Edgar Ray Killen, who was convicted for the 1964 deaths of three civil rights workers in Mississippi, died Thursday in prison, WAPT reported. He was 92.
Killen was pronounced dead at 9 p.m. Thursday in the Mississippi State Penitentiary hospital, prison authorities said.
Killen was serving three consecutive 20-year terms for the June 21, 1964, deaths of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. The deaths in Neshoba County inspired the 1988 film, “Mississippi Burning.”
Killen was originally tried in 1967, but the case ended in a mistrial, WAPT reported. The state reopened the case 38 years later, and Killen was convicted on June 21, 2005. He was sentenced two days later, and the Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the convictions in 2007, WAPT reported.
No cause of death was given, prison officials said. An autopsy was pending, WAPT reported.
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