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{{Infobox criminal
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Robert Edward Chambliss
| name = Robert Edward Chambliss
| image =
| image = Robert Edward Chambliss.jpg
| image_size =
| image_size =
| alt =
| alt =
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| allegiance = <!-- [[Lucchese crime family]] -->
| allegiance = <!-- [[Lucchese crime family]] -->
| motive = [[White supremacy]]
| motive = [[White supremacy]]
| conviction = [[First degree murder]] (4 counts)
| conviction = [[First degree murder]]
| reward_amount =
| reward_amount =
| wanted_by =
| wanted_by =
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| criminal_status = [[Deceased]]
| criminal_status = [[Deceased]]
}}
}}
'''Robert Edward Chambliss''' (January 14, 1904 – October 29, 1985), also known as ''Dynamite Bob'',<ref name=chambliss-obit/> was a [[white supremacist]] [[terrorist]] convicted in 1977 of murder for his role as conspirator in the [[16th Street Baptist Church bombing]] in 1963. A member of the [[United Klans of America]], Chambliss also [[firebombing|firebombed]] the houses of several [[African American]] families in [[Alabama]].{{fact|date=August 2021}}
'''Robert Edward Chambliss''' (January 14, 1904 – October 29, 1985), also known as "'''Dynamite Bob'''",<ref name=chambliss-obit/> was a [[white supremacist]] [[terrorist]] convicted in 1977 of murder for his role as conspirator in the [[16th Street Baptist Church bombing]] in 1963. A member of the [[United Klans of America]], Chambliss also [[firebombing|firebombed]] the houses of several [[African American]] families in [[Alabama]].{{fact|date=August 2021}}


==Investigation and conviction==
==Investigation and conviction==
A May 13, 1965 memo to [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) director [[J. Edgar Hoover]] identified Chambliss, [[Bobby Frank Cherry]], [[Herman Frank Cash]] and [[Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr.]] as suspects in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four young African-American girls.<ref name=clary-lat>{{cite news|last1=Clary|first1=Mike|title=Birmingham's Painful Past Reopened|url=https://articles.latimes.com/2001/apr/14/news/mn-50901|accessdate=21 June 2014|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=14 April 2001}}</ref>
A May 13, 1965, memo to [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) director [[J. Edgar Hoover]] identified Chambliss, [[Bobby Frank Cherry]], [[Herman Frank Cash]] and [[Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr.]] as suspects in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four young African-American girls.<ref name=clary-lat>{{cite news|last1=Clary|first1=Mike|title=Birmingham's Painful Past Reopened|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-apr-14-mn-50901-story.html|access-date=21 June 2014|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=14 April 2001}}</ref>


The investigation was originally closed in 1968; no charges were filed. Years later it was found that the [[FBI]] had accumulated evidence against the named suspects that had not been revealed to the prosecutors by order of [[J. Edgar Hoover]]. Edgar Hoover stopped and shut down the investigation in 1968. The files were used by Alabama [[attorney general]] [[Bill Baxley]] to reopen the case in 1971.<ref name=clary-lat /> In 1977 Chambliss was convicted of murder for the bombing and sentenced to several terms of life imprisonment. He died in Lloyd Noland Hospital and Health Center in Birmingham on October 29, 1985,<ref name=chambliss-obit>{{cite news|title=Robert E. Chambliss, Figure in '63 Bombing|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/30/us/robert-e-chambliss-figure-in-63-bombing.html|accessdate=21 June 2014|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=30 October 1985}}</ref> still proclaiming his innocence. He was 81.
The investigation was originally closed in 1968; no charges were filed. Years later it was found that the [[FBI]] had accumulated evidence against the named suspects that had not been revealed to the prosecutors by order of [[J. Edgar Hoover]]. Edgar Hoover stopped and shut down the investigation in 1968. The files were used by Alabama [[attorney general]] [[Bill Baxley]] to reopen the case in 1971.<ref name=clary-lat /> In 1977, Chambliss was convicted of first degree murder for the bombing in the death of Carol Denise McNair. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Chambliss died in Lloyd Noland Hospital and Health Center in Birmingham on October 29, 1985,<ref name=chambliss-obit>{{cite news|title=Robert E. Chambliss, Figure in '63 Bombing|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/30/us/robert-e-chambliss-figure-in-63-bombing.html|accessdate=21 June 2014|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=30 October 1985}}</ref> still proclaiming his innocence. He was 81.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chambliss v. State |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/alabama/court-of-appeals-criminal/1979/373-so-2d-1185-0.html |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=Justia Law |language=en}}</ref>


Chambliss served his sentence in a prison near [[Montgomery, Alabama]].<ref name=raines-nyt>{{cite news|last1=Raines|first1=Howell|title=Alabama Presses the Klan to Answer for Its Most Heinous Bombing|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/21/opinion/alabama-presses-the-klan-to-answer-for-its-most-heinous-bombing.html|accessdate=21 June 2014|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=20 May 2000}}</ref>
Chambliss served his sentence in the [[St. Clair Correctional Facility]] near [[Springville, Alabama]].<ref name=raines-nyt>{{cite news|last1=Raines|first1=Howell|title=Alabama Presses the Klan to Answer for Its Most Heinous Bombing|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/21/opinion/alabama-presses-the-klan-to-answer-for-its-most-heinous-bombing.html|accessdate=21 June 2014|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=20 May 2000}}</ref>

⚫
==References==
⚫
{{Reflist}}

⚫
==Further reading==
⚫
*{{cite book|last1=Sikora|first1=Frank|title=Until Justice Rolls Down: The Birmingham Church Bombing Case|date=2005|publisher=University of Alabama Press|isbn=9780817352684}}


==See also==
==See also==
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*[[Birmingham campaign]]
*[[Birmingham campaign]]
*[[Mass racial violence in the United States]]
*[[Mass racial violence in the United States]]

⚫
==References==
⚫
{{Reflist}}

⚫
==Further reading==
⚫
*{{cite book|last1=Sikora|first1=Frank|title=Until Justice Rolls Down: The Birmingham Church Bombing Case|date=2005|publisher=University of Alabama Press|isbn=9780817352684}}


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:1963 murders in the United States]]
[[Category:20th-century American criminals]]
[[Category:20th-century American criminals]]
[[Category:American Ku Klux Klan members convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American Ku Klux Klan members convicted of murder]]
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[[Category:Prisoners who died in Alabama detention]]
[[Category:Prisoners who died in Alabama detention]]
[[Category:Serial bombers]]
[[Category:Serial bombers]]



{{US-crime-bio-stub}}
{{US-crime-bio-stub}}

Latest revision as of 03:15, 19 November 2024

Robert Edward Chambliss
Born(1904-01-14)January 14, 1904
Pratt City, Alabama, U.S.
DiedOctober 29, 1985(1985-10-29) (aged 81)
Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Resting placeElmwood Cemetery (Birmingham, Alabama)
NationalityAmerican
Other names"Dynamite Bob"
Known forParticipant in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing
Criminal statusDeceased
MotiveWhite supremacy
Conviction(s)First degree murder
Criminal penaltyLife imprisonment
Accomplice(s)

Robert Edward Chambliss (January 14, 1904 – October 29, 1985), also known as "Dynamite Bob",[1] was a white supremacist terrorist convicted in 1977 of murder for his role as conspirator in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963. A member of the United Klans of America, Chambliss also firebombed the houses of several African American families in Alabama.[citation needed]

Investigation and conviction

[edit]

A May 13, 1965, memo to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director J. Edgar Hoover identified Chambliss, Bobby Frank Cherry, Herman Frank Cash and Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. as suspects in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four young African-American girls.[2]

The investigation was originally closed in 1968; no charges were filed. Years later it was found that the FBI had accumulated evidence against the named suspects that had not been revealed to the prosecutors by order of J. Edgar Hoover. Edgar Hoover stopped and shut down the investigation in 1968. The files were used by Alabama attorney general Bill Baxley to reopen the case in 1971.[2] In 1977, Chambliss was convicted of first degree murder for the bombing in the death of Carol Denise McNair. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Chambliss died in Lloyd Noland Hospital and Health Center in Birmingham on October 29, 1985,[1] still proclaiming his innocence. He was 81.[3]

Chambliss served his sentence in the St. Clair Correctional Facility near Springville, Alabama.[4]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Robert E. Chambliss, Figure in '63 Bombing". The New York Times. 30 October 1985. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  2. ^ a b Clary, Mike (14 April 2001). "Birmingham's Painful Past Reopened". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  3. ^ "Chambliss v. State". Justia Law. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  4. ^ Raines, Howell (20 May 2000). "Alabama Presses the Klan to Answer for Its Most Heinous Bombing". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 June 2014.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Sikora, Frank (2005). Until Justice Rolls Down: The Birmingham Church Bombing Case. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 9780817352684.


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