Edgar Ray Killen was convicted today in the Circuit Court of Neshoba County, Mississippi, Judge Marcus Gordon presiding. He was convicted of three counts of manslaughter, following the state's motion to amend the pleadings to include the lesser offense at the beginning of the trial.

Later, Ben Chaney thanked the prosecutors but said that for the community, "I really feel that there is more to be done."

"I'm glad the jury was able to see beyond this us against them attitude," he said. "I'd like to thank the white people who walked up to me and said things are changing. I think there's hope."

Rita Schwerner Bender, the widow of Michael Schwerner, hugged District Attorney Mark Duncan as she left the courthouse.

"Thank you," she told him. "Thank you."

Later, Schwerner Bender praised the verdict, calling it "a day of great importance to all of us." But she said others also should be held responsible for the slayings.

"Preacher Killen didn't act in a vacuum," Bender said. "The state of Mississippi was complicit in these crimes and all the crimes that occurred, and that has to be opened up."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson said the verdict was a compromise.

"You can't see Rev. Killen as a trophy from back during the civil rights struggle because the struggle continues," Jackson said in a telephone interview. "Rev. Killen did not act alone. This verdict will not offset the sting of death and betrayal. What he and did was an act of cold-blooded murder."

Jesse Jackson? WTF does he have to do with this case?

Additionally, what went wrong with the state's case? Why did they suddenly seek that manslaughter instruction?

Considering that the state's case was based primarily on old evidence from the civil rights trial of Killen and testimony from relatives of the deceased, and there were no surprises at trial, one has to wonder: why did the state indict for the top offense then chicken out? One obvious reason is to guarantee a conviction of some kind. But isn't securing a manslaughter conviction in place of a murder conviction a masterly coup on the part of the defense counsel, and a big downer for the state?