From Left to Right; Collie Leroy Wilkins Jr., Eugene Thomas, and William Orville Eaton.
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Gary Thomas Rowe at Collie Wilkins' trial.
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There were four members of the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) who were
in the car and took part in the murder of Viola Liuzzo; those members were
Collie Wilkins, FBI informant Gary Rowe, William Eaton, and Eugene Thomas. The four were quickly arrested and in no less
than 24-hours later, President Lyndon B.
Johnson, appeared on television to announce their arrest.
Rowe had informed his FBI contact that the Klan members were planning to commit a violent crime in Montgomery, and after the news of the death of Viola Liuzzo the FBI came up with a cover up story immediately. Wilkins, Eaton, and Thomas were charged and tried with the murder of Viola Liuzzo. Rowe was only on the case as a witness because the President and others wanted to avoid bad media coverage since Rowe was one of their FBI informants. Wilkins’ trial began May 3rd with an all white jury. The trial ended the following day as a mistrial (10-2 in favor of conviction). The trials defense attorney Matt Murphy died in a car accident before any other trials were held for the other two involved. Art Hanes took over as the defense attorney; Hanes was a segregationist and also had been Mayor during the 1963 time period in which the police commissioner used fire hoses on African American protesters.
After much debate on December 3rd, the trio was found guilty by an all male white jury. The three were sentenced to 10 years in prison. When Wilkins and Thomas were out on an appeal they were charged and found guilty of firearm violations and sent back to jail.
Due to the threats from the Klan members, Gary Rowe was put into the Witness Protection Program.
Rowe had informed his FBI contact that the Klan members were planning to commit a violent crime in Montgomery, and after the news of the death of Viola Liuzzo the FBI came up with a cover up story immediately. Wilkins, Eaton, and Thomas were charged and tried with the murder of Viola Liuzzo. Rowe was only on the case as a witness because the President and others wanted to avoid bad media coverage since Rowe was one of their FBI informants. Wilkins’ trial began May 3rd with an all white jury. The trial ended the following day as a mistrial (10-2 in favor of conviction). The trials defense attorney Matt Murphy died in a car accident before any other trials were held for the other two involved. Art Hanes took over as the defense attorney; Hanes was a segregationist and also had been Mayor during the 1963 time period in which the police commissioner used fire hoses on African American protesters.
After much debate on December 3rd, the trio was found guilty by an all male white jury. The three were sentenced to 10 years in prison. When Wilkins and Thomas were out on an appeal they were charged and found guilty of firearm violations and sent back to jail.
Due to the threats from the Klan members, Gary Rowe was put into the Witness Protection Program.
