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Suspect turns himself in after indictment in 1963 Birmingham church bombing

 b/w photo of funeral
Pallbearers carry the coffin of one of the four girls killed in the 1963 bombing at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama  

May 17, 2000
Web posted at: 1:14 p.m. EDT (1714 GMT)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CNN) -- A suspect in the 1963 bombing of Birmingham's Sixteenth Street Baptist Church turned himself in Wednesday after a grand jury indicted him in the bombing.

Thomas Blanton Jr. turned himself in to the Jefferson County jail, said his attorney David Luker.

The attorney said he had not seen the actual indictment but believed it was "for murder. I don't know of any other statute that would apply."

Asked what plea Blanton would enter to the charge, Luker said, "He has maintained his innocence since 1963."

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Luker said at least one other person was named in the indictment in addition to Blanton but could not say who. Jefferson County District Attorney David Barber was not immediately available for comment.

The Sunday morning bombing killed four girls -- 11-year-old Denise McNair, as well as 14-year-olds Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Addie Mae Collins.

The Jefferson County grand jury handed down the indictment after hearing two days of testimony.

At least three witnesses were called before the panel, attorneys said.

Barber said that the grand jury was continuing a federal probe that was reopened in 1997.

Ku Klux Klansman Robert Edward Chambliss was convicted in the case in 1977 and died in jail eight years later at the age of 81.

Authorities have said they suspected three other people were involved in the bombing.



RELATED STORIES:
FBI reopens probe into 1963 church bombing
July 10, 1997

RELATED SITES:
Welcome To The 16th Street Baptist Church Web Site
We Shall Overcome -- Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
Alabama Live Birmingham
Workers World July 24, 1997: FBI & Birmingham church bombing
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)


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