Focusing on Cold Cases in Washington Parish

Washington Parish Sheriff's Deputy Oneal Moore was murdered 42 years ago, but the FBI says that it hasn't given up on the case, one of about a dozen unsolved civil-rights era murders that are getting renewed attention from the agency.

When these crimes took place decades ago, African-American victims had little hope of getting justice. Now, investigators will have to deal with the damage time itself has done to the cases.

But that's all the more reason to act quickly, and the FBI's decision to aggressively pursue cold cases that they believe were racially motivated is encouraging.

Deputy Moore and his partner, Creed Rogers, were the first African-American deputies to work for the Washington Parish Sheriff's Office. They were hired to help quell racial tension in Washington Parish, but they ended up being victims of racial violence when they were ambushed on Louisiana 21 by a group of white men and shot. Deputy Moore was killed; his partner lost an eye.

The murder led to further violence. A year later, Clarence Triggs, another African-American man, was shot to death after attending a demontration to protest the lack of progress in the Moore case.

Jim Bernazzani, special agent in charge of the FBI's New Orleans office, says the Moore case, while difficult, has never been closed. In 1990, authorities dug up a slab in hopes of finding the murder weapon and convened a grand jury. Two years later, the FBI told the deputy's widow that it had new information and offered a $40,000 reward.

Now, Special Agent Bernazzani says that the FBI has some "very hot leads" in the case, and that sounds promising.

There have been some notable successes in pursuing old civil rights cases, including the 1994 conviction of Byron de la Beckwith for the murder of civil-rights leader Medgar Evers. In Mississippi, authorities recently arrested James Ford Seale in connection with the 1964 abduction and murder of Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee. Mr. Seale will be tried on charges of kidnapping and conspiracy next month.