Murder of black man by two white brothers solved 50 years later

Clay brothers were never charged for the murder in the 1960s despite fingerprints all over the victim's vehicle

Confession was caught on tape thanks to killer's former cellmate (Getty)

A man has been sentenced to 20 years behind bars for a murder which he admitted to half a century later.

James Leon Clay, now 69, and his late brother Leon Junior Clay, killed 27-year-old father James Ricks in the summer of 1967 in Arkansas, after the brothers committed a robbery, stole Ricks’ car, shot him in the back of the head and left his body in woodland.

His remains were found by campers two months later.

According to a report from the FBI, the Clay brothers, who were white, were never charged for killing Ricks, who is black, despite leaving fingerprints on the vehicle, and were only convicted of interstate vehicle theft and robbery.

The surviving brother admitted to the crime at the age of 67, more than 50 years later, when he told the story to his former cellmate while he was serving time for attempted robbery.

The cellmate, who had been imprisoned on drugs charges, informed the police and related details of the killing as told to him by Clay, who slept on the bottom bunk in their cell.

In order to get the confession on tape, the FBI arranged for the former cellmate to meet Clay “by chance” upon his release two years’ later at the probation office, where Clay again admitted to the crime.

Special Agent Justin Downen said in a statement: “He’s an old man in prison, and you wonder how much he wanted people to be a little bit scared of him. I don’t know how much of it was ego and wanting people to think he was a tough guy, or how much of it was just boredom.”

Clay was sentenced in 2015 to 20 years behind bars and is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Julius Ricks, the brother of James Ricks, now 74, still lives in the Little Rock area where his brother was killed. He said he was surprised to receive a call from the FBI.

“That was a miracle what they did,” he said. “It was just a miracle when they called and said that the guy had talked in jail.”

Mr Downen added: “It’s really easy to put yourself in the shoes of that family and think about what it would be like to lose a loved one under those circumstances and not have justice.”