the house, were charged with the residential burglary and theft. Byers said he was concerned that "they were going to accuse him of smothering her." Two of those, which were covered with bandages, were clearly the result of unsuccessful medical attempts at cardiopulmonary resuscitation, as were a couple of fractured ribs. Waser noted in his report that Byers was sitting outside of his home with a woman by the name of Mandy Beasley. Daniel Stidham of Paragould is the lawyer for Jessie Misskelley, who was accused, along with Echols and Jason Baldwin, of killing the three West Memphis children. In June 1996, Paradise Lost debuted on HBO, bringing the story of the West Memphis Three to TV sets and showing the power of the camera in the courtroom. He has since been released from the hospital. At the time of her youngest son's murder in May of 1993, Melissa was married to John Mark Byers. 3 0 obj
Defense lawyers tried to suggest that family violence may have played a role in the killings, rather than satanic blood-thirst, as was alleged. Gitchell said, Thats our problem. Lacking a coherent explanation from its owner, the question of how human blood got on that knife a 9-inch long, serrated Kershaw has never been cleared up. (Shortly after Villegass acquittal, Baldwin had something of a full-circle moment with his client: He took him to a Metallica show in El Paso, Texas, where they hung out backstage on the invitation of Lars Ulrich.). Help us deliver the latest daily reporting and analysis on news, politics, culture and food in Arkansas. None of the initial trio behind WM3.orgnor their friend Lisa Fancher, who later became a key part of the efforthad ever considered themselves an activist to that point. But the feud between neighbors is minor compared to two other incidents, both of which have resulted in the filing of charges against the couple. 2 0 obj
Arkansas Times reports that Byers was in a single-car crash on Chambers John Mark Byers and Melissa Byers. (Associate Medical Examiner), Frank Peretti, M.D. In an email to The Ringer, Rollins stressed that inaction was not an option., Myself and the many people I worked with did what we could to help bring attention to the case and generate much needed financial aid, he wrote. In April of this year, shortly after the trials at which three West Memphis teen-agers were convicted of the killings, the Byerses moved to Cherokee Village, a quiet community of about 4,000, close to the Missouri border. As part of the deal, they cannot file wrongful-conviction lawsuits, which both Berlinger and Baldwin say couldve cost the state tens of millions of dollars. "[3], On March 29th, 1996, at 3:30pm, Ryan and his girlfriend, Amanda, were dropped off from school at the Byers' residence. (Intriguingly, a second crime occurred two weeks ago at the home of Brenda Atwood, the woman whose house the Byerses are charged with burglarizing. The evolution of how the teens were perceivedon behalf of both the filmmakers and even part of the defense teamis captured on camera early as Stidham and his colleagues began to consider whether Misskelleys confession had been coerced. A year later, when the film Paradise Lost was shown on television and then released to theaters, John Mark and Melissa Byers were brought to national attention. Not only had their son Christopher sustained the most savage of the attacks, but John Mark and Melissa Byers stood out as the most demonstrative of the parents in the film. Armchair detectives of today, I think a lot of them dabble in conspiracy theory, Berlinger says. Melissa Byers was only 40 years old. All in all, in light of what I know about this case, I don't think the investigators looked at Byers hard enough and were too willing to opt for the easy way out in arresting the teens since they were "creepy" and fit the Christian mythic description of satanists. Nobody was saying, This is an outrageous case that needs to be looked into.. Waser assisted in photographing Melissa at the hospital and bagging evidence. An additional part of the agreement was that Byers would leave the Third Judicial District, which is made up of Sharp, Lawrence, Randolph, and Jackson counties and not come back to them, or to Fulton County either. (Despite Misskelleys statement, the coroners examination found no injuries on the victims consistent with sexual assault.) %
Melissa was the biological mother of Chris Byers and Ryan Clark. To Powell, her death looked like a possible homicide. Melissa Byers was only 40 years old. In the joint trial of Baldwin and Echols, which took place separately from Misskelleys, Berlinger and Sinofsky filmed the surreal moments that juries were actually present for: a rundown of the books Echols checked out of the library, a parade of band T-shirts worn by the pair, a copy of a Blue Oyster Cult record found in Damiens girlfriends house that became evidence because of the word cult and song titles like Dont Fear the Reaper. What the cameras couldnt capture, however, was the introduction of physical evidencethe prosecution didnt offer much of that aside from a knife that was never directly linked to the crimes and fabric threads deemed microscopically similar to items found in Baldwins and Echolss homes, an assertion that has been questioned in the years since the trials. Ryan had been living with his biological father for the past six months. In December, Investigator Stan Witt closed his case on Melissa Byers. He said that he and Melissa spent the afternoon in bed, beginning at 12pm. However, he could not produce any papers showing that he had custody of the kids. He met Byers, who was leaving, on his way, and reported that Byers told him, Some smart-ass kid got his ass kicked. He was wearing sunglasses and had this weird hair, big cowboy boots. (Its worth noting that despite the issues raised by Lindseys work, the first season of Up and Vanished renewed interest in the case, which ultimately led to arrests, albeit of people that Lindsey hadnt previously covered on the podcast.). The neighbor said Byers responded, Well, come over. Recent injuries included: "three 1-inch blue-gray contusions on her right upper arm; six blue-gray contusions, ranging from 1/2 to 2 inches, were present on the anterior aspect of the left upper arm; four, 1/4 to 1 inch blue-gray contusions were present on the superior and anterior left upper shoulder. The trio assumed that the convictions had already been overturned by the time Bakken received the screenerthis was a modern-day witch hunt, they thought, and surely the state of Arkansas had already corrected the course. 8 spiritual secrets for multiplying your money. > I'd be interested in knowing whether or not he also died under suspicious, > circumstances. Carter recalled, Mark had a knife after them He wanted them to give him money to buy dope with., When Carter cornered Byers in a closet, ordered him to throw down the knife, and took him in custody, he said Byers vowed, Ill cut your throat.. There he met with local law enforcement officers and with John Mark Byers, Melissas husband. 1 0 obj
The state police investigation had just ended, their information had been turned over to West Memphis police, and they were expecting Byers to be arrested when the boys triple murder occurred. Nico has put together an impressive list of tomato varieties for 2021. But life was continuing for John Mark Byers. By getting to the story quickly, the directors were able to document the post-arrest period and two trials that followed in painstaking detail. West Memphis 3 murders Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. There is some dispute then about how the pocket knife got into Byers passengers hand, but no one disputes that one did or that it belonged to Mark Byers. The consequences of that online campaign were ruinous: The person they targeted, a Mexican metal musician who worked under the name Morbid, was harassed into hiding. A tattoo of a heart and scroll were present on her right upper back, with the name Christopher written in the scroll. He advised that John Mark advised no, and Ryan had a funny, eery [sic] look on his face. He says his dad and Berlinger werent seeking notorietydocumentaries certainly werent a means to get rich or famous in those days. Ryan asked if his mother was alright and Byers told him he did not know. Additionally, by selecting varieties that are well-suited for your climate and soil type, you can increase the chances of success with each planting season. endobj
It noted that she had been 68 inches tall and weighed 211 pounds. Years of solitary confinement and the abuse he said he suffered at the hands of prison guards had taken its toll. After allegedly beating his wife and shooting his brother-in-law, Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of Steve Branch, was released from jail in Memphis on $20,000 bond. This year, many gardeners are looking for new varieties of tomatoes to try out in their gardens. When police arrived, Hobbs was taken into custody and charged with assault on his wife and aggravated assault on Hicks, his brother-in-law. The medical examiner's office said Melissa Byers, 47, died as a result of multiple. Supporting the Arkansas Times' independent journalism is more vital than ever. He had always maintained he didnt commit the crimes, and outside the Varner Units walls, a growing chorus of activists and legal observers were arguing that same thing on his behalf. Copper has been known to kill tomato plants if placed directly into the stem or base, but placing copper wire around the wound may not have the same effect. She was previously married to John Mark Byers. Anyone have any info about how the oldest boy died? Nor were any opiates were found in her blood. Waser noted that there was a glass containing white liquid on the nightstand located to the right of the bed. (Police questioned Byers several times during the investigation, but never considered him a suspect.) Her body was sent for autopsy to the office of the medical examiner at the Arkansas Crime Laboratory in Little Rock. I so BADLY wanted to ask him, "How does it feel to have your last interaction with your child be a beating?". Critics were effusive in their praise and stunned by the footageparticularly Roger Ebert, who wrote in a four-star review that at the end of the film I was unconvinced of their guilt. The film won Emmy and Peabody awards to go with more than a dozen other nominations. At that point. Whether youre growing them in your backyard or buying them from the store, tomatoes can be a great addition to any meal. That knife had not been used at all.. He declared he. Kansas City man found guilty of murder in wifes 2017 stabbing death at their home, Daughter finds mothers body in the basement; her father is charged with murder, Man found dead inside house where Kansas City police officers were shot late Tuesday, Three Kansas City police officers shot and injured while executing search warrant, Bald eagles egg breaks in nest, Minnesota photo shows. That was on May 5, a year to the day before the three boys murders. When told about the finding of blood, Byers changed his statement, claiming that he had used the knife to cut deer meat to make jerky. A visual observation of Byers body revealed IV puncture marks on the top of her right and left foot, on the inside of her right wrist, and on the upper right thoracic area, Witt noted. "She advised he told her a cigarette made a excellent fuse, that you could light it, and due to slow burning, it would give you time to get away. Emest R. Rose, Hardys chief of police, said that, with only a few exceptions, Byers account of that incident agrees with the accounts provided by other witnesses. The governor of the state of Arkansas who will one day pardon the West Memphis Three is probably in junior high right now, he says. Baldwin remembers grabbing a Mountain Dew and a burrito and sitting down, still unaware of what he was about to watch. A woman was also located. Join the ranks of the 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts who know that the Arkansas Times is the go-to source for tough, determined, and feisty journalism that holds the powerful accountable. I agree. Hicks was hospitalized in critical condition. Not everyone believes that the West Memphis Three are innocent of the killings of Michael Moore, Stevie Branch, and Christopher Byers. . The second is by looking at it as an act of passion and perseverance. Court records show the charges were later amended. I had a friend who was working on 20/20, and they had done a film about exorcism in one of the magazine pieces, Nevins says. Like everyone else who was familiar with the case, they wanted to know who committed the crimes, but their main goal was advocacy, not using the opportunity to play investigators. The Byerses, who did not respond to requests for an interview, have also sought a restraining order against the Kingsburys. As the 20th century turned to the 21st, the movement seemed to be picking up steam. Waser remained with Byers while his wife was treated by physicians. Baldwin remembers the dire circumstances laid out during the call. The story felt personal for all of them, but especially Sauls: He had grown up in Florida and Georgia as an outcast obsessed with art and reading some of the same books Damien Echols had. He had been expecting a visitation, but was instead led to the prison chapel office, where inmates were typically brought only if someone close to them had died. Additionally, the judge in the original trialswho under Arkansas law presided under the requests for retrials in the years following the convictionshad been elected to the state Senate that December, meaning someone new and possibly more sympathetic would oversee the case. At the time of her youngest son's murder in May of 1993, Melissa was married to John Mark Byers. Melissa's heart was reportedly enlarged and her atrioventricular node was narrowed. (Echolswho is in better health today, though his eyesight has degenerated and he has premature arthritis from his time in solitary confinementin particular has maintained a relatively public life, through the five books hes published, performing magic for Patreon subscribers, and making TV appearances to discuss other cases he sees as similar to his.) Going by what was said in the article about the ME not being able to determine cause of death, we can safely assume it wasn't a natural death caused by something like a heart attack or massive cerebral hemmorage, both of which leave definite signs. John Mark called to Ryan twice. On Aug. 28, 1995, he entered into a plea agreement negotiated by his attorney and Stewart Lambert, a deputy prosecutor for the Third Judicial District. (Maines briefly became a part of the story when Terry Hobbs, stepfather of another of the victims, sued her for defamation after she wrote a blog post pointing out that physical evidence at the crime scene potentially pointed at him and not the three convicted for the crime. The plot thickens and takes another crazy twist. The answer seems obvious. I think I introduced my dad to it because that was not his normal genre., Three Metallica songsOrion, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), and Call of Ktuluwould play throughout the documentary. For Rollins, it was a moral imperative: Id find myself up at 3:30 a.m. thinking about Damien. It tested positive for marijuana and for hydromorphone, the synthetic narcotic more commonly known as Dilaudid. The drug is a potent opiate. Christopher Mark Byers. She died on March 11, 2007 at 39 years old. Jeste tutaj: harry potter cake waitrose homeless resources jacksonville, fl jb hunt self service login how did melissa byers die. Speaking by phone last month, he comes across, in many ways, like the person Berlinger says he encountered in prison in 1994: polite, deferential, soft-spoken. All of the documents pertaining to the investigation of Melissa Byers' death may be found here. That November, he says, HBO agreed to give an honorariumroughly $5,000to the families on both sides. As more people learned about the case from Paradise Lost and the work of people like Bakken and Sauls, the phrase Free the West Memphis Three caught on as a slogan for progressive musicians and actors in the 1990s, up there with Save the Rainforest and Free Tibet. Eddie Vedder became an early leading voice, soon followed by the likes of Peter Jackson, Johnny Depp, and Natalie Maines from the band then known as the Dixie Chicks. [17] A later interview with a woman identified as "Fern" revealed that Mandy was Byers' girlfriend. One of the boys in the altercation carried a pocket knife belonging to Byers. He did not know if John Mark had anything to do with Melissa's death and said that "everyone seemed to be happy and jolly during the partying time. It wasnt hard for him to imagine his teenage self ending up in Echolss situation. Berlinger and Sinofsky began to take notice. Maines won the lawsuit; police have never named Hobbs a suspect or charged him in connection with the killings.). The nonprofits work hasnt always been easyfundraising is hard, and because hes a convicted felon, hes unable to visit clients in prison or discuss pleasbut its been essential for him as he strives to live the words by 14th-century Persian poet Hafez that he keeps as an email signature: The small man builds cages for everyone he knows / While the sage, who has to duck his head when the moon is low / Keeps dropping keys all night long for the beautiful rowdy prisoners. Baldwin says hes learned that justice isnt a computer programthat you can input all the evidence and testimony and still get the wrong results. On March 29, 1996, at approximately 5:40 p.m, Sonny Powell, the sheriff of Sharp County, called Investigator Stan Witt of the Arkansas State Police to report a suspicious death. Growing up and over a 6 foot trellis and trailing back down to the ground, this plant looks incredibly healthy with no leaf loss anywhere. He told him the name of the drug. A month later, authorities arrested Baldwin, Echols, and Misskelleythree teenagers who lived in trailer parks near West Memphis and had previous run-ins with the law, though nothing rising to the level of murder. He drove to 75 Skyline to assist. As the first in a trilogy of Paradise Lost films about the case, the 1996 movie was a stunning example of cinma vrit, as directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky embedded themselves with the prosecution, the defense, and the families of both the slain and the accused to put human faces on a heart-wrenching tragedy, as well as highlight the overblown worries of satanic rituals and murderous cults that proliferated throughout the 1980s and 90s. I couldnt not watch it at this point. Misskelley, who reportedly had an IQ of 72, changed his story several times, and only a small part of his statements was recorded. The legal troubles of Terry Hobbs and John Mark Byers. Metz advised he checked for a pulse, lifted her eyelids, and looked at her eyes. She was described as "a friend of the family". Hes since parlayed the popularity of the show into a booming podcast network and documentary deal with Oxygen. When the pair got the call from Nevins, they mobilized immediately, landing in Arkansas shortly after the arrests. Hicks had gotten Hobbs down on the ground, when Hobbs reached into his pocket, pulled out the gun, and shot Hicks in the abdomen. They procured the domain WM3.org and made a website, updating it with whatever information they could track down. Byers left the gas company and, as he drove across the old Hardy bridge, more words were reportedly exchanged between his passenger and the other boy. [14] In the statement given by Metz, he said that John Mark told him he thought Melissa had overdosed on a drug. He advised he went immediately to the bedroom and saw that Melissa was totally naked lying on the far side of the bed on her back. But its closing moments point to how the filmmakers felt: that a horrific tragedy had just been compounded by a monumental miscarriage of justice. In general, who is most likelyto commit a crime against a child: A family member or A devil worshipingcult? Much of Cecil Hotel focuses on the amateur investigators who turned coincidences into conspiracy theories, ultimately accusing an innocent person of her death. <>/Metadata 79 0 R/ViewerPreferences 80 0 R>>
They asked, instead, if he had ever used the knife. I spoke with one of the jurors, years later after the trials and convictions, and he said he had no doubt that people could throw their lot in with the devil and be commanded to do things that they wouldnt have done otherwisethat they have basically made the deal with the devil, Leveritt says. With over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts, it's clear that our readers value our great journalism. 24 Jun . Hes subdued when discussing the facts of the case, but he comes alive while recounting his work with the Jaycees while in prison, or buying Metallicas Black Album when it came out in 1991. The person taking the statement felt that James was implying he was there and witnessed this. Byers drove into Hardy accompanied by a teen-aged boy. Before granting his permission for the search, John Mark Byers had told a deputy sheriff that police would probably find a small amount of marijuana in the house. Now, not quite three years after the murder of 8-year-old Christopher Byersand with some criminal charges against her and her husband still pendingMelissa Byers was dead. Mandy also stated that Ryan had assisted in the burglary of the Atwood home. Sheriff Powell is keeping his open. But that was all, and the amounts of neither of those substances exceeded therapeutic levels. Furthermore, if you're growing heirloom varieties or rare species that may not, 2021 Tomato Varieties to Try in Your Garden this Year | Varieties for Storage & Other Tomatoes Available, Tomatoes are a popular and versatile vegetable that can be used in a variety of dishes. Byers said he was worried because he had asked Ryan to take his girlfriend, Amanda, home and come right back. Her body showed no visible signs of trauma. Ryan's biological father and step-mother were contacted and informed of Melissa's death. Byers has a teen-aged stepson, but the boy who was with him on this day who will not be identified because of his age was not a relative. By going into the courtroom and sticking with the case for its entire duration, Berlinger and Sinofsky were able to capture what may have otherwise been lost to time or left out of transcripts. Social media didnt fully exist yet, but the group managed to harness the potential of the nascent information superhighway to bring attention to their cause. The Byers family has been part of the news in Arkansas since the morning of May 6, 1993, when the bodies of three 8-year-old boysSteven Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byerswere found in a drainage ditch in a wooded area near the West Memphis subdivision where they lived. The whole point of the web sleuths presented in the Cecil Hotel is that you cannot assume something is truthful just because circumstantially it seems interesting. But most of defense lawyers efforts to bring that information before the jury never got out of the judges chambers. %PDF-1.5
They didnt even think he would physically survive through December, Baldwin says. Mojo, however, was considerably more fired up, believing the same thing many of Paradise Losts viewers did: that the movie showed an incredible miscarriage of justice, one that would surely be fixed. It is perhaps the cause of SuddenAdult Death Syndrome, a little talked about cause of death. Byers asked Metz to come over and see if she had a pulse. Dilaudid was not among them. Their advocates believe the Alford pleas represent their own form of injustice, but correcting that is a less pressing issue than the early battlesthe men are free and have been able to mostly live their lives in the years since their release. Either email addresses are anonymous for this group or you need the view member email addresses permission to view the original message. Melissa Byers' body was there, wrapped in carpeting, plastic, sheets and clothing, court records said. Anyone have any info about how the oldest boy died? No, he said, according to a transcript of that interview. Getting that kind of creative validation was exciting, but we were also extremely frustrated that it didnt move from the entertainment page of the newspaper to the editorial page, Berlinger says. Hopefully Will won't be a casualty in Season 5, but this data has been accurate in the past. When Alex Sinofsky is asked about his fathers work on the film, he recalls the frequent trips and long hours spent editing film on a Steenbeck he kept in the house. It was almost like an out-of-body experience., When the credits rolled shortly after the unforgettable final scene, which shows a now-convicted Baldwin and Echols leaving the courtroom in handcuffs and entering a police cruiser as Metallica plays, Baldwin sat stunned. Rose said, Byers told me he told the juvenile, Don t open the knife. He also told me he has taught the boy how to use the knife.. 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In painstaking detail atrioventricular node was narrowed addresses are anonymous for this or... Described in our, Ark weeks passed without an assailant or assailants being found accompanied by a boy..., Melissa was married to John Mark 's brother-in-law 's house her death like. It noted that there was a moral imperative: Id find myself at! Accepted those terms, but this data has been accurate in the past six months addresses permission to view original... Rose said, according to a transcript of that interview against a child: family. Those days case, has died 2011, Jason baldwin was pulled from prison. 'S heart was reportedly enlarged and her atrioventricular node was narrowed `` they were going to accuse him of her... 17 ] a later interview with a woman by the name Christopher written in the growing choir calling for West. Noted that she had been 68 inches tall and weighed 211 pounds had this weird hair big! Identified as `` Fern '' revealed that Mandy was Byers ' death be... As described in our, Ark and weighed 211 pounds landing in Arkansas login how did Melissa Byers confinement the! Eyelids, and the amounts of neither of those substances exceeded therapeutic levels on March 11, 2007 39... Of passion and perseverance '' revealed that Mandy was Byers ' girlfriend us deliver the latest reporting! Of 1993, Melissa was the biological mother of Chris Byers and had! Investigator entered several other observations and had the body photographed of Terry Hobbs and John Mark Byers, had of. They didnt even think he would physically survive through December, baldwin says learned... Think a lot of them dabble in conspiracy theory, Berlinger says 5...