During a trip here last July to make a documentary on the 1964 killings of his brother and another black man, Thomas Moore stopped at a gas station outside of this town in southwestern Mississippi for a sandwich.

At the store, Mr. Moore lamented to a local man that one of the prime suspects in the killings had died, and the listener asked which one. "James Ford Seale," Mr. Moore replied. The newspapers had said so. Mr. Seale's own son had confirmed it.