One Of The 1964 Nazis Arrested Without Incident

marco [reprint from many wire reports], 07.01.2005 08:02

Here's a collection of writings about Reverend
Edgar Ray Killen being arrested finally for the
murders of electionworkers. Word on the street
is he's been bragging about it for 40 years; but
we shouldn't be saying anything more involved than
"alleged," huh? Responsible journalists, we...

killen.jpg 9k

[Methinks this can be seen through the eyes of
any who felt abused in 2004 election frauds]

'Mississippi Burning' suspect arrested

PHILADELPHIA, Miss., Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Mississippi authorities have arrested an 80- year-old man for the 1964 killings of three civil rights workers, CNN reported Friday.

Edgar Ray Killen was arrested in rural Neshoba County Thursday after a grand jury indicted Killen on three counts of murder in the June 21, 1964, slayings of civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman.

Mississippi reopened the investigation last year and began presenting evidence to the grand jury.

The murders, memorialized in the movie "Mississippi Burning," spurred national support for the civil rights movement.

Killen is set for arraignment Friday, and no bail amount has been set.

[ref]=[ http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050107-082047-6519r.htm]
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Klansman arrested for 1964 killings

A reputed member of the Ku Klux Klan has been arrested on murder charges related to the 1964 killings of three US election volunteers, dramatised in the film Mississippi Burning.

A Mississippi sheriff said Edgar Ray Killen, a 79-year-old preacher, was arrested at his home in Philadelphia, Mississippi without incident, and added there would be more arrests. Killen's arrest followed a grand jury meeting that included testimony from people believed to have knowledge about the killings.

Killen is being held on three counts of murder. "We went ahead and got him because he was high profile and we knew where he was," a sheriff said.

The grand jury considered whether there was sufficient evidence after 40 years lay charges for the crimes. Killen was identified in testimony in earlier federal court proceedings as having a role in the killings.

Mississippi has had some success reopening old civil rights murder cases, including a 1994 conviction of Byron de la Beckwith for the 1963 assassination of Medgar Evers, a field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People.


But until recently there has been little progress in building murder cases against those involved in the Ku Klux Klan murders of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.

Seven Klansmen were convicted of conspiracy charges in the killings and sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to 10 years. None served more than six years. But Mississippi never pressed murder charges.

[ref]=[ http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Klansman-arrested-for-1964-killings/2005/01/07/1104832306282.html?oneclick=true]

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’KKK man’ held for 1964 murders

Edgar Ray Killen, a segregationist preacher linked to the Ku Klux Klan, faced trial in 1967 but was freed after the jury failed to reach a verdict. The three men were killed as they campaigned to register black voters.

The murders sparked an outpouring of national support for the civil rights movement, and were dramatised in the 1988 film Mississippi Burning.

Mr Killen has always denied the murders.

Neshoba County Sheriff Larry Myers said there would be further arrests in connection with the killings.

Beaten and shot

James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman were driving to investigate a fire at a church when they were allegedly stopped by Ku Klux Klansmen on an isolated road.

Their bodies were found several weeks later, buried in an earthen dam, after one of the largest searches ever undertaken by the FBI.

Eighteen people were charged in 1967 on federal conspiracy charges, but none of them was charged with murder.

Seven people were convicted and served up to six years in prison.

Mr Killen was freed after his trial ended in a hung jury.

His arrest at his home in Philadelphia, Mississippi, followed a grand jury session on Thursday that apparently included testimony from people believed to have knowledge of the killings.

The mother of one of the victims welcomed the news.

"This has been a long time coming, but it was definitely worth the wait," Carolyn Goodman, the mother of Andrew Goodman, was quoted as saying.

"I knew in my heart this would happen eventually. It just had to be. I feel so relieved."

[ref]=[ http://www.24x7updates.com/FullStory-News-KKK_man_held_for_1964_murders-ID-37639.html]

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Preacher held for Mississippi Burning murders

by Jenny Booth

An alleged former Klu Klux Klan leader known as "The Preacher" was arrested last night and charged with the murders of three civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964.

Edgar Ray Killen, 79, a Baptist minister, has already stood trial in 1967 on federal conspiracy charges over the killings, but was released on a hung verdict.

Now, however, police believe they have enough evidence to prosecute him for the murders of James Chaney, a 21-year-old black man from Mississippi, and Michael Schwerner, 24, and Andrew Goodman, 20, both from New York, who had been driving around rural areas of the southern US state helping to register black voters.

They were stopped on a lonely dirt road as they drove to a church to investigate a fire, beaten - allegedly by Klansmen - and shot dead. Several weeks later their bodies were found buried in a dam a few miles away.

The dramatic case was featured in Alan Parker's 1988 film Mississippi Burning which was, by coincidence, reshown on British television this week.

Seven people from Neshoba county were convicted on federal conspiracy charges in relation to the murders in 1967, and sentenced to between three and ten years in jail, but Mr Killen was among 11 further suspects who walked free from court. He has always denied being involved in the deaths.

Last night his brother, Jerry Killen, said that he thought that the arrest was "pitiful". He went on: "He won't talk about (the murders). I don't know if he did it or not."

Mississippi has had some success reopening old civil rights murder cases. In 1994 Byron de la Beckwith was convicted of assassinating Medgar Evers, a civil rights organiser, in 1963.

Thanks to the film, the killings of Mr Chaney, Mr Schwerner and Mr Goodman have remained firmly in the public eye, but local police have until now had little success.

The investigation of the killings was reopened by Jim Hood, the Attorney General, and last month an anonymous donor posted a $100,000 reward for information leading a prosecution.

Investigators have since gathered enough evidence to apply successfully for a grand jury indictment.

Mr Killen was arrested at home in Neshoba county last night without incident, and is scheduled to be arraigned today before Circuit Judge Marcus Gordon. Sheriff Larry Myers said: "We went ahead and got him because he was high profile and we knew he was there."

The reopening of the case stirred up powerful emotions. Billy Wayne Posey, one of the seven men convicted in 1967 in relation to the killings, gave evidence in camera to the grand jury. Supported by a cane, he told reporters outside the courtroom: "After 40 years to come back and do something like this is ridiculous ... like a nightmare."

James D McIntyre, a defence lawyer at the 1967 trial, agreed: "It appears to be a sad day for the state of Mississippi. The investigation that has been brought forth - the prosecutors, news media - I just hate to see it happen."

But the mother of one of the victims said that she had always believed that justice would be done in the end.

Carolyn Goodman, 89, said: "I knew in the end the right thing was going to happen. As I have said many times before, I am not looking for revenge. I'm looking for justice."

Ben Chaney, the younger brother of James Chaney, however, called the investigation a sham. He claimed that police had targeted one or two unrepentant Klansmen, but spared wealthy whites who he believed had had a hand in the killings. He called for the case to be turned over to the FBI and a special prosecutor appointed to continue the investigation.

[ref]=[ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1429780,00.html]