4 Whites Plead Guilty in ’69 Race Slaying

Four white men pleaded guilty to conspiracy Wednesday in the shooting death of a black woman during the city’s 1969 race riots, saying police had encouraged them to take part.

“The cops told us it was OK to protect our neighborhoods,” Clarence Lutzinger said. “They were behind us.”

Lutzinger, Rick Lynn Knouse, Thomas Smith and William Ritter pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the July 21, 1969, death of Lillie Belle Allen.

The men described how they nervously waited with guns as a carload of blacks strayed into a predominantly white neighborhood.

“People were screaming, ‘They’re black! They’re black! They’re shooting! They’re shooting!’ ” Knouse said.

Lutzinger, Knouse and Ritter said they fired at the white Cadillac in which Allen was riding with family members. Smith admitted to serving as a lookout for 100 or more men, some gang members and some armed, who witnesses say had gathered to “protect” the neighborhood from blacks.

Allen, 27, of Aiken, S.C., got out of the car, waved her arms, and yelled, “Don’t shoot!” before being shot, authorities said.

In exchange for testifying against other defendants in the case, the four men’s murder charges will be dropped. They face up to two years in prison.

Six men remain charged with murder in the case, including Robert Messersmith, who is accused of firing the shotgun blast that killed Allen, and former Mayor Charlie Robertson, a police officer in 1969 who prosecutors say provided bullets to white gang members and encouraged them to kill blacks.

The former mayor has acknowledged yelling “White power!” at a rally in a city park the night before Allen was killed but says he had no involvement in the killing and no longer has racist attitudes.

The riots began after a white gang member shot and injured a black man. Fights broke out, buildings were set ablaze and police barricaded black neighborhoods. More than 60 people were injured and 100 were arrested before the National Guard arrived.

A grand jury two years ago gave the investigation into the murder new life after witnesses came forward.

Judge John C. Uhler will decide whether to approve the plea deals. The four men would be sentenced after the trial of the five defendants, scheduled for Sept. 23. A 10th suspect is to be tried separately.

Allen’s sister, Hattie Dickson, who was driving the car on the night of the shooting, attended Wednesday’s court hearing. Dickson said she accepted the fact that prosecutors needed to strike a deal in exchange for the suspects’ cooperation.