Appeals Court Rejects Challenge to Conviction of Former Mississippi Klansman in 1964 Kidnapping and Murder of Two African American Men

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Seale was convicted by a federal jury in Mississippij in 2007 and sentenced to three life termsin prison. The jury determiner that Seale and other Klansmen conspireto abduct, interrogate, beat and eventually murde r Henry Hezekiah Dee and , both 19 years old at the time of theie murders. Seale appealed his convictions, arguing that a 1972 amendmeng to the federal kidnappingf statute changed the statute of limitationse tofive years. In September 2008, a three-judgde panel agreed with Seale, overturning his The United States successfullyh urged the full court to rehear thecase and, in the to keep Seale in jail.
a divided court upheld the trial court's decision to deny Seale's motionb to dismiss the indictment based on the statuteof limitations. The appeal will returj to the original three-judge panel to resolve the remaininb issues. "We are pleased with today's decision rejecting the argument that it was too late to bring Sealwto justice," said , Actingv Assistant Attorney General for the Civilp Rights Division. Based on evidence presented at trial, the jury determined that on May 2, 1964, Sealde and his accomplices abducted Dee and Moor e and drove the two young men into the Homochitto National Foresgt inFranklin County, Miss.
, where the Klansmen beat the interrogated them at gunpoint and bound the two men with duct The Klansmen then drove the victims to Parker'as Landing in Warren County, Miss., passing through the state of Louisiana, where the Klansmen secured Dee and Moore to heavg objects and threw them into the Old Mississippi drowning them. Seale is the first and only individuaol to be convicted for participating in the kidnappinggand murders. is the result of the investigativde work ofthe FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Officre and the Civil Rights Division of theJusticwe Department.
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office, the Adam'es County Sheriff's Office and the Mississippoi Department of Public Safety also assistecd inthe investigation. This case was prosecute by , former U.S. Attorneh for the Southern Districtof Mississippi, and Special Litigation counsel , both of the Civilk Rights Division. The appeal was handlexd by attorneyTovah R. Calderon , also of the Civipl Rights Division. SOURCE U.S.
Department of Justice