Bobby Frank Cherry: Difference between revisions

From Bhamwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
'''Bobby Frank Cherry''' ([[June 20]], [[1930]] in [[Mineral Springs]] - [[November 18]], [[2004]] at Kilby Correctional Facility, Montgomery) was a white man convicted in [[2002]] for the [[1963]] [[16th Street Baptist Church bombing]], which killed four African-American girls ([[Carole Robertson]], 14, [[Cynthia Wesley]], 14, [[Addie Mae Collins]], 14, and [[Denise McNair]], 11) and injured more than 20 others.  The bomb had been placed near the girls restroom and detonated shortly before the service, when the restroom was full of girls preparing for choir. Cherry was a former truck driver, and resident of Texas at the time of his indictment.
[[Image:Bobby Frank Cherry.jpg|right|thumb|225px|Bobby Frank Cherry, c. 2002. AP photo by LM Otero]]
'''Bobby Frank Cherry''' (born [[June 20]], [[1930]] in [[Mineral Springs]]; died [[November 18]], [[2004]] at Kilby Correctional Facility, Montgomery) was a white man convicted in [[2002]] for the [[1963]] [[16th Street Baptist Church bombing]], which killed four African-American girls ([[Carole Robertson]], 14, [[Cynthia Wesley]], 14, [[Addie Mae Collins]], 14, and [[Denise McNair]], 11) and injured more than 20 others.


== Murder Trial for 16th St. Church Bombing ==
Cherry was trained in explosives while serving in the U. S. Marine Corps, and worked as a truck driver after his discharge. He and his wife, Virginia, had seven children. He was active in the [[Eastview 13 Klavern]] of the [[United Klans of America]] during the 1950s–60s [[Civil Rights Movement]], and had participated in violence against [[Fred Shuttlesworth]] and other movement figures and sympathizers. He brought brass knuckles to use as weapons when Shuttlesworth attempted to enroll his children at [[Phillips High School]] in [[1957]]. He was also present at the [[May 11]], [[1963]] bombing of the [[Gaston Motel]] that followed on the heels of a [[Birmingham_Campaign#Resolution|truce]] in the [[Birmingham Campaign]] of marches and demonstrations.


Cherry, [["Dynamite Bob" Chambliss]], [[Thomas Blanton, Jr]], and [[Herman Frank Cash]] were named in [[1965]] by the FBI as the primary suspects in the bombing.  Chambliss was convicted in [[1977]].  It was not until the early 2000s when Cherry and Blanton were tried. Cash was never indicted before his death in [[1994]].  
== 1963 church bombing and investigation ==
{{main|1963 church bombing}}
Before the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church, Cherry had joined with [[Troy Ingram]], [[Robert Chambliss]] and [[Tommy Blanton]] in the "[[Cahaba River Group]]", an offshoot of Eastview 13 that pursued more violent methods of fighting integration. Evidence suggests that it was Cherry who actually carried the bomb from Blanton's car, parked at the western end of the alley bisecting [[Block 43]] behind the church, down the length of the alley and around the corner, placing it under a set of wooden stairs adjoining a window to a women's lounge in the basement. He retraced his steps and was picked up at the same location on [[15th Street North]] after Blanton had turned the car around.


Cherry was originally intended to be tried at the same time (though not jointly) as fellow defendant Thomas Blanton. Cherry was able to successfully delay his trial by claiming health reasons had impaired his mind and would prevent him from assisting in his own defense.  Blanton was convicted in [[2001]] and Cherry was ultimately found to be mentally competent to stand trial.  At his trial he denied involvement in the bombing as well as affiliation with the KKK, but was ultimately found to be guilty.
It has never been settled whether the bomb's timed detonator was set to go off during morning services, or if it malfunctioned, turning a planned night-time explosion into a fatal tragedy. Cherry established an alibi by having his 11-year-old son Tom affirm that they two of them had spent the whole morning printing Confederate flag placards at the [[Modern Sign Company]] a few blocks from the church (where the bomb may have been assembled).


Cherry's son testified that he was a member of United Klans of America, a Ku Klux Klan group, and relatives and friends testified that he "bragged" about being part of the bombing and his ex-wife testified, "He said he lit the fuse."
After the blast, local police, influenced by the hostile attitude of Public Safety Commissioner [[Bull Connor]], focussed on clearing the streets to prevent rioting rather than on gathering evidence for potential prosecution of the crime. The FBI, itself influenced by J. Edgar Hoover's view of the Civil Rights movement, withheld evidence that it had collected about Klan activities from prosecutors.


Additionally, secret tape recordings were presented as evidence.  These were the tapes that the FBI had gathered in its immediate investigation after the bombing and had subsequently been buried and rediscovered in [[1997]] and ultimately led to the prosecution of Blanton and Cherry.  A third man who had been an associate of the men had been recruited by the FBI investigators at the time.  He testified on the stand that his involvement with the KKK was more socially based than politically based (something that was very plausible at that time) and that the agents approached him and asked for his help.  He stated that he initially declined but was shown post-mortem photos of the young girls and became ill and vomited.  Deeply disturbed by what he had seen he agreed to help.
In [[1965]] the FBI died name Cherry, Chambliss, Blanton, and [[Herman Frank Cash]] as their primary suspects in the bombing. Chambliss was convicted in [[1977]]. Blanton was convicted in [[2001]], and Cash died in [[1994]] without facing trial.


The informant's assistance came in the form of "honky-tonking" or going to numerous bars with Blanton and Cherry with a very large reel to reel tape recorder in the trunk recording their conversations. He additionally took thorough notes after these meetings and also when they met and spoke outside of his car.  The informant testified that he was primarily friends with Blanton, but that Blanton was good friends with Cherry so he would join them sometimes when they went out.
== Later life ==
Virginia Cherry died of cancer in [[1968]]. Unable to support his seven children alone, he placed them at the [[Gateway Mercy Home]]. When Attorney General [[Bill Baxley]] reopened the bombing case in [[1971]], Cherry moved to the Dallas, Texas area. He was interviewed by investigator [[Bob Eddy]] at the Grand Prairie Police Station before Chambliss' trial in [[1977]], but did not provide evidence. He worked as a welder, cab driver, and carpet cleaner until suffering a heart attack in [[1988]]. He and his fifth wife, Myrtle, were residing in rural Henderson County, Texas when he was finally served with an indictment.


The recordings primarily contained racist sentiment. Most significantly, one recording from the car raised the subject of the 16th St. church bombing.  The men spoke of it with approval.  Blanton begins to say something that sounds as if he is about to implicate himself and Cherry by bragging, but Cherry (who was lesser acquainted with the informant) sharply cuts him off saying, "now, this good old boy doesn't need to know about that" and laughs it off.  The informant also reported other unrecorded overheard references to their involvement in the bombing.  
== 2002 murder trial ==
Cherry was able to successfully delay his trial by claiming that he was not mentally healthy enough to assist in his own defense. Once his mental competence was established, he maintained his innocence by denying all involvement with the KKK. On this point, he was undercut by his son, Tom, ex-wife Willadean Brogdon, and other associates who all testified that he had been openly involved in the Klan. Brogdan, her brother, Wayne, her daughter, Gloria, and Tom's daughter, Stacy, testified that Cherry had bragged about being part of the bombing, describing the bomb's construction and even claiming to have "lit the fuse".


Other evidence presented at his trial were videos of the same amount of explosives being demonstrated on a car in a field. The point of this was to show the force of the explosion at the church to counter the defense's suggestion that, though their client was not involved, that the purpose of the bomb may have been to scare the congregates without the intent to commit murder.  The strategy behind this suggestion was that even if the jury concluded that he was involved with the crime, that they should not find him guilty of deliberate murder.
The FBI presented secret tape recordings, never before revealed to prosecutors, which had been "rediscovered" in [[1993]]. FBI informant [[Mitchell Burns]] had made the tapes, and also gave testimony at the trial based on his experiences as a member of Eastview 13 and his friendship with Blanton. One of the tapes, made in [[1965]], recorded Cherry telling his then-wife, Jean, that "we were making the bomb" the Friday before the blast.


During the trial prosecutors "showed the jury a videotape of a white mob beating local civil rights leader [[Fred Shuttlesworth]] when he showed up to register his children at the all-white [[Parker High School]]."  At one point "prosecutors froze the film as a grinning, slender white man with a bulbous nose, wavy hair and a cigarette dangling from his mouth -- unmistakably a grinning young Bobby Frank Cherry -- was seen slamming his fist into the minister's head after pulling what appeared to be a set of brass knuckles from his back pocket."
Cherry was convicted in May [[2002]] on four counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison. His appeal was denied in the [[Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals]]. He died of cancer at the Kilby Correctional Facility at the age of 74. He was survived by his son, Tom, and daughter, Karen (Sunderland).


Through the trial, Cherry smiled and looked amused and could be seen joking with his lawyers and several supporters, not appearing to believe that the legal system which had explicitly protected him up to that point would send him to jail. He was convicted on four counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison where he died at the age of 74.  
The [[1997]] Spike Lee documentary "[[Four Little Girls]]" helped open the door for Cherry's prosecution, which was announced the day after the film premiered. The [[2002]] FX television movie "Sins of the Father" with Tom Sizemore starring as Cherry's son, Tom, was based on Cherry's crimes and later life.  


==References==
==References==
* Coloff, Pamela (April 2000) "[http://www.useekufind.com/peace/a_sinsofthefather.htm The Sins of the Father]" ''Texas Monthly''
* Bragg, Rick (May 15, 2002) "[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9907E1DE1139F935A25756C0A9649C8B63&pagewanted=print Man Says Dead Girls' Photo Led Him to Become Informer]" ''The New York Times''
* Lamb, Yvonne Shinhoster (November 19, 2004) "[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61428-2004Nov18.html Birmingham Bomber Bobby Frank Cherry Dies in Prison at 74]" ''The Washington Post''
* O'Donnell, Michele (November 19, 2004) "[http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/19/national/19cherry.html?_r=1 Bobby Frank Cherry, 74, Klansman in Bombing, Dies]" ''The New York Times''
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bobby_Frank_Cherry&oldid=252378604 Bobby Frank Cherry]. (2008, November 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 24, 2008.   
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bobby_Frank_Cherry&oldid=252378604 Bobby Frank Cherry]. (2008, November 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 24, 2008.   


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.geocities.com/bobbyfcherry Bobby Frank Cherry's Official Web Site]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0295613/ Sins of the Father] at IMDB.com


{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherry, Bobby Frank}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherry, Bobby Frank}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:USMC personnel]]
[[Category:Ku Klux Klan]]
[[Category:Ku Klux Klan]]
[[Category:Murderers]]
[[Category:Murderers]]
[[Category:Cancer deaths]]

Revision as of 01:51, 7 December 2010

Bobby Frank Cherry, c. 2002. AP photo by LM Otero

Bobby Frank Cherry (born June 20, 1930 in Mineral Springs; died November 18, 2004 at Kilby Correctional Facility, Montgomery) was a white man convicted in 2002 for the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, which killed four African-American girls (Carole Robertson, 14, Cynthia Wesley, 14, Addie Mae Collins, 14, and Denise McNair, 11) and injured more than 20 others.

Cherry was trained in explosives while serving in the U. S. Marine Corps, and worked as a truck driver after his discharge. He and his wife, Virginia, had seven children. He was active in the Eastview 13 Klavern of the United Klans of America during the 1950s–60s Civil Rights Movement, and had participated in violence against Fred Shuttlesworth and other movement figures and sympathizers. He brought brass knuckles to use as weapons when Shuttlesworth attempted to enroll his children at Phillips High School in 1957. He was also present at the May 11, 1963 bombing of the Gaston Motel that followed on the heels of a truce in the Birmingham Campaign of marches and demonstrations.

1963 church bombing and investigation

Main article: 1963 church bombing

Before the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church, Cherry had joined with Troy Ingram, Robert Chambliss and Tommy Blanton in the "Cahaba River Group", an offshoot of Eastview 13 that pursued more violent methods of fighting integration. Evidence suggests that it was Cherry who actually carried the bomb from Blanton's car, parked at the western end of the alley bisecting Block 43 behind the church, down the length of the alley and around the corner, placing it under a set of wooden stairs adjoining a window to a women's lounge in the basement. He retraced his steps and was picked up at the same location on 15th Street North after Blanton had turned the car around.

It has never been settled whether the bomb's timed detonator was set to go off during morning services, or if it malfunctioned, turning a planned night-time explosion into a fatal tragedy. Cherry established an alibi by having his 11-year-old son Tom affirm that they two of them had spent the whole morning printing Confederate flag placards at the Modern Sign Company a few blocks from the church (where the bomb may have been assembled).

After the blast, local police, influenced by the hostile attitude of Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor, focussed on clearing the streets to prevent rioting rather than on gathering evidence for potential prosecution of the crime. The FBI, itself influenced by J. Edgar Hoover's view of the Civil Rights movement, withheld evidence that it had collected about Klan activities from prosecutors.

In 1965 the FBI died name Cherry, Chambliss, Blanton, and Herman Frank Cash as their primary suspects in the bombing. Chambliss was convicted in 1977. Blanton was convicted in 2001, and Cash died in 1994 without facing trial.

Later life

Virginia Cherry died of cancer in 1968. Unable to support his seven children alone, he placed them at the Gateway Mercy Home. When Attorney General Bill Baxley reopened the bombing case in 1971, Cherry moved to the Dallas, Texas area. He was interviewed by investigator Bob Eddy at the Grand Prairie Police Station before Chambliss' trial in 1977, but did not provide evidence. He worked as a welder, cab driver, and carpet cleaner until suffering a heart attack in 1988. He and his fifth wife, Myrtle, were residing in rural Henderson County, Texas when he was finally served with an indictment.

2002 murder trial

Cherry was able to successfully delay his trial by claiming that he was not mentally healthy enough to assist in his own defense. Once his mental competence was established, he maintained his innocence by denying all involvement with the KKK. On this point, he was undercut by his son, Tom, ex-wife Willadean Brogdon, and other associates who all testified that he had been openly involved in the Klan. Brogdan, her brother, Wayne, her daughter, Gloria, and Tom's daughter, Stacy, testified that Cherry had bragged about being part of the bombing, describing the bomb's construction and even claiming to have "lit the fuse".

The FBI presented secret tape recordings, never before revealed to prosecutors, which had been "rediscovered" in 1993. FBI informant Mitchell Burns had made the tapes, and also gave testimony at the trial based on his experiences as a member of Eastview 13 and his friendship with Blanton. One of the tapes, made in 1965, recorded Cherry telling his then-wife, Jean, that "we were making the bomb" the Friday before the blast.

Cherry was convicted in May 2002 on four counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison. His appeal was denied in the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. He died of cancer at the Kilby Correctional Facility at the age of 74. He was survived by his son, Tom, and daughter, Karen (Sunderland).

The 1997 Spike Lee documentary "Four Little Girls" helped open the door for Cherry's prosecution, which was announced the day after the film premiered. The 2002 FX television movie "Sins of the Father" with Tom Sizemore starring as Cherry's son, Tom, was based on Cherry's crimes and later life.

References

External links

Retrieved from "http://bhamwiki.com/w/index.php?title=Bobby_Frank_Cherry&oldid=69572"