8 Klan members arrested in woman's slaying

BOGALUSA, La., Nov. 12 (UPI) -- An Oklahoma woman was shot and killed by Ku Klux Klan members when she tried to back out of an initiation ceremony in Louisiana, authorities said.

Eight alleged members of the Bogalusa, La., chapter of the white supremacist organization were arrested, including Raymond "Chuck" Foster, who has been charged with shooting the unidentified woman to death, The Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans reported Wednesday.

Police told the newspaper the victim apparently found out about Foster's group, called the Sons of Dixie, through the Internet and signed up to recruit new Klan members in Oklahoma. St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain said he had recovered the woman's application.

Strain said the woman was killed Sunday night at a camp on a sandbar accessible only by boat after deciding she wanted to leave. Foster allegedly pushed the woman down and shot her with a .40-caliber handgun. The sheriff said the victim's body was found along a nearby county road.

Authorities were alerted when two alleged Klan members, including Foster's son, asked a convenience store clerk who knew them how to remove blood stains from clothing, Strain told The Times-Picayune.