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Klansman convicted of bombing dies

MONTGOMERY, Ala., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- The last suspect to be convicted in the 1963 Birmingham, Ala., church bombing that killed four young girls, has died of cancer at age 74.

Bobby Frank Cherry died Thursday at the Kilby Correctional Facility near Montgomery, where he was serving a life sentence, the Montgomery Advertiser reported Friday.

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"His actions were part of the series of events that took place in 1963, with Dr. Martin Luther King's demonstrations that year, to Gov. George Wallace's stand in the schoolhouse door and the assassination of Medgar Evers," historian Richard Bailey said.

Cherry was among three Ku Klux Klan members convicted in the bombing. He was convicted on four counts of murder and sentenced to life May 22, 2002.

Cherry was an early suspect, but evidence was lacking until new witnesses agreed to testify they heard him talking about it.

Also convicted were Robert Chambliss, who died in prison, and Thomas Blanton Jr., who remains in prison.

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