Byron De La Beckwith

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
House with the driveway where De La Beckwith shot Evers

Byron De La Beckwith (born November 9, 1920 in Colusa , Colusa County California , † January 21, 2001 in Jackson , Mississippi ) was an American white racist and murderer of the black civil rights activist Medgar Evers . The Ku Klux Klan was responsible for many terrorist attacks during the 1960s - Ever's murder on June 12, 1963 was one in a series of racist crimes by the Ku Klux Klan. De La Beckwith was a fertilizer representative and a member of the White Citizens Council .

Course of the processes

On June 23, 1963, De La Beckwith was arrested for the murder of Medgar Evers. After two trials, the jury of which were all white and male, the grand jury declined to open a public charge. As a result, he could not be legally convicted, but neither could he be acquitted. The proceedings were discontinued in German terms. In comparison, paragraph 170 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Germany) would have to be used, which means a lack of evidence. In 1994, three decades after the murder, De La Beckwith was brought to trial again on new evidence. This new evidence related to the fact that after the first two trials he felt so safe that he confessed to the murder in front of others. This time the grand jury upheld the public prosecution opening. The grand jury this time was made up of both whites and African-Americans . During the trial, Evers's body was exhumed for an autopsy. It was in very good condition as it was mummified. De La Beckwith was sentenced to life in prison on February 5, 1994, more than 30 years after the murder. He appealed, but it was unsuccessful. On January 21, 2001, he died of heart failure at the Mississippi Medical Center University Medical Center in Jackson , Mississippi .

In art

  • The 1996 film Das Assentat tells the story of the third trial. De La Beckwith is portrayed by James Woods .
  • In 2001, Bobby DeLaughter published a book on the trial called Never Too Late: A Prosecutor's Story of Justice in the Medger Evers Trial .
  • Evers' murder is mentioned in the film The Help , where it causes panic among the black housemaids, but also motivates some to fight for their rights even more.

swell

  • Brown, Jennie: Medgar Evers , Melrose Square Pub. Co., Los Angeles 1994
  • Scott, RW: Glory in Conflict: A Saga of Byron De La Beckwith , Camark Press, Camden 1991
  • Vollers, Maryanne: Ghosts of Mississippi: The Murder of Medgar Evers, The Trials of Byron de la Beckwith, and the Haunting of the New South , Boston 1995

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sharon Byrd: Introduction to Anglo-American Legal Language 2001, p. 39ff
  2. ↑ Report on Los Angeles Times - online (English). Retrieved June 11, 2012.
  3. ↑ Grave site on FindAGrave.com. Retrieved June 11, 2012
personal data
SURNAME De La Beckwith, Byron
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American fanatic and murderer
DATE OF BIRTH November 9, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Colusa , Colusa County
DATE OF DEATH January 21, 2001
Place of death Jackson