A drowning, a kiss triggered Joseph Edwards murder

James Buford Goss was calm by the time he talked to Vidalia's police chief at the old Concordia Parish Courthouse on the morning of Friday, July 10, 1964. He had been furious the night before. Goss told the chief that Joseph "Joe-Ed" Edwards, a black porter at the Shamrock Motel, had assaulted his close friend Iona Perry, a 22-year-old white woman who worked as a registration clerk at the motel. He said Edwards had grabbed the arms of Perry, who suffered from a crippling disease, and kissed her against her will.