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Was Frank Morris killed over deputy Frank DeLaughter's cowboy boots?
 Klan informants told FBI agents in 1967 that Concordia Parish Sheriff's Office deputy Frank DeLaughter had it out for Frank Morris, a black man, because the Ferriday shoe shop owner may have done something not even a white man would dare do in 1964 -- stand up to the notoriously violent deputy.
Informants said DeLaughter, a known Klansman, was furious when the shoe shop owner refused to repair his cowboy boots without payment in advance. The informants suggested that may have been why Morris' shop was set afire on Dec. 10, 1964, while Morris was inside. He died four days later as a result of third degree burns.
FBI records show Klansmen E.D. Morace of Ferriday and O.C. "Coonie" Poissot, both paid FBI informants, implicated DeLaughter in 1967. Both Klansmen provided agents with information on racial violence and murders in Concordia Parish and Adams County, Miss., and both were also suspects in acts of violence. Poissot had a criminal record.
Morace was under heavy FBI scrutiny himself in 1967 after Natchez Klan leader E.L. McDaniel, also a paid FBI informant beginning in early 1967, said Morace asked him to grant authority for the "Mississippi boys" to whip Morris for allegedly flirting with white women. McDaniel told The Sentinel in 2008 that due to a stroke he couldn't talk about the Morris case or other Klan matters. |
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News
Officials monitoring river stages
On Feb. 3, 1973, the Mississippi River at Vidalia stood at 41.5 feet. Four months later, it crested one-tenth higher than the 1927 flood crest of 56.6 feet. |
Drugs found in child's backpack
When serving warrants at a Clayton residence Tuesday, Concordia Parish Sheriff's deputies arrested three people and confiscated assorted drugs valued at well over $10,000 that were hidden in a child's backpack. |
Delta friends reception Thursday
eFriends of the Delta Music Museum Foundation annual membership reception will be held Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010, at the Arcade Theater in Ferriday. |
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Columns
Insanity in motion
President Barack Obama's proposed $3.8 trillion budget for the 2011 fiscal year raises taxes on businesses and so-called wealthy Americans while it would slightly trim some government spending. |
Colonel's Trace hype draws statewide following
(Third in a Series)
By JACK D. ELLIOTT
In early December 1933 the Webster Progress announced that "Col. Jim Walton, International Hobo" was busy organizing The Natchez Trace Military Highway Association. |
The story of the Taensas tribe
BY JIM BARNETT
The Taensa tribe was one of the Indian groups that the La Salle Expedition encountered on its historic 1682 voyage down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. |
Sports
Coaches split on Saints
The sentimental vote may be with the New Orleans Saints, but two parish coaches can't see picking the local underdog in the biggest game of the season. |
Lady Wolves face new foes
With the return of all 10 starters, Monterey softball coach Hazel Brallier is looking for bigger things in a bigger district. |
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| Frank Morris Murder Series |
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