The fact that the local police authorities and local governing officials (like the mayor) were all of the same mindset as the perpetrators and that a deputy sheriff was involved first-hand in the murders virtually ensured that the crimes would remain unsolved unless the investigating authorities deviated from the normal guidelines for criminal investigations.

Nevertheless, the specific tactics used by the FBI agents were themselves criminal actions that, in other circumstances and certainly nowadays, would have resulted in charges of official misconduct, criminal prosecutions of the agents involved ironically) for civil rights violations, as well as civil claims against the agents personally and the Bureau. The agents illegally abducted the mayor and terrorized him with the implied threat of castration. They coerced information from the deputy's wife, (who was not involved at all in the crimes), exposing her to grave danger and causing her to be subjected to a beating...
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