Negro's Death In Jail Probed
Item
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Title
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Negro's Death In Jail Probed
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Source Type
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Newspapers
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Publisher
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Rushville Republican
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Publication Place
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Rushville, IN
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Publication Date
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11/23/1966
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Transcript
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Negro's Death In Jail Probed WETUMPKA, Ala. (AP) - State and federal agents have entered the investigation of the death of James Earl Motley, whose body was carried from the Elmore County jail Sunday. Sheriff Lester Holley says he is awaiting the outcome of an autopsy he ordered to determine how the Wetumpka Negro died. Companions of the dead man claim he was beaten by an officer when he refused to be arrested. Sheriff Holley said Tuesday night that without the state toxicologist's report on the autopsy, it isn't known whether Mot- ley, 27, "died of natural causes or whether foul play was involved." The FBI said Tuesday that it was investigating a complaint to the Justice Department stemming from Motley's death. Sheriff Holley said Motley was arrested Sunday on charges of highway drunkenness and resisting arrest. An employee of a Wetumpka funeral home, Clancey Murkison, said he picked up Motley's body at the jail Sunday. He said the body was covered with blood which appeared to be several hours old.
