Midnight Murders On Rock Cut Road: Racism, Terrorism, Forensics, Reconstruction - 9780996625043

On June 21, 1964, the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan murdered Mickey Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andy Goodman in Neshoba County, MS. Their badly decomposed bodies were found in a remote grave 44 days later. These brutal murders are often called the Pearl Harbor of the Civil Rights Movement. The murders mobilized the country against the enemy called racism in MS. The aftermath to these murders has carried through to current times. This thoroughly and painstakingly documented book covers the complete story of the murders from the birth of Mickey Schwerner to the Anniversary Celebration at Mt Zion Church in 2019. A large number of new sources have become available in the past 20 years. Events leading up to the murders are described. The murders themselves are explained in painstaking detail. The aftermath of the murders is discussed, including the Neshoba County Civil Rights movement, the long and frustrating efforts of local Neshoba residents to obtain justice, the public call for prosecution by the Philadelphia Coalition, the 1967 Civil Rights trial, the 2005 murder trial, and the extensive appeals after both of these trials. A complete forensic investigation is conducted using the long-lost original autopsies, the FBI Lab report, the confessions of several participants, and testimony from FBI informants. Bullet path diagrams are generated and analyzed. A newly discovered independent autopsy is compared to the original autopsy. A search for many of the lost locations involved on the day of the murders is conducted. A visual reconstruction is performed using photos taken by the author at the 35 identified locations. This visual reconstruction visualizes and describes the step-by-step actions on the day of the murders. The author was born and grew up Jewish in Hattiesburg, MS, about 125 miles away. He was 15 at the time of the murders. Read the unique insights into these murders provided by growing up Jewish in that area. Additionally, the author has a decade of experience as a forensic scientist. The forensic investigation presents the same exhibits he would present to a jury during his testimony in a trial. Revised 2023.

• | Author: Bruce Krell
• | Publisher: Bruce E. Krell
• | Publication Date: Feb 15, 2023
• | Number of Pages: 756 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 0996625046
• | ISBN-13: 9780996625043