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Today in True Crime History: February 26
1965 — Jimmie Lee Jackson, a civil rights activist and veteran, is beaten and shot by Alabama state troopers during a peaceful march for voting rights in Marion. Jackson’s death was one inspiration for the marches from Selma to Montgomery that year. In 2005, James Bonard Fowler admitted that he was the one who killed Jackson, but claimed it was self-defense. Fowler pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to six months.
2012 — Teenager Trayvon Martin is shot and killed while walking home in his father’s neighborhood.
2014 — Nancy Pfister is found murdered in her Rocky Mountain home. She had been beaten with several items and left in her walk-in closet. The murder was especially shocking because Pfister was well-known in the community. In 2014, one of her roommates was convicted of the murder, which was apparently linked to a financial dispute.
