T. K. Thorne - Last Chance for Justice: How Relentless Investigators Uncovered New Evidence Convicting the Birmingham Church Bombers

Copyright 2013 by T. K. Thorne

All rights reserved

First edition

Published by Lawrence Hill Books, an imprint of Chicago Review Press, Incorporated

814 North Franklin Street

Chicago, Illinois 60610

ISBN 978-1-61374-864-0

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thorne, T. K.

Last chance for justice : how relentless investigators uncovered new evidence convicting the Birmingham church bombers / T.K. Thorne. First edition.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-61374-864-0 (cloth)

1. Murder investigationAlabamaBirminghamHistoryCase studies. 2. MurderAlabamaBirminghamHistory20th century 3. BombingsAlabamaBirminghamHistory20th century. 4. African AmericansCrimes againstAlabamaBirminghamHistory20th century. 5. Hate crimesAlabamaBirminghamHistory20th century. 6. Birmingham (Ala.)Race relationsHistory20th century. I. Title.

HV6534.B5T46 2013

364.152309761781dc23

2013014307

Interior design: PerfecType, Nashville, TN

Printed in the United States of America

5 4 3 2 1

To Granny,

Who stood up for principles of justice and taught me to love words and the places they could take me

Index

IT WAS A GREAT surprise to my family when I became the first Jewish police officer in the Birmingham Police Department. It was a surprise to me as well, as my chosen path was social work, in which I had recently completed my masters at the University of Alabama. At that time, women and blacks were the exception in the police department, and affirmative action policies were only being discussed.

The experience was totally outside anything my background could have prepared me for; but I managed to survive, and I retired as a captain. Although the department had the mixed bag of personalities that one would expect in any community, it was a fulfilling and interesting career. Most of the officers I worked with were dedicated professionals who put their lives at risk every day to serve their community.

My intention in writing this book was to tell the story of the 1963 Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing primarily from the perspective of the investigators. I was a child in Montgomery, Alabama, when the bombing occurred, and have only a vague memory of watching with confusion the resulting riots and chaos on television. At the time, I was unaware that my mother and grandmother were quiet supporters of the civil rights movement or that the Ku Klux Klan had burned a cross in my grandparents yard. Virginia and Clifford Durr, leaders in the civil rights struggle, were close family friends. Their country home in Wetumpka was my favorite retreat, and one of their daughters was my regular babysitter. We were childhood friends of Aubrey and Anita Williamss grandchildren. Robert Graetzwhose first job as a white Lutheran minister was to serve in a black church in Montgomery and whose home was bombed during the 1960squips that my siblings and I were the first to integrate in Montgomery, playing with black children in a small plastic pool in his backyard.

My primary sources for this book were my interviews with the investigators who handled the case and others involved in the investigation; FBI summary reports and reports from FBI interviews and informant sources; teletypes and internal FBI memos; transcripts of covert recordings; and trial transcripts. I also called on historical material. Quoted material from the suspects was taken from official FBI documents and from the investigators notes. All of the quotes from persons other than the suspects were taken from documents, transcripts, or my interviews. I did, however, rely heavily on Frank Sikoras book Until Justice Rolls Down to help understand the attorneys summations in the Blanton case, for which I only had an audio recording as source material. In some cases regarding personal exchanges between investigators Ben Herren and Bill Fleming, when they had no memory of exactly when the discussion took place, I took the liberty of placing the conversation in the story, but the material came from taped interviews with them.

A selected bibliography provides resources and further reading suggestions. My apologies in advance for the numerous names encountered in the book. It couldnt be helped. There is a list to assist the reader. I have been careful with the facts as I was told them, giving priority to verifiable documentation, but I take responsibility for any errors.

It was a privilege to spend many hours in interviews and communications with investigators Ben Herren, Bill Fleming, and Bob Eddy. Both Herren and Fleming constantly gave credit to the prosecutors, fellow FBI agents, and staff that supported their efforts. Bob Eddy told me several times he was not a hero, just a member of a team. It was indeed teamwork that brought this case to trial and convicted the perpetrators of this heinous crime. In no way does that diminish the investigators incredible effort and commitment. I do agree the true heroes are the witnesses who risked their lives to see justice done. That is a debt we can never repay.

This was a story that needed to be preserved for its own sake. Having spent over two decades in the Birmingham Police Department, however, it also has been my desire to do something positive in furthering the tarnished relationship between the African American community and law enforcement. Despite all the progress made, resentment and distrust still sometimes fester from the wrongs of the past. The Sixteenth Street Church bombing and the death of four innocent girls can never be righted. Those children cannot be brought back to life by the efforts of any human being, but seeking justice is what law enforcement does at its best. It is my hope telling the story of finding that justice and the dedication of those who sought it might be a step in the healing.

David Barber Jefferson County district attorney (1980s2000s)

Bill Baxley Alabama attorney general (1990s)

Bobby Birdwell Childhood friend of Tommy Frank Cherry

Thomas E. Blanton Member of Eastview #13 Klavern

Albert Boutwell Mayor of Birmingham, 1963

Jack William Brown Klansman from Chattanooga, Tennessee (1960s)

Mitch Burns Klansman who worked undercover for the FBI

Ralph Butler FBI special agent (1960s)

Charles Arnie Cagle Member of Eastview #13 Klavern

Herman Frank Cash Member of Eastview #13 Klavern

Flora Tee Chambliss Robert Chamblisss wife (1960s)

Robert Dynamite Bob Chambliss Convicted of Birmingham Church bombing in 1977

Bobby Frank Cherry Member of Eastview #13 Klavern