Killing of Walter Lee Frazier in Arkansas in 1939

Incident

Case summary

Walter Lee Frazier (1918-1939), a laborer, was killed by a lynch mob of “unknown persons” in El Dorado, Union County, Arkansas. According to NAACP records, there was a wooded area where white couples would meet, and rumors that they were sometimes molested and assaulted by “a Negro.” Frazier, whom NAACP attorney J.R. Booker conjectured to have developmental disabilities, was accused of this. Frazier’s family told the NAACP that three cars of white men killed Frazier in the woods, dumped his body on the side of the road, retrieved an ax belonging to Frazier’s father, and then placed the ax next to Frazier’s body. Frazier had apparently been shot multiple times and run over by a heavy car.

Victim(s):

Walter Lee Frazier


Alleged perpetrators/other named individuals: [ ]
Perpetrator group type: mob

Date of incident: 1939-01-31
Location: Union County, Arkansas
Location type: public space - rural
Allegation against victim: attacking white couples

Coroner process
Coroner/inquest: yes
Finding of no legal responsibility: yes

Criminal process
Arrest: [ ]
Charge/indictment/information: [ ]
Grand jury: [ ]
Trial: [ ]
Conviction: [ ]
Sentence: [ ]


Document(s):
advocacy group resources
death certificates - closed
federal agency records
news articles - closed
state agency records - closed
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