Klansman Bowers dies in Mississippi state prison

JACKSON, Miss. — Former Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard Samuel H. Bowers, who was convicted eight years ago of ordering the 1966 bombing death of a civil-rights leader, died Sunday in a state penitentiary, officials said. He was 82.

He died of cardiopulmonary arrest, said Mississippi Department of Corrections spokeswoman Tara Booth.

Bowers was convicted in August 1998 of ordering the assassination of Vernon Dahmer Sr., who had fought for black civil rights during Mississippi's turbulent struggle for racial equality. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Dahmer, who championed equal voting rights for blacks, died at age 58 after being fire-bombed outside his Hattiesburg-area home on Jan. 10, 1966. The attack came after Dahmer announced that residents could pay their poll taxes at his grocery, which was next to his home. The home and store also were torched.

When the Dahmer family awoke to honking horns in the predawn hours that January morning, two carloads of Klansmen were waiting outside. Dahmer was able to keep the Klansmen at bay with a shotgun while his family fled. He died about 12 hours later.

During the trial, prosecutors claimed Bowers ordered the attack after becoming enraged that Dahmer was trying to register blacks to vote.

Bowers' lawyers claimed he was "sacrificed to the media" to further the political ambitions of the attorney general at the time, Mike Moore.

Earlier trials for Bowers, including at least two before all-white juries, ended in mistrials.

Dahmer's 77-year-old son, Vernon Dahmer Jr., said Bowers "caused a lot of pain, suffering, and death for many innocent individuals and families of my race."

"During his life, he never apologized or asked forgiveness for his actions. Apparently, he felt justified for what he did to his many victims," Dahmer Jr. said. "Now that he has passed from this life, God will be the judge."