Editing Andrew Goodman (activist) (section)

==Reinvestigation==
[[File:GoodmanSchwernerChaneyMemorial.JPG|thumb|A memorial to victims Andrew Goodman, [[James Earl Chaney]], and [[Michael H. Schwerner]] at Mt. Nebo Missionary Baptist Church, [[Philadelphia, Mississippi]]. See [[murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner]].]]
Journalist [[Jerry Mitchell (investigative reporter)|Jerry Mitchell]], an award-winning investigative reporter for the ''[[Jackson Clarion-Ledger]]'', had written extensively about the case for many years. Mitchell, who had already earned fame for helping secure convictions in several other high-profile civil rights era murder cases, including the assassination of [[Medgar Evers]] in Jackson, Mississippi, the Birmingham, Alabama [[16th Street Baptist Church bombing]], and the murder of [[Vernon Dahmer]] in Mississippi, developed new evidence, found new witnesses and pressured the state to take action. Barry Bradford, an Illinois high-school teacher later famous for helping clear the name of civil rights martyr [[Clyde Kennard]], and three students, Allison Nichols, Sarah Siegel, and Brittany Saltiel, joined Mitchell's efforts.

Bradford and his students' documentary, produced for the National History Day contest, presented important new evidence and compelling reasons for reopening the Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner case. They also obtained an interview with [[Edgar Ray Killen]], which helped persuade the state to open the case for investigation. Mitchell was able to determine the identity of "Mr. X", the mystery informer who had helped the FBI discover the bodies and smash the conspiracy of the Klan in 1964, in part using evidence developed by Bradford and the students.

On January 7, 2005, [[Edgar Ray Killen]] was arrested. He was found guilty of three counts of [[manslaughter]]{{snd}}not murder{{snd}}on June 21, 2005, exactly 41 years to the day after the murders. He was sentenced to sixty years in prison—twenty years for each count, to be served consecutively.  He appealed the verdict, but the sentence was upheld on April 12, 2007, by the Supreme Court of Mississippi.<ref name="Jewish" /> He died in prison on January 11, 2018, at age 93.

On June 20, 2016, just one day ahead of the 52nd anniversary of the murders, [[Jim Hood|Attorney General Hood]] announced an end to the federal and state investigations into the 'Mississippi Murders', officially closing the case.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mitchell|first1=Jerry|title=AG Jim Hood: 'Mississippi Burning' case closed|url=http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2016/06/20/jim-hood-mississippi-burning/86134824/|website=www.ClarionLedger.com|publisher=The Clarion-Ledger|access-date=20 June 2016}}</ref>