wfn.org | NCCCUSA OFFICIALS RELIEVED BY MURDER CASE VERDICT

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

NCCCUSA Officials Relieved by Murder Case Verdict
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the 
USA
Contact: Wendy McDowell, NCC News, 212-870-2227
Internet: news@ncccusa.org

88NCC8/26/98                FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NCC OFFICIALS RELIEVED BY VERDICT IN MISSISSIPPI 
MURDER CASE
Recall NCC's Role in Holding 1995 Public Hearing 
about 1966 Klan Killing

 NEW YORK, August 26 ---- Three years after the 
National Council of Churches (NCC) held a public 
hearing about the case and nearly 33 years after the 
crime, a Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard was convicted 
on August 21 for ordering the murder of civil rights 
supporter Vernon Dahmer, Sr. in 1966.

 "We are greatly relieved that the killer of 
Vernon Dahmer, Sr. has finally been convicted," said 
the Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, NCC General 
Secretary.  "We hope this development will bring a 
measure of peace to the Dahmer family, who have been 
so steadfast in the search for justice.  We were 
proud to stand by them and were inspired by their 
faith and by the courageous example of Mr. Dahmer 
himself, who gave his life protecting the civil 
rights of all members of his community."

Vernon Dahmer Sr. was killed in a January 10, 
1966 firebombing of his house, the day after he 
announced that Black citizens could pay their poll 
taxes, the $2 fee that was required to register to 
vote, at his store.  Mr. Dahmer was a storekeeper, 
farmer and local official with the N.A.A.C.P.

 Mr. Bowers had planned Mr. Dahmer's death, 
sending a group of Klansmen to firebomb the Dahmer 
farmhouse.  Although brought to trial for murder in 
the 1960s, two all-white juries deadlocked and Mr. 
Bowers was not convicted.  Mr. Bowers is now 73 
years old.

Even while he was burning, Mr. Dahmer defended 
his wife and family.  He kept firing his shotgun at 
the Klansmen in his yard, giving his wife and 
children time to escape through the back of the 
house.  Since that day, Mr. Dahmer's widow and 
children have never given up on their struggle to 
obtain justice.

"The trial and conviction of Sam Bowers is a 
testament to the longevity and the assiduous nature 
of seeking justice," said the Rev. Dr. Robert Polk, 
former NCC Deputy General Secretary.  "In 1995, 
under my tenure, the NCC's Racial Justice Working 
Group convened a hearing on the Dahmer case.  Over 
three years have passed, but now we learn that in an 
unprecedented decision, the senior most Klansman of 
Mississippi was finally brought to justice."
-more-
88NCC8/26/98
MISSISSIPPI VERDICT/Page 2

 On July 31, 1995, the NCC held a public hearing 
in Hattiesburg, Miss. to provide an opportunity for 
Dahmer family members to air their appeal for new 
indictments in the case.  The hearing also drew the 
three candidates running for district attorney in 
Hattiesburg at that time.  The candidates spoke 
about the case and what they would do about it once 
elected.

  Dahmer family members also spoke at the NCC's 
General Board meeting in November 1995.

Speaking at the July hearing on behalf of the 
NCC's Racial Justice Working Group, the late Rev. 
Mac Charles Jones said, "If we are to have a future 
together as a nation, it is really in the best 
interests of everyone that justice is done (in this 
case)."  He also called on the NCC "to adopt this 
case as our own."

 Two sons, Vernon, Jr. and Dennis, spoke at the 
hearing about the family's exhaustive efforts to 
gain re-prosecution after mistrials in four previous 
trials.  Even though the case had been reopened in 
1991, the family continued to encounter formidable 
obstacles.  Although the State of Mississippi made 
funds available for securing a special prosecutor, 
the district attorney was sluggish in hiring one. 
The family had to struggle to obtain 40,000 crucial 
pages of  F.B.I. records, which they finally 
accomplished with the help of U.S. Representative 
Bennie Thompson from Mississippi.  Worst of all, 
some evidence and transcripts from past trials had 
disappeared.

 Finally, the Dahmer family turned to the 
community for help, who formed an organization 
called "Citizens for Justice."  The Rev. Kenneth 
Fairley, who headed the community group, spoke at 
the 1995 hearing.  "A healing cannot take place 
unless you deal with your past," he said.  "A scab 
can grow over the wound, but if it is infected, it 
will kill you.  Our community is being killed 
because we are still infected by this.  Whoever is 
in the DA's office, we are not going away until 
justice rolls down."

 Three years later, Mr. Bowers was sentenced to 
life in prison by a racially diverse jury as Dahmer 
family members wept and thanked God.  Dennis 
Dahmer's words from 1995 echo feelings the family 
expressed on the day of the verdict.  "Frankly, this 
should have been taken care of years ago.  But I 
would rather see justice delayed than denied."

 Now that the verdict has been handed down, Dr. 
Polk reflected, "This is a clarion call to the faith 
community that traditionally professes justice.  Our 
ability to lift up issues to the nation is but the 
beginning.  We must also have a commitment to endure 
through the many years of tedious work.  The Dahmers 
are witnesses to that commitment.  Their struggle 
for their family, for those of us who are African 
American, for all people of faith, sought and found 
justice after nearly 33 years."

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