NATCHEZ &045; Judge Mary Toles was pleased with Tuesday’s Edgar Ray Killen verdict, but something made her happiness incomplete at the end of the day.

&uot;I was a little disheartened that Mr. Killen didn’t seem to have any remorse for the killings,&uot; she said.

Toles said she was apprehensive that someone from the outside would contact the jurors in pursuit of a swayed verdict.

Self-described as a behind-the-scenes person in the Civil Rights movement during the 1960s, Toles said things have changed but she would like to see more cases like this one reopen.

One particular case involves Wharlest Jackson, treasurer of the NAACP during the 1960s in Natchez, who was killed by a bomb planted in his car in 1967.

&uot;No one has been brought to justice for that,&uot; Toles said.

Natchez residents are no strangers to the struggles for Civil Rights during the 1960s. Natchez Mayor Philip West was a civil rights activist in Natchez. It was a very dangerous time, West said.

The jurors’ decision Tuesday gave West a sense of closure.

&uot;I’m glad that chapter can be put behind us, with this incident anyway, of a lost life,&uot; he said.

Forty-one years was too long to wait for the family, West said. &uot;(The family of the victims) feel some relief, but it would be difficult for them to say justice was completely served,&uot; West said.

The Rev. David O’Connor of St. Mary Basilica wasn’t actively involved in the Civil Rights movement, but he dealt with the very men who were involved in the killings. O’Connor worked in Meridian during 1964 where the Freedom Fighters had their headquarters, near Philadelphia &045; the place where the boys were killed.

&uot;There was a lot of tension in those days,&uot; O’Connor said.

O’Connor was sent away on an assignment before the three killings took place, but threats surrounded the town even before he left.

&uot;There were quite a number of cross burnings,&uot; O’Connor said.

He was familiar with some of the threat victims and one of the civil rights workers.

&uot;I was very close to it,&uot; O’Connor said.

O’Connor said he was surprised that the jury found Killen guilty.

&uot;In any jury, there’s such a easy chance for someone to hold out,&uot; he said.

O’Connor felt the outcome of the previous trial in 1967 for the charge of violating the victims’ civil rights was unfair. The men who were openly involved in a killing got off easy, he said.

Even if the verdict was not guilty, just opening the case healed an opened wound, O’Connor said.

&uot;These men were killed in a most unjust situation, and now there’s some closure to the case,&uot; he said.