William Jefferson Blythe Jr. lost control of his 1942 Buick on U.S. Route 60 outside of Sikeston, Missouri, after one of his car's tires blew out. He survived the accident after being thrown from the car, but drowned in a drainage ditch as he tried to pull his way out of the three feet (1 meter) of water in the ditch. Three months later, Blythe's widow, Virginia, gave birth to their son, whom she named William Jefferson Blythe III in honor of his father and grandfather. In 1950, Blythe's widow married Roger Clinton Sr.; 12 years later, Blythe's posthumous son legally adopted his stepfather's
Mose Jefferson in Stateville Correctional Center, being released in 1967. He then became a Democratic Party field lieutenant with the political organization of Bob Shaw and his brother Bill Shaw, the latter of whom served in the Illinois Senate from 1982 to 2002. On July 22, 2009 — during the 16-indictments trial of Mose Jefferson's brother, Congressman William J. Jefferson, before U.S. judge T. S. Ellis III — lead prosecutor Mark Lytle presented a chart which showed On August 5, 2009, William J. Jefferson was convicted in the Virginia court on 11 of the 16 felony counts. Four days later, on August