Olen Burrage, suspect in 1964 Klan slayings, dies

Olen Burrage, one of the men acquitted in the case of three civil rights workers killed by Ku Klux Klansmen in Mississippi in the 1960s, has died. He was 82.

The McClain-Hays Funeral Home Chapel in Philadelphia, Miss., says Burrage died Friday at Anderson Regional Medical Center in Meridian. His funeral was to be held Sunday. The funeral home did not release a cause of death. Burrage's death was first reported by the Clarion-Ledger newspaper (http://on.thec-l.com/1117H8h).

Burrage owned the land in Neshoba County where the three civil rights workers were buried under an earthen dam after KKK members killed them in 1964. He said he knew nothing about the killings and was acquitted of conspiracy in 1967.

The FBI called its investigation "Mississippi Burning" - later used as the title for a 1988 film based on the case.