March 17, 1998: U.S. District Judge William H. Barbour Jr. opens most of Sovereignty Commission files
Media representatives gather at MDAH as Sovereignty Commission files are opened for viewing on March 17, 1998
May 28, 1998: Sam Bowers, Deavours Nix, and Charles Noble are arrested in connection with 1966 slaying of NAACP leader Vernon Dahmer
January 24, 1968, arrest photo of Sam Bowers
July 31, 1998: Grand jury indicts five men in connection with 1970 killing of sharecropper Rainey Pool
August 21, 1998: Forrest County jury convicts Sam Bowers of 1966 murder of Vernon Dahmer
Bowers is sentenced to life in prison.
September 19, 1998: Deavours Nix, defendant in Dahmer case, dies of cancer
Deavours Nix in March 1968