ATLANTA - Edgar Ray Killen, a preacher and reputed Ku Klux Klan leader, was arrested Thursday on charges of murder in the deaths more than 40 years ago of three young civil rights workers in Mississippi whose bullet-ridden bodies were found buried in an earthen dam.
The arrest came after a Neshoba County grand jury heard testimony about the murders of Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney, who were killed by a mob of local men the day after they arrived in the small town of Philadelphia, Miss.
The state never charged anyone with the murders.
All day, word of the grand jury proceedings leaked out through Philadelphia, a town of 7,300 that has struggled with the legacy of the killings. It is where the murders occurred, where Killen lives and where the grand jury convened.
In New York, Andrew Goodman's mother, said she believes Killen coordinated the killing. "I certainly hope that justice will be done," said 89-year-old Carolyn Goodman. "I knew all along that these men would be apprehended. I think they knew it too."
Killen, 80, has denied any role in the crime. He was tried on federal conspiracy charges in 1967, but the jury deadlocked by a 11-1 vote; the lone holdout later said she could not convict a preacher.
Officers from the Neshoba County Sheriff's Department arrested Killen without incident at his home on three counts of murder, a spokesman said. He is being held without bail.
