Dan Stidham was a young lawyer just starting out in Paragould when he took on the case that would change his life.

In June 1993 he accepted a request to represent 17-year-old Jessie Misskelley Jr., who, along with Damien Echols, 18, and Jason Baldwin, 17, was charged in the West Memphis slayings of three 8-year-old boys — Stevie Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers — in what would become one of the most infamous criminal cases in Arkansas history.

Stidham had no idea at the time of the tumult it would inflict on his life and the long, frustrating, hellish journey he was undertaking. Now, more than 30 years later, he is revisiting his role in the case in his new book, “A Harvest of Innocence: The Untold Story of the West Memphis Three Murder Case.”

Co-written with Tom McCarthy, the book is a true insider’s look into the trial and its aftermath. Stidham also offers up plenty of new revelations, which is surprising considering the number of documentaries and books that have already been devoted to the case, and holds back little when it comes to his opinions of trial Judge David Burnett, West Memphis police and prosecutors.

Stidham, a Clay County District Judge, will be at WordsWorth Books in Little Rock from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday signing copies of the self-published book.

“I had no idea this was going to be such a long trip,” he says during a phone interview on a recent afternoon. “But I wouldn’t trade it for anything, the good, the bad or the ugly.”

The bodies of the boys were found on May 6, 1993, in a ditch in the Robin Hood Hills area of West Memphis. The age of the victims, who were best friends, and the particularly gruesome nature of their deaths caused a media frenzy, which was fueled by allegations that the slayings were part

of a satanic ritual.

Misskelley, who is developmentally disabled, gave a confession to the killings, which he later recanted, after being questioned and guided by police for 12 hours without a parent or lawyer present. Echols and Baldwin were then arrested and also charged in the slayings.

Their arrests set off a wave of local and national media stories about the socalled “satanic panic.” While Misskelley, represented by Stidham and his law partner, Greg Crow, was tried on his own, Baldwin and Echols were tried together.

Though no physical evidence placed the teens at the scene and despite Misskelley’s dubious confession, he was found guilty of one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life plus 40 years in prison. Baldwin and Echols were found guilty of three counts of murder; Baldwin got life in prison, and Echols was sentenced to death.

Stidham’s account of the buildup to Misskelley’s trial is riveting, as are his details pertaining to the trial itself and the appeals process, which are filled with one frustrating setback after another. He lets loose on Burnett — who ruled against the jury hearing testimony from an expert in coerced confessions — and others, but acknowledges his own inexperience.

Long after the trial, he continued to fight for Misskelley.

“I made a promise to that kid that I was going to get him out of prison,” he says. “I knew it was going to be a long shot when I said it, but I never gave up.”

National attention brought on by the 1996 HBO documentary “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills” and its two sequels, along with Mara Leveritt’s 2002 book “Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three,” eventually attracted people like Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder and other celebrities to the cause.

Different attorneys took on the case and, with a new judge assigned, hopes were high for a new trial. But on Aug. 19, 2011, Misskelley, Echols and Baldwin made Alford Pleas, pleading guilty to the crimes though maintaining their innocence, and were released from prison after serving more than 18 years. Stidham, who wasn’t involved with the Alford pleas, writes that it was a “Pyrrhic” victory.

“The West Memphis 3 were free but still guilty in the eyes of the law and, more grievously, the way I saw it, in the eyes of the state of Arkansas.”

(In April, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that Echols could petition for new DNA testing of evidence gathered at the crime scene.)

Stidham says being part of the case “was a struggle. I should have won that case in every stage of the proceedings.”

It has affected him professionally and personally. Neighbors wondered why he would represent a supposed devil-worshipping child killer and at times he questioned his faith and the law. His first marriage ended in divorce; he writes about having nightmares and says he’s been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. There’s fallout even all these years later. After a story about the book ran in the “Paragould Daily Press,” he writes, he received threats and a small, homemade bomb was used to blow up his mailbox.

At times he has been angry and bitter, he says, but writing about his experience has helped him gain perspective.

“I didn’t want this to be a book about revenge,” he says. “There are no winners. You have three dead boys and three teenagers who are now middle-aged men who lost the best years of their lives in prison for something they didn’t do.

“But I’ve finally worked through my bitterness. I didn’t want it to affect my ability as a storyteller. I’m not (angry) anymore. I actually fulfilled my mission. I got my client out of prison. I still don’t like the way that it happened, but he is where he should be.”

(Dan) Stidham says being part of the case “was a struggle. I should have won that case in every stage of the proceedings.”