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Season 4 of Netflix’s Stranger Things introduced a new character, the Damien Echols-inspired Eddie Munson, who has been one of the most popular new additions along with Vecna. Eddie Munson, played by actor Joseph Quinn, was the head of The Hawkins High's official Dungeons & Dragons Hellfire Club.
Eddie Munson was also the electric guitarist for his band, Corroded Coffin. In one heroic moment, the character also seemingly sacrificed his life to save the town of Hawkins, Indiana. However, the DnD-metal-fan is apparently modelled on Damien Echols, an American author and one of the West Memphis Three.
Echols was convicted for the murder of three eight-year-olds in West Memphis, Arkansas. However, DNA evidence later proved the alleged innocence of Echols and his other associates. The Arkansas native was supported by Hollywood celebrities like Johnny Depp, who publicly expressed that Echols and his associates should be released.
Stranger Things’ Eddie Munson, based on Damien Echols
Ahead of the release of volume 2 of Stranger Things Season 4, the official Twitter account of Netflix Geeked disclosed that the Hellfire Club storyline was inspired by the 1994’s Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills documentary that featured the story of Damien Echols. The documentary spoke about the West Memphis Three (which comprised of Echols and his associates, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley), who were controversially accused of the murders of the three boys.
The official tweet also revealed:
“Eddie Munson is loosely modeled after writer and artist Damien Echols, who was a member of the West Memphis Three.”
In a May interview with Netflix’s Tudum, Stranger Things showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer revealed how they based the character of Eddie Munson on Damien Echols. In the interview, Ross Duffer said:
“...we really wanted to get into this year was the satanic panic. So that brought us back to the Paradise Lost documentary series with the [West] Memphis Three, and it brought us back to Damien Echols. We really wanted that character who’s a metalhead, he’s into Dungeons & Dragons, he’s ultimately a true nerd at heart.”
What happened to Damien Echols and what is his connection with Johnny Depp?
In 1993, Echols was arrested at the age of 18 over suspicion of his involvement in the murder of three eight-year-old local boys. Along with Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were also arrested.
A year later, Judge David Burnett sentenced Echols to death by lethal injection. In 1996, the Arkansas Supreme Court further denied his appeals. At the time, there was severe media attention fetched by the case. Following the dismissal of their appeal multiple times, Echols spent years in Varner Unit Supermax while on Death Row. The three convicts had to spend over 18 years in incarceration.
In 2007, with the introduction of DNA testing, new evidence did not match Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley. However, Judge Burnett denied the retrial for the three convicts.
Circa 2010, evidence generated a possibility that they did not commit the crime. Following this, they negotiated an Alford plea that resentenced their time to over 18 years of incarceration, which they had already served by then. Thus, the new plea deals resulted in their immediate release.
Connection with Johnny Depp
As mentioned before, Depp had watched the documentary and publicly voiced his support for the release of the West Memphis Three. In 2012, Echols told E! News that the actor was like a brother to him. Echols told them:
“We did the book signing the other night in New York, and he was there for that, you know? Obviously, this isn’t helping his career in any way. This is something he is doing entirely to help me…We’ve grown to love him dearly. He’s become like a brother to me.”
The two reportedly have identical tattoos that commemorate the release of Echols and his associates.
