Police: Woman slain as she tried to leave KKK rite

[samanthajane13]

COVINGTON, La. – An Oklahoma woman invited to a rural Louisiana campsite for a Ku Klux Klan initiation ritual was shot and killed after she asked to be taken back to town, the sheriff of a New Orleans suburb said Tuesday.

Eight people were arrested after authorities found the woman's body hidden under some brush, on the side of a road several miles from the remote campsite where the initiation was planned.

Investigators found weapons, several flags and six Klan robes at the campsite, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain said in a news release.

Strain said the woman, whose identity was not released, was recruited over the Internet to participate in the ritual and then return to her home state to find other members for the white supremacist group.

But Strain said the group's leader, Raymond "Chuck" Foster, 44, shot and killed the woman Sunday after a fight broke out when she tried to leave. Foster was charged with second-degree murder and is being held without bond.

Capt. George Bonnett, a spokesman for the sheriff's department, said he didn't know what the initiation involved.

"We haven't completely sorted out if they finished the initiation," he said. "I assume that they had started it, but I don't know if they were finished."

Bonnett said he doesn't know if Foster has an attorney. He also said that in three years with the department, this was the first time he had seen a case involving the KKK.

Seven others — five men and two women from 20 to 30 years old — were charged with obstruction of justice and were held on $500,000 bond at the St. Tammany Parish jail. All eight of the suspects live in neighboring Washington Parish, but Bonnett said he couldn't immediately identify their hometowns.

Authorities said some of the suspects tried to conceal the crime by burning the woman's belongings along with other items at the campsite.

Strain said the woman arrived in the Slidell, La., area last week and was met by two people connected to the Klan group. She was taken over the weekend to the campsite near Sun, La., on the banks of the Pearl River. Sun is about 60 miles north of New Orleans.

Authorities said the group's members called themselves the "Dixie Brotherhood."

"The IQ level of this group is not impressive, to be kind," Strain said, adding, "I can't imagine anyone feeling endangered or at risk by any one of these kooks."

Mark Pitcavage, directive of investigative research for the Anti-Defamation League, said the Dixie Brotherhood appears to be a small, loosely organized group of people.

"This is not what I would call an established Klan group," he said. "The Klan has a pretty high association with violence. Some of these guys are just crooks, sociopaths."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081112/...s/klan_slaying

[One2Snoop]

OMG! I know I shouldn't be shocked but I am.

[joelpietersen]

Yeah, this is certainly shocking. I had to read this several to confirm if I read the right thing.

[William Anthony]

It appears that they are dumb enough to be dangerous.

[Seashell]

Bonnett said he doesn't know if Foster has an attorney. He also said that in three years with the department, this was the first time he had seen a case involving the KKK.

yeah sure, he doesnt know what is going on in his own backgarden?
please give me a break.

[SaraSidle]

Originally Posted by samanthajane13

COVINGTON, La. – An Oklahoma woman invited to a rural Louisiana campsite for a Ku Klux Klan initiation ritual was shot and killed after she asked to be taken back to town, the sheriff of a New Orleans suburb said Tuesday.

Eight people were arrested after authorities found the woman's body hidden under some brush, on the side of a road several miles from the remote campsite where the initiation was planned.

Investigators found weapons, several flags and six Klan robes at the campsite, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain said in a news release.

Strain said the woman, whose identity was not released, was recruited over the Internet to participate in the ritual and then return to her home state to find other members for the white supremacist group.

But Strain said the group's leader, Raymond "Chuck" Foster, 44, shot and killed the woman Sunday after a fight broke out when she tried to leave. Foster was charged with second-degree murder and is being held without bond.

Capt. George Bonnett, a spokesman for the sheriff's department, said he didn't know what the initiation involved.

"We haven't completely sorted out if they finished the initiation," he said. "I assume that they had started it, but I don't know if they were finished."

Bonnett said he doesn't know if Foster has an attorney. He also said that in three years with the department, this was the first time he had seen a case involving the KKK.

Seven others — five men and two women from 20 to 30 years old — were charged with obstruction of justice and were held on $500,000 bond at the St. Tammany Parish jail. All eight of the suspects live in neighboring Washington Parish, but Bonnett said he couldn't immediately identify their hometowns.

Authorities said some of the suspects tried to conceal the crime by burning the woman's belongings along with other items at the campsite.

Strain said the woman arrived in the Slidell, La., area last week and was met by two people connected to the Klan group. She was taken over the weekend to the campsite near Sun, La., on the banks of the Pearl River. Sun is about 60 miles north of New Orleans.

Authorities said the group's members called themselves the "Dixie Brotherhood."

"The IQ level of this group is not impressive, to be kind," Strain said, adding, "I can't imagine anyone feeling endangered or at risk by any one of these kooks."

Mark Pitcavage, directive of investigative research for the Anti-Defamation League, said the Dixie Brotherhood appears to be a small, loosely organized group of people.

"This is not what I would call an established Klan group," he said. "The Klan has a pretty high association with violence. Some of these guys are just crooks, sociopaths."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081112/...s/klan_slaying

Now being from the north I have always thought about following through on this whole scenario (before I was Married). I am so proud of this woman and I know most people would think she was dumb but I find her courageous and wish I could have done something similar. Klan or not we have to start somewhere............IMO sara

[SaraSidle]

Originally Posted by Seashell

Bonnett said he doesn't know if Foster has an attorney. He also said that in three years with the department, this was the first time he had seen a case involving the KKK.

yeah sure, he doesnt know what is going on in his own backgarden?
please give me a break.

O/T miss you lots

[samanthajane13]

Grand jury to hear alleged KKK initiation slaying
By KEVIN McGILL
Associated Press Writer

A grand jury will gather Wednesday to consider formal charges for eight suspected Ku Klux Klan members arrested in the death of an Oklahoma woman.

Police have said Cynthia Lynch, 43, of Tulsa, was recruited to join a Louisiana-based KKK group over the Internet and was shot to death in November when she tried to leave an initiation. Police have said the group's leader, Raymond Foster, 44, killed Lynch.

He has been booked on a second-degree murder charge. Seven others, including Foster's 20-year-old son Shane, were booked on obstruction of justice charges.

The grand jury will begin hearing the case Wednesday, said Rick Wood, a spokesman for the District Attorney's Office in St. Tammany Parish, north of New Orleans. He would not give any details on what evidence may be presented.

Authorities said at the time of Lynch's killing they believed she had a falling out with a head of the group, referred to alternately as the Sons of Dixie or the Dixie Brotherhood. She is believed to have been shot to death on or about Nov. 9.

Investigators said they found weapons, Confederate flags and six Klan robes at the campsite where Lynch was killed. Lynch's former attorney had described her has a lonely and troubled person who likely reached out to the group to seek a sense of belonging.

Investigators said statements from suspects suggested Lynch had gone through the initiation but didn't mix well with Foster, and was ready to leave after two days.

All the suspects are from Washington Parish, which was infamous for Klan activity in the 1960s. The organization is now considered loosely organized.

Raymond Foster, his son and most of the other suspects remained jailed Tuesday. Foster's bond was set at $500,000. Bonds for the other suspects varied.

A message left for Raymond Foster's attorney was not returned Tuesday.

Attorneys for two other defendants said Tuesday their clients did nothing wrong.

Ernest Barrow III, attorney for Andrew Yates, 20, said his client arrived by boat at the site where authorities say the killing occurred apparently after Lynch was already shot. People were running out of the woods, and Yates alleges that Raymond Foster stole the boat at gunpoint and took the body away, Barrow said.

"He didn't witness the shooting. He witnessed people putting the body inside his stolen boat," Barrow said of his client.

Jerry Fontenot said his client, Timothy Watkins, 30, was near the site but didn't see the shooting. Watkins didn't call police because the alleged shooter was armed, Fontenot said.

Yates was still in jail as of Tuesday. Fontenot was free on $10,000 bond.


http://www.buffalonews.com/260/story/582167.html

[samanthajane13]

Grand jury indicts alleged KKK group leader in La.
By KEVIN McGILL, Associated Press Writer Kevin Mcgill, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 57 mins ago



NEW ORLEANS – The alleged leader of a Ku Klux Klan group was indicted on a second-degree murder charge Wednesday in the shooting death of an Oklahoma woman who police said was killed during an initiation in south Louisiana.

A grand jury indicted Raymond Foster, 44, and three other suspected group members in the death of Cynthia Lynch, 43, of Tulsa, Okla. She was recruited to join the group over the Internet and was shot to death when a disagreement arose during an initiation in November, authorities have said.

Foster's 20-year-old son Shane and another suspect were indicted on an obstruction of justice charge by the grand jury meeting about 30 miles north of New Orleans in St. Tammany Parish. A fourth suspect was charged as an accessory after the fact.

Four others arrested in the case were not indicted.

Investigators said they found weapons, Confederate flags and six Klan robes at the campsite where Lynch was killed.

All the suspects are from Washington Parish, where the Klan flourished in the 1960s. Now, however, the KKK is considered weak and loosely organized at the local and national levels.

Lynch's former attorney had described her as lonely and troubled and said she may have sought a sense of belonging with the group — referred to at times as the Sons of Dixie or the Dixie Brotherhood. Investigators said in November that statements from suspects suggested Lynch didn't get along with Raymond Foster and was shot after she asked to be taken away from the initiation site, a remote camp in northern St. Tammany Parish, near the Washington Parish line.

In November, Sheriff Jack Strain said an investigation began soon after the shooting when two members of the group went to a convenience store and asked a clerk how to remove blood from clothing. She notified the sheriff's office.

Foster would face mandatory life in prison if convicted on the second-degree murder charge. His attorney did not return a call for comment Wednesday.

Franky Stafford, 21, was also indicted on an obstruction of justice charged, which carries a maximum of 40 years in prison. Danielle Jones, 24, was indicted on the accessory charge, which carries a maximum sentence of five years.

Jones' attorney said she was innocent. Shane Foster's lawyer wanted to review the indictment before commenting and Stafford's attorney did not immediately return a call.

Those not charged were Timothy Watkins, 30, Andrew Yates, 20, Random Hines, 28, and Alicia Watkins, 23. Timothy Watkins and Hines were already free on bail; attorneys for the others were working for their release, noting that they had been held past Louisiana's 60-day limit for incarceration without formal charges.

An attorney for Yates has said his client arrived by boat, apparently after Lynch was shot. People were running out of the woods, and Yates alleges that Raymond Foster stole the boat at gunpoint and took the body away, attorney Ernest Barrow III said.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090219/...s/klan_slaying