Biography
Lonnie McLucas was a Bridgeport, Connecticut member of the Black Panther Party and the only New Haven defendant convicted at trial. Arrested in Salt Lake City about a month after the May 1969 killing of Alex Rackley, he admitted firing a shot under the direction of George Sams. A racially mixed jury acquitted him of the most serious charges — including the capital charge of kidnapping resulting in death — but convicted him of conspiracy to commit murder after a then-record 33-hour deliberation. He was sentenced on September 18, 1970 to 12 to 15 years, of which he served only a few years, and died in 2016.
