Ex Klansman sues FBI claims they used mafia hit man against him

A former Ku Klux Klansman convicted in the 1964 slayings of three civil rights workers has sued the FBI, claiming the government used a mafia hit man to pistol-whip and intimidate witnesses for information in the case.

Edgar Ray Killen, an 85-year-old former saw mill operator and one-time Baptist preacher, was convicted in 2005 of manslaughter based in part on testimony from a mistrial 40 years ago in Mississippi.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court seeks millions of dollars in damages and a declaration that Killen's rights were violated when the FBI allegedly used a gangster known as "The Grim Reaper" during its investigation.

Gregory Scarpa, Sr. AKA "The Grim Reaper", was a soldier for the Colombo crime family and an informant for the FBI. He was the brother of Colombo crime family mobster Salvatore Scarpa and father of Gregory Scarpa Jr. During the 70s and 80s, Scarpa was the chief enforcer to Colombo Capo Carmine "Junior" Persico.

Gregory  "The Grim Reaper" Scarpa, Sr.

Scarpa Sr. was an FBI informer for three decades. Scarpa's son, Gregory Scarpa Jr., claimed that Scarpa had illegal dealings with his FBI agent, Lindley DeVecchio, in which DeVecchio would receive cash, jewelry, and other gifts. According to Scarpa Jr.'s account, DeVecchio would in return provide information to Scarpa that was used to kill people who had fallen out of favor with the Colombo family. Scarpa Jr. was himself an FBI informant and in prison at the time he made the allegations; DeVecchio has officially been cleared of wrongdoing by the Justice Department.

In a Brooklyn court in 2007, the former girlfriend of Scarpa testified that at the request of former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, Scarpa was paid by the FBI to force a Klansman into revealing the burial site of three slain civil rights workers in the Southern United States. Allegedly, Scarpa flew to Mississippi, where an FBI agent handed him some money and a gun. Scarpa tracked down Klansman Lawrence Byrd who sold TVs and bought a set from him before forcing him to reveal the location of the graves at gunpoint.

This testimony contradicts evidence from journalist Jerry Mitchell and Illinois high school teacher Barry Bradford, who claim that the informant who revealed the location of the bodies was highway patrolman Maynard King, who gave the information willingly to FBI agent Joseph Sullivan.

Scarpa Sr. died on June 4, 1994 while in prison. The cause of death was AIDS contracted from a blood transfusion in 1987.

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Tags: Colombo, Cosa Nostra, New York, Organized Crime