BELLE GLADE, Fla. - Relatives of a black man whose hanging divided this rural community learned at an inquest Monday that the noose was probably his grandmother's bed sheet and agreed that meant his death was likely a suicide and not a lynching.
Palm Beach Circuit Judge Harold Cohen convened the coroner's inquest into the May 28 death of Feraris "Ray" Golden to determine whether he committed suicide, as police said, or was lynched, as had been rumored.
Golden, 32, was found hanging himself from a tree outside his grandmother's house and relatives initially said it was impossible that he'd committed suicide, claiming he was found with his hands tied behind his back. Friends said Golden was dating a white policeman's daughter in the farming community of about 15,000.
Uneasiness over the death became so strong that NAACP leaders called for the inquest, the first in Palm Beach County in 18 years.
But during the inquest, family attorney Thomas Montgomery told the judge that Golden's aunt, Shresee Lumpkin, recognized the bed sheet used in the hanging and realized it probably was taken from the house.
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