FBI Undercover Man in on Liuzzo Shooting

Apr. 20, 1965 - Gary Rowe, one of the four men originally accused by Federal officers in the slaying of Mrs. Viola Liuzzo, emerged today as an undercover agent for the FBI.

Rowe testified for two hours this afternoon before a grand jury that is investigating the killing of the Detroit civil rights worker on the highway between Selma and Montgomery the night of Mar. 25.

Although it has been reported that Rowe was in the automobile at the time the fatal shots were fired at Mrs. Liuzzo, no details have been disclosed on his testimony of what took place or why he could not prevent the tragedy.

Since it is a violation of Alabama law to disclose information given at grand jury hearings, the full story of what happened in the car will probably not be known until Rowe testifies in court.

The grand jury is expected to report its findings tomorrow.

Under elaborate FBI guard, Rowe slipped past reporters and into the grand jury room in the Lowndes County Courthouse at 2 p.m. Two hours later, reporters saw him as he and two special agents left by the back door.

It was later learned that Rowe has been a paid informant of the FBI for six years. He reportedly has been paid by the bureau since 1959 for reporting on Ku Klux Klan activities.

Last week, when a Federal grand jury indicted the three others but not Rowe, reports began to circulate that he was an undercover informant.

It is reported that Rowe telephoned bureau agents before he left for Selma the night of the killing and that he called them after he returned to Birmingham.

After President Johnson announced the arrests in a telecast Mar. 26, it had been speculated that the agents had been able to make such speedy arrests because cars of all known Klansmen in the area had been under surveillance.

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