Edgar Ray Killen ready to confess
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.
“I’ll admit to the 1964 case and drop all appeals and something they haven’t expected is I’ll plead no contest to the 32 cold cases I’m sure they expect I’m involved in,” Killen wrote then-fellow inmate James Stern in an Oct. 3, 2011, letter. Expert Thomas Vastrick of Memphis has identified the handwriting as Killen’s.
Stern said he approached Attorney General Jim Hood with Killen’s offer.
Clarion Ledger
11/26/11