John William King

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For people with similar names, see the disambiguation page at John King.

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John King was convicted of murdering James Byrd, Jr., in 1998. He was accused of beating Byrd with a bat and then dragging him behind a truck until he died. The testimony phase of his trial started in Jasper, Texas on February 16, 1999. He was found guilty of kidnapping and murder on February 23 and was sentenced to death on February 25.

King had previously been gang-raped in prison by black prisoners^[1] and, although he had no previous record of racism, had joined a white-supremacist prison gang, allegedly for self-protection. While in this group he was involved with many drug deals and prison gang murders/hazings. It may be that the killing of James Byrd Jr was seen as "revenge" by King.