Opinion ID: 1671765
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: the voluble beckwith

Text: ¶ 35. The State introduced numerous witnesses who provided testimony and documentary evidence concerning the racial views of Byron De La Beckwith, VI and his comments regarding the murders of President John Kennedy and Medgar Evers. ¶ 36. Reed Massengill, a writer, testified that he was Beckwith's nephew and had corresponded by mail with him for about seven years. Massengill stated that Beckwith, had tried, on a number of occasions over the past thirty years to  to have a book written about his life, and had worked with or approached a number of different people. Beckwith, in his attempt to get a book written about himself, had approached Massengill and provided him on a quite regular basis with racist propaganda, with Christian Identity tapes, with copies of letters he had written and had published in newspapers; the manuscript of a book that had been written about him by an author he had worked with; letters he had written to local townspeople in Signal Mountain about the fluoridation of their water; all kinds of materials. Massengill identified a letter provided to him by Beckwith dated June 15, 1957, with the sub-head Segregation is Very Much Alive. This letter states in toto as follows: Editor, Daily News: I'm not a prophet of gloom, but things look pretty black for the shady outfit called the NAACP. The leaders of the NAACP, and their comrades, are going around, all over the nation, braying like jackasses and screaming that segregation is dead. The good Negro citizens of the USA can swallow that rubbish if they wish, but the truth is that segregation is very much alive, so don't try to shovel a spade full of dirt in his face. Mr. Segregation is so tall you can't go over him, so deep you can't go under him, and so wide you can't go around him. Believe it or not, the NAACP, under the direction of its leaders, is doing a first-class job of getting itself in a position to be exterminated. I thank God for the association of Citizens' Councils of America. Soon the cancerous growth, the NAACP, shall be cut out of the heart of our nation, and we will all live happily ever after. Fondest regards and best wishes. BDLB, Gwd., MS. ¶ 37. Massengill testified that Beckwith had provided him with two missives styled To a Friend. They include the following language: Take your choice. Drive out or be driven out. It is imperative that we support the movement to encourage the Negro to return to his native country with dignity. Our generation is compassionate and understands that slavery   excuse me   Our generation is compassionate and understand the slavery sins of both our northern and southern forefathers, bringing this tribe from its home. We acknowledge that we do not expect to reap the harvest of contempt and being overtaken. The foul, contemptible, selfish person who continually tells the Negro that America is equally his, that he's as good as anybody, that he has the right to govern this land should be ashamed to lie like that. Believing such a lie has put many a darkie in the river late at night; some at the end of a rope, stirring others of their race to unrest. The Negro in our country is as helpful as a boll weevil to cotton. Some of these weevils are puny little runts, and can't create the volume of damage that others can. Some are powerful, becoming mad monsters, snapping and snarling and biting the cotton. They must be destroyed, with their retched remains burned, lest the pure white cotton bolls be destroyed. ¶ 38. Massengill produced a letter from Beckwith to his son dated November 22, 1963, which reads as follows: My dear son: Thank you for the two post cards about tests, and that you'll take off on Thursday. And it looks like the country's politics are gradually going to get straight now pretty soon since Kennedy was assassinated. Whoever shot Kennedy `sho did some fancy shootin  to be sure. No need for us to make much fuss over it except that I'll say to me it came as no surprise. I've had my head stuck up in TV all afternoon, and finally had to shut it off so I could write you. Well, I guess when a few more of our enemies are gone then this will be a real fine world to live in  Wonder who will be next? I bet ole Medgar Evers told Kennedy when he got down there  I thought you'd be along pretty soon  Haw, Haw, Haw. Now, it's best to keep this letter out of sight and don't let anyone see it, and  I'm sorry. Ah, what a load off the country's back  What a relief. When a few more reds bite the dust, we can live in peace once more  All my love  Your very happy father, Byron De La Beckwith. ¶ 39. Finally Massengill produced a letter from Beckwith to My dear Willie, dated November 16, 1976 in which Beckwith stated among other things that So when you think of me, you see a man deep in debt, facing five years in prison, living like a nigger and as far in global, not state or county, Klan work as a 56-year-old man can be, and happy at it. ¶ 40. Mary Ann Adams testified that she was working for the Holmes County Co-Op in Lexington, Mississippi in 1966. She was introduced to Beckwith in September of 1966 at a restaurant between Tchula and Greenwood where the following occurred: He came to the table with another man  with the other man that was with him. I was introduced to him as Byron De La Beckwith, the man who killed Medgar Evers. He stuck out his hand like this (demonstrating) to shake my hand, smiling and nodding. I refused to shake his hand. Told him  said that he was a murderer and I wouldn't shake his hand. He got extremely agitated and angry. Said he had not killed a man, but a damn chicken-stealing dog, and you know what you have to do with a dog when  after it's tasted blood. ¶ 41. Ms. Adams was then asked if, at any time that you were introduced to this defendant as the man that killed Medgar Evers, what, if any, protest did he make? She responded, He made none. He just got angry when I refused to  to shake his hand. ¶ 42. Daniel R. Prince from Tennessee testified that he had lived in an apartment at the Beckwith residence in Signal Mountain, Tennessee, from November of 1986 to August of 1987. Prince's critical testimony consisted of the following colloquy: Q. All right. Now, specifically, Mr. Prince, I wanna ask you whether or not at any time in your presence this defendant has made any type of statements concerning anyone that he had been tried twice for killing? A black man. A. Yes, he did. Q. All right. Would you tell the jury about that, please? A. On an occasion when I was standing in his front yard  I don't remember how the conversation was led into  that he did make the statement that he was tried twice in Mississippi for killing that nigger. Q. Okay. And what else did he say? A. And he said that, I had a job to do and I did it, and I didn't suffer any more for it than your wife if she were gonna have a baby. Q. All right. Anything else said? A. I don't remember at that time. Q. All right. And what was he talking about, Mr. Prince, when he made that statement? A. Sir? Q. What was he talking about when he made that statement to you? A. He was talking about the case that he had been tried for twice in Mississippi. Q. All right. That he had did (sic) it, but he had a job to do? A. Right. ¶ 43. Peggy Morgan, from Greenwood, Mississippi testified that she traveled to the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, Mississippi with Beckwith and her husband to visit her husband's brother, Jimmy Dale Morgan, in the mid 1960's to mid 1970's. According to Morgan, Beckwith started talking about some bombings. She gave the following testimony regarding her conversation with Beckwith: Q. Tell what he said in reference to the murder or killing of Medgar Evers. A. Okay. He said that he had killed Medgar Evers, a nigger, and he said if this ever got out, that he wasn't scared to kill again. Q. Okay. If what ever got out? A. This trip to the penitentiary. Q. And if it got out that what? I didn't hear what you said. That if this got out  A. He wasn't scared to kill again. Q. All right. And did y'all make it to the penitentiary? A. Yes, sir, we did. Q. All right. How long were you there? A. We didn't stay for the full visiting hours. Q. Okay. Did you return back to Greenwood that same day? A. Yes, sir, we did. ¶ 44. Elluard Jenoal (Dick) Davis testified for the state. Davis became involved with the Ku Klux Klan in the 1960's as an infiltrator working for the FBI. On October 21, 1969 he met with Beckwith at a restaurant in Winter Haven, Florida. Davis stated that Beckwith discussed his arrest and imprisonment and also his prior trials. According to Davis, Beckwith never admitted that he was guilty but also never denied it. Davis stated that Beckwith discussed the term I think he used was `selective killings' that he thought was necessary, if  and a partial solution to the right wing's problem. And I remember very distinctly that he said that he would never ask anyone to do anything that he hadn't already done himself. ¶ 45. Delmar Dennis, from Sevierville, Tennessee, a small publisher testified that he was a former pastor of the First Southern Methodist Church of Meridian, Mississippi and spent seven years as a coordinator for the John Birch Society. He joined the Ku Klux Klan in March of 1964 and was a member until June of 1964 when he dropped out. He stated that he got out of the Klan when he learned that it was a violent organization after attending a Klan meeting in Neshoba County, Mississippi, in June of 1964. Thereafter, in September of the same year, he infiltrated the Klan for the FBI where he remained undercover until October of 1967. Dennis stated that the first time he met Beckwith was on August 8, 1965, where he saw Beckwith at a Klan meeting in Byram, Mississippi. Beckwith was the featured speaker and Dennis remembered that he was admonishing Klan members to become more involved, to become violent, to kill the enemy, to  he admonished us to kill from the top down, and he said, `Killing that nigger didn't cause me any more physical harm than your wives have to have a baby for you.' Dennis obtained Beckwith's autograph, introduced as evidence below, at this meeting. Dennis also remembered meeting with Beckwith in 1967 when Beckwith was campaigning for lieutenant governor and promoting a newspaper called Southern Review. ¶ 46. Mark Reiley from Chicago, Illinois testified that he was a former sergeant at Angola State Penitentiary in Louisiana and that he handled security for Angola inmates who were sent to the Angola ward at Earl K. Long Hospital. He was assigned to guard Beckwith in the hospital. Beckwith was at that time serving a sentence, later vacated, for conviction of illegally transporting explosives in Louisiana. Reiley developed a strong personal relationship with Beckwith who became a father figure for him. Reiley spent from eight to twelve hours per day with Beckwith for several weeks. During this period of time, Beckwith would instruct him on the Bible and gave him a book called Verbatim. Beckwith told Reiley that from the Bible ... black people were beasts  beasts of the field. You had the beasts of the field and you had animals and fish and that type of thing. Beckwith stated that white people were chosen people to rule over the earth and be in charge of the beasts of the field... . Beckwith opined that the blacks were there to sow the field and take care of the earth for the chosen people, so if they got out of line, just like any other animal would, you should kill them and not any way feel guilt about it. Reiley stated that he was present when Beckwith rang for a nurse. The following exchange occurred: Q. And what race was that nurse? A. She was black. Q. And what happened when that nurse came to him? A. Well, she was a nurse's aide, not a  not a nurse  Q. And what happened when she came to his room? A. He was very polite when he spoke to her, but he did say that he would-he would rather her go get a white person because he would rather a nigger not wait on him  wait on him or take care of him. Q. And how did she react to that? A. She didn't like it very much, and she  she got very upset... . Q. What did he  what was his reaction to that? What did he say? A. Well, they were  they were both screaming at each other at the same time, and I was paying more attention to what he said, and he said something to the effect  BY MR. KITCHENS: Object to something to the effect, if Court please. BY THE COURT: Sustain the objection. Q. Do you recall the essence of the conversation and some of the exact words? A. He was screaming back at her, If I could get rid of an uppity nigger like Nigger Evers, I would have no problem with a no-account nigger like you. ¶ 47. Later on another occasion, according to Reiley, Beckwith told me that if he didn't  if he was lying and didn't have the power and connections he had, that he would be serving time in jail in Mississippi for getting rid of that nigger, Medgar Evers.