Murder Charges Upheld in Civil Rights Killings
A judge in Philadelphia upheld murder charges against a suspected Ku Klux Klansman in the 1964 slayings of three civil rights workers, clearing the way for a trial next month.
Circuit Court Judge Marcus Gordon rejected a defense motion that the case against Edgar Ray Killen be dismissed on the grounds he had been denied his constitutional right to a fair and speedy trial.
Killen, 80, was arrested two months ago in connection with the slayings of Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney, who were shot on a remote road outside the town 41 years ago.
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