Metallica members contribute to West Memphis Three auction

Metallica members and Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder have contributed items to a benefit auction for the West Memphis Three, according to Pitchfork Media. The Cure, Steve Earle and Henry Rollins are also among the artists donating items to raise funds for the continued defense of the three young men, who many feel were wrongfully accused and convicted in the 1993 murders of three small boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. One of the men was sentenced to death, while the other two were sentenced to life in prison.

The bidding began on Tuesday (December 11th) through Skeleton Key Auctions and closes on Christmas Day (December 25th).

The case has been the subject of two documentaries, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills and Paradise Lost 2: Revelations.

The police in the case have been accused of mishandling the investigation and the evidence, as well as coercing a confession from one of the three men. Local hysteria over the alleged murderers' reported interest in Satanism fueled public opinion against them as well.

New evidence has been introduced as late as this past July that throws the West Memphis Three's involvement in the murders into dispute.

Vedder, the Cure's Robert Smith, Metallica's James Hetfield and Marilyn Manson have all expressed their support for the Three.