>> well, i think it was the beckwiths.that they have in that community and i believe that they were putting political pressure on the state to prosecute this. >> the suggestion that there was some sort of political pressure that was put on my office to push this case forward or to charge it is absolute nonsense. it didn't happen. >> reporter: as alex waited for trial, things got worse. his 5-year-old daughter coco was diagnosed with cancer and underwent a bone marrow transplant. >> his daughter's illness took a huge toll on our family but i will say this about my son i saw him as very strong, you know? he was handling things that i don't think most people could. >> reporter: finally, four years after his wife's death, alex fazzino went on trial for her murder. >> please rise. >> reporter: because of pre-trial publicity and the high profile beckwith name, the case was moved out of boone, 200 miles away to decorah, iowa. where the fazzinos and the beckwiths were now separated by much more than the courtroom aisle. the prosec

. >> reporter: mitchell persuaded beckwith to give him an interview. the chat lasted six hours with what mitchell said was hate-filled rhetoric >> he walks me out to the car and says, if you write negative things about white caucasian christians, god will punish you. if he doesn't, several individuals will do it for him >> reporter: his story ran and prompted witnesses to come forward. his brother was sceptical about mitchell's work >> i thought it was some white boy trying to make a name for himself. back in those days no white boy was speaking for us. he was one of the few whites. a love him as a brother and i respect him as a reporter. >> reporter: in 1994 beckwith was convicted of first degree murder. the reporting convicted kkk of killing civil rights leader in 1966. in the 1963 bombing that killed four little girls helped secure a murder conviction against clansman >> reporter: after talking to you he was prosecuted >> yes. he was. gentleman mitchell is still on the hunt working on a book titled race against time. i can't why that title? >> becau

known unfortunately as much for byron de la beckwith, and tom brady's infamous speech after brown v.l the years of cruelty and struggle from 1933 on, through it all and until today, this place, lusco's, was a beloved institution. once a grocery store, it turned restaurant to the money class, serving them in discreet quarters in the back where one could enjoy an alcoholic beverage in what was then a dry state. still going after all these years. and unchanged. why? >> john t. edge: this place is like a reliquary of like indiscretions past. you know? >> anthony: but maybe, to really tell the story of this place, you have to start with the story of its most famous employee -- booker wright, who had been working at lusco's as a waiter wince he was 14 years old. >> booker: thanks to y'all. we don't have a real menu. i'd be glad to tell you what we're gonna serve tonight. >> anthony: in 1965, nbc news came to town, making a documentary on race relations. booker's entertaining recitation of the menu at lusco's was famous around town, so they asked him to do his usual routine for the camera.