An FBI agent said during a Friday news conference that a preliminary autopsy in the death of a black man who was found hanging from a tree in rural Mississippi was expected next week.
He also said the cause of the man’s death could not be confirmed.
FBI Special Agent Don Alway said the man’s identity had been confirmed by a state medical examiner on Friday as that of Otis Byrd, a convicted killer who was released from prison in 2006 and who was last seen on March 2.
Alway said Byrd’s family had been notified and that 30 agents were working on the investigation to determine whether the death was a homicide or suicide.
The Los Angeles Times reported on Friday that an anonymous federal law enforcement official said preliminary results from an autopsy had pointed to suicide. However, Alway’s statement at Friday’s news conference appeared to indicate that determination had not yet been made.
Well, that’s pretty much all you need for people to dismiss this thing if it turns out to be a lynching.
What a horrible coincidence that the man dragged to death years ago was James Byrd.
Seems like it shouldn’t take that long, unless there is some question regarding drugs or whatever. Was there some sort of evidence that supported a claim of suicide…a chair that he had knocked out from under himself, for example? It’s actually pretty hard to hang yourself from a tree and not leave some “evidence” of how you did it.
I’ve found that when persons of color are concerned no cover is required for certain persons to dismiss the most heinous of crimes being perpetrated against them.
He was last seen March 8 and his body was exposed/decomposed for a few weeks. He couldn’t even be identified for awhile. Most likely birds and other animals were dining on him. He was found 3ft off the ground, hung with sheets. A few weeks is a long time to have nature disturb the scene. They have to check his body for signs that he wasn’t a willing participant. Actually a week seems pretty fast. I don’t know if Mississippi personnel conducting the autopsy is an issue or not. In some cases state and local coroners have participated in hiding lynchings by labeling them suicide.
The guy’s family said the idea of anyone wanting to kill him or him killing himself were both things that they didn’t believe were possible. The guy has been out of the can for 9 years too so that’s a long wait for revenge. If the store owner he was convicted of killing was white and he was lynched get ready for fun and games.