Getting your player ready...
JACKSON, Miss. — A former Ku Klux Klansman convicted in the 1964 slayings of three civil-rights workers has sued the FBI, claiming the government used a Mafia hit man to pistol-whip and intimidate witnesses for information in the case.
Edgar Ray Killen, now 85, was convicted in 2005 of manslaughter based in part on testimony from a mistrial 40 years ago in Mississippi.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court seeks millions of dollars in damages and a declaration that Killen’s rights were violated when the FBI allegedly used a gangster known as “The Grim Reaper” during its investigation.
Killen has maintained his innocence in the killings. He is serving a 60-year sentence.
