James Ford Seale Found Guilty in Slayings from 1964

As previously reported by the Associated Press the murder trail against James Ford Seale has lead to a guilty verdict.

A grand jury convicted James Seale on the counts of kidnapping and conspiracy in the deaths of Charles Moore and Henry Dee from 1964. According to the Associated Press Seale had plead not guilty in the case earlier this month.

The Associated Press is reporting that the kidnapping and the conspiracy charges came in an indictment back in January of this year. The Associated Press is also reporting that each charge could possible carry a life sentence for the 71 year old James Ford Seale.

In the AP report the prosecutors in the case are quoted as saying "made a deal with the devil" with Charles Edwards another known Klans member so that they could have his testimony against Seale in the case that is over 43 years old. Charles Edwards was offered immunity in this case if he would testify against his former Klan mate and friend. The Associated Press is also quoting the prosecutors as saying this was done as "the only way to get this case to a jury and get some justice for these two young men who were sadistically killed".

Edwards testified that he and Seale belonged to the same Klan group and that the chapter was lead by Seale's father. To this day according to the Associated Press James Ford Seale denies that he ever belonged to this chapter of the Ku Klux Klan or that he was even involved in the Klan.

On the other side of the case Seale's attorney's said in their closing arguments obtained by the Associated Press that the "...case is based on the word of an admitted liar." The defense continues with "This case all comes down to the word of one man, an admitted liar, a man out to save his own skin. A case based on his word is no case at all."

"Let me tell you about one man's word. 'Yes. But I'm not going to admit it. You're going to have to prove it," Those words according to the Associated Press are the words that James Ford Seale used in 1964 to an FBI agent at the time. Fitzgerald continued to point out to the jury that "Those are the words of a guilty man", she continued with saying of James Ford Seale he is "defiant, arrogant and unrepentant."

One of Seale's attorney's named Kathy Nester insists according to the AP that the case was brought to light because the government is trying to "reconcile its racist past."

Also in closing arguments Prosecutor Paige Fitzgerald said

The Associated Press says that Charles Edwards testimony was a big deciding factor in the guilty verdict. He testified that Moore and Dee were alive when they were put into the trunk of James Seale's car, then taken to a farm that Seale's father owned and operated. After which they were tied up and driven into Louisiana before they then were weighed down with car engine parts and thrown into the Mississippi River to meet their deaths.

Sentencing will come at a later date in this case.

RESOURCES:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19234202/