Extradition Blocked in Evers Slaying

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A state appeals court on Tuesday blocked the extradition of white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith to Mississippi for a third trial for the 1963 slaying of civil rights leader Medgar Evers.

The Tennessee Criminal Court of Appeals said Beckwith could remain in Tennessee while he fights extradition to face a first-degree murder charge. But the court denied bail for the 70-year-old Signal Mountain man.

Beckwith was tried twice in 1964 for the June 12, 1963, sniper slaying of Evers, but two all-white juries could not reach a verdict.

The murder charge was dropped in 1969, but prosecutors in Mississippi say they have developed new evidence and won a new indictment Dec. 14. Beckwith, who denied killing Evers, has said he would fight extradition “tooth, nail and claw.”