Ghosts of Mississippi Page #10

some of your buddies.

You didn't tell anybody you were

renting a house from a man...

...who admitted to you

that he'd killed somebody?

I didn't at that time, no.

Mr. and Mrs. Beckwith had you

thrown out of the house...

...because you had

a drinking problem, right?

I had a drinking problem...

...but that's not why they--

You don't particularly like Mr. Beckwith

for throwing you out, do you?

Mrs. Morgan...

...when you lived in Greenwood,

Mississippi in the early 1970s...

...did you and your husband give

the defendant a ride to Parchman Prison?

Yes, sir.

Me and my husband, Lloyd, was going

to see Lloyd's brother...

...Jimmy Dale Morgan...

...and Mr. Beckwith was going to see

some friend of his...

...whose name he wouldn't tell us.

During that time, did he make

any statements concerning the murder...

...of Medgar Evers?

Yes, sir.

He said that he had killed

Medgar Evers, a n*gger...

...and said we'd better not say anything

about us driving him up to Parchman...

...because he wasn't scared

to kill again.

Thank you, Mrs. Morgan.

You have had some

very traumatic things...

...happen to you in your life,

haven't you?

Most definitely.

Your estranged husband...

...Lloyd Morgan, was

very abusive to you.

Objection. Irrelevant.

Where are you going with this?

If you'll allow me...

...this line of questioning speaks

directly to this witness's credibility.

Overruled.

Your husband, you told us...

...carried on an incestuous

relationship with one of his children.

Yes, he did.

And your father...

...was very abusive to you

when you were a child.

Yes, sir.

And as a result...

...of all this...

...you have been diagnosed

by psychiatrists...

...as having an anxiety disorder.

Yes, sir, I have.

I have nothing further.

If this jury wants to believe

a lying drunk, a paid informant...

...and a damn loony bird...

...then I might be

in a bit of trouble.

But not as much trouble

as our beloved justice system.

And this Prince fella

still owes me $ 64 worth of rent.

How do you account for

the matching numbers on the gun?

My rifle was stolen days

before this n*gger turned up dead.

Turn those lights off.

Mom, how can you stand

watching this idiot?

When your father died...

...I carried around

such hatred for that man...

... I actually made inquiries

into having him killed.

But in time, I was able

to let that hatred go.

I don't know how.

I remembered something

your father once said to me.

He said, "When you hate,

the only person who suffers is you.

Because most of the people you hate...

...don't know it

and the others don't care."

The big question here is

will Beckwith testify...

...as he did so confidently

back in 1964?

Everybody wants to see

the Byron De La Beckwith Show.

What if putting him on is too risky?

You kidding? He'll wanna tell

that cock-and-bull story...

...about his gun being stolen

two days before the murder.

Besides, this is Byron De La Beckwith

we're talking about.

Summoned from his mountain

by God Almighty...

...to give us

the word according to Delay.

He'll testify.

I'll see you upstairs.

Something happen to you in your boyhood

make you mean-spirited...

...enough to turn on your own?

Do what the good Lord and Mississippi

got every right to expect you to do.

Which is?

Putting n*ggers away for killing white

people instead of the other way around.

Mr. Peters and y'all should be run out

of this state for this foolishness...

...and y'all probably will be.

This is not some deer you brought down.

This is a human being.

A deer, Mr. DeLaughter,

is a beautiful animal.

It's one of God's creatures.

I would never kill a deer.

A n*gger, on the other hand,

that's another matter entirely.

Are you standing here

admitting to me that you--

IKilled Medgar Evers?

What if I did?

It's not like there's anything you

nor anybody else can do about it.

Is there?

We'll see about that.

Oh, that we will.

That we will.

You know, it only takes

but one of them, doesn't it?

The question is...

...which one will it be?

Maybe that chubby white gal

who'd be sorely vexed...

...to let one of her own kind be

put away, no matter what she told you.

Or maybe that old n*gger minister...

...who won't want sending a sick

old man to prison on his conscience.

You ain't never gonna get 12 people

to convict me of killing a n*gger...

...in the state of Mississippi.

No, sir. Hell, I don't even have

to take the stand.

Couple more days, I'll be heading back

to my home in T ennessee...

...where I will sit on my porch...

...and live out my days

in peace and prosperity.

What are you gonna do?

What are you gonna do?

" Free at last, free at last.

Great God Almighty, I'm free at last!"

The defense calls James Holley.

Relax. He's just needling you.

He'll testify.

Raise your right hand.

You swear the testimony you'll give

is the whole truth, so help you God?

-I do.

-Be seated.

Mr. Holley, did you have a personal

relationship with the defendant?

No, sir. None whatsoever.

I just kind of knew who he was.

Mr. Holley, in the early morning

of June 12th, 1963...

...did you have occasion

to see Mr. Beckwith?

He was standing outside

at a Shell station...

...while the attendant was

putting gas in his car.

T ell the jury what time

you saw him.

At approximately 1:03 in the morning.

About how many miles is it

from Greenwood to Jackson?

Must be around 90, 95 miles.

So you saw the defendant

less than an hour after the murder...

...calmly standing by his car some 95

miles away from the scene of the crime?

I have nothing further.

Mr. Holley...

...on the night you say you saw...

...Byron De La Beckwith

in Greenwood....

Delay, as you call him, I believe.

Is that right?

Delay Beckwith, yes, sir.

Why do you call him Delay?

Are y'all first-name buddies?

No, sir. I call him Mr. Beckwith

most of the time.

We just noted...

... "Delay's car"

and "Delay and the attendant."

Isn't that exactly what you told

me and my investigators...

...when we asked what you were

doing that night?

"Delay."

Your buddy.

My friend.

And how long has he been your friend?

-Just shortly after World War ll.

-When you said...

...you had no personal relationship

with him, that wasn't entirely true.

You've known him a long time and been

friends a long time, right?

Well, sure, we're friends.

Just like I hope

you and I are friends.

Pardon?

I said just like I would hope

you and I are friends.

I'm flattered.

Let me ask you this.

At the time the defendant

was arrested...

...there were a whole lot

of law enforcement people...

...trying to gather

information, am I right?

FBl, Jackson Police.

Do you remember that?

Did you speak to...

...Detective Sanders,

one of the investigators?

I might've spoken a word with him.

Then you told him you saw Beckwith

in Greenwood the night of the killing.

-ls that right?

-I did not.

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