Donald Raspberry

Donald Raspberry, 19, was shot and killed inside the home of his employer, Garland H. “Dick” Anderson, in Okolona on February 27, 1965. Anderson said he had come to suspect someone was breaking into his house and stayed home that day to catch the thief; he claimed that when Raspberry removed a window screen and entered, he shot him in self-defense. Anderson was the only known witness to the shooting. He was charged by the state, and at a preliminary hearing in Chickasaw County Justice Court a week later, he maintained his self-defense account. No further prosecution followed. The DOJ's Civil Rights Division reviewed the case decades later and closed it in 2010 after determining Anderson had since died.

Okolona, MS · Chickasaw County

• 1965: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• Victim identity and the February 27, 1965 date and circumstances, per the DOJ's public case file and PBS FRONTLINE's “Un(re)solved” case summary.
• Garland Anderson was charged by the state and gave a self-defense account at a preliminary hearing; no further prosecution occurred, per the same sources.

• Whether Anderson's account of Raspberry breaking into the house was accurate was never tested at trial.
• Why the case did not proceed beyond the preliminary hearing stage was not fully documented in the available record.

• PBS FRONTLINE Un(re)solved — case summary
• U.S. Department of Justice — Notice to Close File
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs