It has been nearly 47 years since Frank Morris, an African-American business owner in Ferriday, Louisiana, was killed when members of the Ku Klux Klan set fire to his shoe store in 1964. The identity of the culprits has remained unknown, but a local newspaper claims to have identified one of the men responsible. Ferriday was the hometown of singer Jerry Lee Lewis and televangelist Jimmy Swaggart.

 

Stanley Nelson of the Concordia Sentinel reports that he has three sources who have fingered Richland Parish truck driver Arthur Leonard Spencer, 71, of Rayville—his son, his ex-wife and his former brother-in-law. Spencer has denied any involvement in the crime.

 

According to Nelson’s investigation, Morris was unusual in that he was a black shopkeeper who had white clients. At some point, he incurred the wrath of Concordia Parish Sheriff's Deputy Frank DeLaughter, who later served time in a federal prison for police brutality and racketeering. Several local Klansmen operated a “wrecking crew” that served as a hit squad, carrying out acts of violence against African-Americans.

 

On the night of December 10, 1964, three or four Klan members poured gasoline on Morris’ store. When he appeared unexpectedly at the front door, the Klansmen pointed a shotgun at him and told him to go back inside. Then they set the store on fire. Morris died in a hospital four days later.

 

The Morris murder is still listed as an unsolved crime by the FBI, which has investigated the case three times and which has not commented on the newspaper’s allegation regarding Spencer.

-David Wallechinsky, Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Rayville Man Implicated in Frank Morris Case (by Stanley Nelson, Concordia Sentinel)

Reporter on Quest to Close 1964 Civil Rights Case (by Kim Severson, New York Times)