Domestic Terrorist Dies in Prison

Former Ku Klux Klan member Samuel Bowers died in prison yesterday while serving time for the 1966 murder of civil rights activist Vernon Dahmer.

Samuel H. Bowers, 82, the former Ku Klux Klan imperial wizard who was serving a life sentence for the 1966 bombing death of a civil rights leader, died of cardiopulmonary arrest Nov. 5 at Mississippi State Penitentiary Hospital in Parchman.

Mr. Bowers was convicted in August 1998 of ordering the assassination of Vernon Dahmer, who had fought for black rights during Mississippi’s turbulent struggle for racial equality.

Dahmer died at 58 after being firebombed outside his home.

Two carloads of Klansmen arrived at Dahmer’s Hattiesburg area home in the pre-dawn hours of Jan. 10, 1966. Dahmer kept the Klansmen at bay with a shotgun while his family fled, according to testimony during a four-day trial in Forrest County Circuit Court in 1998.

He died in his wife’s arms about 12 hours after the attack.

It’s times like these when I think the traditional dictate that one should not speak ill of the dead should be thrown out the window. The man was scum, and good riddance.

FILED UNDER: Law and the Courts, US Politics, , ,
Alex Knapp
About Alex Knapp
Alex Knapp is Associate Editor at Forbes for science and games. He was a longtime blogger elsewhere before joining the OTB team in June 2005 and contributed some 700 posts through January 2013. Follow him on Twitter @TheAlexKnapp.

Comments

  1. Well, considering there is nothing GOOD to say about him, if you’re gonna say anything at all, it’s gonna be ill right?

  2. Cernig says:

    The good news? Right now, he’s finding out that God doesn’t believe in segregation.

    Regards, C

  3. Mark says:

    The good news? Right now, he’s finding out that God doesn’t believe in segregation.

    No – it’s worse. He finds out Jesus is not white. Right before he is shuffled to the room downstairs…