Samuel O'Quinn

Samuel O'Quinn, 58, a businessman who ran a funeral home, a cafe, and farmland in Centreville, was shot twice in the back with a shotgun on the night of August 14, 1959 as he opened the gates to his property; he died on the way to the hospital. No witnesses were identified, and neither state police nor the FBI's investigation at the time named a suspect. Local media reported at the time that O'Quinn was active with the NAACP and speculated his death was politically motivated; a white glove found at the scene was later thought by family to be a White Citizens' Council calling card. A 2012 DOJ memo reviewing the case reached a different conclusion, stating that the limited surviving investigative material "indicates that O'Quinn may have been murdered by a person or persons interested in obtaining his land" rather than for political activity — a reminder that even the motive behind a killing can remain genuinely disputed decades later. The DOJ closed its file in 2012 without identifying a suspect.

Centreville, MS · Wilkinson County

• 1959: 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 August 14, 1959 date and circumstances, per the DOJ's public case file.
• No suspect was ever identified by state or federal investigators, per the same file.

• The motive remains genuinely disputed: contemporary reporting pointed to O'Quinn's NAACP activity, while the DOJ's 2012 review pointed to a land dispute instead.
• A secondhand deathbed confession the family later learned of, alleging the killer was paid $500 and a car, was never independently verified.

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