Former trooper turns himself in
A former state trooper turned himself in on a murder charge in the 1965 shooting death of a black man during a civil rights protest.
Former trooper James Bonard Fowler, who contends he fired in self-defense in a struggle over a gun, was charged in Marion with first-degree and second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Jimmie Lee Jackson. The first-degree charge is for a killing that is intentional; the second-degree charge is for one that is unintentional. Both carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Fowler, 73, was allowed to remain free on a $250,000 property bond.
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