Byron De La Beckwith | |
|---|---|
 De La Beckwith in 1973 | |
| Born | November 9, 1920 Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Died | January 21, 2001 (aged 80) Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Occupation | Salesman |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Conviction(s) | Murder |
| Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment |
Byron De La Beckwith Jr. (November 9, 1920 – January 21, 2001) was an American white supremacist and member of the Ku Klux Klan who murdered civil rights leader Medgar Evers on June 12, 1963 in Jackson, Mississippi.
In 1964, he was tried twice on a murder charge in Mississippi. The all-white male juries each ended in hung juries, and De La Beckwith went free. In 1994, based on new evidence, he was tried again. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, where he eventually died in 2001 at the age of 80.