Father of Slain Boy Threatens Accused Killer in Courtroom

A father’s grief turned to rage Friday when he rushed at one of three teen-agers accused of killing his son and two playmates.

“I’ll chase you all the way to hell,” Steven Branch yelled. Court officers subdued Branch before he reached the defendant.

The teen-agers were arrested Thursday and charged with capital murder, but police Inspector Gary Gitchell would not discuss a motive or reveal what was found during a search of their homes.

Jessie Lloyd Misskelley, 17, Michael Wayne Echols, 18, and Charles Jason Baldwin, 16, were charged in the slayings of three 8-year-olds who vanished May 5 while riding bicycles in their neighborhood.

The next day, authorities discovered the boys’ bodies in a drainage ditch in nearby woods.

Municipal Judge Pal Rainey called a recess after Branch’s outburst and warned that further disruptions would lead to contempt-of-court charges.

The teen-agers did not enter pleas and were ordered held without bond until the case is transferred to Circuit Court on Monday. Police would not reveal where they were taken.

Detectives in this city just across the Mississippi River from Memphis, Tenn., had gone door to door in search of leads.

Gitchell said last month that a preliminary autopsy indicated that the slain boys--Christopher Byers, Michael Moore and Steve Edward Branch--died of blows to the head.

The slayings of the three second-graders stunned the city of about 28,000, and many parents have not allowed their children to play outside unsupervised since the bodies were found.

On Friday, a crowd of up to 200 people gathered behind the courthouse and shouted “murderer,” “freak,” “baby killers” and “shoot ‘em” at the teen-agers as they were taken away.