CLOSING ARGUMENT BY MR DOAR
May it please the Court, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I'm not accustomed to the duty which I have attempted to perform here in Meridian for the last few days. Only once before have I acted as prosecutor for the Government in a criminal case. I hope very much that you will understand the reason I have come here, its not because of any skilled experience that I am here, but only because I hold the office as head of the division with the Department of Justice, and it is my responsibility to try and enforce the law in which these defendants have been charged. The United States Government felt it was essential that on of its Washington Officials be here to speak directly and frankly to you, about the reason for the extraordinary effort the Federal Government undertook to solve this crime, and to state to you twelve Jurors why the Federal Government has assumed the role of prosecutor of this conspiracy involving murder, the crime of which unfurled its criminal law in the State of Mississippi in and for Neshoba County. I am here because your National Government is concerned about your local law enforcement and in a conviction local law must work if we deserve our liberty and freedom. The machinery of any law in any county in any State, and police card, the uniform, the badge, arrest, calculated release, re-arrest, murder while in official custody and used to execute a plot to kill: If there is to be any hope for this land of ours the Federal Government has a duty to eliminate such evil forces that seize local law enforcement, that seize local law in the county and to rectify the situation so that it can administer Justice. When local law enforcement officials become involved as participants in violent crime and use their position, power and authority to accomplish this, there is very little hope to be hoped for, except with assistance from the Federal Government, but Members of the Jury, exactly what does that mean? It means that the Federal Government is not invading Philadelphia or Neshoba County, Mississippi, it means only that these defendants are tried for a crime under Federal law in a Mississippi City, before a Mississippi Federal Judge, in a Mississippi courtroom, assisted by Mississippi courtroom officials before twelve men and women from the State of Mississippi. The sole responsibility of the determination of guilt or innocence of these men remain in the hands where it should remain, the hands of twelve citizens from the State of Mississippi. Members of the Jury, this is not a murder case. The question is, was there a conspiracy in which the law was involved. It's been hanging over this courtroom, hanging over this courtroom for the past eight days, pressing in on each of us. Is the fact, the uncontradictory fact, the unbelievable fact, the endeavored to be forgotten fact. The three human lives taken in Neshoba County on that night of June 21st, 1964. It was our duty, the Federal Government's duty to do its best to bring to light the perpetrators in the conspiracy and to make it understandable to you to show you that this crime did occur, and who did it, and to show you that this crime was not the act of any loyal citizen of Mississippi, but rather an act of two individuals partners and citizens of any other fifty states, no credit to any state, Sam Holloway Bowers and Edgar Ray Killen, and then it was executed, this plan. The plan was executed through the collaboration of the law of Neshoba County, principally in in the person of the Deputy Sheriff, Cecil Ray Price. Members of the Jury, this is no extraordinary case, it has no precedent anywhere. Members of the Jury, this was a calculated, cold-blooded plot. Three men, hardly more than boys, were the victims. The plot was executed with a degree of self possession and steadiness equal to the wickedness to which it was planned. The circumstances, now clearly in evidence, spread out the entire scene before us. On June 21st, 1964, three boys traveled to Neshoba County. They were spotted and arrested by Deputy Price and promptly confined in jail. The boys were released by the Deputy Sheriff that night, within two hours they are in their graves, buried twelve or fifteen feet deep, thousands of yards of dirt has been intended to conceal the front, the bodies forever there unknown, buried under red clay in the center of a pond dam in the rural woods of Neshoba County. Their car is disposed of by burning so that there will be no trace. The deed was accomplished smoothly, quietly, effectively, efficiently, the object of the conspiracy achieved. No one has observed, no one has heard, the shame, the capture, the killing or the burial. The participants believed themselves safe, safe because the crime was committed in Neshoba County, and Neshoba law. Neshoba law was involved. Members of the Jury, defendants were mistaken. Such a secret could be safe no where, there is no nook nor corner on this earth where a secret of this plot would remain safe. It is surely true, that those that break the law of heaven by taking life seldom seek success in avoiding discovery. Such is the case here, discovery was discovered, a thousand eyes explored every corner of Neshoba everything, every circumstance connected with this time and place but Neshoba County remained silent, but a few citizens stepped forward, rarely in the history of law and enforcement, with information that had been so difficult to obtain of what took place in Neshoba County between 9:00 o'clock P.M. and 1:00 o'clock P.M. on June the 21st. Members of the Jury, Neshoba County chose to remain silent as to what was known about the events that night in that county. Much has and will be said about the extraordinary methods in discovering the guilty. Should it have been otherwise? Was this a State to be forgotten? Was this not a case for maximum effort of the F.B.I.? Could the Federal Government have succeeded in any other way other than rewards, payment for information, tending to expose the band of murderous conspirators, the midnight killers, to bring them to the Bar of Justice of Law? Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury there could be no justice done for your Federal Government not having tried to solve this crime, and the F.B.I. did try. Faced with this wall of silence encouraged Wallace Miller to step forward to furnish what he had heard from his friends within the Klan, and to appeal to Delmar Dennis to penetrate the hierarchy of the plan and to reveal their secrets, believing that this would lead to fixing the responsibility on all of those who planned this crime. All of you probably have an initial resentment against paid informers, but before you finally decide examine these men, Miller and Dennis, they are native sons of Mississippi, they are men of courage, because whom among us would doubt their lives are constantly in danger. They are men of convictions, both about State's Rights and law enforcement. Miller, a police officer began an almost perpetual state of fear; meanwhile, the guilty ones could not keep their secret. Some were so confident in the protection of the Neshoba law that they began to talk among their selves, others, because they were away from the scene of the killing believed themselves free from prosecution, still others talked among themselves, Sam Bowers boasted about it, and Miller reported what he heard. With the aid of this information the F.B.I. persuaded Jim Jordan to stop running, to give information and return from sanctuary required the expenditure of Three Thousand Dollars, and partially support for Jordan since that day. Another, Horace Doyle Barnett felt an irresistible impulse of conscience to be true to himself. And so the facts that happen on June the 21st became clear, remained for the chief informer, Delmar Dennis, to learn of the massive plot and to explain this in its meaning to Mississippi. Dennis, who had left the Klan, was asked to re-enter and to penetrate the heart of the secret organization, and that he did. Members of the Jury, the payment for information that these informers received for the risk they took, for the time they consumed, for the expenses they incurred for the inevitable isolation when their role came out is pretty meager. Their payment was made for value received. These men are not criminals, they played no part in this or any other conspiracy, and for the F.B.I. there was no other way to proceed. So, I come here now to ask only that you do justice. You want, of course, to proceed with caution against each of these defendants and be certain that you do not find them guilty of the offense of another, but you must likewise not forget that you were dealing with an atrocious crime. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, your decision of this case will stand as a precedent. I believe that it will be a precedent of candor, intelligence, firmness, and fairness, a precedent of good sense, an iron purpose, exploring all of the circumstances, weighing each virtue of truth and embracing and declaring the truth when found. Members of the
Jury,
I now turn
to the facts of the case. Let us see what we
know independently
of
the indisputed testimony. This is a case in part
of
circumstantial
evidence. It is common that offenses of this
type have to be
proved
in this way. Midnight murder in the rural area
of Neshoba County
provides few witnesses. Let me call your
attention to the
circumstances
which was tend proven to a certain plan participated
in by the law of
Neshoba
County. Three men disappeared on Sunday night,
June the 21st,
they
were found six weeks later buried beneath fifteen feet
of dirt in the
middle
of a pond. The Neshoba jailer's wife, Mrs.
Herring, was the last
known person to see them alive. She saw them as
they walked from
the jail. Five bullets are found in their
bodies. The boys
are alive at 10:30 when they were released, the
station wagon is on
fire
at 12:45 o'clock located fourteen miles northeast of
Philadelphia.
There is obviously and certainly been concert
cooperation, just as
certainly
as the machinery of the law had been prepared, had
been used to prepare
the road for conspiracy, and conspirators. The
Neshoba County law
enforcement officer, Cecil Ray Price, controlled the
time of release,
he
could have released them an hour later, he could have
released them an
hour early, but he released them just so they would go
to their
deaths.
Everything indicated that there had been a conspiracy
to kill and that
the killers had the help of the law. We know
this was not done
without
the help of a plan. Let me first note the
evidence that proves
without
a doubt that the bodies in the dam were the bodies of
Schwerner, Chaney
and Goodman, and the evidence that proves the bullets
from the guns
that
killed them. On August. On August 4th the
bodies were
found.
Three men buried in the dam. Two of these young
men were white,
one
was a negro. The appearance and clothing on the bodies
satisfied the
description
of Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman. The three had been
driving a Blue,
1963
Ford Station Wagon. Conceived in the pockets of
the body, number
one, keys to the working lock of the Ford Station
Wagon, burned station
wagon, square keys. Selective Service card of
Michael Schwerner
and
Andrew Goodman were found in wallets of their pants
pocket, the teeth
found
in bodies number 1 and 2 matched the mouths of
Schwerner and
Goodman.
The other documents found confirmed the identity of
the bodies.
Fingerprint
examination of James Chaney confirmed, a thumb
fingerprint examination
confirmed the identity likewise, there's no doubt how
these bodies were
killed. Five bullets were found in the bodies.
Five bullets, one
in Schwerner's body, one bullet in Goodman's body and
three bullets in
Chaney's body, and because of the decomposition of the
chest cavity of
the three boys, Dr. Featherstone couldn't say for sure
and with
absolute
certainty that the bullets penetrated through the
heart muscle, but
that
was because there was no heart muscle to examine, the
bodies were so
decomposed.
He testified it was his medical opinion that the
bullets in both body
number
1, Schwerner, body number 2, Goodman, would have had
to penetrate the
muscle
of the heart with no other result or or outcome but
death. The
third
body, Chaney, the first bullet passed a little low but
the second one
passed
a little higher and meant only certain death. We
know from the
testimony
of the jailer's Wife Mrs. Herrings that the boys were
released from
jail
by Price at 10:30. We know that the car was seen
at l2:45 or l:00
o'clock, we know that a watch was found and stopped at
12:45 but the
works
of that watch could have stopped anytime but that fact
taken into
consideration
with all other facts and testimony of the witnesses,
the physical facts
warrants the inference that the watch did stop and
fire at 12:45 on
June
22nd. The Station Wagon which was the way the
boys were traveling
had traveled a considerable distance between 10:30 and
a quarter to
one.
If I may step over to the map for a minute, you will
note that the jail
is in the center of the City of Philadelphia, they
traveled down 19,
down
where the roads turns off toward Union and
House. This is about
ten
or twelve miles. They come back up the road
about eight ot nine
miles
South of Philadelphia on this gravel road seen to the
West. You
follow
these roads, these back roads back to about ten miles
back to
Philadelphia.
Then you take the read to Philadelphia up here at
Posey's Service
Station down 21 down on to the dam site, that's six to
six and a half
miles
here, ten to eleven miles here, approximately ten
miles back on the
back
road, a half mile down to the dam site and add them
all up, six miles
back
into town and thirteen or fourteen miles back up the
road where the car
was found. That car traveled the road where the
car was
found.
That car traveled in a little over two hours over
fifty miles, fifty,
fifty-one
or fifty-two miles that night. That's the
circumstances Ladies
and
Gentlemen. The very circumstances you are
invited to
consider
in weighing the evidence. The very circumstances
then are the
depths.
The short time involved, the distance traveled, draws
a conclusion of
their
own plot. No one, no group could have stumbled
on that Station
Wagon
on highway 19, stopped it, killed the boys, made
arrangement for
disposal
of the bodies fifteen miles away, half a mile off the
blacktop road in
the middle of the woods without there having been
advanced
planning.
The fact that they were buried in a dam in and of
itself tells us that
it was a careful worked out plot. Now, just as
there was no plot
there's no doubt that the law of Neshoba County
participated. Did
or not witnesses tell you that the boys were locked in
Jail by Cecil
Price
around 4:00 o'clock? Cecil Price know who he had
in that
Jail.
The ticket that he wrote himself reflects that the
registration of the
car was registered in the Congress of Racial
Equality. Two were
booked
for investigation of church burning, one was charged
with spending the
boys were held until 10:30, Deputy Price determined
the time of
release.
They were not held there about any rule governing
speeding charges,
Mrs.
Herring said they had an automatic system of releasing
people for minor
offenses where you could get out if you paid the fine
by posting a
hundred
dollar bond, but only to give the defendants time to
set up and execute
their plan. She said this automatic system of
release had been in
effect for years, that it was not necessary for the
Justice of the
Peace
to approve their release and besides Mrs. Herring said
the Justice of
the
Peace, Mr. Warren, was in the jail half hour after the
boys were put in
there by Mr. Price, or Cecil Price, or Deputy Price
decided to release
the boys he said, "If Chaney wants to pay off, we will
release them
all."
Why did he not say that at five or six, or seven or
eight o'clock or
nine,
but at 10:30? Why did he put the boys in jail at
all? The
two
white boys, they were booked for investigating,
nothing was
investigated,
not one word was made to those boys by Cecil Ray Price
or any other law
enforcement officer while they were in jail.
That's the testimony
of Mrs. Herring, who was there continuously during the
time they were
in
jail. And then when Mr. Cecil Price released
them, what did he
say?
He said, "You CR workers get out of Neshoba
County." They thanked
him and left. So there was not one word spoken
about the church
burning.
Mrs. Herring worked in the jail book after they were
released,
released
after investigation." "Cecil told me to do
that," she said.
That's what he said, and the circumstances of the
killing also point
toward
law enforcement, toward the fact that some law
enforcement officer, and
we know it was Cecil Ray Price, we know that one gun a
.38 at least put
one bullet in the chest of each of the three
boys. We know that
their
gun was fired at contact range, fired by someone who
could have grabbed
those three boys like that by the shirt, put that gun
to their chest
and
pull the trigger. You can only do that to people
that were in
custody,
innocent, peaceful prisoners in the custody of the
law. The bullet
that hit Chaney was a little low, so more bullets were
fired, two more
bullets were fired. The fact that they were
contact shots tends
to
prove that the boys were held in custody when they
were murdered.
So now the questions come out. Other than Cecil
Price who were
the
plotters. How was the plot executed?
Price's participation
is certain without further proof. He released
the boys at a
predetermined
time. If there were not one word of testimony
there except that
the
boys were killed, Price would be guilty of this
conspiracy. They key to
the rest of the crime is the certain knowledge, the
undisputed
knowledge
that it was the intent of the conspirators to destroy
Michael
Schwerner,
and the other central figures other than Cecil Price
in this conspiracy
are Sam Holloway Bowers, sitting next to Mr. Herndon;
Edgar Ray Killen,
sitting next to Cecil Ray Price. Bowers, head of
the White
Knights,
the Imperial Wizard, approved Schwerner as the
target. Killen,
together
with Price planned and organized the
elimination. Michael
Schwerner,
the outside agitator from New York, came from the
North to work on
Civil
Rights for Negroes, he moved into a Negro
neighborhood, and he
associated
with Negroes, he preached freedom, he worked with
voter registration,
he
organized, he demanded, he picketed, he boycotted, he
wore a goat
beard,
he presented a hated organization, he was a symbol of
COFO, COFO was
the
symbol of forced integration of the races in the State
of
Mississippi.
He was hated and despised, and a secret organization
was formed to deal
with COFO, the White Knights of the Ku Klux
Klan. There was no
represented
group of the State of Mississippi; but this was a
small secret militant
group, masterminded by a fanatic, who singled out
Schwerner as a man
who
had to be eliminated. Not to preserve or protect
Mississippi, but
rather to satisfy his own consuming hate. As
early as April,
Bowers
had approached Schwerner's elimination.
According to Bowers, he
was
the thorn in the side of everyone from that date until
June the 21st,
the
forces Sam Bowers released for the death of
Schwerner, before
those
forces reached the climax eighteen other persons were
involved
and
there were two other people also killed. The case here
involves
individuals,
and the guilt or innocence of each individual must be
judged
separately.
But to understand this case, you must understand the
White Knights of
the
Ku Klux Klan. In seeking members, the White
Knights are reported
to be a political organization, non-violent, peaceful
group, but once
the
members were inducted, once the oath was administered
the members soon
learned from Edgar Ray Killen that this was an
organization of
action.
This was no Boy Scout Group, it was here to do
business. There
would
be certain things the Klan would need to do, its
members learned.
Cross-burnings, meetings, and eliminations, provided
that discipline
was
maintained and that action of this type was approved
by the local State
Organization. You only have to read the
documents, the executive
lecture of Sam Bowers of March the 1st, which
statement should be read
and re-read thoroughly to understand and grasp the
evil of this
organization.
It describes the White Knights as a Christian,
militant organization,
and
it says as militant, and I'm quoting, "As militants,
we are disposed to
use our physical force against our enemies. It
says, our enemies
should be humiliated and driven out of the community
by propaganda well
enough, but if they continue to resist, they must be
physically
destroyed.
It says, the Klan must never give the enemy an even
break, it is a life
and death struggle and we must at all times be ready
and strive and
break
and destroy our enemies. Since we must always
retain good public
relations, that as long as we have the public on our
side, we can
handle
our enemies any way we please." Members of the
Jury, this is not
a Government Prosecutor talking. This is found
in the document
written
by Sam Holloway Bowers. This Klan is a secret
organization with
stern
and severe discipline. He admits their ceremony
includes the Oath
of Allegiance that requires each member to swear that
he will cleave to
the brothers in the Order and the Family of all
others, that he will
defend
and protect them from all of our enemies; that there
will never be a
breach of secrecy or any other acts that would be
detrimental to the
White
Knights. The ceremony states that to violate the
oath means
disgrace,
dishonor, and death, that's the oath. Members of
the Jury,
important
exhibits are found on the Klan literature. You
were listening
carefully
to the testimony, you were taking careful notes, but
before you
deliberate
fully, you must examine these exhibits. Examine
the literature
here,
the executive lecture Sam Bowers made for recruiters,
Sam Bowers'
document
on secrecy, Sam Bowers' document on harassment, and
you will begin to
see
what supports here. Once you read these
documents you will see
why
so many good and honest citizens of Mississippi were
fooled by false
appearances
of this crime. Can there be any doubt that Sam
Bowers who wrote a
speech and organized with hate and violence in his
mind was capable of
going to any length to destroy Michael
Schwerner? Preacher Killen
in his right hand man in this eastern area of
Mississippi.
Organized
the Klan in Neshoba County and Lauderdale
County. We don't know
as
much about the Klan organization in Neshoba but we do
know that the
Sheriff,
Lawrence Rainey, Deputy Sheriff Price; ex-Sheriff Hop
Barnett,
and
Billy Wayne Posey were members, and we know that the
Sheriff's office
was
looking for Michael Schwerner and the other Civil
Rights Workers long
before
they met their death. BY MR. PIGFORD: BY THE COURT: BY MR. DOAR: Members of the Jury, in the execution of a conspiracy, there are members of the conspiracy who play different parts. There are the Master planners, there are the organizers, there are the look-out men, there are the killers, there are the clean up and disposal people, and there are the protectors. Each of these defendants played on or more parts in this conspiracy. Now we'll take the testimony of Jim Jordan who told you exactly what happened between eight and one o'clock that morning. Killen, the organizer, drove to Meridian and contacted his friend, Frank Herndon at the Longhorn. Herndon asked Jordan to go on a job, he said they needed some men to go up there, that Schwerner and a couple of other Civil Rights Workers were locked up in jail, that they needed their rear ends tore up. He said that the Sheriff's Deputy locked them up, then he, Frank Herndon and Pete Harris called some of the boys some of the boys together, and they went over to B. L. Akin and made some more calls. The boys included Wayne Roberts, the big man, and others included from Meridian were Jimmy Snowden, Jimmy Arledge, the Barnett brothers, and Jim Jordan. They assembled at B.L. Akin, the assembly area. Gas was put in their cars, guns were obtained and after getting to Akins place, Killen again told the group that the three Civil Rights Workers were locked up. We had to hurry to get there. He said the Highway Patrolman stopped them at the edge of town, Jordan and Roberts got in their cars to go and get gas, Killen said, I'll go on ahead, he takes Roberts with him, and he tells him where to park on the far side of the courthouse. The other car gets there driven by Horace Doyle Barnett, they get to the courthouse, they stop, and the ex-sheriff, Hop Barnett come up and tells them someone will come along and tell them where to wait. Killen comes along in his car, directs them down the street a way and tells them the boys will be released from jail by Price. Killen says, "I'll go to the funeral home so I'll have an alibi." Within ten minutes Price releases them from jail. A city police car, driven by Richard Andrew Willis comes along and tells them they are going out Highway 19. As they drive down the road, they come up on Posey's car at Pilgrim's store. You remember Officer Powe's testimony. it was about 10:26 or 10:30. Price had stopped to, Posey had stopped to talk with the Mississippi Highway Patrol. Posey asked them where Price is, then Posey comes along and tells the others that Deputy Price will stop the three and he tells them to follow him and they follow. On the way out to the gravel road, Posey's car breaks down, but the other two cars, Price in his official car, follows the station wagon, Barnett, in his car, follows the station wagon. The station wagon turns right off Highway 492, Price turns on the light, the flashing light, the flashing red light, and the cars stop. Price gets out and gets the boys out of the Station Wagon and puts them in his car, and as he puts them in his car, Jordan stated he heard a thud as if Price hits one of them. Someone drives the station wagon they turn around and come back to 19, Price turns up 19, stops at Posey's car, and the others, most of the others and they go on up the side road. Within a matter of minutes they are on the road leading to the west, the car stops, the boys are taken out of the car and killed. They load the bodies in the station wagon. Doyle is there, Price is there, Posey is there, Roberts is there, Jordan is there, Snowden is there, Arledge and Sharpe. Price then heads back toward Philadelphia. Posey tells the group he knows where they are going to bury them. They go out the back road up toward Philadelphia out past Burrage's place, down to the entrance of the dam, and down into the pond dam site. They wait for a bulldozer operator named Herman to come. He comes and works for about twenty minutes. The caravan of death then leaves and start back and before they get to Philadelphia, they stop at what Jordan describes as a warehouse, Doyle puts the license plate back on his car, Jordan picks up the gloves he hears that Herman is going to take care of the burning, and Jordan, he and Barnett enter the car again and then they come back to Philadelphia. When they get in downtown Philadelphia, Jordan says they stopped at a grocery store. There's a police car waiting there, two men are in it, and one of the other men is Willis, City Policeman. He told them where the boys were released from jail. Posey gets out of the car and with Sharpe he tells them to get away, everything will be taken care of. They leave at about 12:00 to 12:30 and go back to Meridian. James Jordan is a witness, an eye witness to a participation by Killen, and Price and Herndon and Harris, Akin, Mr. Akin, Posey, sitting next to Preacher Killen there, Roberts, the big fellow, Snowden, Arledge, Doyle Barnett, Sharpe, Hop Barnett and Willis. Willis is here. Willis, Price, Killen are all sitting right here Much will be said about Jordan's part in the participation of the crime or murder in this case. It is not important for you to decide who actually fired the gun. It is not important in this case for you to decide who actually fired the gun, or which gun killed the three boys. It means certainly that it was Jordan that killed the three boys, because one gun put a contact shot in the three boys and there was two guns involved, three of the bullets definitely came from one gun, one of the bullets in each of the three bodies, the contact shots, came from one gun. A fourth bullet may have come from that gun, that's the bullet in the head of Chaney, the fifth bullet came from another gun, that is the bullet that went through the back of Chaney and came out and rested in the flabby part of the stomach on the front. In deciding a case of this kind you must look for collaboration of what Jordan said, you must weigh it, test it against your own common sense and experience. Jordan said Price arrested the boys, Jordan said Price released them, Jordan said Price arrested the boys, Jordan said Price released them, if one of those things is fully and completely positively collaborated and I say again that this is a conspiracy and not a murder case. It doesn't matter who fired the shots in determining the guilt or innocence of these defendants, each of or any of the defendants, rather review the testimony. I now review the testimony implicating conclusively implicating beyond a reasonable doubt each of the defendants. Sam Bowers organized the Klan. It was a tightly disciplined organization. He told Jim Jordan that Schwerner was a thorn in the side of the white man. Elimination had to be approved by the Klan, and Killen said, that three times the Imperial Wizard had approved it. After it was over, Killen said that Bowers said that this was the first time that a "Christian had ever achieved the execution of a Jew," Sam Bowers, by his own hands, acknowledged that this plan was a Klan conspiracy. Examine, if you will, the code letter that he sent to Delmar Dennis, and I wish to call you attention again, Members of the Jury, to the circumstances under which this letter was received. In the letter was an envelope, there is a stamp on it, it's been canceled, there is a date and a place where it was sent from, there is a person listed as being the person from whom it was sent, and it is sent to Sam Bowers, 820 4th Avenue South, Laurel, Mississippi. This is a letter from Miller pleading to get back in the Klan after he's been banished because, I ask you to read this letter, this letter prepared by Bowers when he talks about his relationship in dealing with the F.B.I. This is the clearest and most explicit admission of guilt in Bowers' involvement with this conspiracy and Bowers' involvement with the wood business, the Klan, the -------- and the truck drivers were the Klansmen, the secret organization in the Neshoba County murder, the F.B.I., the timber scaling investigation, the F.B.I. investigation, those deep in the swamp were the killers of the Civil Rights murders. Sam Bowers admitted his participation further by furnishing money secretly to Billy Wayne Posey and Wayne Roberts. The planners were Killen and Price. Price admitted his participation in it, Member of the Jury, most important, he admitted his involvement the following day to that Police Officer, Mike Hatcher, who testified Wednesday night. Mike Hatcher was the Meridian police officer who received not one cent for his information. He was not a paid informant, he came here to testify and he testified under oath that on June 22nd, he saw Preacher Killen in a garage at the City Line Garage, 516 31st Avenue, Killen told him on the following day, remember this from Mike Hatcher, remember his testimony, that the Civil Rights Workers had been taken care of and had been buried in a dam out from Philadelphia and that the car had been burned. Killen also stated that he was at the funeral home that night, and that, in fact, was his alibi. He organized the Klan. At a secret meeting of the Klan in Meridian, he said three times that Schwerner had been approved for elimination by the State organization. He was at the Bloomo School, he organized the group to go to the Mt. Zion Church, the church for the Civil Rights Workers. Preacher Killen is right in the middle of this conspiracy, and every single person in it. Cecil Price was the lookout, his unusual patrolling, his unusual inquiries out in the Longdale community, the detention, the time of release, that time of release, the contact shot, all points conclusively to the fact that Price was right in the middle of this conspiracy. Highway Patrolman Powe testified that just after 10:25 Posey was looking for Price. Price later admitted to Dennis when he said that after the defendants were arrested for the first time that the F.B.I. knows more about this case than we thought, someone must be talking, and he concluded that James Jordan was ---------. Jordan must be the man, because he was the only one that could have hit Chaney that night. Price used the machinery of law, his office, his power, his authority, his badge, his uniform, his jail, his police car, is police gun, he used them all to take, to hold, to capture and kill. He is responsible for this conspiracy and accountable under law and under justice. The two recruiters were Herndon and Harris, especially to the Klan in Meridian. They knew of "Goatee" they had been up at the Bloomo School, they knew of the plot, they were in the Klan and they made the calls, they didn't go because they were officers. Station Agent was Akin. He helped the boys get ready. He had the cars filled up with gas they were organized at Akins. BY MR. PIGFORD: BY THE COURT: BY MR. HENDRICKS: BY THE COURT: BY MR. DOAR: Hop Barnett, the ex-sheriff, was the lookout man. He came to the Bloomo School on the 16th and said "the Civil Rights Workers are out at the church" He went out there and participated in the beatings of the Negro people out there when they came out of their church meeting. Patrolman Willis, the only patrolman on duty was stationed just South of Philadelphia on Highway 19. He was the city patrolman involved as a look-out man. The look-out man was Hop Barnett. The tailer men were Roberts, Jordan, Snowden, Arledge, Doyle Barnett, and Sharpe. These men, you notice, were the young ones. The young boys who knew best about the plan than the others in the Klan, who knew best about what they were getting into, possibly not fully aware of what was going to take place because though it was difficult for them to withdraw, because it was too late, but always beside beside them were the men deep into the swamp, men of violence and fury, men who were going to kill anyone who broke away. The most violent of all was Wayne Roberts. Wayne Roberts is a big man, he beat the Negroes at the Mt. Zion Church, he was a hero with blood on his hands, he went to the Bloomo School, he was present at the meeting when Schwerner elimination was discussed, he was in the first car, Killen took him back to Philadelphia with him, Roberts went with Killen first to make the final arrangements. Snowden, Arledge, Sharpe their involvement stems wholly on their identification with Jordan and their membership in the Klan. Tucker's participation is the Herman who drove the bulldozer is collaborated by the physical circumstances. The fact that the word was passed that they were going to be buried in a grave twelve to fifteen feet deep. Burrage and Tucker had such a contract, but the contract had not been executed at that time. They knew how high that dam was, but it wasn't a matter of common knowledge throughout Neshoba County, and the conspirators could not have known how much earth was going to be piled on that dam unless Tucker and Burrage or Tucker or Burrage were involved. Further, that burial was performed in twenty minutes, and its true that you probably could turn on a bulldozer by just turning your keys, but it's not as simple as all of that to run the levers, you've got to run the tracks, you've got to pull the blade, when you push the blade forward to push the earth forward you've got to raise up that blade, and move back over it so that the bodies would be covered. This is no job for a bulldozer operator who didn't know the equipment and who didn't know the conditions and who didn't know the surroundings. Herman Tucker's participation is also collaborated by the fat that Herman was going to take care of the car and Herman testified that he was an experienced car burner. Olen Burrage is involved because the burial was on his place. There is an indispensable inference to me that this couldn't have been done without his participation. Finally, there's Sheriff Lawrence Rainey. Sheriff Rainey was present in the Philadelphia area that night according to the radio calls, he was present at least in the range of the radio calls late that afternoon. Sheriff Rainey was present in the jail at ten minutes until twelve. Sheriff Rainey failed to act that night, and that in fact puts his Klan membership and his oath implicates thoroughly indirectly and puts him fully in this conspiracy. That leaves only two people. The first is Travis Barnett. I think you should go out and return a verdict of not guilty against Travis Barnett. I don' think the verdict and the evidence is sufficient to warrant us asking you to find Travis Barnett guilty. With respect to Horace Doyle Barnett, however, you have his confession. This confession can only be considered against him, but I want to run over it again with you to touch this so that you have it clearly in your mind. He wrote or the F.B.I. Agent wrote and he initialed on June 21st I was having supper at blank blank house, Meridian. Blank called on the telephone and told blank that the Klan had a job and wanted to know if I would go. Blank asked me if I would go and we went to blank in Meridian. We did not know what the job was. Upon arriving we were met by blank, blank, Jim Jordan and blank. Blank told us that three civil rights workers were in jail in Philadelphia and that the three civil rights workers were going to be released from jail and that they were going to catch them and give them a whipping. We were given gloves. Blank, blank, and Jordan got into my car and we drove to Philadelphia. Blank and Blank left before we did and we were told we would meet them there. When we arrived in Philadelphia we met blank and waited for someone to tell us where and when the three civil rights workers were being released from jail. While we were talking blank stated that they had a place to buy them and a man to run the dozer to cover them up. This was the first time I realized that the three civil rights workers were to be killed. About five or ten minutes after we parked blank came to the car and said they are going to Meridian on Highway 19. We proceeded and caught up to the Mississippi State Highway Patrol. We pulled into a store on the left side of the road. We pulled along side the patrol car and then another car from blank pulled in between us, I was driving a 57 Ford. Blank then drove away and we followed. I then drove fast and caught up with the car the three civil rights workers were in, pulled over to the side and stopped. About a minute or two later blank came along and stopped beside my car. Price asked who was going to stop them and blank said that he would. We followed the civil rights workers and they turned off---- BY MR. ALFORD: BY MR. WEIR: BY THE COURT: BY MR. DOAR: Members of the Jury, this is an important case. It is important to the government. It's important to the defendants, but most important, it's important to the State of Mississippi. What I say, what the other lawyers say here today, what the Court says about the law will soon be forgotten, but what you twelve people do here today will long be remembered. Does not everyone see and understand that it was a matter of absolute necessity that you twelve people of Mississippi be asked to sit as jurors and judge this case? These defendants will stand before you on the record in this case and they will beg of you for indulgence. In effect they will beg of you for indulgence. In effect they will say as Gloucester said of old as he stood over the body of his slain king, he begged of the queen "say I slew him not." The queen replied then say they were not slain, but they are dead. If you find that these men or that each of them is not guilty of this conspiracy it would be as true to say that there was no night time release from jail by Cecil Price, there were no white knights, there are no young men dead, there was no murder. If you find that these men are not guilty you will declare the law of Neshoba County to be the law of the State of Mississippi.
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