Neshoba Murders: Present all evidence to grand jury


Home		From the Arkansas Delta Truth and Justice Center Why can't Mississippi adequately pursue justice in civil rights murder cases? Why can't Mississippi indict the many other living suspects in the Neshoba murders on state charges who were indicted and tried under federal law for conspiracy to deny civil rights in the 1960s? Why can't Mississippi at least indict the living suspects in the Neshoba murders on state charges who were convicted under federal law for conspiracy to deny civil rights in the 1960s?. Why can't Mississippi convict those who were convicted on federal charges? The answer is that Mississippi can, if it has made as much progress as its public relations campaign claims it has. -- John Gibson Arkansas Delta Truth and Justice Center The Charles Moore and Henry Dee murders case --How US Attorney obtained indictment? --How MS AG could have obtained more indictments in Neshoba? What may have been the key to U.S. attorney Dunn Lampton proceeding to obtain an indictment against James Ford Seale for the 1964 murders of Henry Dee and Charles Moore? It might be that the U.S. Attorney told Charles Edwards, one of the other living suspects, that he could either be a witness or a defendant. It has been reported that Charles Edwards has not been indicted and that he could be a witness for the prosecution: "...No charges are expected to be brought against Edwards, who has been interviewed by the FBI and presumably could become a witness against Seale...." C-L 1/27/07. Perhaps if Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood and Mississippi 8th District Attorney Mark Duncan had used the approach with the other suspects in the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, there would have been more indictments and convictions than only Edgar Ray "Preacher" Killen. In fact, Jim Hood and Mark Duncan may have had an easier task than the one U.S. Attorney Lampton has thus far accomplished. Hood and Duncan had the additional leverage of having the weight of the 1967 federal convictions to help persuade some of the suspects to cooperate. They could have pointed out to those suspects how easy it would be to convict them on state charges since the same evidence had been sufficient to convict them on federal charges related to the case. It is still not too late for Hood and Duncan to use this approach to try to obtain a more full measure of justice in the Neshoba murders case. Some family members of the victims of the Neshoba murders wanted an attorney from the Jackson, MS U.S. Attorney's office appointed as a special state prosecutor. This approach was successfully used in Birmingham where U.S. Attorney Doug Jones was a special state prosecutor and convictions of the last two living suspects in the Birmingham church bombing case were obtained in 2002. But Hood and Duncan chose not to appoint a special prosecutor. -- John Gibson Arkansas Delta Truth and Justice Center *Neshoba Murders: Present all evidence to grand jury* [This letter was sent to the Clarion Ledger in Jackson, MS in March of this year, but they never chose to publish it, for whatever reason. I told Mr. Gibson that I would be glad to publish his letter. I, too, am puzzled as to why, when Killen was successfully prosecuted by the state mainly on the evidence that was used to convict him on federal charges in 1967, the other men (successfully prosecuted on federal charges 1967) were not charged and tried just as Killen was, using the federal evidence presented in 1967. --Ed.] It is interesting to note that your newspaper's editorial on the Till case (Clarion Ledger, March 20, 2006) states that "the FBI report should be presented to a local grand jury and, of course, acted upon if there is new information that could result in indictments. More important, the FBI report should be made public to answer any remaining questions." This is appropriate albeit long overdue. The same is true for the Neshoba murders case. Had the District Attorney and Attorney General presented all important evidence to the local grand jury, perhaps there would have been several more indictments rather than only the indictment of Edgar Killen. The grand jury heard evidence as presented by DA Mark Duncan and AG Jim Hood for only one day or less in January 2005. The transcript of the 1967 federal trial for conspiracy to deny civil rights related to the murders is 3,000 pages long. That trial resulted in the conviction of four men who are still living: Jimmy Arledge, Sam Bowers, Billy Wayne Posey, and Jimmy Snowden. Others still living should have been convicted. It seems that a local grand jury would have readily indicted more people in 2005, if the grand jury had been presented the available evidence. Why wasn't that evidence presented to the Neshoba grand jury in 2005? Why isn't that evidence presented now to a grand jury? Why isn't your newspaper calling for that evidence to be presented to a local grand jury? Why was only Killen prosecuted? -- John Gibson Arkansas Delta Truth and Justice Center
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From the Arkansas Delta Truth and Justice Center

Why can't Mississippi adequately pursue justice in civil rights murder cases?

Why can't Mississippi indict the many other living suspects in the Neshoba murders on state charges who were indicted and tried under federal law for conspiracy to deny civil rights in the 1960s?

Why can't Mississippi at least indict the living suspects in the Neshoba murders on state charges who were convicted under federal law for conspiracy to deny civil rights in the 1960s?.

Why can't Mississippi convict those who were convicted on federal charges?

The answer is that Mississippi can, if it has made as much progress as its public relations campaign claims it has.

    -- John Gibson
          Arkansas Delta Truth and Justice Center

The Charles Moore and Henry Dee murders case

    --How US Attorney obtained indictment?

    --How MS AG could have obtained more indictments in Neshoba?

What may have been the key to U.S. attorney Dunn Lampton proceeding to obtain an indictment against James Ford Seale for the 1964 murders of Henry Dee and Charles Moore?

It might be that the U.S. Attorney told Charles Edwards, one of the other living suspects, that he could either be a witness or a defendant. It has been reported that

Charles Edwards has not been indicted and that he could be a witness for the prosecution: "...No charges are expected to be brought against Edwards, who has been interviewed by the FBI and presumably could become a witness against Seale...." C-L 1/27/07.

Perhaps if Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood and Mississippi 8th District Attorney Mark Duncan had used the approach with the other suspects in the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, there would have been more indictments and convictions than only Edgar Ray "Preacher" Killen.

In fact, Jim Hood and Mark Duncan may have had an easier task than the one

U.S. Attorney Lampton has thus far accomplished. Hood and Duncan had the additional leverage of having the weight of the 1967 federal convictions to help persuade some of the suspects to cooperate. They could have pointed out to those suspects how easy it would be to convict them on state charges since the same evidence had been sufficient to convict them on federal charges related to the case.

It is still not too late for Hood and Duncan to use this approach to try to obtain a more full measure of justice in the Neshoba murders case.

Some family members of the victims of the Neshoba murders wanted an attorney from the Jackson, MS U.S. Attorney's office appointed as a special state prosecutor. This approach was successfully used in Birmingham where U.S. Attorney Doug Jones was a special state prosecutor and convictions of the last two living suspects in the Birmingham church bombing case were obtained in 2002. But Hood and Duncan chose not to appoint a special prosecutor.

      -- John Gibson
          Arkansas Delta Truth and Justice Center

Neshoba Murders: Present all evidence to grand jury

[This letter was sent to the Clarion Ledger in Jackson, MS in March of this year, but they never chose to publish it, for whatever reason. I told Mr. Gibson that I would be glad to publish his letter. I, too, am puzzled as to why, when Killen was successfully prosecuted by the state mainly on the evidence that was used to convict him on federal charges in 1967, the other men (successfully prosecuted on federal charges 1967) were not charged and tried just as Killen was, using the federal evidence presented in 1967. --Ed.]

It is interesting to note that your newspaper's editorial on the Till case (Clarion Ledger, March 20, 2006) states that "the FBI report should be presented to a local grand jury and, of course, acted upon if there is new information that could result in indictments. More important, the FBI report should be made public to answer any remaining questions." This is appropriate albeit long overdue.

The same is true for the Neshoba murders case. Had the District Attorney and Attorney General presented all important evidence to the local grand jury, perhaps there would have been several more indictments rather than only the indictment of Edgar Killen. The grand jury heard evidence as presented by DA Mark Duncan and AG Jim Hood for only one day or less in January 2005. The transcript of the 1967 federal trial for conspiracy to deny civil rights related to the murders is 3,000 pages long. That trial resulted in the conviction of four men who are still living: Jimmy Arledge, Sam Bowers, Billy Wayne Posey, and Jimmy Snowden. Others still living should have been convicted. It seems that a local grand jury would have readily indicted more people in 2005, if the grand jury had been presented the available evidence.

Why wasn't that evidence presented to the Neshoba grand jury in 2005?

Why isn't that evidence presented now to a grand jury?

Why isn't your newspaper calling for that evidence to be presented to a local grand jury?

Why was only Killen prosecuted?

      -- John Gibson
          Arkansas Delta Truth and Justice Center