Convicted Murderer. Byron De La Beckwith VI, a white supremacist, was convicted of the June 12, 1963 murder of NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers in Mississippi. In 1964, Beckwith was tried twice for the murder, but both trials ended with hung juries. Both juries were all-white. In 1989, at the insistence of Evers' widow Myrlie Evers Williams, the Hinds County, Mississippi, Assistant District Attorney Bobby DeLaughter reopened the Evers murder case, which eventually resulted in the 1994 conviction and life imprisonment of Beckwith. This was more than thirty years after his crime. The jury, who convicted Beckwith, included eight African-Americans. In 1997, the conviction was upheld by the Mississippi Supreme Court. Beckwith, who had a history of high blood pressure, heart problems, and other ailments, died in prison at the age of 80.
Convicted Murderer. Byron De La Beckwith VI, a white supremacist, was convicted of the June 12, 1963 murder of NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers in Mississippi. In 1964, Beckwith was tried twice for the murder, but both trials ended with hung juries. Both juries were all-white. In 1989, at the insistence of Evers' widow Myrlie Evers Williams, the Hinds County, Mississippi, Assistant District Attorney Bobby DeLaughter reopened the Evers murder case, which eventually resulted in the 1994 conviction and life imprisonment of Beckwith. This was more than thirty years after his crime. The jury, who convicted Beckwith, included eight African-Americans. In 1997, the conviction was upheld by the Mississippi Supreme Court. Beckwith, who had a history of high blood pressure, heart problems, and other ailments, died in prison at the age of 80.
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