38. Dawn Turner Rice, “In Till Case, Leaders Don’t Need to Weigh In,” Chicago Tribune, May 9, 2005, 2C.
39. Garrity, author telephone interview; “Director Robert Mueller Announces Appointment of Deputy Chief Information Officer,” FBI National Press Release, April 21, 2005, www.fbi.gov; “State FBI Boss Moving to Washington,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, June 1, 2005, D8. Garrity’s new job as deputy chief information officer and business process reengineering executive placed him over the FBI’s technology efforts.
40. Robert J. Garrity Jr., “Exhumation of Till’s Remains Is Essential,” letter to the editor, Chicago Tribune, May 22, 2005, 10; Robert J. Garrity Jr., “Emmett Till Exhumation Is Crucial to a Just Resolution to This Case,” Tinley Park (Ill.) Daily Southtown, May 24, 2005, A8.
41. “Professor Seeks Transcript of Till Trial,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, February 21, 2005, B5; Davis Houck, author telephone interview, June 10, 2014. For Houck’s contributions on Emmett Till, see Davis W. Houck, “Killing Emmett,” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 8, no. 2 (Summer 2005): 225–62; Davis W. Houck and David E. Dixon, Rhetoric, Religion, and the Civil Rights Movement, 1954–1965 (Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press, 2006); Davis W. Houck and Matthew A. Grindy, Emmett Till and the Mississippi Press (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2008).
42. Houck, author telephone interview; Killinger remarks at Landmarks in American History and Culture; Killinger, email to author, July 22, 2014; Lee McGarrh, email to author, June 18, 2008; Prosecutive Report, 84. McGarrh’s name has been redacted from the FBI report for privacy purposes.
43. Killinger remarks at Landmarks in American History and Culture; Killinger to Anderson, July 22, 2014; Shaila Dewan and Ariel Hart, “FBI Discovers Trial Transcript in Emmett Till Case,” New York Times, May 18, 2005, A14; McGarrh, email to author, June 18, 2008; Hailman, From Midnight to Guntown, 228; Hailman, author telephone interview.
44. Monica Davey and Gretchen Ruethling, “After 50 Years, Emmett Till’s Body Is Exhumed,” New York Times, June 2, 2005, A12; Wright and Boyd, Simeon’s Story, 110; Karen E. Pride, “Federal Officials Lead Exhumation of Emmett Till,” Chicago Defender, June 2, 2005, 3.
45. Pride, “Federal Officials Lead,” 3; Anthony Rapp and Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory, “Declassified: The Real Story Behind Solving Crime,” Medill Reports, http://newsarchive.medill.north-western.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=210665&print=1.
46. “Autopsy Done, Emmett Till Is Reburied,” New York Times, June 5, 2005, 34; Natasha Korecki, “Possible Bullet Pieces Found in Till Autopsy,” Chicago Sun-Times, June 11, 2005, 6.
47. Prosecutive Report, 99.
48. Prosecutive Report, 99, 101, 111; Killinger, author telephone interview; Hailman, author telephone interview.
49. Prosecutive Report, 106; Simeon Wright’s name is redacted from the FBI report for privacy purposes. However, he explained that “they first focused on one of my sisters, but in the end the FBI selected me to be the donor. They came to my house and took blood samples, and after that, all I could do was to wait for the day of the exhumation” (Wright and Boyd, Simeon’s Story, 109).
50. Email to Keith Beauchamp, March 11, 2003, copy in author’s possession. The woman who wrote the email asked not to be identified “because it could cause me a lot of trouble.”
51. Beauchamp, author telephone interview, August 23, 2014; Prosecutive Report, 97, 108; Killinger to author, September 15, 2014.
52. Prosecutive Report, 110; “Autopsy Done,” 34; Korecki, “Possible Bullet Pieces Found,” 6; Laura Parker, “DNA Confirms Body Is Emmett Till’s,” USA Today, August 26, 2005, A2.
53. Hailman, author telephone interview; Confidential source C, author interview, December 3, 2014.
54. Hailman, author telephone interview. Killinger was not able to discuss his interactions with Carolyn Donham with me because of confidentiality issues, which still applied in her case because she was still living. Hailman, now retired, felt free to talk.
55. Prosecutive Report, 41–42, 46–49, 95.
56. Prosecutive Report, 57–58, 95–96. Carolyn Donham’s statement to Killinger is provided twice in the report. Inexplicably, Killinger redacted certain words in one of these statements but includes them in the other. What I include above is a synthesis of the two.
57. Although I did not hear this directly from Killinger, Hailman told me that Killinger “was absolutely sure that Carolyn was there,” meaning she was with Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam at Mose Wright’s home in the early morning hours of August 28, 1955 (Hailman, author telephone interview).
58. Prosecutive Report, 59, 80. Campbell’s wife, Mary Louise, told Killinger that she did not recall Carolyn Bryant placing a call to her husband that morning (Prosecutive Report, 59). Campbell’s name is redacted from the report because she was still living at the time. She died in 2009.
59. Prosecutive Report, 42; Defense notes from interview with Mrs. J. W. Milam, September 2, 1955, William Bradford Huie Papers, Cms 84, box 85, fd. 347, Ohio State University Library, Columbus (hereafter cited as Huie Papers).
60. Timothy B. Tyson, emails to author, March 31 and July 26, 2014. Tyson will discuss his interviews with Carolyn Donham in a forthcoming book on the Till case.
61. Defense notes from interview with Carolyn Bryant, September 2, 1955, Huie Papers, box 85, fd. 347.
62. Ray Brennan, “Till’s Uncle Sticks to Guns, Says He’ll Relate Kidnaping,” Chicago Sun-Times, September 19, 1955, 3.
63. For a sampling of the coverage of the Edgar Ray Killen case, see James Dao, “Indictment Makes Start at Lifting 40-Year-Old Cloud Over a Mississippi County,” New York Times, January 8, 2005, A11; Shaila Dewan, “Revisiting ’64 Civil Rights Deaths, This Time in a Murder Trial,” New York Times, June 12, 2005, 26; “Jury Selection Begins in ’64 Case of Civil Rights Workers’ Killings,” New York Times, June 14, 2005, A12; Shaila Dewan and Jerry Mitchell, “A Klan Confession, but Not to 1964 Civil Rights Murders,” New York Times, June 16, 2005, A18; Shaila Dewan, “Jury Hears Mother of Rights Worker Slain in 1964,” New York Times, June 18, 2005, A8; Sheila Dewan, “Prosecution Completes Case in 1964 Civil Rights Killings,” New York Times, June 19, 2005, 16; “Jury Is Split at Outset of Deliberation,” New York Times, June 21, 2005, A12; Ariel Hart, “41 Years Later, Ex-Klansman Gets 60 Years in Civil Rights Deaths,” New York Times, June 24, 2005, A14; Shaila Dewan, “Man Convicted in ’64 Case and Out on Bail Is Rejailed,” New York Times, September 10, 2005, A8.
64. Confidential source C, author interview, December 3, 2014.
65. This story once appeared on Barrett’s Nationalist website, but that link is no longer valid. However, on October 19, 2013, I found it at https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/misc.legal/CdjqsQBAX6c. Jerry Mitchell, longtime reporter for the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, verified to me that Barrett did, in fact, consult with Frank Bryant, because Barrett discussed his conversation personally with Mitchell (Jerry Mitchell, email to author, October 19, 2013). WXVT TV, of Greenville, Mississippi, no longer has a copy of this story, unfortunately, as verified by Woodrow Wilkins, a reporter and web director at the station, in an email to the author on November 6, 2013.
66. Chris Joyner, “Black Man Suspected in Death of Mississippi White Supremacist,” USA Today, April 23, 2010, A2; Earnest McBride, “McGee Family Decries Downplay of Racist Provocation in Barrett Murder Case,” Jackson Advocate, August 4, 2011, 1A, 9A.
67. See Bonnie Blue, Emmett Till’s Secret Witness: FBI Confidential Source Speaks (Park Forest, Ill.: B. L. Richey Publishing, 2013). Blue told me she recorded the conversations but would not say whether she provided Killinger with those recordings, gave him a transcript, or only gave him an oral summary of what Milam told her. Blue, who lectured on Emmett Till under the name of B. L. Richey prior to the release of her book, was once very dissatisfied with the FBI’s investigation and accused Killinger of sloppiness and even dishonesty. After passage of the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Act in 2008 (discussed later), Blue wrote of her dissatisfa
ction with the FBI agent on a blog for the Chicago Sun-Times: “Now all that I wait for, is that an actual investigation to be conducted by the FBI. The 2004/2007 report was so flawed that the FBI themselves [sic] had to conduct their own investigation into the actions of the FBI Agent conducting the investigation.” She went on to assert that the US attorney general was then looking into Killinger’s alleged missteps, something Blue said she had been urging since the report came out in March 2007. “I know that it is flawed because the agent deleted important information and twisted the facts that were relayed to him by Confidential Source, ‘b2,’” whom Blue claimed to be. I have found no evidence that Killinger’s probe has at any time been under investigation.
In June 2014, I contacted Blue about her online criticisms of Killinger. In response to my email she wrote: “I have never posted anything of that nature. . . . As for the FBI, I am satisfied with the work that was done in this case.” When I sent her the link showing her critical comments, she responded later that same day. “Wow! Very good! I had completely forgotten about that.” She provided nothing to explain the discrepancy between her 2008 and 2014 assessments of Killinger’s probe. For her online criticisms, see comments under http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/09/emmett_till_civil_rights_bill.html; author, email to Bonnie Blue, June 28, 2014; Bonnie Blue, email to author, June 29, 2014 (first under that date); author, email to Bonnie Blue, June 29, 2014; Bonnie Blue, email to author, June 29, 2014 (second under that date).
Blue became uneasy over my continued questions about the information she provided Killinger during the investigation and promptly sent me an email threatening legal action. “Should I find that any of my information (that is not in the official FBI report) is used in any of your work concerning Emmett Till, without my permission, I will have my attorney contact you” (Bonnie Blue, email to author, July 27, 2014). I am proceeding under the assumption that Killinger accurately summarized Blue’s material and will reference corresponding sections of Secret Witness and, where necessary, point out discrepancies between the book and the report.
68. Prosecutive Report, 90. In her novel based on her interviews with Milam, Blue writes that Milam rode out to Minter City and met up with Campbell, and the two arranged to meet later for their weekly round of drinking. Milam told Campbell to meet them at a place called Hillards. Blue, Emmett Till’s Secret Witness, 121–22.
69. Prosecutive Report, 90. In her book, Blue says that Milam rode to Loggins’s home in Milam’s truck and picked up both Loggins and Collins. From there they drove to Bryant’s store and picked up Roy and Carolyn. They then drove out to an old barn that had been converted into a whiskey still and met up with Hubert Clark, who had arrived at the barn just a few minutes earlier. Melvin Campbell then showed up. Milam demanded that Clark let him borrow his car because he did not want anyone noticing his new green and white pickup. J. W. Milam, Roy and Carolyn Bryant, Melvin Campbell, and Levi “Too Tight” Collins then got into Clark’s car, leaving Clark and Loggins behind. The group drove to Money, and headed out to Mose Wright’s house, where they kidnapped Emmett Till. Melvin Campbell and Carolyn Bryant remained in the car; when J. W. and Roy took Till outside, Carolyn identified him as the right person. Blue, Emmett Till’s Secret Witness, 123–41, 148.
70. Prosecutive Report, 90; Blue, Emmett Till’s Secret Witness, 148–54.
71. Prosecutive Report, 90; Blue, Emmett Till’s Secret Witness, 155–59.
72. Prosecutive Report, 91; Blue, Emmett Till’s Secret Witness, 160–61, 252–56, 290–94.
73. Prosecutive Report, 91; Killinger remarks at Landmarks in American History and Culture.
74. Prosecutive Report, 91–92, 98.
75. Louis E. Lomax, “Leslie Milam Quits Farm Home,” Daily Defender (Chicago), March 5, 1956, 5.
76. “Cleveland Man Charged with Possession of Drugs,” Delta Democrat-Times (Greenville, Miss.), February 16, 1971, 1; Leslie Milam’s conviction is mentioned as one of several news items under the headline “Woman Wins Damage Suit,” Delta Democrat-Times (Greenville, Miss.), June 11, 1971, 14. Both articles mention that Milam was free on $2,500 bail.
77. Macklyn Hubbell, author telephone interview, March 1, 2014; Prosecutive Report, 92–93; Leslie Milam obituary, Delta Democrat-Times (Greenville, Miss.), September 1, 1974, 3; Frances Bryant obituary, http://rayfuneralhome.net/tribute/details/443/Frances_Bryant/obituary.html.
78. Prosecutive Report, 27, 29, 31, 49, 133; Killinger, author telephone interview.
79. Prosecutive Report, 28–29; Ellen Barry, “Son Hopes Aging Father Talks About Till Murder,” Los Angeles Times, August 14, 2005, 7A.
80. Prosecutive Report, 64–67.
81. Prosecutive Report, 112–13; Jerry Tallmer, “Documentary on the Grisly Lynching of Emmett Till,” Villager, August 3–9, 1955, http://thevillager.com/villager_118/documentaryonthegrisly.html. For more on Peggy Morgan’s life, see Carolyn Haines, My Mother’s Keeper: The Peggy Morgan Story (Montgomery, Ala.: River City Publishing, 2003).
82. Prosecutive Report, 49–50, 114.
83. Jimmie Briggs, “Emmett Till Story at Film Forum,” New York Amsterdam News, August 18, 2005, 20; Dwight Brown, “Film: The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till,” New York Beacon, August 11, 2005, 25; Beauchamp, author telephone interview, November 10, 2013. I attended the August 28, 2005, event at the Film Forum and taped the discussion featuring Simeon Wright, Roosevelt Crawford, and other guests.
84. Joyce Shelby, “More Tied to Till Death—Filmmaker,” New York Daily News, August 30, 2005, 2.
85. Charles Sheehan, “FBI Closes Probe into Till’s Death,” Chicago Tribune, November 24, 2005, 31.
86. Killinger, author telephone interview; Dale Killinger remarks at Landmarks in American History and Culture.
87. Charles Sheehan, “Federal Report on 1955 Murder Going to D.A.,” Los Angeles Times, November 24, 2005, A35.
88. Killinger, author telephone interview; “Mississippi Must Make Every Effort to Prosecute Till Murder,” Chicago Sun-Times, March 20, 2006, 39; Laura Parker, “DA Has Tough, Final Call in Till Case,” USA Today, March 22, 2006, A3; Holbrook Mohr, “No Federal Charges in Till Case, FBI Says,” Chicago Tribune, March 17, 2006, 8.
89. “Till Report Completed,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, November 24, 2005, B6; “Prosecutor Studying FBI’s Investigative File into Till Murder,” Bay State Banner (Boston), July 6, 2006, 2; Laura Parker, “FBI Report on Emmett Till Filed in Mississippi,” Miami Times, March 22–28, 2006, 7A.
90. Herb Boyd, “The Untold Story of Emmett Till on Court TV,” New York Amsterdam News, September 28, 2006, 22.
91. See http://emmyonline.com/news_28th_nominations; www.imdb.com/title/tt0475420/awards?ref_=tt_awd.
92. Drew Jubera, “Duty Outweighs Emotion for DA in Till Case,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, November 5, 2006, A1.
93. Jubera, “Duty Outweighs Emotion,” A1.
94. Hailman, From Midnight to Guntown, 231.
95. These cases are summarized in Keith Beauchamp, email to author, August 23, 2014. For Gibbs v. State, see http://law.justia.com/cases/mississippi/supreme-court/1955/39247-0.html.
96. “Grand Jury to Look at New Till Angle,” Chicago Tribune, February 22, 2007, 8.
97. Hailman, From Midnight to Guntown, 231–32; Killinger, email to author, September 15, 2014; William Browning, “Till Jury Talks: Grand Jury Says Evidence Wasn’t There to Indict,” Greenwood (Miss.) Commonwealth, September 30, 2007, 1A, 10A.
98. Browning, “Till Jury Talks,” 10A.
99. Jerry Mitchell, “Grand Jury Issues No Indictment in Till Killing,” Jackson Clarion-Ledger, February 27, 2007, 3A; Sykes, author telephone interview, June 12, 2014.
100. Sykes, author telephone interview, June 12, 2014; Allen G. Breed, “End of Till Case Draws Mixed Response,” USA Today, March 4, 2007, http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-04-till-case_N.htm.; Herb Boyd, “No Indictments in Till Case,” New York Amsterdam News, March 8, 2007, 4.
101. Breed
, “End of Till Case”; Boyd, “No Indictments,” 4.
102. Hailman, From Midnight to Guntown, 231; Hailman, author telephone interview. In his book, Hailman said that Wright was familiar with Carolyn Bryant’s voice “from weekly visits to her store.” However, Hailman is mistaken in this. Wright testified at the trial that he did not trade at the Bryant store. See Trial Transcript, 12. He told defense attorneys the same thing (“Resume of Interview with Mose Wright,” Huie Papers, box 85, fd. 347). The Bryants had only taken over the store within the past eighteen months.
103. Browning, “Till Jury Talks,” 10A.
104. Jeff Coen, “Relatives of Emmett Till Meet with FBI,” Chicago Tribune, March 30, 2007, 3. For the FBI documents, see http://vault.fbi.gov/Emmett%20Till%20.
Chapter 13
1. Mississippi Code 1972, Vol. 14, Highways, Bridges, and Ferries (State of Mississippi, 1972–2012), 190–91; “Renamed Roads Honor Rights Victims,” Chicago Tribune, March 22, 2005, 12; “Emmett Till’s Legacy 50 Years Later,” Jet 108, no. 12 (September 19, 2005): 23. On this same occasion, Barbour also signed into law the renaming of a portion of Mississippi 19 as the Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner Memorial Highway.
2. Davis W. Houck and Matthew A. Grindy, Emmett Till and the Mississippi Press (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2008), 187n6.
3. Robert Fredrick Burk, The Eisenhower Administration and Black Civil Rights, 1953–1961 (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1984), 205–14; David A. Nichols, A Matter of Justice: Eisenhower and the Beginning of the Civil Rights Revolution (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2007), 143–44. For the State of the Union speech, see “Text of President Eisenhower’s Annual Message to Congress on State of the Union,” New York Times, January 11, 1957, 10, also online at pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/eisenhower-state57.
4. Congressional Record—Appendix, January 10, 1957, A124, www.heinonline.org.
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