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Two suspects surrender in 1963 Birmingham church bombing

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: 1:33 p.m. EDT (1733 GMT)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CNN) The two surviving suspects in the 1963 bombing of Birmingham's Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, in which four girls died, surrendered Wednesday after a grand jury indicted them in connection with the bombing.

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

Several hours later, Bobby Frank Cherry, 69, who prosecutors have identified as the other surviving suspect in the case, also turned himself in to authorities.

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Luker 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." Cherry has also maintained that he is innocent.

Jefferson County District Attorney David Barber refused repeated attempts to get his comment on the case. Barber had said Tuesday that the grand jury was continuing a federal probe that was reopened in 1997.

Federal officials scheduled a news conference Wednesday afternoon to discuss the case.

The Sunday morning bombing killed four girls -- 11-year-old DeniseMcNair, 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.

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.

FBI reopens probe into 1963 church bombing
July 10, 1997

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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