Cecil Price
| Cecil Price | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 15, 1938 |
| Died | May 6, 2001 (aged 63) University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi |
| Cause of death | Injuries sustained after a fall |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Deputy Sheriff |
| Criminal charge | Conspiracy to violate civil rights |
| Criminal penalty | Six years |
| Criminal status | Released after serving four and a half years |
| Spouse(s) | Connor Price |
| Children | Cecil Ray Price Jr. |
| Conviction(s) | October 20, 1967 |
Cecil Ray Price (April 15, 1938 – May 6, 2001) was linked to the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964. At the time of the murders, he was 26 years old and a deputy sheriff in Neshoba County, Mississippi. He was also a member of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.
Although he was never charged with the murders, Price was convicted in October 1967 of violating the civil rights of the three victims. He was sentenced to a six-year prison term and served four and a half years at the Sandstone Federal Penitentiary in Minnesota. Following his release from prison he returned to Philadelphia, Mississippi and worked a variety of jobs. Cecil Price died following a fall from a piece of equipment at his job on May 6, 2001.
On the afternoon of June 21, 1964, Price stopped a blue Ford station wagon on Mississippi Highway 19 for allegedly speeding inside the Philadelphia city limits. Inside the station wagon were three civil rights workers James Chaney, who was driving, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.
Price arrested the three workers, allegedly for suspicion of having been involved in a church arson, and locked them in the county jail. During this time he denied their requests for a phone call and instructed that anyone who called looking for them should be told that the three men were not there. At some time during that afternoon, Price met with his fellow Klansmen to work out the details of the planned evening release and executions.
Price released the three following Chaney's payment of the speeding fine and followed them in his patrol car. At 10:25, Price sped to catch up with the station wagon before it crossed the border into the relative safety of Lauderdale County. Price ordered the three out of their car and into his. He then drove them to a deserted area on Rock Cut Road while being followed by two cars filled with other Klansmen. He then turned them over to fellow Klanmen who committed the beating of James Chaney and subsequent murder of the three men. Price returned to Philadelphia and resumed his duties as deputy while the bodies were being buried at an earthen dam that was under construction.
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