Cold cases
Below are capsule summaries of cases that have been authorized for release by the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board. Clicking on a case will bring you to a more extensive synopsis of that incident, as well as to a link that will take you to the National Archives’ Civil Rights Cold Case Records Portal, where the case file may be viewed.
The Board takes into account many factors in determining which cases it wants to examine for potential release. Given its statutory time constraints, the Board is focused on prioritizing cases that are representative of the diverse nature of civil rights cold cases. Currently, the Board is required to terminate its work no later than January, 2027.
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George Powell Jr. was born in Cullman, Alabama in 1925. At the time of the incident, he was 29 and incarcerated at Buford Rock Quarry Prison Camp in Gwinnett County, Georgia, where he was serving a 2- to 10-year sentence for robbery.
Howard Wilpitz was a 29-year-old native of Brookshire, Texas, who worked as a rice hand. He had three children with ex-wife Lessie Jackson.
Flam Belle was born in Glennville, Georgia in 1919. Convicted of murder in Tattnall County, Georgia in 1940, he began serving a life sentence on April 24 of that year.
Della McDuffie was a 66-year-old resident of Wilcox County, Alabama. She and her husband, Will McDuffie, owned and operated Della’s Place, a cafe in Alberta, Alabama. They had one son.
Atmos Shaw was a 42-year-old miner who lived in Shelby, Alabama. He and his wife, Cleosie Grisby, had three children.