The U.S. Justice Department said in Washington it is investigating the decades old killings of African-American men and women allegedly by white vigilantes.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller III said the Justice Department is teaming with civil rights groups to investigate 40 unsolved murder cases from the South, it has been reported.

The two officials said at a news conference February 27, 2007 that federal investigators decided to reopen the cases after multiple civil-rights-era killings were solved in recent years.

They said many of the killers are likely already dead.

“Many individuals have quite literally gotten away with murder,” Mueller said. However, he added a message for killers who are still living: “You’ve not gotten away with anything. We’re still on your trail.”

The cases referred to the Justice Department by the Southern Poverty Law Center include the 1954 beating death of Izell Henry, the 1958 castration and killing of Sylvester Maxwell, and the 1958 death of James Brazier, who was beaten to death in front of his family.