Cecil Ray Price (born about 1937 - died May 6, 2001) was linked to the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964. At the time of the murders, he was 27 years old and the deputy sheriff of Neshoba County, Mississippi. On the afternoon of Sunday, June 21, 1964, Price stopped a blue Ford station wagon in which three civil rights workers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, were occupants. He placed the three in the Neshoba County Jail. Around 10:30 that night, he released the three civil rights workers and sent them on their way to meet their murderers. 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (127th in leap years). ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Mississippi Civil Rights Workers Murders were the 1964 slayings of three political activists during the Civil Rights Movement. ... Neshoba County is a county located in the state of Mississippi. ... June 21 is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 193 days remaining. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... James Chaney James Earl Chaney (May 30, 1943 – June 21, 1964) was a civil rights worker who was murdered (along with Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman) by members of the Ku Klux Klan. ... Andrew Goodman Andrew Goodman (November 23, 1943 – June 21, 1964) was an American civil rights activist who was murdered by gunshot in 1964 By the Ku Klux Klan. ... Michael Schwerner Michael Schwerner (November 6, 1939 – June 21, 1964), called Mickey by friends and colleagues, was a CORE field worker killed in Philadelphia, Mississippi, by the Ku Klux Klan in response to the civil-rights work he coordinated, which included promoting registration to vote among Mississippi African Americans. ...

In 1964, Cecil Price was described as "a younger and less formidable copy" of Sheriff Rainey, though the former dairy supplies salesman and then fire chief was said to lack Rainey's friendliness. He was tight-lipped and suspicious of everybody. Price, a known member of the Ku Klux Klan, seemed to derive great pleasure from terrorizing Neshoba County blacks. One night he showed up at a roadhouse popular with young blacks, drew his six-shooter and shouted "All you nigger men get your hands on the wall, and all you nigger women do the Dog!" Lawrence A. Rainey (1923-2002) was the elected Sheriff of Neshoba County, Mississippi from 1963 to 1968. ... Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ...

On the afternoon of the murders, Price spotted the CORE station wagon on Highway 19 and pulled it over, allegedly for speeding, just inside the Philadelphia, Mississippi city limits. Price locked the three civil rights workers in the county jail, denying their requests for a phone call. At some time during that afternoon, Price met with his fellow Klansmen to work out the details of the planned evening release and executions. After releasing the three at 10:25, Price sped to catch up with the station wagon before it crossed the border into the relative safety of Lauderdale County. Price ordered the three out of their car and into his, drove them to deserted Rock Cut Road, then turned them over to his Klan buddies for the actual task of murdering them. Price returned to Philadelphia and resumed his duties as deputy. Philadelphia is a city located in Neshoba County, Mississippi. ...

Price declared himself a candidate for sheriff in 1967 at the same time he was facing trial with his fellow Klan conspirators. He lost the election to Hop Barnette, one of his co-defendants.

On October 21, 1967, Price was found guilty at trial and sentenced by Judge Cox to a six-year prison term. He served his time at Sandstone Federal Penitentiary in Minnesota. After his release in 1974, Price returned to Philadelphia where he worked as a surveyor, oil company driver, and as a watchmaker in a jewelry shop. He was never charged with murder. October 21 is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 71 days remaining. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Area  Ranked 12th  - Total 87,014 sq mi (225,365 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 400 miles (645 km)  - % water 8. ...

Price refused to speak publicly about the events of 1964 to 1967. In 1977, however, he told a reporter for the New York Times Magazine to "suck it". On the subject of integration, Price said, "We've got to accept this is the way things are going to be and that's it". The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

Price died on May 6, 2001, three days after falling from a lift in an equipment rental store in Philadelphia, Mississippi. He died in the same hospital in Jackson where, thirty-seven years earlier, he had helped transport the bodies of the three slain civil rights workers for autopsies. May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (127th in leap years). ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

At the time of Price's death, Mississippi attorney general Mike Moore and Neoshoba County prosecutor Ken Turner were considering bringing state murder charges against some of the surviving defendants in the 1967 federal trial. Attorney General Moore saw Price's death as harmful to the ongoing investigation: "If he had been a defendant, he would have been a principal defendant. If he had been a witness, he would have been our best witness. Either way, his death is a tragic blow to our case." This page is about the New Zealand politician and Director-General of the World Trade Organization. ... Ken Turner was a British television director who worked mainly on series created by Gerry Anderson. ...

Mississippi Burning

In the movie Mississippi Burning, the character of Deputy Clinton Pell was a fictionalized version of Cecil Price. The Pell character was portrayed by Brad Dourif with the part of Pell's wife played by Frances McDormand. Mississippi Burning is a 1988 film based on the investigation into the real-life murders of three civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964. ... Bradford Claude Dourif (March 18, 1950, Huntington, West Virginia) is an American Academy Award nominated actor. ... Frances McDormand (born June 23, 1957) is an Academy Award-winning American film, stage, and television actress, best known for her role as Marge Gunderson in Fargo. ...

References

• University of Missouri Kansas City (faculty)
• Spartacus Educational
• Biography of Cecil Ray Price