Byron De La Beckwith Jr. (November 9, 1920 – January 21, 2001) was an American white supremacist, a longstanding member of the Ku Klux Klan, and the convicted murderer of civil rights figure Medgar Evers in 1963 in Jackson, Mississippi. De La Beckwith shot Evers in the back using a rifle as Evers was returning to his residence from a meeting. The assassination became one of the most infamous offenses of the civil rights period and ignited national indignation.
Despite the presence of substantial evidence against him, two all-white juries in Mississippi failed to reach a decision in De La Beckwith’s 1964 trials, allowing him to remain at large for nearly thirty years. In 1994, new evidence emerged, including recordings of him boasting about the crime during Klan meetings and indications that state entities had aided his defense in the 1960s. Prosecutors reopened the case, culminating in a mixed-race jury convicting him of first-degree murder. He was given a life sentence without parole.
Below is a concise summary of critical information regarding Byron De La Beckwith:
| Full Name | Byron De La Beckwith Jr. |
| Date of Birth | November 9, 1920 |
| Date of Death | January 21, 2001 |
| Age at Death | 80 years old |
| Birthplace | Sacramento, California, United States |
| Most Famous For | Assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers on June 12, 1963; two hung juries in 1964; conviction in 1994 retrial |
| Conviction | First-degree murder (1994); life imprisonment without parole |
| Known Affiliations | Ku Klux Klan (White Knights faction), White Citizens’ Council, Christian Identity movement (Phineas Priesthood) |
| Net Worth at Death (2001 estimate) | Minimal; lived modestly after legal fees, imprisonment, and a lack of regular employment |
Byron De La Beckwith Bio
Byron De La Beckwith Jr. was born on November 9, 1920, in Sacramento, California, as the sole offspring of Byron De La Beckwith Sr., a postmaster in Colusa, and Susan Southworth Yerger. His father passed away from pneumonia when Byron was five. The following year, his mother relocated them to Greenwood, Mississippi, to be close to her relatives, as she could not sustain them by herself in California. Susan succumbed to lung cancer when Byron was 12, leaving him without parents. He was thereafter raised by his uncle, William Greene Yerger, and his aunt in Greenwood, who funded his education, including a year at The Webb School, a prestigious boarding institution in Tennessee.
During his youth, De La Beckwith faced academic and social challenges but cultivated strong racist beliefs early on, shaped by Mississippi’s segregated society. In January 1942, shortly after the U.S. engaged in World War II, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He served as a machine gunner in the Pacific theater, participating in significant battles such as Guadalcanal and Tarawa, where he sustained an injury to his waist. He received an honorable discharge in August 1945 with the rank of corporal.
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After the war, De La Beckwith returned to Mississippi to settle in Greenwood. He wed Mary Louise Williams, and they had a son named Delay De La Beckwith. The marriage concluded in divorce. In 1983, he took a second spouse, Thelma Lindsay Neff, who remained with him until his passing. De La Beckwith spent the majority of his life as a traveling salesman, peddling goods like tobacco, fertilizer, and wood stoves across the South. Those who knew him described him as loquacious, opinionated, and fervently devoted to white supremacist ideals.
In 1954, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education ruling that abolished school segregation, De La Beckwith aligned himself with the local White Citizens’ Council, an organization that resisted integration through economic and political coercion. He later became an active participant in the Ku Klux Klan, specifically the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi, a violent organization helmed by Samuel Bowers. De La Beckwith gained notoriety in the Klan for his vehement disdain for civil rights advocates, African Americans, Jews, and federal intervention in Southern matters.
Age
Byron De La Beckwith Jr. was born on November 9, 1920. He passed away on January 21, 2001, at the age of 80.
Update
As of January 2026, there have been no significant new legal developments, previously sealed documents, or family statements that substantially modify the established historical account of Byron De La Beckwith’s life and crimes since his demise in 2001. Noteworthy aspects of ongoing or recent interest encompass:
- The Mississippi Department of Archives and History has persisted in digitizing Sovereignty Commission records, making additional documents from De La Beckwith’s 1960s trials accessible online. These records reveal how state agencies unlawfully screened jurors and assisted his defense, which played a crucial role in securing his 1994 conviction.
- In 2023, marking the 60th anniversary of Medgar Evers’ assassination, numerous documentaries, podcasts, and articles revisited the case. They underscored the significance of investigative journalism, particularly highlighting Jerry Mitchell of the Clarion-Ledger, in resuming the investigation during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
- Myrlie Evers-Williams (widow of Medgar Evers) and their offspring have remained engaged in civil rights education and continue to advocate for the case, stressing that justice may be delayed, but is not denied.
- No credible proof has emerged to contest the 1994 conviction or imply De La Beckwith’s innocence. His recorded admissions about the murder at Klan gatherings and the ballistic match of his rifle persist as essential evidence in the case.
- The narrative continues to be featured in civil rights curricula, law school debates regarding jury nullification and cold-case prosecutions, and museum displays on the Mississippi civil rights movement.
Death
Byron De La Beckwith Jr. passed away on January 21, 2001, at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson while serving his life sentence for the murder of Medgar Evers. He was 80 years old. The official cause of death was heart disease, exacerbated by high blood pressure and other age-related health complications he had faced for many years. He was transferred from prison to the hospital shortly before his death due to a decline in his health. No details from an autopsy or other contributing factors were widely disseminated to the public. De La Beckwith’s death garnered minimal media coverage compared to his trials, and he was buried privately. His conviction remained intact, and no appeals or legal measures were undertaken by his family after his death.
Interview
Byron De La Beckwith conducted several recorded interviews and made public statements throughout the years, most of which illustrated his lack of regret regarding his white supremacist beliefs. Some significant instances include:
- 1960s Klan rallies and gatherings — Multiple informants (including Delmar Dennis, a former Klansman turned FBI informant) testified in the 1994 trial that De La Beckwith repeatedly boasted about killing Medgar Evers, proclaiming statements like “I killed the civil rights leader” and “I shot him in the back.” These claims were made during private Klan meetings and rallies in the 1960s and 1970s.
- 1970s–1980s media interviews — While imprisoned in Louisiana (1977–1980) for a separate bombing plot, and following his parole, De La Beckwith…
Here’s the revised content with synonyms and altered sentence structures, while keeping the HTML tags and format intact:addressed journalists and documentary creators. He repeatedly rejected any sense of guilt, asserted that the 1964 trials were just, and expressed satisfaction with his actions. In a 1980s interview, he characterized Evers as an adversary of the South and justified the murder as a means of preserving white supremacy.
- 1994 trial testimony — During his third trial, De La Beckwith took the witness stand in his own defence. He asserted that the rifle utilized in Evers’ assassination had been taken from his residence years prior and denied any participation. He enumerated various health issues and depicted himself as a fragile, elderly individual wrongfully prosecuted for past deeds. He exhibited no remorse and reiterated his conviction that segregation was God’s intention.
- Post-conviction declarations — Following his 1994 conviction, De La Beckwith granted a handful of brief interviews from jail in which he upheld his innocence, attributed blame to a conspiracy by civil rights organizations and the media, and expressed resentment toward the racially mixed jury that found him guilty.
Extensive, in-depth interviews with De La Beckwith after 1994 are not widely accessible because his health deteriorated rapidly while incarcerated. His recorded assertions and trial testimony remain the primary resources for comprehending his perspectives.
Family
Byron De La Beckwith Jr. married twice and had one recognized child:
- First spouse: Mary Louise Williams — Married following World War II (exact date ambiguous). They had one son, Delay De La Beckwith. The marriage concluded in divorce (date not accurately recorded, but before the 1960s). Minimal additional public information is available regarding Mary Louise or their relationship.
- Second spouse: Thelma Lindsay Neff — Married in 1983. Thelma remained with De La Beckwith through his 1994 trial, conviction, and imprisonment until his death in 2001. She resided in Tennessee during his incarceration and was occasionally referenced in trial reports and prison correspondence. No offspring resulted from this marriage.
- Son: Delay De La Beckwith — Born during his first marriage to Mary Louise Williams. Delay maintained a low public profile and seldom spoke to the media regarding his father. He lived in the South and was an adult by the time of the 1994 trial. No significant public declarations or legal actions from Delay have been recorded since Byron’s passing.
De La Beckwith had no other recognized children or close relatives who played a notable role in public discussions concerning his case after 2001.
Facts
Here are some essential facts about Byron De La Beckwith:
- Born November 9, 1920, in Sacramento, California; relocated to Greenwood, Mississippi, at age six following his father’s death.
- Orphaned at age 12 when his mother succumbed to lung cancer, he was raised by his maternal uncle, William Greene Yerger and his aunt in Greenwood.
- Served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II as a machine gunner in the Pacific; wounded at Tarawa; honorably discharged in 1945.
- Joined the White Citizens’ Council in 1954 after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling; later became an active member of the Ku Klux Klan (White Knights faction).
- Assassinated Medgar Evers on June 12, 1963, shooting him in the back with an Enfield .30-06 rifle from cover across the street from Evers’ residence.
- Tried twice in 1964 in Mississippi; both trials resulted in hung juries composed entirely of white jurors; Governor Ross Barnett notoriously shook his hand in open court during the second trial.
- Boasted about the murder at Klan rallies and gatherings for decades, remarks later utilized as evidence in the 1994 retrial.
- Convicted in 1975 in Louisiana of conspiracy to commit murder for planning to bomb a Jewish leader’s home; served nearly three years at Angola Prison.
- Convicted of Medgar Evers’ murder in 1994 at age 73 after a third trial with new evidence; sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
- Died January 21, 2001, at age 80 in a Mississippi hospital while incarcerated; cause of death was heart disease.
- Featured in the 1996 film Ghosts of Mississippi, in which James Woods portrayed him (Oscar-nominated performance).
- His 1994 conviction is frequently cited as an example of successful civil rights-era cold-case justice and the significance of investigative journalism (notably Jerry Mitchell’s work at the Clarion-Ledger).
