Mafia Bosses & Mississippi Burning | DOUBLE EPISODE | THE FBI FILES

New York City foreign

mafia

a brutal gang organization to gain wealth and power strong members armed businesses and kill anyone in their room John Gotti was one of the fiercest members of organized crime who wanted to rule New York City had to stop him thanks John Gotti was ambitious, powerful and ruthless, he governed with flashy and flashy style, becoming famous with the media and cat and mouse with the FBI. They call John Gotti, the Teflon Dawn. Serious charges simply would not succeed. I'm Jim Calstrom, former director of the FBI's New York office. When John Gotti came to power in 1985, organized crime still had its tentacles spread into many legitimate businesses like a game of chess.

The criminal

bosses

were well isolated by layers of pawns. The FBI's job was to penetrate their defenses and capture the king. New York is home. of organized crime in the United States through intimidation Terror and murder the five families that make up the New York

mafia

have corrupted the unions, carry out extortion and have infiltrated almost all important industries in the city Disputes between crime families They often arise over who controls which union or which industry. Disputes are inevitably and violently resolved in the 1970s. The Gambino family had emerged as the most violent and powerful crime family in the nation.

As that decade came to an end, the FBI decided it was time to stop the mob's reign of terror. York's office created five squads assigned to investigate and take down each crime family. Special Agent Bruce Mao was assigned to supervise the squad responsible for taking down the Gambino family. The bureau realized that we weren't really addressing organized crime here in New York, so they formed squads and targeted each particular crime family and tried to address the organized crime problem here in New York, so in 1980 We formed the squad and our goal was to imprison the Gambino family.

The main targets of Mao's investigation were the leaders of the Gambino family, boss Paul Castellano and his deputy Neil de la Croce Castellano, who assumed leadership of the family in 1976 when Carlos Gambino, the family's namesake, died from causes. natural. The FBI was also targeting the family's most powerful captains, such as John Gotti. Crews of soldiers controlled by the captain who carried out daily criminal activity for the family Castellano's crews would commit the actual crimes, but Castellano himself not catching him seemed impossible as the FBI soon learned that the entire hierarchy of The Gambino family was well isolated.

The family army consisted of more than 50 captains who controlled more than 300 soldiers; It was a large, impenetrable secret society, accessible to outsiders only through the lenses of campus surveillance, but federal anti-organized crime legislation was passed that made ordering criminal acts as big a crime as committing the crime. the crime itself in order to successfully prosecute the Gambino family hierarchy, the FBI had to secretly record them talking about their criminal enterprise. Mao and his team would have to patiently and methodically work their way through the intricate structure of the Gambino family. It would take them years. To accomplish that good job, agents tried to learn more by talking to residents in neighborhoods where mob activity was prevalent, sure now, yeah, take a look, you might recognize one of these guys, take a look, look carefully, take your time, few people did. willing to talk, only those inside could tell the agents who the real power was.

Cooperating runners. Witnesses and informants had to be developed. Betraying the mafia meant that it would be difficult to find certain informants on the death, but some were willing to take the risk, most were low level. High-level criminals making deals with the government to avoid prosecution and long prison sentences, whatever their motivation, gave agents something they didn't have before in the form of a backdoor into the Gambino family's criminal operations. Castellano ran the family as a large corporation nicknamed within the mafia as the Pope. used the unions to strengthen his control over several industries in New York shilera FBI office chief Eric is an expert in organized crime One of the most influential things the Gambino family did was the control they exerted over the unions in the city of New York At one time he had tremendous influence in terms of the longshoremen's union, in terms of the construction industry unions, and in terms of the teamsters and teamsters in controlling the unions in New York City.

The Gambino family was able to control the construction and certainly had a huge influence on the Garmin Center and that created a huge amount of financial foundation for the family. Castellano knew how to keep his interests in check. Castellano also realized how important it was to rule through fear and terrorists, which is why we had several enforcement arms of the family. He had a team. who was famous for killing people by dismembering bodies and you know all kinds of horrible things, so although Castellana was known as the Don of businessmen, he was a tough guy, he had a fine trigger and a temper and he would kill you in the blink of an eye of eyes.

Getting directly to Castellano would be very difficult; his home on Staten Island was a fortress under constant supervision of armed guards. He had also installed a sophisticated alarm system. Agents had no solid evidence to suggest Castellano conducted criminal business at his home. The court would never authorize an FBI bug or wiretap inside the house. The agents take to the street. They hope to find a weak link to explore a person in the family who became vulnerable to electronic surveillance. They learn from informants about a Gambino family group headed by John Guy that operated in Queens with its headquarters at a private social club called Bergen Hunt and Fish Camp.

Some of the FBI's well-placed informants were close to one of Gotti's lieutenants. A man named Angelo Gugerio, although known on the streets, is the most vicious gang. In the Gambino family, the agents believe they found their weak link in Gotti's son and the reason we did it was because he had a lieutenant named Angela Rogerio who ran the daily operations to guide this crew and Angela was a target attractive because it is number one. very active involves a lot of criminal activity number two had a big mouth talked a lot was a gossip and a charlatan Mao quickly set up surveillance teams to identify record and record every person who entered the Bergen Club.

Agents discovered that John Gotti and his team made money for the family primarily through kidnappings, carjackings, extortion, and illegal gambling operations. Foreign agents that Rugerio sometimes talked about family business on his daughter's phone. He believed the line listed in his name was clear of the FBI brothers. Permission is granted to tap a private telephone. In moderation, agents must convince a federal judge that the target is involved in criminal activity and that wiretaps are likely to produce more evidence. The conversations are not criminal in nature. wiretapping must be disabled. The informant's statements were enough to ultimately convince a federal judge. 1981 that Rosario's daughter's phone should be tapped Mouse Squad had found a way to infiltrate the Gambino family abroad the wiretaps of Rosario's phone proved to be one of the most successful wiretaps in FBI history the conversations heard by the FBI were muffled but agents discovered that Rogue also held meetings at his home with Gambino members.

Mao and his squad had enough evidence to justify placing a bug in Rosario's house. The agents snuck in, bugged his dining room, and left. Without leaving a trace, the mafia's success has always been its ability to stay one step ahead of the authorities. What Mao and his squad didn't know was that a high-ranking police officer was on Gambino's payroll, although the mole did not know specific details, he leaked information to family members about ongoing investigations and electronic surveillance operations. Angelo Ruggerio became paranoid because his house was bugged. He searched the house himself but found nothing. He was not convinced.

He called in a professional to do a thorough search or sweep for microphones. Yes, I need someone to come sweep my house. Please, Rosario ordered the sweep on the phone. and the FBI overheard the conversation, they knew they had a crisis, the wiretap inside the house was immediately cut off to avoid detection, if discovered it would destroy weeks of diligent work and send the team back to square one and there was no targets as chatty as rugeria hey yeah come here the sweeper arrived with the most sophisticated electronic detection equipment available after two days of searching the house from top to bottom he was ready to report his findings to rugerio two days after the house rugerio was searched for insects, the agents arrested the man who carried out the sweep of his house, what they discovered was truly shocking.

They charged Rugerio thousands of dollars for his services, but none of his detection equipment worked. He had scammed the mafia. Fortunately, he had told Rugerio that his house was clean. It was a stroke of luck for the FBI. only his mistakes had not been discovered but now rugerio felt safe to speak freely at home and he did so with abandon directly into the microphones of the FBI slowly the FBI was getting closer to the hierarchy of the Gambino family two agents the conversations were a mine As Rugerio met with his mafia associates, the FBI learned of a major heroin trafficking operation run by Ruggerio and John Gotti's younger brother, Eugene, over a six-month period.

Angelo and Eugene Gotti had distributed more than 50 kilos of heroin in New York alone. The FBI had every last detail. on the tape there was a mafia rule in force according to which drug trafficking was strictly prohibited the punishment for being caught was execution without appeal without trial Rosario did not have the boss's permission to traffic drugs and knew the consequences abroad the government felt who had a strong case against Gugerio and Eugene Gotti in September 1983 were charged with running a major heroin distribution ring and obstruction of justice, although all of the defendants were part of John Gotti's team their name was not mentioned in the recorded conversations but with the accusation Castellano would soon do so. discovering that Gotti's men were doing drugs and finding out about the heroin operation;

However, it wasn't the only valuable information officers learned just before his heroin charge. Rugeria would meet with other soldiers and discuss how he and John Gotti would go to Paul Castellano's house. every Sunday for a family reunion what happened at Paul's house the pope did this the pope because he's angry with this guy it all depends on the family we found out through Angela's big mouth and the next day other soldiers come, of course, Angela to piece together what happened again, so we found out it was all happening again, we are not family thanks to Andrew Eugerio, John Gotti and Paul Castellano, based on Rogerio's cable, the agents now had cause likely to bug the Gambino boss' house.

Paul Castellano, entering Castellano's house required detailed and methodical planning. Enforcement agents managed to enter the house and place the microphones shortly after they began recording conversations that directly implicated Paul Castellano as the head of the Gambino family, the man who oversaw a multitude of illegal searches that cost taxpayers millions. of dollars each year that Stellano would serve. with his most trusted captains to discuss business he identified one of those captains as Sammy, the bull. The nickname gravon implied that the bull was strong and aggressive. He was a boxer and bodybuilder. He was also the family's main enforcer.

In vain did he generate money for the family. in the construction industry he was an expert in a number of criminal activities, but his most notorious skill was murdered while the FBI continued to investigate powerful family captains such as John Gotti and Sammy the Bull, their sights remaining focused on the boss in 1985. , two years later. Rugeria was charged Paul Castellano was arrested and charged along with other New York family

bosses

with dozens of federal racketeering and conspiracy violations out on bail Castellano continued to run the family although his attention seemed focused on how to beat the government's case against him John Gotti was also facinghis own legal troubles, an independent investigation led by the United States Attorney's Office ended with Gotti and his mentor under boss Neil de la Croce charged with several counts of racketeering.

Gotti was released on bail, allowing them to continue their criminal operations for months. Later, de la Croce lay dying of cancer, the FBI had bugged his room. Gotti and Rosario visited and the FBI was listening. They recorded Gotti talking about his fears that Castellano could kill him and Rugeri for being recorded talking about his drug dealings and for leading the FBI to Castellano's house the boss wanted to listen to the FBI tapes delicrochi promised Gotti he would do everything whatever was in his power to protect him from criminals loyalty to the guard is causing a rift in the family was delaying the boss reluctant to hand over the tapes to Castellano The Gambino family was splitting in two and in early December 1985, Neil de la Croce, the second-in-command of the Gambino family, died of cancer at his home on December 16, two weeks after Della Croce's death.

Castellano and his new side position Tommy go to a fancy Steakhouse in Midtown Manhattan to meet some associates for dinner as they began to get out of the car several men approached them and started shooting Castellano and Bellate never knew what hit them they were killed instantly and the head of the family is murdered the FBI believes that the person responsible is usually the one who steps forward and assumes leadership of the family. It was mob tradition to pay homage to a new boss to show him respect two weeks after the assassin agents witnessed a parade of high-level members of the Gambino family entering the Bergen hunt and Fish Club were meeting with John Guy, Agent Mal and his team would have to restructure their attack on the Gambino hierarchy.

John Gotti was the new head of the family. Perhaps the agents reconstructed his criminal history and traced his rise to power. John Gotti became an associate of the Gambino family around 1970. He impressed the boss in 1973 by killing a man who had kidnapped and murdered a relative of Carlos Gambino. Gotti served two years for the coup before being paroled upon release he quickly earned respect within the family he began earning a large amount of money for the family through loan sharking and gambling operations in his neighborhood he became Something of a hero throwing a big 4th of July party every year with fireworks, Special Agent George Gabriel was assigned to Mao's squad in 1985.

He quickly became an expert on John Gotti, looking out for elderly women in need. If I had money in my pocket, I gave it to him. It turned out that in some ways he was a Robin Hood in his neighborhood and that's how he behaved, but how did he make that money by killing, stealing, manipulating, bribing, controlling rackets that he had no right to control and that's it? one side when when he didn't like you when you fell on John's wrong side you died I mean there was no mercy you died there were no two ways about it Gotti was now the king he found himself in charge of a multi-million dollar criminal network made up of Scams I didn't know existed.

He had a lot to learn from his mistakes and vigilance. Special Agent Gabriel and the rest of the FBI squad learned along with him. John Gotti took care of that family. He had to learn what. the scandals were and while he learns them we learn them who has what industries who collects from what unions he is asking the captains to give him a list of all the soldiers there and their crews so he can know who he has in his family and how many Gotti was the boss but still had legal problems six months after becoming head of the family?

He was sent to jail to await trial on loan sharking and gambling charges. The prison did not stop him, brother of his cell. Gotti ordered a murder. It was against Robert de Bernardo, who had been a close collaborator of God. Bernardo's murder was organized by Angelo Gugerio, who was still awaiting trial for his 1983 drug charge. Angela is one of the few guys who had access to John in jail and tells him. that Robert de Bernardo is talking subversive behind John's back, the boss is back, he is saying that John is not fit to be boss and that we should appoint someone else, the boss Angela doesn't want anything because Angelo owns a lot of Robert's money from Bernardo and he doesn't I don't want to pay him back.

He was going over some of these contracts. Here is a public housing contest in the name of Gandhi. Rosario asked Sammy, the Gravano bull, to prepare the hit. 5, 1986 D Bernardo showed up to a meeting at the Gravano construction office, everyone greeted him. He, as always, Don Bernardo must not have suspected anything, you know, we have all those cons. He was shot in the head from behind. His body was never found. The FBI learned of his death through informants. Agents believed Gotti's team was responsible for the murder, but needed evidence in August 96, two months after De Bernardo's hit.

Gotti went to trial on gambling and usury charges filed two years earlier, but Gotti had not been the primary target of that accusation. The case was originally designed to take down Neil de La Croce, the case against Gotti was never stronger, but an ambitious US prosecutor saw an opportunity to get a mob boss. Although the case did not involve Mao's squad, he sent George Gabriel to observe the trial during a lull in the proceedings. Gabriel came face to face. with his adversary I introduced myself I told them I'm George Gabriel I'm with the FBI I work at Bruce Mouse Squad he says you tell him I'll be home in six weeks I'm going to beat this one he said okay I'll give you your message I said and if you do I'll be there to congratulate you because it will be a good job on your part he says well I hope to tell you March 13, 1987 Gotti was acquitted of all counts George Gabriel kept his promise after the verdict Gabriel went to the Bergen Hunting and Fishing Club in Queens where Gotti was holding a acquittal party congratulated Guy before the press, the public and prosecutors John Gunn seemed untouchable outside of prison John Gotti resumed his celebrity status in the city he was seen in fine restaurants and dazzling nightclubs always impeccably dressed he was already known as the Dapper Don now with his acquittal earned the title of Teflon Don the charges slipped right before the media he was glorified as the underdog who stood up to and defeated the government but now it was Mao's turn to file a case against Gotti.

I get angry when glorified guy like that to me is just a common thug, a criminal, he is a terrorist, he doesn't believe in our government. He doesn't believe in voting He doesn't believe in church He doesn't believe in family He's a mass murderer How can you glorify this guy or make him a role model for your children? It was very annoying for me to be able to do his The case against Gotti Mao had to find out where he carried out his business. The FBI bugs placed at the Bergen Hunting and Fishing Club had gone dry since he became chief.

Gotti didn't spend that much time there. The team relied heavily on informants to find out where. Gotti held high-level meetings with him. It took them eight months, but in early 1988 they finally found Gotti's new headquarters. Gotti turned the Ravenite social club in Little Italy into his overseas headquarters. It was a symbolic gesture on Gaudí's part. The Ravenite was the former of his mentor Neil Delacrocci. Club here Gotti would meet with his captains to run the family business. The agents rented an apartment on Ravenite Street. The high-powered camera is set up to record everyone coming and going from the club in February 1988.

The FBI got Court approval for Bug the Rhythm with 30 or 40 people in the room deciphering the conversations was difficult. Cassette recordings of white noise were always played in the club. Listening to conversations through that was impossible, but the FBI had to have John Gotti's orders recorded in order to charge him. In running the Gambino family thus far, the errors in the Ravenite had not produced much evidence. God, he always suspected the FBI was listening to him and found clever ways to avoid being heard. John Gotti was famous for doing what we describe as a chat in which he and the person he had to discuss something secret, not all mafia matters are open to everyone in the mafia, there were times when a captain They were avoiding the possibility of a mistake, no matter what agents did, it seemed like the mob was anticipating their every move, sometimes even mocking them and outside the little raven they hit every van on the street and whisper, we know you're in there they do you all the time and you do everything you can not to do it, but it happens and you just have to keep at it.

John Gotti ordered another hit out of reach of the FBI bugs. This time it was Louis Molito, a Gambino soldier whose allegiance to Gotti. He was suspicious. Gotti felt that Melita was a threat to the family administration since Molito had been a close business associate of Paul Castellano and Tommy Bilani. Sammy the bull agreed to oversee that he also had little use for Molito. Sammy felt like he was trying to intervene in the business. Molito from the construction industry was shot to death under the supervision of Gravano His body was removed and was never found The FBI found out about the hit through rumors from informants but again there was not enough hard evidence on Gotti to arrest him God, he was ordering people to be killed right under the FBI's nose the cat and mouse game intensified and so did the pressure on the FBI to stop them from ordering more murders Mal knew he was missing something he had to be talking but the FBI didn't know where in December of 1988 Bruce Mao decided it was time to close the wire and regroup it's a very frustrating moment because we knew we were so close we had these guys on videotape, we could see him coming and going, we saw the talks walking down the street, we were so close but so far from achieving it. our targets the microphones were closed but the FBI's Gambino team did not give up, they developed a new informant who told them that Gotti would sometimes be in deep conversation with one of his men at the ravenite and then they would abruptly leave the table and they entered a hallway behind the club they were usually gone for 10 or 15 minutes the meetings in the hallway were undoubtedly incriminating and in a quiet hallway the FBI microphones could pick up more conversations The team quickly seized the opportunity in October 1989 The agents placed microphones in the living room and recorded Gotti meeting with several members of the Gambino family.

There the mistake produced some evidence against Gotti, but not the evidence needed to imprison him for life. By God, he had to meet his men somewhere else in the village, somewhere he felt like. comfortable and safe in the fall of 1989, agents learned from informants about another location within the building that Gotti frequented. Nettie Cirelli was a widow, her husband Michael had been the caretaker of the Ravenite club when he died, she remained in the apartment they shared just two floors above. The club was believed to have to use Mrs Cirelli's apartment to discuss matters delicate family members.

Getting into Ms. Cirelli's apartment undetected was going to be a problem that rarely came up as the FBI's Special Operations Squad tried to find a way to let the agents know that Ms. Cirelli would be leaving town to Thanksgiving break was the opportunity they had been waiting for the agents went to work snuck into the apartment in the middle of the night and placed the books on November 30, 1989 the first conversation recorded in Mrs. Cirelli's apartment arrived Through the wires crisp and clear, all participants spoke freely, speaking directly without code words or sign language, as they often did when an error for weeks the agents listened to the apartment conversations on December 12, 1989, They got the best rest they could have ever hoped for that day.

Gotti and his assistant boss Frank Locaccio met at the apartment in a rambling conversation. Gotti left a trail of evidence that would later haunt him. He explained union fraud and other crimes. He talked about ordering the murder of several people. The officers watching Gotti that night could hardly believe it. What shocked officers most was what they heard Gotti say about Sammy Gravano for more than an hour. Gotti went on a verbal rampage about Sammy, saying that Gravana was getting greedy and taking too big a cut of the profits from the construction business in which he was becoming too active. the family does not respect gutty's authority Gotti suggested that two murders he himself had ordered were because Sammy was trying to protect his own interests according to Gotti Sami had tricked him into murdering di Bernardo and Milito is a very conversationimportant because during this long diatribe John confessed to two murders he confessed or ordered to kill Robert de Bernard only that that is the order in the head of Louis malito both claimed that tumbano urged to murder he also talked about a third guy called Louis de Bono who was going to murder another of Sammy's colleagues, uh, John detailed that he also has control of different syndicates, he also detailed how much money he is making with different illegal activities, it was our Smoking Gun is the best tape of all the electronic surveillance after recording some conversations Plus, the cable in the apartment was turned off in May 1990.

For the Miles Gambino Squad, all the years of patience had finally paid off, they had the best evidence they could imagine and it was John Gotti himself. Over the next few months, agents built their case against Gotti, the case against the Gambino family hierarchy, which began a decade earlier, was set to come to an end on December 12, 1990, exactly one year after the Gotti's fateful conversation, Special Agent George Gabriel and two others went to the Ravenite Social Club with the purpose of arresting John Gotti, Sami Gravano and Frank. Lucasio's backup officers were very close, or so Gabriel thought when I entered the club to arrest them, they had just ordered coffee and I, my partner and one of the police officers, accidentally entered the club before the rest of the arrest. team we were like a minute ahead of everyone, so there we were in the classic, you know we have them surrounded and we are looking behind us and there was no one there, but there was no problem, everyone complied with what we asked. and John or Sammy asked if they could have the cup of coffee and I said yes, go ahead, we have plenty of time before we leave to get booked.

Gotti asked Agent Gabriel what he was accused of. Gabriel went down the list and told him. Gotti of the recorded conversations, especially in the apartment hallway, in which God remained silent at a bail hearing a few days later the three defendants heard excerpts from the FBI tapes played a segment of the December 12 conversation Sammy Gravano heard Gotti criticizing his character for the first time in his life John Gotti was embarrassed, he was trying to wear shades of blue and pink and trying to hide at the table Sammy was turning red, could you tell me it's hotter than a firecracker and They kept looking at each other like it was happening. here, but that day I planted the seeds for the first time in Gravano's mind that he and God John Gotti could never coexist and that one had to kill the other.

Good thing we got out of jail after listening to the tape, Ravano realized that Gotti's defense strategy would be to blame him for the murders Ravana was being groomed as Fall Guy on November 8, 1991 Ravano decided to cooperate with the FBI and He told them everything he knew about the Gambino family and filled in all the details missing from the recordings about how he and Gotti committed crimes on behalf of the Gambino family and managed to stay one step ahead of authorities. Gravano arranged payments to jurors and an officer. of high-level police who had been providing Gotti with classified information, both the jurors and the corrupt officer were indicted and sentenced to jail.

Gabriel finally learned why Gotti had been able to avoid successful prosecutions he is there in everyone's face I beat the government they have nothing against me the reality is that he bought off the jury Sammy tumbano paid a jury sixty thousand dollars to dismiss that case and this is how he wins his case, the question most in need of an answer related to Castellano's murder through Gravano the FBI finally learned the truth the seeds of Castellano's murder were planted when Angelo Rugerio and Eugene Gotti were charged ​into the heroin distribution ring in 1983. The banned operation could no longer be hidden from the boss.

Castellano learned that the government's case was based on FBI recordings of Rugerio. Castellano was furious, he wanted to hear the tapes for himself. Events began to pile up on the teams in 1984, the tapes were finally released to the defense and for the first time to all code violators and the defense. The lawyers at least had the pleasure of Evangelo babbling about heroin trafficking, music, meetings of the House of Representatives Committee on Spanish, etc., etc., so around 1984, Castellano, the family being from Boston, asked Rogerio for a copy of the tapes. Tension between Gotti and Castellano was controlled by de la Croce but when Della Croce died the barriers fell a few days after Della Croce's death Castellano called his captains to a meeting Tommy Belotti would replace Della Croce's underboss in a more sinister way Castellano stated that Gotti's crew would be disbanded and his men absorbed by other crews Castellano had finally heard the government's case on the rugerio tapes so good that after the trial there probably wouldn't be much flashy equipment anyway.

Gotti was furious and knew he was a target. He complained within the ranks that Castellano was worried about his legal affairs. problems and he was not paying enough attention to the family some members thought he was pocketing too much money for himself by not distributing it among the soldiers and captains he began to formulate his acquisition he had Angelo Muggerio approach three of the other four mafia families that He knew he wanted to know if they would turn a blind eye if something had happened to Castellano the family said they would not interfere Gotti carefully chose some soldiers to help plan the attack in particular there was a member of Gambino whose support would be crucial if the attack was to succeed Rugeria was sent to ask Sammy Gravano if he would participate alone in the murder of the Cast Gravano agreed that he was aware of the growing offspring within the family and also knew that John Gotti was powerful enough to carry out the murder. of the boss and when the other families agreed to stay out of it, Sammy knew it was smart to back Ghani.

Gotti assembled a team of five members of the Gambino family to plan the murder of Castellano, calling themselves El Puño de Cinco and hitting the boss of the largest mafia family. It was a formidable task, the fist would have to find Castellano away from his loyalists and they knew that Castellano was under constant police scrutiny. They had to be hit somewhere where the FBI wouldn't be prone to following them. His best opportunity came in mid-December. 1985. Castellano had asked five of his captains to meet him for dinner at Sparks Steakhouse in Midtown Manhattan, but one of the captains was a member of the Fist.

The night before the planned hit, the Fist met at a construction office used by ravana four shooters. Two had been hired for Castellano and two for his driver and assistant boss Tommy Bellotti. The murders had been meticulously planned on December 16. The team met at a park about a mile from Sparks. The four shooters were dressed alike in black Russian hats and light-colored trench coats. seen by the Witnesses, they were more likely to be remembered by what they were wearing than by their faces. The lead shooters were to form pairs outside Sparks. Angelo Rosario was one of the four reinforcements who would block all avenues of Escape.

The Gravan Guardian would watch from the street. in their parked car ready to shoot if necessary if something went wrong if they missed on the street they had to move towards Sparks shooting until Castellano and bilotti were killed no matter who stood in the way Castellano and belotti had to die it was already nightfall when God and Gravano headed towards Spark Steakhouse the shooters took their places they went up Graveno soon found his vantage point a parking spot at an intersection on the street from the restaurant they waited in the car castellana was late maybe she had been tipped off about the plot on her life In the middle of a conversation with Gotti Gravino suddenly looked to his left and panicked.

What he saw was a black Lincoln with Lottie at the wheel and Castellano next to him. He thought they would see them, but the traffic light changed and the car kept going. Splilotti moved the car closer. To the sidewalk the Killers advanced, the foreigner Castellano and Tommy Belotti lay outside the car, each shot of Six Bullets according to Gravano Gotti took the car out onto the street and passed by the body lying on the pavement, he had to be sure that Castellano was dead The story Ravano's detail finally put an end to the speculation as part of his plea deal.

Ravano testified against his former boss. He admitted to his role in 19 mob-related murders. He served five years in prison and voluntarily entered the witness protection program on April 2, 1992. John Gotti was convicted of five murders, including Paul Castellanos and Tommy Bilatos. He was also found guilty of other crimes. Under the umbrella of obstruction of justice and extortion, they included bribery of a police officer, jurors, 10 gambling, tax evasion and attempted murder. John Gotti lived his life in federal custody by stripping his audience of his expensive suits and his extravagant style. He died in a prison hospital on June 10, 2002.

The FBI's crackdown on organized crime is working. Luis Chileo, head of the New York office, is optimistic about the future of the people of New York. Today I believe that the building can be built in New York City without being shaken by a kozanoster family. I think a restaurant in New York City could have their trash picked up without fear of being shaken if they didn't pick out a particular item. Today, Carter's people can compete in the Fulton Fish Market without the need to pay one of New York's particular crime families, so we've come a long way and there's certainly a lot left to do, but I think people in general in New York City are certainly starting to feel the effects of this effort.

The battle continues in New York City. Mafia families continue to loot and kill. But due to the FBI's relentless efforts, the people of New York are beginning to feel relief. More and more gangsters like John Gotti are taken off the streets Philadelphia, Mississippi, 1964. A sleepy southern city, steeped in tradition, is the target of a southern invasion. A legacy of racial hatred is about to be challenged, but not without a fight before it ends. three civil rights workers would attract the eyes of the world to the quiet community amen, thank you in the summer of 1964 Mississippi was at the crossroads of History it did not want to be there it had no other option for the black population the muggy air sustained the fragrant promise of civil rights for much of the white population was to be a summer of heated intolerance violence reverberated throughout the south but a landing in Philadelphia Mississippi I am Jim Calstrom former director of the FBI's New York office The disappearance of three Los Civil rights workers brought the nation's attention to the small southern town called the City of Brotherly Love.

Philadelphia did not live up to its namesake because the Brotherhood was divided by race and the city was ruled by men hiding behind hooded sheets to solve the mystery of the missing workers the FBI had to infiltrate and expose the invisible Empire of the Mississippi Clan Circa 1960. The people here were like people everywhere else, proud of their cities, firm in their beliefs and resistant to change, but change was in the wind and that wind. blowing relentlessly upon them from the north in the summer of 1964, a thousand students from northern universities were preparing to go to Mississippi to teach southern blacks about their right to vote as full citizens of this country.

President Johnson was going to sign the civil rights bill in July 1964. It was a naive feeling that it was going to be the beginning of the end of black oppression, but generations of hatred cannot be diminished by simple legislation. The student action was led by kofor the Council of Federated Organizations. It was a group that united an alphabet soup of organizations. about gaining civil rights for blacks, the mission was called the outsider summer project by Joe Sullivan, an FBI agent at the time, that's not how the locals referred to it, Mississippians very quickly labeled it as the summer invasion of Mississippi, which was coming and they were looking for.

I was expecting it rather sadly so that was the source of the problem as the invasion approached, our citizens steeled themselves during the day, life went on as usual and people whispered about the unpleasantness that was coming, but when Night fell, words turned into action. and the Ku Klux Klan, the invisible empire began to stir, it would not remain invisible for long. Civil rights workers training in Ohio knew their efforts would be countered by violence and terrorism, but they had no idea how far it would go or how fast. The climb to kofo Mississippi with itslong history of segregation and rabid racial hatred was the most difficult target for change and the greatest foreign prize.

Moses was one of the organizers of the summer project that Mississippi points to in the minds of every black person as the symbol of racism and just like us. Ride our campaign there, the question is on our minds, well you can do whatever you want, you can pass a civil rights bill if you want and you can do this and that, but unless you have real change in Mississippi , it won't actually be deleted. of this infection because Mississippi is where they make it six months before the students were expected to arrive in Mississippi. Michael Schwerner, 24, moved from New York to Meridian Mississippi to establish a base of operations.

Schwerner had approached the Mount Zion Methodist Church nearby. black community of Longwood for permission to use their space for kofo gatherings and we have to stop it now nip it in the bud that's what we have to do what is dangerous is dangerous for the residents of Longwood who had coexisted peacefully with their whites The neighbors are They found themselves at a crossroads. The church board had to weigh the benefits to the civil rights cause against concerns for their own personal safety. When the meeting adjourned, they hadn't come to that, but the clan made the decision for them several days later.

Church members, including women, were brutally beaten that same night. Mount Zion Church was burned to the ground, although the fire was never investigated by local authorities. The FBI opened a file on the incident. They were keeping a record of possible violations of federal law that fell under their purview. They knew that once the students arrived, the summer promised to be long and hot, they just asked me if I could call the file Mississippi Burning or My Burn. They conducted their own investigation by asking the church members what they saw last night, although the clan members had darkened their eyes.

Faces Witnesses recalled seeing a man in a truck wearing a sheriff's cap, suggesting local law enforcement was involved. Surprisingly, many in the South presented the federal government's intrusive push for integration. Law enforcement often worked to maintain the racial status quo. The environment is a challenge to federal authorities. government, so you're going to challenge any attempt by the federal government to change this, they are seen as the enemy, so it's not just that black people are the enemy, the federal government is the enemy too, Jim Ingram, now the commissioner of the Mississippi . Department of Public Safety I was an FBI agent in Jackson in the '60s back then, it was a thankless job, but we traveled the state, we could be in Natchez, we could be in Philadelphia, we could be in Hattiesburg working on violent crimes committed against citizens of Mississippi, so we were far from our homes and we received threats they put snakes in our mailboxes there was always that threat You better lock your car, you never knew what you might find in your car when you came back and you also had threats against you and your family, but despite all attempts at intimidation the FBI presence in the state was about to increase more than a hundredfold during the entire time they established their kofo operations center in Meridian Mississippi Michael Schwerner and his wife Rita were joined by a 20-year-old plasterer called James Chaney hello how are you good to have you good?

Cheney, a Meridian native, knew the culture and political climate of the area. Michael Schwerner, 24, a liberal from the Bronx, had an Ivy League degree in social work, his background could not have been more different from Cheney's, but the men were united in their goals and his friends called him Mickey Later, Moses Schwerner and Cheney were called They were joined by Andrew Goodman '20, a volunteer from Queens, New York, who had finished his training in Ohio just a week earlier. Yeah, Andrew just put that box over there. We'll be gone in a second while Rita Schwerner returns.

To New York, the three men and other volunteers prepared for the first group of 200 northern civil rights workers for the first wave of invasion planned for June 21, 1964. That morning, Schwerner Cheney and Goodman drove from their base in Meridian to Longmont 35 miles away to speak with members of Mount Zion Church about the fire five days before Cheney, who knew the area would lead like Vanguard on the march to Freedom, the men knew trouble was coming, their rules basics were unequivocal, they stuck to the main roads. cooperate with authorities and never travel at night planned to return that afternoon Schwerner told his staff to call the coastal office in Jackson if they did not call by 4 p.m.

When Mickey Schwerner did not call his office at the scheduled time, the FBI They were notified that they in turn contacted local authorities to see if anyone had seen Schwerner Cheney and Goodland. According to Nashoba County Deputy Cecil Price, the trio was returning from Longwood that afternoon when they were stopped outside of Philadelphia, Mississippi, 38 miles from Meridian. They were taken to the Philadelphia County Jail and booked on a charge of speeding. I need to make a phone call. The others were held in connection with the

burning

of Mount Zion Church. What do you know about it?

Nothing. Sir Cheney was locked in a cell designated for black Schwerner prisoners. and Goodman shared a difference: They weren't allowed to make a phone call until dinnertime, hours after their four o'clock survey had passed, according to another person who shared the cell when the jailer's wife told him. Schwerner who could make a collect call. she refused, no one knows why, finally, after Schwerner paid the price of 20 Cheney attached bonds, he released the mess by then, it was 10:30 p.m. m., returned to Philadelphia again, what happened next was anyone's guess, as long as they were missing, did you have any hope, uh, if they had complied. in jail and they were still in jail, so you had some hope that the problem was being released from jail at a certain time of night and then disappearing again, so that circumstance means that the worst Agent Sullivan also feared the worst that I suspected. that the Civil Rights workers were not simply released, but rather handed over to the plan, this was a type of crime that I was familiar with going to jail and then turning prisoners over instead of releasing them, I was familiar with this type of thing .

He was pretty sure this was what was in progress. The disappearance was chilling news for student volunteers scheduled to arrive in Mississippi the next day, and people across the state had a different read. Mississippi's response was, "You know this is a hoax." uh these people have really organized this to get national attention and you know they're hiding somewhere, in New York or somewhere else, and this is all just big publicity, that was the official response from Mississippi, there were rumors widespread and we were I was told that I think it also appeared in the newspapers that these people had organized a scam here and then disappeared to Cuba, where they would leave the state of Mississippi ashamed of what had happened to them.

The investigation began with the deputy plus the last person in I have seen Schwerner Cheney and Goodman caught in the story that they were released around 10:30 p.m. m., but he was unable to account for his own whereabouts for about an hour afterwards, as Joe Sullivan was sent from Memphis to direct the investigation; It was the only clue to the idea which direction they were traveling and not much of it, all I know is that I got in a car and they headed out of town just like we told the Sheriff's Office. He was part of a participant and was sure that he had no proof.

We had a history of seeing this kind of thing before, well, we stopped them and, um, at that point I became more selective about who we told and what we were doing. The FBI began a search for any sign of the young man that no one had. They had seen them or at least they didn't say so, then on June 23, two days after his disappearance, his truck was found. Two Choctaw Indians from a nearby reservation came across the smoking vehicle. The next night, he had been burned to the bone in a swampy area called Bogachita Creek 50 feet off the road near Philadelphia.

When they learned of its possible significance, they called FBI Special Agent Jake Cochran, a weapons expert was sent from Washington. fire and explosives that he had seen more than his share of civil rights violence when he arrived at the scene he was not optimistic about what the car would reveal upon examining the burned vehicle we were looking for any evidence of human remains we were also looking then for any evidence that may have been left behind of some value in To determine what happened to the Civil Rights workers, the car was too far away to provide clues, but nearby investigators found something more promising: a watch later identified as belonging to Schwerner and the car keys that the clock had stopped at 12:45.

Strange at all because news of the discovery spread, the vehicle had not been recovered long before the news came out over the police wires and the fires in the press and the neighbors' wires and the radio and so on and we started running a stadium in bokchito and That was not easy for those who were inclined to it, the discovery of the car only supported the idea of ​​a hoax, but unofficially, the hopes of investigators to find the men alive had vanished, it was obvious from the beginning that we would not leave until the bodies were located, Mr.

Hoover would not have counted on a statin, nor would the general public. We were going to find those bodies even if it took an eternity. Agent Sullivan contacted Director J. Edgar Hoover for backup. I told him I thought I'd need at least 25 men before long, but I thought I'd need more quickly if it developed like I feared it would and uh, he said what are you talking about and I said, well, I'm going to need a hundred men and He said that soon 100 men would arrive 100 ages aided by student volunteers descended on Philadelphia to search for Cheney Schwerner and Goodman it was not enough that the men or their bodies could have been anywhere in the context of this agonizing mystery the student volunteers stormed the strongholds of the Old South were trying to register black voters.

Dixie defended herself with all her might as the summer invasion progressed. The eyes of the world focused on Mississippi in Neshoba County. Deputy Price and Sheriff Lawrence Rainey rejected the press they felt. The disappearance of the three civil rights. The workers did not deserve the attention they were receiving and yet the search continued. 400 sailors from Naval Air Station Meridian with Preston working rotating shifts Woods were swept up by Scout Rivers and then the FBI received word that the body of a black man had been pulled from the Mississippi River near Vicksburg they went to investigate Bill Vicksburg was 140 miles away it was possible that Cheney's body had floated down the river was the only clue in an otherwise commercial search we discovered that he was that this body was not that of one of the missing civil rights workers it was determined that he was the victim of a clan lynching;

It would not be the only false alarm that summer, as other victims of lynchings emerged, some had not been reported because in some areas the clan was the one that determined the law. The missing civil rights workers were the FBI's first priority, but taking down the clan was the ultimate goal as the voter registration drive continued. The hot Mississippi air crackled with hate. Plan activity intensified. More than 60 black homes, churches and businesses burned that summer and that was just it. the beginning I saw the violence I saw the carnage I saw the people left homeless by the fires I saw churches burned in the middle of the night I saw lives lost for no reason by a group who felt they were right to break the clans remain in the south President Johnson authorized the opening of a new FBI office in Jackson Mississippi three weeks after the men disappeared according to Agent Ingram the days of subtlety were over the FBI was taking off the gloves in a matter of a few months it had almost 300 The Agents working up and down from this state stretch approximately 400 miles from the coast to the Tennessee border, so we cover every facet of it. 82 counties, we had agents everywherewhile some agents continue hitting the bushes, others knocking on doors. hoping to find some clues are polite but uncooperative white guys and a black guy, have you seen anyone?

The FBI's tactic was to divide and conquer. Okay thank you very much. The agents attended Clan rallies, took photographs, copied vehicle license plates until they were asked to leave. So they had what they came for and the next time we talked to them they said: I'm not a member of the clan. Well, you were at this clan meeting. Why were you there? If you are not a member, you are a supporter. Do you know these people blew up a church? Do you know these people blew up a school that was trying to desegregate? Is this the way you want to operate? and most would say no, so we found that being at some of the meetings was a deterrent for some, some stopped coming because they didn't want us to visit them, others required more persuasion.

Agents were assigned individual clan members to watch from a distance if a bombing or other act of violence occurred, it was the agent's duty to call that klan member to come. account of their whereabouts in a short time, you know they didn't like being called out of bed at three in the morning when a crime was committed four counties away, but after a while the wives said, hey, now I don't want this, my children. I didn't want it and in a short time you were able to talk to them and they understood where they were coming from, they knew each other by their first names, soon informants began to appear somewhere, housewives with stories to tell others, they were members of the clan tormented by conscience.

Who could provide some little information away from prying eyes to provide additional incentive? Civil rights and religious organizations found money to pay informants. The veil of Silence began to arrive. Some informants hinted that the investigation should begin at the Sheriff's Office, although Sullivan had already had his eye on Sheriff Raynian Deputy Price's involvement was a key target in our thinking, as it was raining because Price didn't do much without rain. The Rainey Authority our problem was documenting what he had done to find someone to do it. tell us about him an informant suggested speaking with a young man named Wilmer Faye Jones is located 19-year-old Jones who lives in Chicago had suddenly moved out of Philadelphia almost three weeks before the men disappeared that his problems began on June 1 when he was To a store in Philadelphia to resize his class ring, the woman behind the counter was reluctant, but took his ring to fix it shortly after he was arrested by Sheriff Rainey and Deputy Price and locked up for allegedly asking for the shot on a date I was on.

He was not allowed a phone call when he was finally released shortly after midnight, a group of men were waiting for him, they forced him into a truck, the Rangers took him to a secluded place and tried to force him to confess that he had invited leave the employee. He swore his innocence, the gang was prepared to kill him on the spot, but then one of the men they called a preacher spared his life and told Jones to leave town forever or he would be dead. Jones was on the next bus out of town. They picked me up and let me go.

The story Jones told sounded like plausible ammunition for what could have happened to Schwerner Chaney and Goodman, only maybe they weren't lucky enough to have escaped alive, but here we now have some additional evidence about what happens to the people who are in illegal custody in jails and are going to be eliminated one way or another, so if it had happened once in Neshoba County, we were sure it could have happened again. The location of the bodies of Civil Rights workers, the agents made him take them to the place where the gang mistreated him. A search of the area turned up nothing, but there was an informant that Sullivan was keeping to himself, slowly cultivating, gaining his trust little by little will never be possible. revealed that this informant spoke under terms of complete anonymity his identity is protected even to this day because his life may still be in danger he is known only as Mr. it was a hoax his opinion would soon be known change The FBI's star informant was about to emerge on July 31, 1964.

Mr. I told him: can you tell me something important tonight? and he said: I think I can tell you where. the bodies are buried and nice and tell me where Mr. but the agents could not go there. They immediately knew that their movements were being scrutinized by the clan. They did not want it to be obvious that they had been notified of the burial site. A search warrant was issued for the old Jolly Farm. Sullivan sent Agent Cochrane and others to the dam site. When they arrived, they realized that it was no job to probe with rods and shovels.

The Land and the mounds still under construction were 550 feet long, 20 feet high, and 10 feet wide at the top. If the bodies were here, they wouldn't just be thrown into the graves, but into the graves. A dam was built above them. Agents wanted to keep the excavation secret, which would be difficult now that they needed an outside contractor with excavators and other heavy earth-moving equipment to remove the bodies. According to Special Agent Jake Cochran, there were some concerns about the safety of the crew, it was decided to use armed agents in a convoy of this heavy equipment from Jackson to the location where we would begin using the equipment on August 4.

The equipment was in place. The contractor was asked to advise them on the best way to remove it. the earth layer by layer Cochran talked to him and said: can you give me an estimate of what the construction cycle was? at the stand how it was built how the big thing was made how the Monticulo dam was made it was shaped and in what time sequence he said well, you should know what you are looking for and I simply did not mention it at any time during these negotiations, nor to the team nor in this case the foreman had been told exactly what we were looking for, but I think they would have had to have been dumb idiots and not have known what we were looking for after the foreman gave the agents a crash course in the construction of the dam.

Cochrane stuck a stick into the ground where he wanted it. Then he began digging, in a move that has become legendary in the annals of the FBI. Cochran changed his mind, then picked up a stick and, for reasons best known to his guardian angel, walked another 15 feet and put the stick in it. floor and said big this is where they were the work that began at 8:30 in the morning progressed slowly at 2:45 the hole was 13 feet deep and the acrid smell of death was unmistakable the machines were pushed aside in favor of tests more delicate in the garden as the sun beat down the smell rose and poisoned the air a swarm of flies marking the beginning of the agent's grim success just after 3 pm at 14 feet the first body was found, it was Mickey Schwerner identified by the content of his wife Goodman was discovered next followed by Cheney it is very difficult to describe, you know, it is perhaps the saddest experience one can have, it is a graphic illustration of man's inhumanity to man, you know, just kills these people for no earthly reason, no good earthly reason, the bodies have been buried further.

More than a month later, making it impossible to immediately determine the cause of death, the coroner was called and Deputy Cecil Price came with him. I just walked around like it was the Sheriff's office. I found a body. What if it was quite coincidental? Actually, Price went to the coroner and lifted the bodies from the graves so they could be taken to the state hospital in Jackson for autopsy. Cecil Price helped dedicate them all. I didn't help carry any of them. He was letting the local authorities who had jurisdiction over the murders do their thing. so we couldn't be accused of confusing or messing up the evidence or anything at that time if the officer's presence was an example of the criminal returning to the crime scene.

Agent Cochran saw no sign of guilt. All the agents who were at the scene. His eyes were fixed on the price when he was there and I know I didn't notice the slightest emotional reaction and I don't think anyone else did. The bodies were autopsied in Jackson. All three men had been shot by Schwerner and Goodman had been shot one each. Cheney. Three times a hard rock-like substance was removed from Goodman's right hand, no matter what happened that night, the substance proved that Goodman's nightmare did not end with a bullet; Upon subsequent examination of that substance in the FBI laboratory, it was determined to be clay similar in composition or consistency.

Taking into account the clay and soil composition at the dam site, this would tend to suggest that at the time Mr Goodman was buried in the grave he was still alive. The victims' bullets were analyzed at the FBI's firearms tool marks unit, most of the time. More than 5,000 guns here have been confiscated over the years for actual crimes, although their equipment has changed since then. The unit's role remains the same: match bullets to weapons. The shooting gallery is the domain of Supervising Special Agent Paul Tangron, the bullet will pass over it. defects within the barrel and those are defects that are specific and unique to that firearm and that pattern of marks that passing over these defects collects is like a fingerprint for that weapon, the bullets from a crime are examined side by side on the other a shot from the same weapon the comparison microscope would form a perfect image of the marks on both bullets.

Bullets fired from different weapons simply would not match. I have a lot of marks and very little agreement and that is typical of what you would see with two beams fired from two different weapons of the same type using similar techniques. The FBI determined that Cheney was shot with two different .38 caliber weapons. The residue showed that the men They were shot at close range. The total cost of the bullets used to kill three men was approximately 25 cents to the people. from Nashoba County the missing civil rights activists were no longer a hoax or a publicity stunt this was the turning point the racists put an end to the murder of white people according to agent Jim Ingram the FBI no longer seemed like the bad guy then they realized that we were dealing with some very violent people, so the mood changed for the better because we had people who wanted to help us, particularly in the small town of Philadelphia, Mississippi.

It was surprising how many people said, "Look, if we have these people among us who would kill, then we need to." those individuals were found, arrested and prosecuted. I want to help them. Meridian Police Sergeant Wallace Miller was a respected member of the clan who he had seen enough to get him out of the class, but the FBI convinced him to stay now that the FBI had its mold and the walls impenetrable. of the invisible Empire had been violated and we have to look at the car, let it be done, amen. Sergeant Miller proved that he was not involved in the murder of the civil rights workers.

He assisted the FBI by gathering information about the crime from his plant colleagues. others also came forward no one knew who else was talking information began to flow from interviews with various informants the fbi compiled a list of names of klan members who might have been involved the same name keeps coming up agents discovered that the murders They were the balance plan the first Imperial Wizard or head of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi his right hand man was Edgar Killen known as the preacher because he was also apparently the same preacher who spared the life of Wilmer Faye Jones so we had informants who could give us direct information we had individuals who were actually involved in the shooting who gave us signed confessions the confession led to the confession slowly a picture of the events of that night took shape Louisiana sir I need to do it was a plan of horrible simplicity while Schwerner Goodman and Cheney were in jail Deputy Price notified preacher Killen who gathered his fellow klan members, the klansman filled their cars with gasoline, loaded their weapons and waited until the men were freed so they could carry out the orders of his Imperial Wizard when the Civil Rights workers were freed at 10:30the plan was ready I don't want to go back to Philadelphia again not too far from Philadelphia they must have noticed lights in their rear view mirror approaching quickly they accelerated to try to exceed 100 miles per hour hour a chaser's car broke the prices Cruiser was one that hit Flashing lights, mind you, boy.

Price attached got Cheney out of the truck, shut up boy, you were going over 100 miles an hour in my county, boy don't make me chase you, you like it. Schwerner and Goodman were escorted to the back of the patrol car They put him in their car The procession continued down Highway 90 One of the clans was driving the truck The murders occurred without fanfare The car stopped on a dirt road They took Schwerner out The car turned and shot him at point-blank range. Goodman was shot the same way two men saved Cheney for the final shot. The bodies were loaded into his truck.

They were taken to Old Jolly Farm, where the excavator was operating. He waited in the dark ready. to hide the evidence under 14 feet of clay the last time the truck was driven to the Smith gas was poured on it a match was lit on November 25 the FBI announced it knew who killed the civil rights workers but the murder charges fall under state jurisdiction, not federal jurisdiction the best the FBI could hope to do was convict for civil rights violations they knew Mississippi was unlikely to file murder charges thanks more than five months after the murders 19 men were charged with felony conspiracy to oppress and intimidate civil rights workers from exercising their constitutional rights two more were charged with having knowledge of the crime the bail and labor trial hearing was set for December 10 when the extent of the physical evidence that we were able to capture the photographs of the dam the photographs of the bodies uh, autopsies, the burned vehicle or the and so on, we just had enormous amounts of physical evidence, circumstantial evidence to document the compassions, so it was a case powerful that we delivered and we were blessed because we had two outstanding prosecutors, the evidence was what we thought. insurmountable, but we also knew that there were difficult times in Mississippi and that not everyone thought like us.

The federal government's prosecution went wrong almost from the beginning. At the hearing, the judge refused to allow signed confessions or written testimony from key Witnesses. The government pressed the issue. and on January 11 a grand jury indicted 18 men, including Sheriff Rainey and Deputy Price, but the charges were dismissed from a felony to a misdemeanor. The case languished until 1966, when the United States Supreme Court ruled that felony charges were applicable three years after the murders. On October 9, 1967, the trial was held in federal court in Meridian for 10 For days the nation waited for the verdict but none came the jury was deadlocked and immediately the people there inside the courtroom in Meridian Mississippi burst into laughter and hugged each other happily saying hello We have won it's a hung jury well the judge He said no, you're coming back and they returned to deliberate further until the next morning, October 20, 1967, they reached a verdict of the 18 men charged, eight of whom were eventually found guilty of civil rights. rapes, including Imperial Wizards Sam Bowers and Deputy Cecil Price, it took more than three years for justice to be served and even then it was only half done Bowers received the harshest sentence just 10 years Cecil Price received six Sheriff Rainey and the preacher were acquitted None of the accused men were tried by the state for murder, many of them still live in Mississippi and although there is talk of reopening the immigrant

files

, all evidence in the case was destroyed years ago by court order, the hatred that divided the nation was not that great. easily eradicated according to civil rights activist Bob Moses what happened in Mississippi marked the beginning of the great changes that were to come what has changed in Mississippi is that before the 1960s Mississippi was considered a state apart from the rest of the country, a place that was defying the country at all costs to maintain what was its racial apartheid and is now indistinguishable from the rest of the country, so Mississippi has become like any other state in the country.

Donations help rebuild Mount Zion Church. It has become a sanctuary for all three. men who came here hoping to make a difference and who succeeded in ways they never could have foreseen Nikki Schwerner and Andrew Goodman were buried in New York James Cheney's grave was in the hills outside Meridia, where he bears the scars from foreign families.