7A 0OO
NEWS^e Charlotte $o«t
Tuesday, March 23, 2006
FBI report: Emmett Till murder
probe should focus on woman
SUBSCRIBE TODAYI!
704-376-0496
Till
Boy’s 1955
killing sparked
national outrage
By Holbrook Mohr
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSON, Miss. - A
recently released FBI report
on the 1955
slaying of
Emmett TiU
offered few
s urpris e s ,
even a recom
mendation to
examine the
role of a white
woman who
allegedly was the target of
the black teen’s wolf whistle
before his murder, a family-
member says.
The killing helped focus
national attention on the
plight of blacks in Mississippi
and elsewhere in the South.
However, those responsible
for the 14-year-old’s death
were never brought to justice.
The FBI’s much anticipated
report, annoimced last week,
said the statute of limitations
for federal charges had
passed. The case is now in the
hands of District Attorney
Joyce Chiles.
Chiles has not returned
several messages left at her
Greenville office. But Till’s
cousin, Wheeler Parker, said
Thesday that Chiles had con
firmed to his family that the
FBI recommended taking a
dose look at Carolyn Bryant,
the wife of one of the alleged
attackers.
“She’s going to look at
everyone involved, but
Carolyn Bryant will definite
ly be on the list,” Parker said.
‘You don’t have to be a rocket
sdentist to know that you
have to look at her. Even
before the FBI did the inves
tigation, Carolyn would be a
person you have to ask ques
tions or talk to.”
Bryant is the wife of Roy
Bryant, who along with his
half-brother, J.W Milan, con
fessed to the crime in a paid
interview with Look
Magazine shortly after being
acquitted on murder charges
in 1955.
They have since died, but
Carolyn Bryant is still alive.
The reason TQl was beaten
and shot to death, differ. The
teenager fix>m Chicago was
visiting relatives in the tiny
town of Money in the
Mississippi Delta in August
1955. Some say the your^ter
bragged about dating white
women, while others say
whistling at a white woman
had sealed his fate.
Witnesses have said a
woman’s voice could be heard
at the scene when Till was
pulled fiom his imcle’s home
that hot summer night.
A telephone listing, for
Carolyn Bryant was discon
nected when called by The
Associated Press on Tliesday
She has dedined interviews
in the past.
The Clarion-Ledger news
paper said in a TMesday story
about the case that relatives
of Carolyn Bryant, who now
lives in Greenville, had said
she had nothing to do vrith
the killing
His brutalized body with a
gin fan tied to his neck, was
pulled Sum the Tallahatchie
River a few da}^ later.
Carolyn Bryant was report
edly investigated in the mur
der back in 1955 but never
faced ajury
Investigators with the U.S.
Department of Justice, who
reopened the case last year,
have reportedly said that
Henry Lee Loggins, a black
man who worked for Milam,
has also been investigated.
Logins, 82, has denied any
involvanent.
Both Parker and his cousin,
Simeon Wright, who was also
with ’nU the night he was
abducted, ha-ve said they did
n’t ecpect federal chaiges in
the case so it was no surprise
when the FBI decided not to
seek prosecution.
‘We knew that there were
no federal charges to be
brought. Only state murder
and kidnapping,” Wright said
last week. “It’s up to ]Vhs.
Chiles now and the state of
Mississippi that’s been given
a rare chance to redeem
themselves.”
Non-Abuse and Non-Violence, Inc.
www.nonabuse-nonviolence.org
You’re Invited
Annual Fundraiser and Fashion Show
Friday, March 24, 2006 • 6p.m. - 9p.m.
semi-formal required • $100.00
Special Invited Guest Maria Howell
Marion Diehl Senior Center
2219 Tyvola Road • Charlotte, NC 28210
The only thing better than
saving time and money is getting
$50 for doing both.
Now when you open a Free Personal or Free Business Checking Account at SunTrust, we'll
welcome you with a $50 SunTrust Visa® Gift Card. Plus, you'll get Free Online Bill Pay, so
you can pay all your bills from your computer, quickly and easily — with no minimum balance
requirements or monthly maintenance fees. So hurry to your nearest SunTrust branch, call
866.422.1365, or visit suntrust.com/freechecking, and see why SunTrust is a better bank
for your money and your lifestyle.
Free $50 SunTrust Visa® Gift Card
for opening a Free Personal or
Free Business Checking Account
SunTrust-
Seeing beyond money