Astonishing News Out of Mississippi

Edgar Ray Killen writes in a letter that he is ready to confess his part in murder 47 years ago!
by Charlie Leck

Many of my regular readers know of my Mississippi 1964 Blogs. For them I need not set the scene in order to express my astonishment this morning about the article by Jerry Mitchell that appeared in the Clarion-Ledger on Saturday morning down in Mississippi.

“Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen is ready to confess his involvement in the 1964 killings of three civil rights workers – as well as other crimes – in exchange for his release under house arrest, according to letters obtained by The Clarion Ledger.”

You can find the story here! I read it this morning with absorbed interest.

The story points out that two other suspects are still alive. It would be interesting to hear what Killen has to say about them. Frankly, it’s difficult to believe that the two haven’t been prosecuted long before now. There has been so much evidence and testimony, including sworn confessions from others implicated in the act, that the two should have been tried. Killen in his letters, however, emphasizes that the two should never be implicated.

This will help you understand Killen and why he was involved in this crime and, seemingly, in other hate-murders as well:

“The death of those three men saved the life (sic) of thousands of white women from rape from black men,” he wrote in an April 11 letter.

Killen expressed his confidence that a “majority of Mississippians” agree with him. Forty-seven years ago that was probably true. One can only hope that it no longer is!

Thanks to John Gibson, my faithful contact down in Mississippi for matters surrounding this case, for sending me this news. It’s an amazing way to get my week started.

I’ll be watching the Clarion-Ledger carefully.

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