Klan Leader Pleads Guilty In Killing Of Tulsa Woman

Associated Press

COVINGTON, La. (AP) -- A Bogalusa, La., man pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing an Oklahoma woman during a Ku Klux Klan initiation.

Raymond Foster was immediately sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder by state District Judge Peter Garcia.

Cynthia Lynch, a Klan recruit from Tulsa was shot and killed in November 2008 during initiation rites taking place in rural Tammany Parish, about 50 miles north of New Orleans.

5/4/2010 Related Story: Trial Set In Death Of Alleged KKK Recruit

On Monday, a former member of the group testified Lynch angrily cursed Foster and yelled "I want out" before he shot her to death.

After entering his plea Wednesday, Foster's voice was shaky as he apologized to Lynch's mother, Virginia Lynch, who was in the courtroom's front row. "I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me," he said. 

Frankie Stafford, who was convicted of obstruction of justice in the case, described the murder scene in court Tuesday.

On Wednesday, under questioning from defense attorneys, Stafford said Lynch had aimed obscenities and profanity at Foster for days before Foster shot her at a remote campsite in St. Tammany Parish in November 2008.

Defense attorneys don't dispute that Foster killed Lynch, but they are laying the groundwork for a less serious verdict than second-degree murder, which carries a life sentence.