George W. Sams Jr. (born c. 1946) was a member of the

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...

convicted in the 1969 murder of New York Panther Alex Rackley, which resulted in the New Haven Black Panther trials of 1970. Sams turned state's evidence in return for a reduced charge of

second-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excus ...

. He testified that, acting under direct orders from national party leader Bobby Seale, he arranged for the kidnapping of Rackley to Panther headquarters in New Haven, where Rackley was tortured for two days then transported to the marshlands of Middlefield, Connecticut, where he was shot by Warren Kimbro and Lonnie McLucas on Sams' orders. According to Hugh Pearson, who wrote the book ''The Shadow of the Panther: Huey Newton and the Price of Black Power in America'': Neither Kimbro nor McLucas corroborated Sams' testimony regarding Seale's involvement. Sams and Kimbro were convicted of murder, and Lonnie McLucas was acquitted on all charges except

conspiracy to commit murder Conspiracy to murder is a statutory offence defined by the intent to commit murder. England and Wales The offence of conspiracy to murder was created in statutory law by section 4 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and retained as an ...

, but a jury deadlocked on the charges against Seale and Black Panther leader Ericka Huggins, and the charges against both were dropped. Members of the Black Panther party accused Sams of being an FBI informant. Sams was paroled in 1974.

In popular culture

* Terayle Hill portrays Sams in the film '' Judas and the Black Messiah''. The film depicts Sams as an FBI informant and that his testimony against Bobby Seale was done under orders of the FBI in order to keep Seale imprisoned.

References

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Bobby Seale's Shadow
' Gadfly Online {{DEFAULTSORT:Sams, George W. Jr. 1946 births Living people American people convicted of murder American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Members of the Black Panther Party COINTELPRO targets People convicted of murder by Connecticut Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Connecticut People paroled from life sentence