1920

January 2001

Murderer

On the evening of June 12, 1963, Byron de la Beckwith shot and killed Medgar Evers (1925–1963), the Mississippi field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Remarkably, it took three trials and more than thirty years for a jury to convict Beckwith of the murder. Upon his conviction, civil rights activists expressed relief, but the defense questioned whether Beckwith’s right to a speedy trial had been upheld.

Raised as a racist

Born in Colusa, California, Beckwith lost his father when he was just six years old. A troubled alcoholic, Byron de la Beckwith Sr. died of pneumonia “with contributory alcoholism,” according to his death certificate. He left his wife, Susie Yerger Beckwith, with staggering debts and no means to support her only child. The two moved to Greenwood, Mississippi, where her parents...