Former home of Edgar Ray Killen destroyed by fire

A fire that destroyed the home once occupied by the now late Edgar Ray Killen, the mastermind behind the 1964 civil rights murders, is being investigated as an arson, the authorities said.

The fire that consumed the structure on Road 515 was reported last Wednesday morning after a neighbor saw a small black pickup in the driveway, Neshoba County Sheriff Eric Clark said.

“We are currently in the middle of an investigation into the fire,” Clark said. “We are looking to see if there was any accelerant or anything indicating arson.”

Neshoba County Emergency Management Director Darrell Wilson said that House and County Line volunteer fire departments responded.

Clark said that in addition to local agencies the State Fire Marshall is assisting with the investigation.

Clark said that the house belonged to William Bobby Killen, one of Edgar Ray Killen’s brothers.

“We are trying to come to a conclusion that is true and accurate through this investigation,” Clark said.

The blaze was reported at the Road 515 home around 9:05 a.m. on Feb. 23. The house has a Union address.

Clark said that a small black truck was seen on the property and was stuck in the mud briefly before it was able to get free. Clark said the fire was reported a sort time after the truck left the property.

A neighbor reported hearing a “loud popping noise” she remembered like tree branches breaking during last year’s ice storm, Clark said. When she looked outside to see what was happening she saw the house “fully engulfed.”

Clark said that Bobby Killen moved into an extended care facility around Thanksgiving and that the house has not had power, water or gas for over a year.

Clark said that in addition to the investigation into the blaze, his office has talked to family members and neighbors and is currently trying to track down the owner of the black truck.

In June of 2005, Edgar Ray Killen was convicted on three counts of manslaughter for his part in the conspiracy to commit the June 21, 1964, murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.

Killen, a part-time Baptist preacher and sawmill operator, died in prison in 2018 at the age of 92.

The trio was ambushed at House after being released that night from the Neshoba County Jail on trumped-up speeding charges, driven back to Road 515, or Rock Cut Road, and shot at point-blank range not far from the Killen home.

While testimony never placed Killen at the murder scene, the conspiracy was established.