From death row to the tattoo studio

When he’s giving a tattoo, Damien Echols forgets about the years he wasted in prison.

Damien Echols has found his calling, said Miranda Siegel in New York magazine. At age 18, Echols, now 38, was sentenced to death after he and two other teenagers—the so-called West Memphis Three—were convicted of murdering three boys from their Arkansas hometown in a satanic ritual. The prosecution’s evidence was flimsy, and a celebrity-led campaign got them freed in 2011. In prison, Echols says, tattoos became a form of armor. So after his release, he headed to Manhattan’s renowned Sacred Tattoo parlor to get a new piece of body art. “This is the first place I started making friends,” he says. “Nobody asks about the case. Nobody cares.” Echols sometimes works as a tattooist at the studio, but despite being a talented painter, the only body art he can manage is a simple X. “If someone comes in and goes, ‘I really wanna get this portrait of my daughter done,’ I’m like, ‘Nah, you want an X.’ Or somebody says, ‘I really want this, like, field of roses.’ And I’ll say, ‘Nah, you want a field of X’s.’” When he’s giving a tattoo, Echols forgets about the years he wasted in prison. “It’s psychologically and emotionally soothing. You’re talking, you’re joking. You’re giving something out, but it’s an exchange.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us