'Ku Kluk Klansman' will face trial, says judge
An 80-year-old reputed Ku Klux Klansman will stand trial in Mississippi as scheduled next week in the 1964 murders of three civil rights workers despite injuries that are causing him discomfort, a judge ruled today.
Circuit Judge Marcus Gordon said Edgar Ray Killen’s trial will start on Monday. But he said he will allow some accommodations to make the process less painful for Killen, who suffers from osteoarthritis and broke his legs in March while cutting a tree.
“My one single purpose is to be fair in this case,” the judge said. Gordon said he would allow more breaks than normal and would have a bed placed in a private courthouse room so Killen can rest during the breaks.
Killen is charged with the 1964 murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner in Neshoba County. The three men had come to the area to help black citizens register to vote.
The killings focused national attention on the civil rights struggle in the South and became the subject of the 1988 movie “Mississippi Burning".
A 1967 federal trial found that the murders were part of a Ku Klux Klan conspiracy. Killen’s case ended in a hung jury at the time, but seven others were convicted of violating the victims’ civil rights. None served more than six years.
Killen is the only person to face state charges in the case. Prosecutors have refused to detail the evidence against him.
Killen, now a part-time preacher who lives in Union, did not attend today’s 25-minute hearing.
