Apr. 27, 1963 - In Gadsden, Alabama tonight, Etowah County Sheriff Dewey Colvard said first-degree murder charges would be filed against a DeKalb County man in the slaying of William L. Moore (pictured), a white Baltimore mailman who was walking to Jackson, Miss., to protest against the treatment of Negroes there. Mr. Moore’s body was found near Gadsden. Sheriff Colvard said the charges would be placed on Monday against Floyd Simpson, a 40-year-old grocer of the Collbran community. The sheriff said Mr. Simpson, the father of six children, would not be charged tonight “because of the inconvenience it might cause officials.” Mr. Colvard made known the plan less than an hour after receiving a partial report on a ballistics test on a .22-caliber rifle and one of the bullets that killed Mr. Moore Tuesday night. The sheriff would not say whether this prompted the charge. The sheriff said the rifle belonged to Mr. Simpson. The ballistics tests were made by the FBI. Mr. Simpson, who has been held on an open charge since noon Thursday, had been questioned extensively. Sheriff Colvard said Mr. Simpson had not been given a lie detector test.
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