[JURIST] James Ford Seale [Wikipedia profile], alleged to have been a member of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) [JURIST news archive], was sentenced to three life sentences Friday for his role in the kidnapping and death of two 19-year old teens in Mississippi in 1964. Seale was convicted [JURIST report] in June of two counts of kidnapping resulting in death and one count conspiracy. Seale was previously arrested on suspicion of kidnapping Henry Dee and Charles Moore, who were later found dead in the Mississippi River, but was released in 1964 due to a lack of evidence. Federal prosecutors revived the case, largely relying on the testimony of Charles Marcus Edwards, a former fellow KKK member who received immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony.

The Seale case was one of several recently re-opened civil rights-era cases [US News backgrounder]. Authorities reopened Seale's case following the 2005 conviction of Edgar Ray Killen [JURIST report] for the 1964 deaths of three civil rights activists. CBC News has more.