The Murder
The Mount Zion Church beatings were a planned attack on Mickey Schwerner, who should have been working there to establish the freedom school. When the group of 70 KKK men, led by Edgar Ray Killen, reached the church and didn’t find Mickey there, they beat the attendees at the church and burned the foundation.
The Day of the Murder
The station wagon arrived in Meridian late on the evening of June 20. The following morning, the three men had breakfast and prepared for the hour-long drive to Lauderdale, where they planned to investigate the remains of the Mount Zion Church. For a few hours during noon, the civil rights workers spent a few hours visiting the parishioners who were beaten on the night of the fire, and planned to return to Meridian by 4:00 PM. Schwerner asked a CORE worker to call for help if they weren’t back by 4:30 PM. The afternoon went exactly as planned. After assessing the damage, they visited several friends and talked about the mob that had been at the church, who was looking for Schwerner, as he later learned. It is likely Schwerner took the warning seriously, because the men decided to take the longer but safer route back to Meridian. Ironically, travelling on the west on this route - Highway 16, that station wagon passed Deputy Sheriff Cecil Price’s car, heading east in his patrol car. Price, a klansmen, recognized the CORE station wagon right away and radioed “I’ve got a good on! George Raymond!” George Raymond was a black CORE worker who was despised by the Klan. Price made a U-turn and gave chase. Schwerner and Goodman must have seen the patrol car and ducked down, and Price, detecting only a single black man driving the car, mistook Chaney for Raymond. When Chaney pulled over, Price was truly shocked to find Mickey Schwerner!
Price radioed for assistance at 3:30 PM, and Patrolmen E. R. Poe and Harry J. Wiggs answered the call. Price placed Chaney under arrest for supposedly speeding, and Schwerner and Goodman for “investigation,” mainly for the burning of the Mount Zion Church.
According to the later testimony from jail operator Minnie Lee Herring, Deputy Price put the three men into the county jail at 4 PM. This was precisely the time Schwerner promised to return to Meridian, so he asked to make a phone call but was denied this request. Price locked Schwerner and Goodman in a cell, and Chaney was placed in the “Colored” cell. The Deputy Sheriff left the jail and would not return until 10 PM. Price contacted Ray Killen, the local Klan kleagle, to inform him to put Plan Four into action. Plan Four was simple, eliminate. Wiggs and Poe would watch the station wagon, apprehend it, and release the victims to the lynch mob. Assembling the mob was up to Killen.
The Mob and the Time of Murder
Back in Philadelphia, Killen held planning meeting with three people, Deputy Price, Billy Wayne Posey, and Olen Burrage, whose land later would be the burial sight for the victims. At 9:30 PM, Killen communicated to the lynch mob the remainder of the conspiracy. Just after 10 PM, Deputy Price entered the jail and spoke briefly to the prisoners. He fined Chaney for $20 for speeding, and all three were free to go. Price directed the civil rights workers to their car and climbed in his car and followed the station wagon to the town limits. After watching the car disappear in the distance, Price drove back to the courthouse square. The two cars cars with the mob stopped at Pilgrim’s Store to buy white gloves, to conceal their fingerprints, and they saw Officers Poe and Wiggs - parked! To Posey’s surprise, Poe explained he had no intention of stopping the station wagon. Price returned to the scene and when he learned the key element had been broken down, he took matters into his own hands and at 10:25 PM, sped after the station wagon with the mob following behind. Reaching speeds above 100 mph, the three cars gained ground on the station wagon, and with about ten miles to go to cross the Neshoba County line, Chaney noticed the patrol car and instinctively floored it. Meanwhile, Posey’s 1958 Chevrolet broke down. Posey and Roberts, who were in the car, jumped into the second car, driven by Doyle Barnette, while two men from the mob: Sharpe and Townsend, were left behind to tend to the Chevy.
The Killing
Eventually, Price caught up to the station wagon and turned his patrol car’s flashing red lights. Chaney gave up the chase and pulled over. The mob looked on, Price ordered the three out of the wagon and into the backseat of the patrol car. When Chaney hesitated, Price hit him so hard on the back of the head that Jordan heard the blow from twenty yards away. The prisoners piled into the patrol car, with Jordan to guard them, and Deputy Price led the group to a secluded dirt turnoff called Rock Cut Road. Once the three cars parked, Roberts, a very brutal member of the mob, climbed out and pulled Schwerner out with him, and said: “Are you that nigger-lover?” Vainly searching for a grain of decency, Schwerner replied, “Sir, I know just how you feel. “ Roberts responded by raising the gun and firing point-blank into Schwerner’s heart. Roberts returned to the car, pulled Goodman to his feet, and immediately fired a shot into his chest. When it was his turn, Chaney recognized a Meridian resident and pleaded for his life. This time, it was Jordan who fried, hitting Chaney in the stomach. Roberts fired a second shot, which pierced Chaney’s lower back, and followed it up to with a bullet to his head. The gunmen picked up the bullet casings, while others loaded the bodies into the station wagon. It was almost 11 PM when Posey got behind the wheel of the station wagon and drove to Burrage’s farm. There, the Klansmen took the bodies from the car, placed them in an earthen dam still under construction, and with a bulldozer scooped dirt out of the dam to create a hole large enough for the three bodies. Then, they expertly repaired the dam, concealing all signs of tampering. The final step was the disposal of the station wagon. Instead of burying it with the bodies, the Klansmen abandoned the vehicle in Birmingham and torched it for the hopes of drawing attention away from the burial site. Herman Tucker, the bulldozer operator and a fellow Klansman, ignited the fire at 12:45 AM, the time the dashboard clock on the car stopped.
The Mount Zion Church beatings were a planned attack on Mickey Schwerner, who should have been working there to establish the freedom school. When the group of 70 KKK men, led by Edgar Ray Killen, reached the church and didn’t find Mickey there, they beat the attendees at the church and burned the foundation.
The Day of the Murder
The station wagon arrived in Meridian late on the evening of June 20. The following morning, the three men had breakfast and prepared for the hour-long drive to Lauderdale, where they planned to investigate the remains of the Mount Zion Church. For a few hours during noon, the civil rights workers spent a few hours visiting the parishioners who were beaten on the night of the fire, and planned to return to Meridian by 4:00 PM. Schwerner asked a CORE worker to call for help if they weren’t back by 4:30 PM. The afternoon went exactly as planned. After assessing the damage, they visited several friends and talked about the mob that had been at the church, who was looking for Schwerner, as he later learned. It is likely Schwerner took the warning seriously, because the men decided to take the longer but safer route back to Meridian. Ironically, travelling on the west on this route - Highway 16, that station wagon passed Deputy Sheriff Cecil Price’s car, heading east in his patrol car. Price, a klansmen, recognized the CORE station wagon right away and radioed “I’ve got a good on! George Raymond!” George Raymond was a black CORE worker who was despised by the Klan. Price made a U-turn and gave chase. Schwerner and Goodman must have seen the patrol car and ducked down, and Price, detecting only a single black man driving the car, mistook Chaney for Raymond. When Chaney pulled over, Price was truly shocked to find Mickey Schwerner!
Price radioed for assistance at 3:30 PM, and Patrolmen E. R. Poe and Harry J. Wiggs answered the call. Price placed Chaney under arrest for supposedly speeding, and Schwerner and Goodman for “investigation,” mainly for the burning of the Mount Zion Church.
According to the later testimony from jail operator Minnie Lee Herring, Deputy Price put the three men into the county jail at 4 PM. This was precisely the time Schwerner promised to return to Meridian, so he asked to make a phone call but was denied this request. Price locked Schwerner and Goodman in a cell, and Chaney was placed in the “Colored” cell. The Deputy Sheriff left the jail and would not return until 10 PM. Price contacted Ray Killen, the local Klan kleagle, to inform him to put Plan Four into action. Plan Four was simple, eliminate. Wiggs and Poe would watch the station wagon, apprehend it, and release the victims to the lynch mob. Assembling the mob was up to Killen.
The Mob and the Time of Murder
Back in Philadelphia, Killen held planning meeting with three people, Deputy Price, Billy Wayne Posey, and Olen Burrage, whose land later would be the burial sight for the victims. At 9:30 PM, Killen communicated to the lynch mob the remainder of the conspiracy. Just after 10 PM, Deputy Price entered the jail and spoke briefly to the prisoners. He fined Chaney for $20 for speeding, and all three were free to go. Price directed the civil rights workers to their car and climbed in his car and followed the station wagon to the town limits. After watching the car disappear in the distance, Price drove back to the courthouse square. The two cars cars with the mob stopped at Pilgrim’s Store to buy white gloves, to conceal their fingerprints, and they saw Officers Poe and Wiggs - parked! To Posey’s surprise, Poe explained he had no intention of stopping the station wagon. Price returned to the scene and when he learned the key element had been broken down, he took matters into his own hands and at 10:25 PM, sped after the station wagon with the mob following behind. Reaching speeds above 100 mph, the three cars gained ground on the station wagon, and with about ten miles to go to cross the Neshoba County line, Chaney noticed the patrol car and instinctively floored it. Meanwhile, Posey’s 1958 Chevrolet broke down. Posey and Roberts, who were in the car, jumped into the second car, driven by Doyle Barnette, while two men from the mob: Sharpe and Townsend, were left behind to tend to the Chevy.
The Killing
Eventually, Price caught up to the station wagon and turned his patrol car’s flashing red lights. Chaney gave up the chase and pulled over. The mob looked on, Price ordered the three out of the wagon and into the backseat of the patrol car. When Chaney hesitated, Price hit him so hard on the back of the head that Jordan heard the blow from twenty yards away. The prisoners piled into the patrol car, with Jordan to guard them, and Deputy Price led the group to a secluded dirt turnoff called Rock Cut Road. Once the three cars parked, Roberts, a very brutal member of the mob, climbed out and pulled Schwerner out with him, and said: “Are you that nigger-lover?” Vainly searching for a grain of decency, Schwerner replied, “Sir, I know just how you feel. “ Roberts responded by raising the gun and firing point-blank into Schwerner’s heart. Roberts returned to the car, pulled Goodman to his feet, and immediately fired a shot into his chest. When it was his turn, Chaney recognized a Meridian resident and pleaded for his life. This time, it was Jordan who fried, hitting Chaney in the stomach. Roberts fired a second shot, which pierced Chaney’s lower back, and followed it up to with a bullet to his head. The gunmen picked up the bullet casings, while others loaded the bodies into the station wagon. It was almost 11 PM when Posey got behind the wheel of the station wagon and drove to Burrage’s farm. There, the Klansmen took the bodies from the car, placed them in an earthen dam still under construction, and with a bulldozer scooped dirt out of the dam to create a hole large enough for the three bodies. Then, they expertly repaired the dam, concealing all signs of tampering. The final step was the disposal of the station wagon. Instead of burying it with the bodies, the Klansmen abandoned the vehicle in Birmingham and torched it for the hopes of drawing attention away from the burial site. Herman Tucker, the bulldozer operator and a fellow Klansman, ignited the fire at 12:45 AM, the time the dashboard clock on the car stopped.