Jerry Mitchell (investigative Reporter) - Investigations

Investigations

Mitchell's work so far has helped put at least four Klansmen behind bars: Byron De La Beckwith for the 1963 assassination of NAACP leader Medgar Evers, Imperial Wizard Sam Bowers for ordering the fatal firebombing of NAACP leader Vernon Dahmer in 1966, Bobby Cherry for the 1963 bombing of a Birmingham church that killed four girls and, most recently, Edgar Ray Killen, for helping orchestrate the June 21, 1964, killings of Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman.

His work inspired others. Since 1989, authorities in Mississippi and six other states have reexamined 29 killings from the civil rights era and made 27 arrests, leading to 22 convictions. Since 2002, he has collaborated with award winning schoolteacher Barry Bradford, from Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, on several of his projects and has often written about the work of Bradford and his students, who helped Mitchell in the Mississippi Burning Case and, more recently, in clearing the name of Clyde Kennard.

One of Mitchell's most historic discoveries was the long secret identity of Mr. X, the secret informant who helped the FBI discover the location of the bodies of Chaney, Schwerner and Goodman. Mitchell had narrowed the list of possible candidates through exhaustive investigation. When Barry Bradford provided key information gleaned from his interview with retired FBI agent Don Casare, Mitchell was able to conclude that Highway Patrolman Maynard King was "Mr. X."

Mitchell, who joined the Clarion-Ledger in 1986, has been profiled by Nightline, USA Today, the New York Times, American Journalism Review and others. He has regularly appeared as an expert on CNN, the Lehrer News Hour and other programs.