Henry "Dickie" Marrow Jr.

Henry "Dickie" Marrow Jr., 23, an Army veteran, walked to Robert Teel's store in Oxford on the evening of May 11, 1970 to buy a Coca-Cola. When Marrow spoke to a young white woman near the store, Teel and two other family members interpreted it as offensive, chased Marrow into the parking lot, beat him, and shot him; he died the next day. At trial that July, an all-white jury heard eyewitnesses identify Larry Teel as the shooter, but a defense witness, Roger Oakley, unexpectedly testified that he had fired the fatal shot himself, by accident. All three men — Robert Teel, Larry Teel, and Oakley — were acquitted on all counts; the prosecutor called the verdict "absolutely the worst miscarriage of justice I have ever seen." The killing and acquittal set off riots and arson in Oxford and led to an 18-month boycott of white-owned businesses, organized by Marrow's cousin Benjamin Chavis, that eventually forced the desegregation of the town's public facilities. The case is the subject of Timothy B. Tyson's book "Blood Done Sign My Name" and its 2010 film adaptation.

Oxford, NC · Granville County

• 1970: 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, background, and the May 11–12, 1970 date and circumstances, per the DOJ's public case file and extensive contemporaneous and historical reporting.
• Robert Teel, Larry Teel, and Roger Oakley were tried on murder and related charges in July 1970 and acquitted on all counts by an all-white jury.

• No one was ever convicted in the killing.
• Which of the men actually fired the fatal shot was disputed at trial and never resolved; eyewitnesses and a defendant's own testimony gave conflicting accounts.

• U.S. Department of Justice — case file
• North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources — case summary
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs