Klansman on trial

Edgar Killen, an 80-year-old former Ku Klux Klan leader, is on trial accused of organizing the murder of three civil rights workers in 1964. The triple murder is the basis for the movie Mississippi Burning. According to the Associated Press,

Killen has been suspected in the murders since the beginning. He was tried in 1967 for alleged violation of the victims' civil rights, but the jury deadlocked. Seven other people were convicted.

Killen does not deny being involved in the Klan at the time. No word if Democratic Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) will be testifying as a character witness.