LSU Cold Case Project, Author at LSU Cold Case Project

50 years after fatal shooting: Milton Scott’s family, FBI agents talk about the emotional toll

By LSU Cold Case Project / July 21, 2023 / FBI Involvement, Milton X Scott Series / Series

Part 2 of 2 BATON ROUGE — Beverly Shabazz did not have a job and was seven months pregnant with her second child when her …

50 years after fatal shooting: Milton Scott’s family, FBI agents talk about the emotional toll Read More

Local and federal agents arrive on the scene shortly after Milton Scott's death in Baton Rouge in 1973 Credit: Photo courtesy of The Advocate

The fatal shooting of Milton X Scott

By LSU Cold Case Project / July 16, 2023 / Milton X Scott Series / Series

Part 1 of 2 BATON ROUGE — On a hot, quiet morning in July 1973, 21-year-old Milton Scott heard a loud knock at his door. …

The fatal shooting of Milton X Scott Read More

LSU Cold Case Project student reporter wins first place in feature writing for large universities for story: “A Klansman’s sons seek to understand and redress his wrongs”

By LSU Cold Case Project / June 7, 2023 / About the Project

Congratulations to LSU Cold Case Project student reporter Josh Archote for winning first place in feature writing for large universities with his story: “A Klansman’s …

LSU Cold Case Project student reporter wins first place in feature writing for large universities for story: “A Klansman’s sons seek to understand and redress his wrongs” Read More

Students from LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication and the Southern University Law Center won a national investigative reporting prize

By LSU Cold Case Project / April 10, 2023 / Southern Series / Featured

Gov. John Bel Edwards apologizes to families of two Southern students gunned down during 1972 protest

By LSU Cold Case Project / November 17, 2022 / Community Impact, Southern Series

BATON ROUGE — Gov. John Bel Edwards apologized Wednesday (Nov. 16) on behalf of the state to former Southern University protest leaders and the families …

Gov. John Bel Edwards apologizes to families of two Southern students gunned down during 1972 protest Read More

Pain, lessons remain decades after Southern shooting

By LSU Cold Case Project / November 15, 2022 / Southern Series

Last in a four-part series Shunda Wallace was 3 months old when her father, Leonard Brown, and another student, Denver Smith, were shot dead by …

Pain, lessons remain decades after Southern shooting Read More

Without an eyewitness, the FBI turned to polygraphs, angle of shot diagrams

By LSU Cold Case Project / November 6, 2022 / Southern Series

Third in a four-part series At 12:35 p.m. on Nov. 17, 1972, the phone rang in the office of acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray …

Without an eyewitness, the FBI turned to polygraphs, angle of shot diagrams Read More

As gas clouds cleared, two lay dead. A sister wondered, ‘Why? Why?’

By LSU Cold Case Project / November 2, 2022 / Southern Series

Second in a four-part series The knock on the door came at 4 a.m. Rickey Hill and Herget Harris, two protest leaders at Southern University, …

As gas clouds cleared, two lay dead. A sister wondered, ‘Why? Why?’ Read More

Half century later, question remains: What deputy killed two students?

By LSU Cold Case Project / October 30, 2022 / Southern Series / Featured

First in a four-part series Josephine and Denver Smith took different approaches to protests at Southern University in the fall of 1972. Josephine skipped class …

Half century later, question remains: What deputy killed two students? Read More

A man the FBI thought was dead recalls details of 1960 murders

By LSU Cold Case Project / May 12, 2022 / Crime, Robert Fuller Series / Featured

Not a day has passed during the past 62 years that Willie Gibson hasn’t thought of Louisiana and the horrific shootings in Monroe that left …

A man the FBI thought was dead recalls details of 1960 murders Read More

Sins of their fathers haunt these children of Klansmen

By LSU Cold Case Project / April 28, 2022 / Klansmen

https://www.mississippicir.org/news/sins-of-their-fathers-haunt-these-children-of-klansmen

Our dad was in the Klan: ‘If you don’t learn your history, then you’re doomed to relive it’

By LSU Cold Case Project / March 22, 2022 / Boyd Series

Third in a three-part series Leland and Sonny Boyd say some relatives and old friends wonder why they are speaking publicly about their father’s involvement …

Our dad was in the Klan: ‘If you don’t learn your history, then you’re doomed to relive it’ Read More

Our Dad Was in the Klan: Drawn in, disillusioned, disgusted

By LSU Cold Case Project / March 16, 2022 / Boyd Series

Second in a three-part series When Leland Boyd woke up in the middle of the night as a child, he’d sometimes find his father Earcel …

Our Dad Was in the Klan: Drawn in, disillusioned, disgusted Read More

Our Dad Was in the Klan: He ‘had a rage in him’

By LSU Cold Case Project / March 10, 2022 / Boyd Series

First in a three-part series Though 57 years have passed, Leland Boyd still can’t forget the smell of burnt human flesh. In December 1964, Leland, …

Our Dad Was in the Klan: He ‘had a rage in him’ Read More

Thanks to students, more FBI files on Klan violence could be released

By LSU Cold Case Project / February 7, 2022 / About the Project

https://www.mississippicir.org/news/thanks-to-students-more-fbi-files-on-klan-violence-could-be-released

Board that will review FBI files from civil rights era taking shape

By LSU Cold Case Project / February 3, 2022 / Community Impact

The U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday approved four nominees to serve on a national board tasked with reviewing and eventually releasing to the …

Board that will review FBI files from civil rights era taking shape Read More

LSU lab helps law enforcement solve missing persons cases

By LSU Cold Case Project / December 3, 2021 / About the Project, Community Impact

“TRUST YOUR DOG,” Louisiana Search and Rescue Dog team used in cold cases

By LSU Cold Case Project / November 23, 2021 / About the Project, Community Impact

https://www.brproud.com/news/trust-your-dog-louisiana-search-and-rescue-dog-team-used-in-cold-cases/

Jo-Ed Edwards disappeared in a Klan-suspected abduction. His body’s never been found.

By LSU Cold Case Project / November 20, 2021 / Crime

https://www.mississippicir.org/news/jo-ed-edwards-disappeared-in-a-klan-suspected-abduction-his-bodys-never-been-found

Did the FBI fail in trying to resolve Civil Rights cold cases?

By LSU Cold Case Project / October 14, 2021 / FBI Involvement, Robert Fuller Series

Fourth in a four-part series A retired FBI agent was at a Christian retreat in the late 1990s when a churchgoer confided he had witnessed …

Did the FBI fail in trying to resolve Civil Rights cold cases? Read More

A case that ‘flips justice on its head’: Victim, not shooter, convicted in 1960 bloodbath

By LSU Cold Case Project / September 7, 2021 / Crime, Robert Fuller Series

Third in a four-part series More than six decades ago a grand jury assembled to hear a grisly case. Four Black men had been shot …

A case that ‘flips justice on its head’: Victim, not shooter, convicted in 1960 bloodbath Read More

‘Mr. Fuller has shot his men’

By LSU Cold Case Project / August 24, 2021 / Crime, Robert Fuller Series

Second in a four-part series MONROE, La. — In the rural neighborhood around Ticheli Road, the sound of multiple gunshots erupted in the early morning …

‘Mr. Fuller has shot his men’ Read More

‘You don’t go in Mr. Fuller’s yard’

By LSU Cold Case Project / August 16, 2021 / Crime, Robert Fuller Series

First in a four-part series During the 1950s in northeast Louisiana, future Klansman Robert Fuller was a familiar face to law enforcement. He lived on …

‘You don’t go in Mr. Fuller’s yard’ Read More

Deacons group protected ‘outlaw town’ Ferriday’s black community from Klansmen in 1960s

By LSU Cold Case Project / June 22, 2020 / Deacon Series

Last in a four-part series Ferriday, La.—David Whatley, the first black student to integrate Ferriday High in 1966, returned from tortuous days at school only …

Deacons group protected ‘outlaw town’ Ferriday’s black community from Klansmen in 1960s Read More

Deacons for Defense and Justice defied segregation

By LSU Cold Case Project / June 22, 2020 / Deacon Series

Third in a four-part series A dozen times over three decades, Claiborne Parish resident Frederick Douglass Lewis had tried to register to vote in Louisiana, …

Deacons for Defense and Justice defied segregation Read More

In Bogalusa, the Deacons fought violence with violence

By LSU Cold Case Project / June 12, 2020 / Deacon Series

This is the second in a four-part series. BOGALUSA, La. — Fiery red dust filled the air as Henry Austan, a 21-year-old insurance bill collector …

In Bogalusa, the Deacons fought violence with violence Read More

A half-century ago in Louisiana, armed black men fought back

By LSU Cold Case Project / June 9, 2020 / Deacon Series

First in a four-part series JONESBORO, La. — On a July night in Jonesboro in 1964, the rumble of engines encroached on a quiet, black …

A half-century ago in Louisiana, armed black men fought back Read More

The new fight: Securing civil rights fighters ‘Deacons’ in history

By LSU Cold Case Project / April 25, 2019 / Community Impact, Deacon Series

BOGULASA, LA (LSU Manship School News Sevice) – “That’s my daddy,” Barbara Hicks-Collins, now 72, said as her hand gingerly swept across the image on …

The new fight: Securing civil rights fighters ‘Deacons’ in history Read More

First black student in Ferriday meets with klansman’s daughter 50 years after firebombing

By LSU Cold Case Project / April 15, 2017 / Klansmen

FERRIDAY — On the night of Jan. 30, 1966, in the racially divided city of Ferriday, David Whatley, the first black student to attend the town’s …

First black student in Ferriday meets with klansman’s daughter 50 years after firebombing Read More

Washington Parish civil-rights era homicide investigation could continue with extension of federal law

By LSU Cold Case Project / June 6, 2016 / Community Impact, FBI Involvement

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_f6ef83d3-ef0d-5805-8450-e61fa04c41d5.html

Louisiana Ku Klux Klan member’s daughter recalls her father’s reigns of terror

By LSU Cold Case Project / May 29, 2016 / Klansmen

https://www.theadvocate.com/nation_world/article_f920d25f-be90-52ff-9fa5-bdf65a878555.html

The Deacons for Defense and Justice in Louisiana

By LSU Cold Case Project / May 20, 2016 / Crime

https://www.hannapub.com/concordiasentinel/the-deacons-for-defense-and-justice-in-louisiana/article_4d3e2fd4-1eb0-11e6-a176-77dbdfb14daf.html

FBI: Former Gov. John McKeithen arranged payments to Ku Klux Klan to quell violence in 1960s

By LSU Cold Case Project / April 27, 2016 / FBI Involvement, Klansmen

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_0cd51a58-e446-5be3-a566-128597814118.html

Civil rights era group helped protect black community

By LSU Cold Case Project / June 10, 2015 / Community Impact

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_44f0e6af-5c19-5b9c-ab73-4bbfc475c823.html

FBI closing the books on reopened civil rights era murders

By LSU Cold Case Project / June 8, 2015 / FBI Involvement

WASHINGTON – The FBI is winding down its fresh examination of civil rights-era murders in the South, closing almost all of the cases with just two prosecutions …

FBI closing the books on reopened civil rights era murders Read More

Kenny “Zulu” Whitmore says 1977 trial for killing of ex-Zachary mayor was unfair

By LSU Cold Case Project / May 11, 2015 / Crime

Kenny “Zulu” Whitmore — sentenced to life in prison 38 years ago in the murder of former Zachary Mayor Marshall Bond — is asking for …

Kenny “Zulu” Whitmore says 1977 trial for killing of ex-Zachary mayor was unfair Read More

Small-town paper calls attention to unsolved civil-rights killings Read More

Browse Articles

LSU Cold Case Project