Solving A 1964 Cold Case: Mystery Of Frank Morris

January 12, 2011 9:08 PM

In December 1964, Frank Morris' shoe shop was set ablaze in the middle of the night. Still inside at the time, Morris was severely injured; he died four days later at a nearby hospital in Ferriday, La. Like many Southern crimes against blacks in the 1960s — an era of racial strife dominated by criminal activities by the Ku Klux Klan — the incident went unsolved, despite an FBI investigation at the time.
A vast amount of research and investigation by the Civil Rights Cold Case Project (especially Stanley Nelson on this case) is described in gripping detail in the documentary David Ridgen brings us here called Murder at The Shoe Shop (MP3 download link).

You can find Stanley Nelson's story in today's edition of the Concordia Sentinel.

| FBI Response | CNN | NPR | NEW YORK TIMES | CBC

Feds vow to solve Frank Morris murder

In recent weeks, the Federal Bureau of Investigation intensified its efforts to solve the 1964 arson-murder of Ferriday shoe shop owner Frank Morris, leading a top FBI official to declare last week that the agency "will solve this crime."

The FBI's fresh activity evolved after the Concordia Sentinel began asking the FBI in November 2010 to comment on information that implicated Arthur Leonard Spencer of Richland Parish in the arson of Morris' shoe shop. Morris died at Concordia Parish Hospital as a result of injuries he sustained in the arson four days after his shoe shop was burned on Dec. 10, 1964.

Last week, Cynthia Deitle, chief of the FBI's Civil Rights Unit, declined to confirm that agents were investigating Spencer. She said the FBI "will not rest until the truth is uncovered."

Resources On The Frank Morris Case
Concorida Sentinel: Rayville Man Implicated In Morris Case
Concordia Sentinel: Feds Vow To Solve Morris Murder
Civil Rights Cold Case Project: Frank Morris Case
Civil Rights Cold Case Project: Frank Morris Case Archives

Don't miss the other articles that Stanley Nelson has written on the topic. Civil Rights Cold Case Project announcement previously.

posted by infinite intimation (2 comments total)

Sad. Angry. Hopeful.
posted by zombieApoc at 9:13 PM on January 12, 2011

As the poet said, 'Murder will out.'
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 11:18 PM on January 12, 2011 [1 favorite]