( CNN ) -- Jason Baldwin paused Saturday on his first morning of freedom in 18 years to share a revelation he gleaned in prison while serving a life sentence . The `` West Memphis Three '' member recalled telling inmates he had figured out the secret of life . `` What is it ? '' they asked . `` I said , 'Enjoy it . Enjoy it , ' '' Baldwin told CNN Memphis affiliate WMC . And enjoy it he did Friday and Saturday . Baldwin , Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley Jr. -- freed Friday in Arkansas after a complicated plea arrangement -- spent time with family , friends and supporters . Echols and Baldwin saw the sunset Friday from the rooftop of the Madison Hotel in Memphis , across the Mississippi River from West Memphis , Arkansas . Supporters Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam and Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks joined the party . The three men , who served 18 years in prison following their convictions in a 1993 triple-slaying in West Memphis , walked free Friday to cheers from a supportive crowd after entering rarely used pleas in which they maintained their innocence but acknowledged that prosecutors have evidence to convict them . They had been imprisoned for the slayings of second-graders Steven Branch , Christopher Byers and Michael Moore . The boys ' bodies were mutilated and left in a ditch , hogtied with their own shoelaces . Prosecutors argued that the defendants , teenagers at the time , were driven by satanic ritual and that Echols , sentenced to death , had been the ringleader . Baldwin and Misskelley received life sentences . Attorney Stephen Braga , who represented Echols , said his newly freed client and Baldwin were fascinated by new foods , cell phones and other technology Friday . `` It was if you could see two little 5-year-old kids at their first Christmas , '' Braga told CBS ' `` Early Show '' Saturday . `` The idea you could take pictures with an iPhone totally blew them away . '' Misskelley spent Friday night with his family near West Memphis . CNN affiliate WREG said Echols , who met his wife while serving time , and Baldwin left Saturday for undisclosed locations to enjoy seclusion . Echols and Baldwin entered what is known as an Alford plea on three counts of first-degree murder . Misskelley entered similar pleas to one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder . Craighead County Circuit Judge David Laser sentenced the three to the 18 years already served and imposed a 10-year suspended sentence -- meaning they could be returned to jail if they violate the law . `` I do n't think that it will make the pain go away to the victims ' families . I do n't think it will make the pain go away to the defendant families , '' Laser said , adding it was nevertheless the best for all involved . Critics of the case against the men argued that no direct evidence tied the three to the murders and that a knife recovered from a lake near the home of one of the men could not have caused the boys ' wounds . More recent DNA testing also demonstrated no links , according to the men 's supporters . Baldwin said he did n't initially want to accept the deal . `` This was not justice , '' he said , adding that he dropped his opposition to pave the way for Echols ' release from death row . `` I have now spent half my life on death row , '' Echols said in a statement released Saturday . `` It is a torturous environment that no human being should have to endure , and it needed to end . I am innocent , as are Jason and Jessie , but I made this decision because I did not want to spend another day of my life behind those bars . '' While prosecuting attorney Scott Ellington said the pleas entered Friday validate the decision of jurors who sent the men to prison , it also spares Arkansas the possibility of a retrial , which would have been difficult to prosecute after so many years , or a potential civil lawsuit by the men . The trio had been on course to win the right to new trials later this year . Ellington said he believes the pleas resolve the case . `` I have no reason to believe there was anyone else involved in the homicide of these three children but the three defendants who pled guilty today , '' he said . But he said the state could file charges against others if new evidence emerges implicating someone else in the case . John Mark Byers , whose stepson Christopher Byers was one of the three victims , said he believes the three men are innocent and releasing them without exonerating them of the crime is an outrage . `` They 're innocent . They did not kill my son , '' Byers said before the hearing . The father of another of the victims , Steven Branch , also blasted the decision , but for another reason . `` I do n't know what kind of deal they worked up , '' Steve Branch told CNN affiliate WMC-TV before the hearing . `` Now you can get some movie stars and a little bit of money behind you , and you can walk free for killing somebody . '' Baldwin , who said he prays for the victims ' families , told WMC Saturday he hopes to return to school . `` Right now , I am floating on the hands of people who love and care for me , people trying to get my feet under me and everything , '' he said . `` I 'm just trusting God to take care of me . '' Braga credited new DNA evidence , a new hearing and a new judge as instrumental to Friday 's proceedings . The attorney claims the three freed men and supporters will push to see that the real killer eventually is found . `` He 's still out there , '' Braga told CBS . `` The right guys have been set free . ''
The ` ` West Memphis teens '' are free after entering new cases in a recent murder case . Two go to a rooftop party , enjoy new experiences . They were convicted of killing three West Memphis second - graders in 1993 . Not everyone is convinced they are innocent .